Averse Sefira (USA) Interview 2005
Hail. Can you begin by telling us what Averse Sefira is about, and how long has it been going?
Wrath SD: Averse Sefira is, now more than ever, about the path less chosen. It is a monument to the defiance of mediocrity, it is an obdurate cabal of arrogant elitists. It also involves Black Metal to some degree. It has endured since the waning of 1996.
What have you released until now, and how does musical style differ from one release to the next?
1 demo, 2 albums, a live tape, and a split EP are the whole of our work thus far. Album 3 is imminent circa 2005. Like any band that desires forward motion we continue to develop and refine our material. Ultimately as we are a band that deals in long-running themes, there is a specific sound that we have adopted and shall retain throughout the lifespan of this endeavour. We try to incorporate both ponderous and frenetic elements into the music as it is all designed as conveying meaning rather than attempting to pummel the listener into accepting what is otherwise incoherent.
In what ways does Satan mean anything to you, metaphorically or anthropomorphically speaking?
Satan is to me a mechanism like many others, an idea around which to build an artistic monument. We are closely associated with many bands to whom Satan IS the monument, which is of course an admirable mode of conviction. For ourselves, our preoccupation is the nameless beyond and the forces that govern from the periphery (though indeed Satan can be counted among them).
How does the figure of Lucifer tie in with your nihilistic beliefs?
Luciferian idea and practice admittedly doesn’t have an active role in our outlooks, and I would say that referring to our beliefs as nihilist is inaccurate; on the contrary, there are plenty of things that are of importance to us.
Do you think there is a relationship between Satanism and National Socialism, or, for that matter, between communism and christianity?
I think Satanism is a brand of hedonism and free-thinking, while National Socialism is designed for organized and collective ideas. I wouldn’t say the two are very compatible. And too great a single-minded fixation on either end usually results in poor Black Metal. Communism and christianity actually have more in common as they are both based on the mistaken idea that everyone should be regarded as equal. If one is to examine the tenants of Jesus (or at least how this figure is portrayed in the Bible), much of it has a very communistic tone. Ironic that communism among other things struck down the ideas of organized religion. I find that present day communists and leftists have very christian outlooks towards the world, if anything because they tend to have such polar attitudes towards everything they see (i.e. one thing is ‘bad’ vs. something else that is ‘good’). Who can say? There are many stripes in political movements and I’m sure there would be many who would strongly disagree with my statements. Not that I care.
Some months ago you toured Europe together with Watain and Secrets Of The Moon. How were your experiences during this tour and what are your most remarkable memories?
It was a true success in every sense- the shows did as well or even better than we hoped. Who would have expected a full house in Holland on a Monday night, for instance? To say we had an excellent time was an understatement. Both Secrets Of The Moon and Watain are brilliant bands and very reliable and professional when it comes to getting the job done. We would do it again in an instant (and if we have our way it could actually happen). Probably the most gratifying aspect of the tour was the fact that it was organized by Golden of Secrets, E. of Watain, and myself. We all did our parts to plan, organize, and promote this tour. Golden in particular did considerable work in booking dates, and it felt like a real achievement to play a solid two weeks of successful dates without any label support. It was like the ‘old days’ where we pulled together in a common cause to make it all possible rather than having egos, incompetence, or laziness get in the way. There was blood spilled every night of the tour actually, mostly all over Watain. Barcelona stepped up the carnage as several pigeons in a park lost their lives to Watain, many of them meeting decapitation in Watain drummer H.’s mouth. I think the final toll was seven or eight. As far as the authorities are concerned, Watain were often kind enough to attract them in a few cities. Indecency in the presence of a minor was a pending charge, and there were a couple of other incidents when locals were calling the authorities but ultimately nothing charms a police officer more than a drunken Swede covered in rags and clotted goat blood, so no arrests were made. Other than that, no shows were cancelled, no promoters scammed us- it couldn’t have gone any better.
What are your views as regards black metal music in different countries (above all European)?
Off the top of my head, Norway these days seems like a joke that nobody but the bands involved seems to get, Sweden is the current stronghold for all things worth hearing and supporting, Germany has a handful of noteworthy bands and then scads of enclavish scenesters who simply take up space, America delivers football-inspired death metal that they insist is Black Metal just because they wear corpsepaint, England has no Black Metal scene in any regard, France is another vanguard of the current regime and their bands are cancerous and awesomely foul, Russia’s bands are brooding and somewhat bizarre but very convincing, Italy’s bands are surprisingly boring given their penchant for horror films (though most of those are boring too, now that I think of it), South America’s bands are intense and passionate about their work even though there are several who need to innovate more before they can compete on a larger scale, Australia’s bands sound like Motorhead, Poland’s bands are all almost exclusively NS and steadfastly minimalist, and Canada’s bands are all apocalyptic with werewolves for frontmen and machine gun turrets for drummers.
