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.

REVIEW FALSE MUTATION "UPON THE THRONE OF BAPHOMET"

When I recently stayed in Hattingen for the interview with Defected Decay, Dirk, one part of this duo, pressed a CD of his other musical playground called False Mutation into my hand. This is the 2019 album called "Upon the throne of baphomet". And what can I say? Fans of dark, vicious sounding and brutal death metal who especially love the US style of bands like Deicide, Defaced Creation, Aeon, Immolation or even the German Purgatory, will be thrilled. Dirk seems to run the whole thing more as a lover's affair for friends and acquaintances, but the songs are far too good to be reserved for a select few. 

INTERVIEW SKOGENS RYMD ART (ALESSIA BRUSCO)

In the vastness of the internet I found the great, atmospheric pictures of Alissa Brusco, who distributes her art under the label "Skogens Rymd Art". But read for yourself what she has to say.

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Hello, please tell the readers of the Systematic Desensitization Zine more about yourself. Who are you, what do you do besides painting, where do you live and so on?

INTERVIEW SUMERIAN TOMBS

Sumerian Tombs from the Rhineland have stirred up a lot of dust in the underground with their furious, self-titled debut album. A good reason to ask guitarist K. for some statements.

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Tell us something about the founding of the band - how long have you been around and what did you release before the debut album? Did you all know each other before? Who took the initiative? And was there a special initial spark for the foundation of Sumerian Tombs? Maybe in the sense that you heard certain records that inspired you or over a few beers you got the idea to do something together that goes in a certain direction?

REVIEW SECOND COMING "DEATH FUCKING METAL" & "WILL NOT ENTER HEAVENS GATE"

During the preparation of the Mightiest story that is yet to come, I had the pleasure of a great promo package that also included two releases by the death metallers from Second Coming. Second Coming are the death metal counterpart to Mightiest due to personal overlaps, whereby the expression "Second Coming" denotes  a Christian belief that Jesus will return again after his ascension to heaven about two thousand years ago. But not only the title "Will not enter heavens gate" suggests that we are definitely not dealing with passionate Christians here, haha.

REVIEW MIGHTIEST / FUNERAL PROCESSION "OF DEATHFIRES, A TOMB & NIGHT WITHOUT END"

In september, Ván Records released a split release of two veteran German black metal bands. One is Mightiest from the south of Germany, the fabled dark Black Forest, the other is Funeral Procession from East Frisia in Lower Saxony. Both bands were founded in the mid-90s, both have released only one album each besides various EPs and split releases, Mightiest even needed 22 years until the release of their great debut album SinisTerra. But this doesn't have to mean anything, just think about the cult band Sadistic Intent, who haven't released an album since the distant year 1987 until today. Despite this long history and their first-class music, both bands - probably also due to the lack of album releases - could never reach the level of popularity of similarly started bands like Secrets of the moon or Lunar Aurora.

INTERVIEW DESASTER / HIKING WITH INFERNAL

After I had already conducted an interview with Desaster last year in the run-up to the release of "Churches without saints" (see here), one day I had the idea to ask whether there would be interest in presenting some of the most important places and locations in the band's history together. On the one hand, Koblenz is only an hour's drive away from me, on the other hand, I like the region there very much, especially the often wildly romantic area along the Rhine and Moselle with its countless castles and ruins, many of which have bravely defied decay for centuries and let us feel at least a little "touch of medieval darkness". I can only warmly recommend this region for hiking, motorcycling and also cycling! To be more precise, I had in mind a joint visit to these places. When Infernal got in touch and was enthusiastic about the idea, the whole thing slowly took shape. After we had agreed on a car park in the middle of nowhere near Ochtendung as a meeting point, and I bought some Desaster articles - which certainly looked strange when any packages change hands there for cash, an overzealous narcotics officer would certainly have sensed his chance here - we could already start. In short, I got into Infernal's car and we drove a few minutes to go from there to Wernerseck Castle.

