------------------------------------
Hey, how does it feel to finally have the new album out with "Merciless"? What have been the reactions to it so far?
Hell! I´m very pleased that after so many years I could release an album that´s worth to be the logical continuation of the predecessor. The reactions up to now are really positive, especially because with this type of band the promotion comes straight from the reviews of fanzines and the social media as I don’t have the possibility to play live.
I like the
variability of the album, of course within certain limits. In addition, there
is a slightly noisy edge in the guitar work at one point or another, I think, which
suits the music very well. Where would you place the new album in the entire
output / discography of Akerbeltz? Where do you see changes, other accents,
what was important for this album?
For most
people that don´t follow the band they will probably find it more or less the
same, but for this release I risked a bit and tried some new formulas not done
until now, as for example containing my wish to play really fast and putting a
bit more of an accent in the mid-time and slow parts to create a darker and
mesmerizing atmosphere in the music I also added some keyboards with necro
sound and in one of the songs I represented with music the sensation of a fall.
How long did the whole creative process for the
album take?
I started
composing the "Merciless" album right
after the edition of the previous album "Satànic" and
my first wish was to release it in about one or two years maximum but due to
some personal issues and the way that things where working out with my other
band Körgull The Exterminator I just couldn’t find the time or the inspiration
to carry on, so Akerbeltz seemed to freeze in time…. Fortunately, a miracle
happened and then came the plague and death started walking the earth so Akerbeltz
awoke from its slumber and I started composing like mad. The whole process lasted
almost five years.
There are nine tracks, "Above the darkness" is about
the way that evil controls our fate and we are just like tottering dolls under
a storm. "Kingdom of Terror" is based
in the way that we are bonded to our own fears that remain deep inside our
minds and can come out whenever they want, "End
at the gallows" is a song I wanted to write quite a time ago when a friend
committed suicide, it represents the deep and unstoppable way of thinking about that, once
you take that decision, it becomes just a matter of time to do it. "Rejected from the vortex" was written after a nightmare I had, it
was so intense that I started writing the lyrics as soon as I woke up. "Bearers of the light" I wrote after
walking the secret routes that the Cathars used between north Catalunya and
France to escape from the catholics, it´s interesting how Christians eradicated
a believe that was supposed to be more in line with their god than their own,
there’s so much unsaid about this… "Everyone
else´s extinction" is about the plague, for me it was almost obliging to do
a song about this, it’s been like a dream almost come true. "Litanies of the restless" is a praise to satan and the expression
of the wishes of the nihilists. "The fall" is about how satanism has affected me in my life, first you just feel an
interest, then you search about it and it becomes an obsession, once you are in
it it´s like falling, it gets faster and faster and the wind roars inside your
head and you don´t want to get back. "Zozo
demon" is about an entity that appears when invocated normally by people
that are not conscious of what they are doing, first it's quite friendly but soon
enough it becomes wicked and can provoke suicide and murder, eager to possess.
What keeps the flame burning to let Akerbeltz still play classic black metal after more than a quarter of a century? Are you still as enthusiastic as you were in the beginning, or were there also some motivation problems?
I enjoy a
lot playing black metal, for me is the conclusion of all the extreme kinds of
metal, including even some touches of heavy and speed metal, it can be
aggressive as thrash, dark as doom, technic as death, fast as grindcore and
you can combine all this styles with the only condition that it has to sound
like if it comes straight from hell. I still find a lot of motivation as I keep
learning new ways of composing and I don´t play too much attention to what the
bands I used to listen and admire are doing nowadays I also don´t take much notice
of most of the new bands that are in this just for fun.
I played
live at the Under the black sun -festival in the
2005, it was o.k. but it was a hell of an effort for playing just 45 minutes, I
had to join some people and do a couple of rehearsing that meant crossing a
dessert of 400 km with my bike and my
guitar, trying to coordinate the musicians (difficult because the guitarist was
dyslexic) and educate them to play my way, that apparently is quite unusual. I
also performed a song with my friends from Nebrus in Italy but as I say it´s
too much effort.
Your thoughts about the Black Metal scene today
and in the past? What was better in the past, what do you appreciate about
today?
I think black metal was better in the 90's, it was very intense and was not just about music, it was a lifestyle, people really believed in satanism and
violence, we made filters so curious people and posers couldn´t reach the
essence, we got into fights easily, being closer to the skinheads character than
to the rest of metal tendencies; the musicians didn´t dare to experience too
much or they would be banned from our closed society. All of this filters have
disappeared with time and now black metal has become something hilarious and
people even make jokes or play silly videos and things, I just don´t care about because I lived the true black metal right from the start
What black metal bands have impressed you
lately? Or do you stick more to the old classics? Which local or Spanish bands
can you recommend?
I like Black Beast, Mgla, Vargrav, Dungeon Hammer, Regarde les hommes tomber for exmaple. As I´ve always said I don´t like bands, I like the records that some bands do, bands in the end tend to disappoint me in one moment or another so I just enjoy as much as I can their records and forget about who is behind their songs.
In Spain
there are some good bands such as Balmog, Gorguina, Muert, Körgull the Exterminator
(of course), Atonement, Martyrium, Insulters, Cryfemal and some others.
What are the next steps for Akerbeltz? Any
particular plans, are there any special wishes or visions you would still have
for the band?
I’m already
working on my next album, this will be the last one as I had all planed since
the beginning in order to keep this band´s character strong until the end; this
doesn´t mean I will quit music, but I consider that with the next album I
should have reached my maximum capacity to play extreme music until this point.
You are from Lloret de Mar, this place is known
as a tourist party stronghold. Has the crowd of boozing youngsters become
less, has it improved? On the other hand, isn't that a good inspiration for
hateful black metal?
Lloret de
mar is like Sodom and Gomorrah, you can find all sorts of human miseries in summer, although in winter this town
changes and there’s a lot of inspiring places to visit, you can go to a deep
forest or to precipices that end in the sea just walking… I´ve recorded some of
the images of the Körgull the exterminator - videos just walking five minutes from home, the cemetery
is little but spectacular and apart from that you can get stoned to death no
matter what your poison is, or get into huge street fights in all levels, practice
all the depravities you can imagine. I like to think that I live close to the
gates of hell.
The last words are yours!
Visit the https://akerbeltz.bandcamp.com for more info and keep the black flame burning.