What current black metal bands do you feel are worthy of being listened to? In order of appearance, here is a sampling of current bands I recommend from each country:
Norway -Black Circle bands, Ildjarn and early Gorgoroth none of these are current, what does that tell you?)
Sweden -Watain, Sigrblot, Funeral Mist, Armagedda, Ondskapt, Malign, Shining, Triumphator, Ofermod, Bloodline
Germany -Secrets of the Moon, Darkened Nocturne Slaughtercult, Katharsis, Nachtfalke, Winterblut
USA -Krieg, Bahimiron
France - Hell Militia, Antaeus, Deviant, Deathspell Omega, Mutiilation (though the new stuff is terrible), S. V. E. S. T. , Temple of Baal, Vorkreist
Russia/ Ukraine/ former USSR -Old Wainds (their demo is king), Hate Forest, Branikald, Drudkh
Italy -Aborym, Altar of Perversion, Forgotten Tomb
Brazil - Berzabum, Blackmass, Endless War, Evil, Goatpenis, Murder Rape, Mystifier, Mysteriis, Ocultan, Saevus, Unearthly
Australia -Gospel of the Horns, Nazxul, Sadistik Intent
Poland -Graveland, Ohtar, Selbstmord, Kataxu
Canada -Ankhreg, Malvery, Frozen Shadows, Lust, Magister Dixit, Trails of Anguish, Unquintessence, Vanquished.
Does the existential philosophy of Sartre or Camus mean anything to you?
Existentialism has never appealed greatly to me in that I am less concerned about why I am here compared to what I want to do while I am here.
Who are your philosophical heroes?
This seems like an obvious statement but I think my favourite Western philosopher would be the pet philosopher of Black Metallers, Friedrich Nietzsche. I am not going to bother reiterating why his work is valid, I think it speaks for itself. Outside of that I enjoy reading eastern philosophy, particularly from Feudal Japan. Samurai warrior culture is fascinating, and Sun Tzu’s ‘Art of War’ is a must read.
A long time ago you told me that you were thinking of having your long out-of-print demo reissued by Spikekult; do you still intend doing this, and what plans do you have for the near future?
As it happens our demo is slated for a limited re-release by Nigra Mortis Productions in Brazil. This will most likely mean that it is only available in that territory, but since that is our largest support base it makes sense. Plans for the near future are rather large- we will record our third album, ‘Tetragrammatical Astygmata’, in February with Necromorbus (Funeral Mist/ Watain/ every great BM band in Sweden) at the production helm. This is going to be a very involved recording, and I cannot wait to begin. After this we are planning to return on a full-fledged headlining tour of South America. That is the next six months in so many words, give or take. Somewhere in there another EP’s worth of material is being discussed, as we do not desire another four year gap between releases.
Throughout both of your full-length albums, there are ambient/ noise interludes separating the proper metal songs. Do you regard noise as being a legitimate form of music, or is it rather an art-form in its own right? It can also be one of the more ’snobbish’ and pretentious forms of art, because some people think that if it’s too hard to understand, then it must be intelligent. Do you agree?
It is a form of music in that it uses sound to promote ideas. It can be pretentious because it can pretend to be something when it’s not much of anything (i.e. ‘Do you hear that sustained distorted frequency that goes on for 20 minutes? Genius!’). We use these interludes as a way to augment our content and add a specific ambience. I don’t follow the noise scene too closely, though I like MZ412 and Sophia among others.
Is a community as exemplified by Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’ feasible? How do you feel about the concept of a politically/ religiously totalitarian state- should there be absolute freedom for individuality; or are laws important?
A society without standards ceases to be a society at all, but in this day and age the main problem lies in that while we have plenty of rules and laws, the priorities and motivations behind them are often irrational or misbegotten because they usually stem from christian moralism rather than pragmatism or logic. I don’t believe that at this point a ‘brave new world’ would be possible in any case because the western world is so steeped in the church that things like unchecked sexual behaviour and refusal to procreate could never become acceptable. I think if anything, we are now heading towards a model not unlike Atwood’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’. That or maybe ‘THX1138′.