INTERVIEW DESASTER / WANDERN MIT INFERNAL

Nachdem ich bereits letztes Jahr ein Interview mit Desaster im Vorfeld zur Veröffentlichung von "Churches without saints" geführt hatte (siehe hier), kam mir eines Tages die Idee, anzufragen, ob Interesse bestände, gemeinsam einen Teil der wichtigsten Orte und Plätze der Bandgeschichte vorzustellen. Zum einen ist Koblenz nur eine Autostunde von mir entfernt, zum anderen mag ich die Region dort sehr, gerade auch die oftmals wildromantische Gegend an Rhein und Mosel mit ihren zahllosen Burgen und Ruinen, die dort zahlreich seit Jahrhunderten mutig dem Verfall trotzen und uns zumindest einen kleinen "Touch of medieval darkness" spüren lassen. Zum Wandern, Motorradfahren und auch Fahrradfahren kann ich diese Region nur wärmstens empfehlen! Genauer gesagt schwebte mir ein gemeinsamer Besuch dieser Plätze vor. Als Infernal sich dann meldete und von dieser Idee begeistert war, nahm das Ganze langsam konkrete Formen an. Nachdem wir als Treffpunkt einen Mitfahrerparkplatz im Nirgendwo bei Ochtendung ausgemacht hatten, und ich noch den einen oder anderen Desaster-Artikel erwarb - was sicherlich sonderbar aussah, wenn dort irgendwelche Päckchen gegen Bares den Besitzer wechseln, ein übereifriger Drogenfahnder hätte hier bestimmt seine Chance gewittert - konnte es auch schon losgehen. Kurzum stieg ich in Infernals Auto um und wir fuhren einige Minuten, um von dort aus zur Burg Wernerseck zu gehen.

REVIEW BLASPHEMATORY "THE LOWER CATACOMBS"

Blasphematory from New Jersey, USA, honoured us a few months ago with their second album called "The lower catacombs" on Nuclear Winter Records. The album title really says it all, because musically the band descends into the deepest maws of hell to present their rancid, dirty death metal, which is always presented with the right groove at the right place. The band, which consists of veterans of the scene - among others, there are personnel overlaps with the also highly recommendable death metallers of Siege Column and the long-established black metal band Abazagorath - knows how to convince the listener during the almost 40 minutes with a brutal mixture of fast parts, gruff, dragged-out parts and a always wonderfully creaking bass. In addition, there are abysmal vocals, what else would fit to this kind of music? So whoever wants to listen to a extremely dark and dirty bastard, consisting of influences from compatriots like Incantation, Funebrarum, Autopsy, Rottrevore, Obituary but also from Finnish bands like Abhorrence, Depravity or Necropsy has to listen to this masterpiece. Highly recommended!

INTERVIEW ABSTRACTYSS

In the depths of the world wide web I came across the Bavarian death metal band Abstractyss, which weaves brutal and technical death metal with atmospheric elements into a coherent whole. Read here what the band from the city of three rivers Passau has to say.

Hello, please tell the readers of Systematic Desensitization Zine something about your band history. A short outline, who, when, where you formed. How exactly did you come up with the band name, which sounds quite unusual at first. An abstract hell so to speak?

INTERVIEW TRINITAS

"Black metal at that time was simply pure rebellion and an attitude towards life. And this fire, which was still burning in the respective protagonists back then, was also reflected on their albums." 

Recently I got the information that black metal trio Trinitas will be releasing their first album via Ván Records, having already released a first sign of life (or better sign of death?) in 2019 in the form of an EP. The band, which consists of veterans of the German and Swedish scene, let's mention former and current bands like Dark Fortress, Gràb, Desaster, Sodom, Asphyx, Naglfar, Bewitched or Throne of Ahaz, is completely dedicated to traditional black metal. Vocalist Azathoth answered my questions.

INTERVIEW MILLE / KREATOR

"Global problems are also difficult to solve at the local level. As long as humanity does not see itself as a world community, it will hardly be possible to carry out rules that effectively counteract climate change."

After I had already conducted an interview with Mille more than five years ago in the run-up to the release of "Gods of violence", the new strong "Hate über alles" album, which this time managed to land at number 2 in the German album charts, offered itself as a good reason to repeat the matter. Since then, a lot has happened in Germany, Europe and globally, just think of the Corona pandemic, the increasingly apparent climate change, the war in Ukraine and also the, at least in the social networks seemingly clearer division of society. I talked about these and other topics with the band leader, who now lives in Berlin.

INTERVIEW MILLE / KREATOR

"Globale Probleme lassen sich auch auf lokaler Ebene nur schwer lösen. Solange sich die Menschheit nicht als Weltgemeinschaft begreift, werden kaum Regeln durchgeführt werden können, die dem Klimawandel effektiv entgegenwirken."

