INTERVIEW UNGOD / BAXAXAXA

"Black metal has musical and visual aspects. You can't deny that. But these should complement each other and form a unity."

Ungod and Baxaxaxa are two of the oldest veterans of the German black metal scene, both founded in the early 90s. Baxaxaxa, who were revived a few years ago, inspire many fans of the underground with their somewhat untypical and very own mystical version of black metal. With their debut album "Circle of the seven infernal pacts", Ungod set a milestone in the establishment of black metal in Germany and, after a break, subsequently released two good to outstanding albums. A good reason to ask drummer Condemptor, who is a founding member of both formations, a few questions.

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Let's start with a perhaps not quite everyday question: Both bands overlap in terms of personnel. Do you sometimes get into a kind of conflict about which band you write songs for? Do you make this solely dependent on mood and inspiration, or do you sometimes make the resolution that you should do something for Ungod, or vice versa Baxaxaxa?

You can even say that the line-up of both bands is identical by now.
Ungod now consists of 100% Baxaxaxa members. But there is actually no conflict. We go according to the feeling and the inspiration. Of course, Ungod fell behind a bit in the last 3-4 years, because Baxaxaxa took up our time. But that was more by chance than by design. In concrete terms it happens of course that one or the other song idea is rather assigned to Baxaxaxa or Ungod respectively. Some ideas simply fit Baxaxaxa better, just because of the keyboards.

Ungod in particular are unfortunately criminally underrated. Especially the "Cloaked in eternal darkness" album is one of the best ever released in Germany. In my opinion, this album has everything a perfect black metal album needs: the aggression, the dragging parts, the sound is also perfect for it. Can you understand my assessment of this album in particular? And I think it is, from your releases stylistically closest to Darkthrone, although in earlier interviews your ex-member Schiekron had partly expressed his dislike for this band and Norwegian black metal in general.

Of course, every (former) band member has a different opinion about the releases. As for the "Cloaked..." album, I want to thank you for the kind words, of course. We personally don't like the album so much. There was just too much that went wrong. The artwork, which from our point of view and even from the point of view of the artist, is only the beginning. What Schiekron thinks about this album I can't say any more. Concerning Darkthrone: I don't know exactly what Schiekron has said about it. I personally, and also the rest of the band Ungod, are sure about the "classic" Darkthrone albums (especially "A blaze..." / "Under a..."), that they're fantastic black metal albums. How the band has developed after that can be discussed.

You started with Ungod only a few years after Desaster, you did even a split together. Did you ever think about what could have happened to Ungod if there had been other labels, more concerts, not the break and so on? Or are such thoughts totally alien to you? Nordlys and Mightiest, for example, are bands that would have deserved to be heard by more people, even in an underground context.

No. We don't think like that. We really don't care at all. We never wanted to become "bigger" by hook or by crook. Not least for this reason, we only started playing live in 2016.

What I appreciate very much is a certain down-to-earthness on your part, which doesn't have to be a contradiction to the mysticism of the music. I'm referring, for example, to the fact that you don't turn live concerts into "rituals" and so on. I believe that this is also the art of authentically embodied black metal. Nowhere is the degree between impressive pathos on the one hand and embarrassment on the other greater than in black metal. Your thoughts on this?

Yes, I see it the same way you do. In my opinion, calling concerts "rituals" is complete nonsense and a complete overstylisation. If you do it with a wink of the eye, it's ok. But the literal sense alone does not fit a metal concert at all. But black metal has musical and visual aspects. You can't deny that. But these should complement each other and form a unity. Here, too, we go different ways with Ungod and Baxaxaxa. Ungod is visually more "direct" from our point of view. You can also find "normal" band photos there. Baxaxaxa transports a certain mood, which in our opinion also has to be visually underlined. But even with Baxaxaxa, we try not to overshoot the mark and rather set visual accents. I see it rather critically when black metal bands build a ghost train on stage. But where the pathos (musically and visually) ends and the embarrassment begins, each band must decide for itself. It's a question of personal attitude.

Now let's move on to the live activities. With Baxaxaxa you are more active than with Ungod, are you? Is that directed by you or do you get more requests from promoters for Baxaxaxa? With Ungod you were more represented abroad with the few gigs you had. Is the appreciation for Ungod higher abroad?

It is indeed the case that the general interest in Baxaxaxa has been higher in the last years than in Ungod. We are not directing that. Whether the appreciation for Ungod is higher abroad, I can't say for sure. But I do have the impression that there is more interest in Ungod in other countries, yes.

This year you are playing with Ungod as well as with Baxaxaxa in Israel, among others together with Ruins of Beverast. Are these already special highlights, what are your expectations? Do you try to combine such dates with a short holiday to see more of the country?

Israel is of course something special and I have already talked to people who have already performed in Tel Aviv and they have only good things to say. Tel Aviv seems fascinating. Especially the fact that you can walk from the city centre to the beach seems to have made an impression. Yes, with things like this you naturally try to take something away from the concert.

You are based in the region around Würzburg and Bamberg. How would you describe the area? Can you tell us about any noteworthy sights such as castles, ruins or other historical sites?

We place ourselves regionally in Franconia. This is where the roots of Baxaxaxa and Ungod lie. In fact, members now also come from the Ruhr area, the Lower Rhine and the Kurpfalz. In our opinion, Franconia is down-to-earth and traditional. Of course, it is also very Christian influenced, which contrasts somewhat with our attitude and our music. As far as historical cities and sights are concerned, I would of course mention Nuremberg Castle, the Würzburg Residence or Rothenburg ob der Tauber. But Bamberg is also worth to be seen.

I have read that we can expect a new release from Baxaxaxa this year. What can you say about the state of affairs and the creative process so far? Can the new pieces already be described - however?

Yes, that's right. The second album is largely finished in terms of songwriting and we will probably record it in the course of the spring. How can you describe the new songs? From our point of view we have developed further compared to "Catacomb Cult", but this doesn't mean that we have become technical in any way or that we have changed our style. I think the new songs are rough and traditional, but more compact than some of the songs on "Catacomb Cult". It also has to do with the fact that our keyboarder is now involved in the songwriting. That was not possible before, because our old keyboard player lived in the USA and left during the recording of "Catacomb Cult", so we had arrange and record the keyboard parts in the studio ourselves. I'm pretty sure that no one who liked "Catacomb Cult" will be disappointed. 

The last words are yours!

I was afraid this was coming. The last words are always the hardest when you don't wan to use platitudes, which you can't. Nevertheless, thank you very much for your interest in Baxaxaxa and Ungod. Come to one of our live... "rituals"... and listen to our next album. Hellfire!