To continue with the previous question; what were your thoughts the day Muslims attacked the WTC, and where do you think such conflicts will lead to? Is a third world war inevitable?
My honest first thought was, ‘Damn, now I have to cancel my trip to New York to see Immolation next week.’ My second thought was, ‘Excellent, I get to leave work early’. Then I drove down to a local video arcade by the college campus and played Crazy Taxi for an hour. It was incredibly disconnected, and why not? I didn’t honestly care. As soon as it was obvious we were under attack I was fairly satisfied that someone upon which our government trampled finally got their retribution. What this particular incident ultimately led to is our government turning in on us (which is something it has been slowly doing for years) and a record number of people becoming church-goers again due to their paranoia and death fear. I think it is likely that we are at the tail-end of society as we know it; our civil rights will diminish until we have none, we will become an increasingly Orwellian society in which we cannot trust each other and in fact prey on each other at any opportunity… it is hard to say just how bad it will get. I myself plan to wait and see, as I have relatively little holding me to continue on here. As far as world war three, we are dealing with an opponent who has no fixed army, no defined homeland, and no government to topple. These foundations are required to give rise to a world war, and the soldiers of Islam do not fit into this category in any way. This is also why we as a nation stand to lose the most as our government would rather punish and terrorize us rather than address possible solutions (i.e. a total withdrawal from support of Israel), and in the meantime the opposition can simply emigrate to America and dismantle us from the inside. It will be a welcome defeat, provided I am at a safe distance when it occurs.
Surely, the most important news event of this week was the election in the US. What are your thoughts about the political campaign; its outcome; and the result of the election? Why do you think Americans are retards for having elected Bush again, and how would the scenario have changed had Kerry taken his place?
I think Americans in general are uninformed and moreover they are cowards and christians (whether or not they go to church). I don’t have any illusions that Kerry would have made things better as he belongs to the same power structure as Bush. The most troubling aspect, however, is that our government is now in a firm stranglehold of the christian right. All our branches of government are now Republican controlled, so there will be no dissent and thus a religious agenda will be pushed. We will once again become a christian bastion standing against a muslim one- this is how holy wars begin.
Stylistically, Averse Sefira take a framework of black and death metal and incorporate into it several personal touches that make the brew sound very original despite of being in the epicentre of an overpopulated scene. What are your musical influences?
Our influences go from current acts all the way back to the early 1980s. I would say the main bands that have influenced us are Immolation, Immortal, Emperor and then early Deicide, Morbid Angel, Sodom, etc. People hear this list and then presume we are a black/ death band which I don’t agree is accurate. Our concept and approach is firmly black metal, though our music does have the aggressive velocity of older death metal in many places.
How do you think a black metal band can have its own distinguishable sound amongst the innumerable inferior Darkthrone clones that one usually finds?
Regarding what makes a band distinct, I have said this in several interviews- it is all about intent. Many bands steal from Darkthrone because they are ‘easy’ to mimic in execution, despite the fact that early Darkthrone was genius because of its INTENT. For our part, we have arrived at a point where we can actually write in a vacuum for the most part. Very rarely do we work on new material and feel reminded of other bands we revere. We have always toiled to avoid being derivative in any fashion, and again it is INTENT- we want to create something worth hearing, worth considering. For us, it is not sufficient to just be able to say we are a Black Metal band. Anyone who started a band yesterday can (and invariably will) say the same. To be a band that attempts to sound like something else is to surrender on day one.
Do you feel that the essence of black metal and similar kinds of underground music is lost when they are so easily available (via internet, etc.) to everyone?
It is never lost as long as there are still individuals who truly understand it. It is tiresome to deal with people who only know about underground music from the internet, but fortunately they rarely stay around for too long before moving on to something else.
Why do you think black metal extends beyond music?
What makes Black Metal is not being out of print or limited to 300 copies; it is an unspoken idea of a form of music connected to a very poisonous and esoteric outlook of the world. It is easy to know when someone has this understanding when meeting him, it is something indelible and all-consuming.
Thanks for the answers; now please end any way you like and don’t forget to supply the readers with the contact addresses they need to listen to your music…
Greetings to you and your brethren in the far-off reaches of Malta! America is the cancer- refuse it!
Averse Sefira
PO Box 2021
Cedar Park, TX 78630-2021
USA