Nachdem ich vor über fünf Jahren im Vorfeld der Veröffentlichung von "Gods of violence" schon einmal ein Interview mit Mille geführt hatte, bot sich das neue starke "Hate über alles" -Album, welches diesmal auf Platz 2 der deutschen Albencharts landen konnte, als guten Grund an, diese Angelegenheit zu wiederholen. Seitdem hat sich vieles in Deutschland, Europa und global getan, man denke nur an die Corona-Pandemie, den immer stärker zu Tage tretenden Klimawandel, der Krieg in der Ukraine und auch die, zumindest in den sozialen Netzwerken scheinbar deutlich werdendere Spaltung der Gesellschaft. Über diese und weitere Themen sprach ich mit dem mittlerweile in Berlin lebenden Bandkopf.

REVIEW PROTECTOR "EXCESSIVE OUTBURST OF DEPRAVITY" (DEUTSCH)

Mit "Excessive Outburst Of Depravity" veröffentlichen Protector, die deutsch-schwedische Band um Martin Missy, dem einzig verbliebenen Mitglied der Originalbesetzung, das vierte Album nach der Reunion im Jahr 2011, diesmal wieder über High Roller Records. Seit der Wiederbelebung der Band sind Protector nun erfreulicherweise einer größeren Anzahl und vor allem einer neuen Generation von Metal-Fans bekannt, dennoch gehören Protector leider zum Club der unterbewertetsten Metal-Bands aller Zeiten. In einer fairen Welt hätten Protector den Status einer Band wie Sodom, aber gut, das ist eine andere Geschichte...  

REVIEW PROTECTOR "EXCESSIVE OUTBURST OF DEPRAVITY"

With "Excessive Outburst Of Depravity" Protector, the German-Swedish band around Martin Missy, the only remaining member of the original line-up, releases the fourth album after the reunion in 2011, this time again via High Roller Records. Since the revival of the band, Protector are now fortunately known to a larger number and especially to a new generation of metal fans, yet Protector unfortunately belong to the club of the most underrated metal bands of all time. In a fair world Protector would have the status of a band like Sodom, but well, that's another story...  

INTERVIEW JOAKIM STERNER (NECROPHOBIC / UNHALLOW)

"In the summer of 1982, when I was at a summer camp, a guy there showed me Iron Maiden and I was hooked right away."

There was no specific reason for this interview, I had been carrying around the idea of doing a Necrophobic interview for a while. Since they say that the first experiences are among the most formative, it's also logical that "The nocturnal silence", Necrophobic's debut from 1993, made a lasting impression on me. Although it was by no means my first death metal album, it was one of the first that I got back then, along with bands like Unleashed, Obituary, Morbid Angel, Grave, Benediction, Bolt Thrower, Asphyx and Cannibal Corpse. Of course, it's difficult to filter out aspects like nostalgia, but when I listen to the album today with its outstanding songs, then one must definitely attest to the album being one of the strongest and most important albums in Swedish metal history, especially because it was already the anticipation of the fusion of death and black metal. And of course all albums of this band are exceptional, especially the last two captivate in a different, more refined way. Nevertheless, for this interview, I have concentrated on this debut album in particular. Drummer and founding member Joakim Sterner, who has another band called Unhallow at the start (more details in the interview), answered my questions.

REVIEW DEFECTED DECAY "TROOPS OF ABOMINATION"

Defected Decay from Hattingen in the southern Ruhr area were founded in the summer of 2019. After their debut album "Kingdom of Sin", "Troops of Abomination" is the second work of this duo, which is also active with Suffersystem. Before that, they were musically active with Resurrected, a permanent institution in the underground, and Dark Before Dawn. 

INTERVIEW MORTUUS INFRADAEMONI

"Alles ist vergänglich und mündet in der letzten großen Frage, dem ewigen Tod – gleichzeitig ist der Tod aber auch immer eine Tür zu etwas Anderem, Unbekanntem."  

Wie ich bereits in der Besprechung des neuen Albums (Review siehe hier) zum Ausdruck brachte, sind Mortuus Infradaemoni eine ganz besondere Band mit einer tiefschürfenden musikalischen Aura, die nun wirklich nicht alltäglich oder profan ist (um mal einen Querverweis zum Pseudonym eines meiner Interviewpartner zu bringen). Eben genau wie dieses Interview, ich danke der Band für die offenen Worte, die ausführlichen, interessanten musikalischen Empfehlungen und das Wort(ungetüm) des Jahres, siehe die Frage zu den sozialen Medien.

