Hails, be welcome. How are you feeling with the release of your first album, “Wrathprayers”? Has the response been good so far when it comes to the press and fans from your other bands? What's the remaining feeling in your hearts after the hard work until it was released? Actually, as you know, we have already new mCD out, but in general, the response for both “Wrathprayers” and “The Antagonist” has been great. The reviews I read, our friend’s opinions, crowd’s reaction at our gigs - we’ve got nothing to complain about. As Voidhanger is a newcomer in the polish scene, even if you’re all experimented extreme Metal militants, could you please explain us a bit how did all this project/band start and the reasons behind it? Did you have songs that didn’t fit in your other bands or simply decided to start a new band from the very bottom? Why did you (all the members) need to play in another extreme Metal band when you already have intense and brutal bands like Infernal War and Massemord? I had known Zyklon years before we joined Infernal War and, throughout the years, we talked many times about forming a new band that would blend our early influences with the intensity and attitude Infernal War is known for. Finally, we were joined by Priest and make the band come to life. So the idea was born years ago, but due to many reasons, the band was formed in 2010. It’s neither a project band nor a channel to release the songs that don’t fit in our other bands. It’s a new, regular band existing along with our other groups. Voidhanger seems to pick influences from all the extreme brands of fast and brutal extreme Metal, be it Thrash, Death or Black, melting them into a very intense apocalyptic storm, which is still not that far from the kind of atmospheres and feeling we can find in Infernal War or Iperyt, but more focused on the riffs I would say. Which bands or any other sources would you list as influences on “Wrathprayers”? Yes, you’re right. Like I said, we wanted to combine our influences from many old thrash/death/black bands with the attitude we’re know for. I think we managed to do it in our own, distinctive way. Of course, we don’t reinvent the wheel, but I think Voidhanger doesn’t sound like hundreds of other bands. I mean we’re not too original, but our sound and the way all components are mixed make it in some way recognizable. As for the bands we could list as our influences, I don’t see a point in giving you tens of more or less obvious names, but the range is quiet wide. On the other side even though, I read somewhere that you considerer this band as a Black Metal one, because of the ideological/philosophical side and feelings it pursues. Could you please explain us a bit what goes on on the lyrical side of “Wrathprayers”? Is there a global atmosphere or main concept that puts all songs togethers? Lyrically, Voidhanger is for all the Darkness in man and beyond. On both our releases, half of the lyrics deals with the devotion to the dark side, dancing with the Devil and provoking God. The second half deals with different stuff like serial killers, murders, movies/literature and other things. They’re all very nihilistic and rather antisocial, for example “Daughter Of Filth” is about all those ugly, drug-addicted bitches of the lowest sort in porn industry, “Vampire Of Beuthen” is dedicated to 80s’ serial killer from my area and “Silent Night, Deadly Night” deals with infamous multiple murder that happened in Poland in the 70s. Well, maybe that’s a bit cliché, but I’m interested in many dirty things heh. What's undeniable is that your music is very much attached to the eighties scene, especially for the big thrashy riffs that can be found around all your tracks on this album and make it so catchy and sharpen. Could we consider it one of the biggest differences when it comes to the writing if we compare it with a band like Infernal War? I read a review of it saying this could have been issued under the Infernal War monicker, but I absolutely disagree about it, as there are clear differences between both bands. What's your opinion? I do agree with you. Of course, it’s me and Zyklon so it may have similar feeling, but the differences are big enough and obvious to everyone who is not deaf. It’s simply much more thrash-oriented and less complicated. When defining Voidhanger as a satanic and negativist band (according to your promo sheet), can kind of way you approach those subjects? I mean, especially when it comes to extreme Metal and Satanism, you have more or less two big blocks, one which tends closer to the classical blasphemic and oppositional point of view and another one, which emerged later, which sees the figure of Lucifer as a more “religious” entity and prefers people with spiritual beliefs (be them for God or Satan) than atheists. And I figure you're not the kind of band that expresses negativity in a lamenting way, as Depressive Black Metal bands do. Could you please elaborate on these subjects? The second approach is much closer to me, but it’s very personal. I couldn’t call myself an atheist as I do believe in forces existing far beyond the limits of human understanding. I won’t give you any catchy slogans or declarations, but I’m dead serious about such matters. When I was a teenager I used to call myself atheist, but subconsciously I knew it’s like cutting off a branch you’re sitting on. Anyway, my lyrics aren’t a set of rules to show you the way. It’s all about real feelings, emotions, some kind of mysticism, emanations of the utter Darkness – sometimes fanatic, sometimes nihilistic or even doubtful in some way. In fact, I’m happy to declare I’ve got nothing to say to anyone. As for depressive black metal – most of those bands suck. I mean, like in any genre, there are some good bands, but most of those third sort Burzum wannabies are pretty boring. Old releases of Forgotten Woods eat all those sad puffs for breakfast. On the first song of the album, the one who gives it its title, we can find the following verse: “I stab my ego in the back”. I found that sentence very interesting, as I definitely think there's some ego problem in a big part of the Metal scene. Could you please let us know what you meant with it and if it has any relation with what I thought or directly how a big part of humanity tends to act? The verse you mentioned refers to abandoning all the mundane, human things while diving into the abyss of darkness, struggling for a glimpse of illumination. I don’t care about the metal scene, let alone humanity as a whole. However, big ego is ok as long as you have something to support it. Most people don’t. In the past many polish bands had a pagan influence on their lyrics and image, but most of the extreme Metal bands