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Hallo, erst einmal Glückwunsch zum starken neuen Album „Inmortuos sum“. Als ich sah, dass Ihr ein neues Album am Start habt, war ich überrascht, ich hatte Mortuus Infradaemoni längst als nicht mehr existent angesehen, ich denke, so ging es einigen. Was passierte nach dem letzten Album „Imis Avernis“ von 2009, daß eine Band nach 13 Jahren noch mal mit einem neuen Album aufwartet ist ja nicht gerade die Regel…  

INTERVIEW MORTUUS INFRADAEMONI (ENGLISH)

"Everything is transient and ends in the last big question, eternal death - but at the same time death is always a door to something different, unknown."  

As I said in my review of the new album (see here), Mortuus Infradaemoni are a very special band with a profound musical aura that is really not ordinary or profane (to cross-reference the pseudonym of one of my interview partners). Just like this interview, I thank the band for the open words, the detailed, interesting musical recommendations and the word (monstrosity) of the year, see the question about social media.

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Hello, first of all congratulations on the strong new album "Inmortuos sum". When I saw that you have a new album out, I was surprised, I had long considered Mortuus Infradaemoni as no longer existing, I think it was the same for some others. What happened after the last album "Imis Avernis" from 2009, that a band comes up with a new album after 13 years is not exactly the rule...  

REVIEW MEFISTO "PHOSPHORUS"

The legendary Mefisto, founded in Stockholm in 1984, are at the start with a new work. The new album is called "Phosphorus" and contains ten tracks with a running time of 50 minutes. It will be released on 13 July via GMR Music Group.

After disappearing into oblivion for almost three decades after their foundation, Mefisto have released three albums since then. Especially the last album of 2019, "Octagram" (Bathory had an "Octagon" album, Mefisto and Bathory are, so to speak, the primeval soup of Swedish extreme metal) was appealing, as it was a very dark and heavy work.

INTERVIEW EMINENZ (ENG)

More or less by chance I got to know that Eminenz have a new album called "Diabolical Warfare", the great work was already released in December 2021. (Review see HERE).  A good reason to do an interview with guitarist Heiko.

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Hello, many greetings from Cologne to Annaberg-Buchholz. How are things in the Eminenz camp at the moment? Well, a few months after the release of the strong new album "Diabolical Warfare", what is your first conclusion about the album, also regarding the reactions of fans and press?

Yes, it's going very well at the moment. The album has been surprisingly well received by fans and fanzines. Since each band member has different musical influences, we first had to reconcile them so as not to completely abandon the style of Eminenz. We seem to have succeeded quite well.  

INTERVIEW EMINENZ

Mehr oder weniger zufällig bekam ich mit, dass Eminenz ein neues Album namens "Diabolical Warfare" am Start haben, im Dezember 2021 erschien das tolle Werk bereits. (Review siehe HIER).  Ein guter Anlass, mit Gitarrist Heiko ein Interview zu führen.

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Hallo, viele Grüße aus Köln nach Annaberg-Buchholz. Wie sieht es momentan im Eminenz-Lager aus? Nun, einige Monate nach der Veröffentlichung des starken neuen Albums „Diabolical Warfare“, wie fällt da ein erstes Fazit zum Album aus, auch was die Reaktionen von Fans und Presse betrifft?

Ja, momentan läuft es bestens. Das Album ist überraschend gut bei Fans und Fanzines angekommen. Da jedes Bandmitglied andere musikalische Einflüsse hat, mussten wir diese erst einmal unter einen Hut bringen, um nicht ganz den Stil von Eminenz zu verlassen. Dies scheint uns recht gut gelungen zu sein. 

REVIEW EMINENZ "DIABOLICAL WARFARE" (ENG)

Eminenz from Annaberg-Buchholz in Saxony have been active in the underground for ages, since 1989 to be exact. Not least their joint appearance with the then unknown Mayhem (still with Dead as singer, and if I'm not mistaken, announced as "Death Metal from Norway") in Germany also ensured a solidification of their status in black metal circles, especially in retrospect. Funnily enough, the legendary "Live in Leipzig" performance featured Manos, who later changed into a kind of comedy band, and whose part is often attributed to Eminenz. But more about that later in the interview with Eminenz here at Systematic Desensitization Zine. 