from your country nowadays focused on a more satanic or anti-religious ethos, be them basic Black Metal bands or a progressive Death Metal band like Nomad. Why do you think there's such a focus on that subject? Is Poland still a very Christian country? Does this have a big effect on everyday's life politics and people's behaviours? Is Poland a very conservative country where young people might feel too static? Yes, in the second half of 90s many black metal bands from Poland have some pagan influences in their lyrics/image (of course there were exceptions like Lord Of Evil or Kohort), but in most cases the core of it was always Darkness. On the other hand, you have legendary bands like the mighty Imperator, old Pandemonium, Armagedon or even old Vader whose imagery and lyrics were rather obvious…. I don’t think much changed except for the amount of bands . The balance is similar. As for the second part of your question, it’s more complicated than it seems. On the one hand, we still have some conservative catholic political parties trying to interfere into people’s lives and choices, on the other hand they are weaker in every year. The other thing is mentality of the people here – you know, to many people catholic church and the pope JP II are still the symbol of fight against communist regime in the past. However, I wouldn’t say it makes my life difficult. To be honest, modern, brainwashed, politically correct society is much more disgusting than those helpless, catholic masses. I must stop and ask about the artwork of the album now, as I think you did a really good job on that side. The cover of “Wrathprayers” was done by Mentalporn agency (which already worked with Mastiphal, Calm Hatchery or Iperyt) and is a very simple and effective way of depicting the sound and message of Voidhanger in my opinion. Could you please let us know a bit more about the concept you gave to the artist and what does that banner stuck in what seems to be a human body represents? The guys behind Mentalporn is our friend who coincidentally worked for WHP that released our debut album. I gave him a few ideas and he showed us the result you can see on the album cover. You can understand it in many ways as we wanted something that left some place for imagination. I’m glad to see how the extreme Metal scene from Poland is finally capable of distancing itself from the copycat effect we could see just some years ago, where every band tried to follow the Vader/Decapitated/Behemoth effect and only those were being exported. Now bands like Throneum, Bestial Raids, Mgla, Kriegsmaschine, Pandemonium, Furia, Azarath, Morbid Execution, Nomad, Cultes Des Ghoules or Stillborn (some of them being there since quite some years ago) finally seem to receive some recognition for the work while following their own path, far from that more standard polish sound. What’s your opinion about this and about the polish scene? Could you recommend us some interesting new outfits? I didn’t notice the copycat effect you mentioned. Maybe some modern death metal bands tried to sound like some big, more mainstream names, but it’s not my cup of tea. The real scene in Poland consists of band you mentioned – Bestial Raids/Cultes Des Ghoules, Kriegsmaschne/Mgła, Azarath, Stillborn, Massemord, Plaga, Kataxu etc. Polish scene is like many others – some interesting bands and dedicated people, but also tons of useless crap. Check Deus Mortem, Deathlust, Doombringer, Kingdom, Gortal – that’s the real deal. Speaking about Poland, there seems to be a big live activity in your country, I read about a lot of shows with polish and international acts, and people from your country seem pretty enthusiastic and energetic as far as I've seen them at some fests in Czech Republic. It's great to see that when in Spain most shows have not more than one hundred people (or much less) and people are simply static in most of the cases. Are my impressions right? Do you think it's a symptom of people needing to deliver their anger and frustration against their suffocating lifes? Yes, we have some real maniacs here, but it’s just a small part of all metalheads. The rest is like the ones you mentioned. In most cases, at small underground gigs, 80-150 people is a standard. A few years ago, we played with Infernal War in Zielona Góra (Poland) and only 30-40 tickets were sold, but when we entered the stage, those people unleashed hell making this gig one of the best we have ever played. I don’t really bother what makes them behave this way, but I’m sure violent music and violent behaviour fits each other perfectly hehehe. As usual on my interviews, I'd like you to give me your opinion about the following bands and their careers, which I find close to the kind of apocalypse Voidhanger delivers: - Slayer: never heard of them. - Sarcofago: love almost everything they did. - Sepultura: older releases are great. - Deicide: should have split up long time ago, but I worship first three albums. - Malevolent Creation: good band, their debut and “retribution” are my all-time faves, but I like all their albums. - Angelcorpse: one of the best black/death metal bands ever to walk the earth. - Impaled Nazarene: worship first three albums, but the rest is cool too. - Impiety: haven’t heard the last album so far, but they’re great. I strongly support them. - Marduk: I like them even more than in the 90s. Their last albums are as great as “Heaven Shall Burn…” which had been my favorite Marduk album for years. - Aura Noir: Absolutely fantastic, Czral is one of musicians I deeply respect. A real artist. Love Virus and VBE, too. What about your other bands? Are there any new releases already planned for them? Is there a possibility we can listen to a new Infernal War album soon? They are all working on their new releases. I’m sure we will record the new album of Infernal War in the next few months. Before closing this interview, could you please let us know the latest news concerning future Voidhanger releases or possible concert dates outside Poland? Have you already started writing new songs or is it still too soon to do it? What can we expect from them? We have already written some new songs for the second full length album. We’re gonna record it in the first half of 2013. Thanks a lot for your time and good luck, I hope to hear news from you soon. Last words are yours before closing the interview. Thanks for your support and interest. Hail Darkness!
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About ...Gia Thanatos is a webzine dedicated to music for the apocalyptic times. No matter the scene or genre it comes from, and mainly chosen according to its author's taste. Archives
September 2016
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