REVIEW EMINENZ "DIABOLICAL WARFARE" (GER)

Eminenz aus dem sächsischen Annaberg-Buchholz sind ja nun schon seit Ewigkeiten aktiv im Underground, genau genommen seit dem fernen Jahr 1989. Nicht zuletzt das gemeinsame Auftreten mit den damals noch unbekannten Mayhem (noch mit Dead als Sänger, und wenn ich mich nicht täusche, als "Death Metal from Norway" angekündigt) in Deutschland sorgte auch gerade im Nachhinein für eine Verfestigung ihres Status in Black Metal - Kreisen. Lustigerweise waren bei dem so legendären "Live in Leipzig"-Auftritt die später zu einer Art Comedy-Band verkommenen Manos am Start, deren Part oftmals Eminenz zugeschrieben wird. Dazu aber später mehr im Interview mit Eminenz hier beim Systematic Desensitization Zine. 

INTERVIEW AKERBELTZ

The release of the new strong album "Merciless", which should delight all fans of traditional black metal sounds, was a good occasion for an interview with the Spanish black metal institution Akerbeltz, which has been wreaking its havoc in the Spanish underground since the distant year 1996. I talked to the factotum behind the band, who also plays in Korgüll The Exterminator.

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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.     

REVIEW AKERBELTZ "MERCILESS"

Spanish black metal institution Akerbeltz from the tourist town of Lloret de Mar, which has been doing its mischief since 1996, released its eighth album via Black Seed Productions these days. The factotum, the man for everything, in this band also wears the pseudonym Akerbeltz and is also active in Körgull the Exterminator, which have far surpassed his main field of activity in terms of fame. Akerbeltz have always been and still are deepest underground, although certainly legions of fans should have at least heard the name Akerbeltz since the explosion of black metal in the 90s.   

INTERVIEW ANDREAS PETTERSON (DE ARMA / NORDVIS / ARMAGEDDA)

"There are powers beyond this mortal life which are stronger than one’s own will – therefore, certain events will come to pass whether you want them to or not."

With their latest EP "Nightcall", Swedish gothic rock band De Arma has got rid of the last remnants that point to the metal background of their two protagonists. I spoke to Andreas Petterson, probably best known for black metal band Armagedda and his work as label owner of Nordvis Produktion, about De Arma's new release, Armaggeda and closeness to nature.

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Hello Andreas, how are you doing at the moment? De Arma's new EP "Nightcall" will be released soon. Tell me something about it, what I immediately notice is the emphasis on gothic rock, the metal parts have disappeared completely. Was that a natural process or were the metal parts supposed to disappear deliberately?

Hi – all good here, thanks. I'd say that "Nightcall" is the result of a natural process, during which we manifested music of a kind we've wanted to play for many years now. After our 2013 debut album "Lost, Alien & Forlorn" we started toying with the idea of writing songs which were more synth-driven, thereby making metal a smaller part of the totality. I think I can say with some confidence that the "Nightcall" EP reflects this approach. Since both of our albums were written in close succession, it feels great to now release music which is fully representative of De Arma of today.   

REVIEW MORTUUS INFRADAEMONI "INMORTUOS SUM"

These days I more or less got to know that Mortuus Infradaemoni have released a new, third album. Honestly, after the two previous albums from 2007 and 2009, I had long suspected the band in the eternal hunting grounds, so I was all the more pleased that the band still exists.

The new album called "Inmortuos sum" is released by Iron Bonehead Productions, after the two predecessors were released by Cold Dimensions, the label of former Lunar Aurora musician Andreas "Whyrd" Bauer. And there we are already at the right keyword, namely Lunar Aurora . The two protagonists behind Mortuus Infradaemoni, Nathaniel and Profanatitas are both ex- members of the legendary Lunar Aurora.   

INTERVIEW DEATHRITE

Deathrite from Leipzig have been a household name in the death metal scene at least since their killer album "Revelation of Chaos". With the stylistic changes of the successor "Nightmares Reign" they then pushed some people in front of the head, many others were thrilled. Now their new EP "Delirium" was released these days, a good reason to interview singer Tony.

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Hello first of all. How are you doing? You just released the new EP "Delirium". How are the reactions to it so far? And how was the release show with Vidargängr and Nocturnal Witch?

Hello Gerald. We are doing well, so far there are only positive reactions to the new material. Release show was great, full house. A meeting of many friends and acquaintances. 

REVIEW MESSE MORTUAIRE "NOCTURNAL DEMONIC VISITATION"

Messe Mortuaire from Lille, France release their first EP "Nocturnal Demonic Visitation" these days via the busy Greek label Repulsive Echo Records. I heard the band name this day for the first time, but hope to hear more soon from this diabolical death metal band, which is composed of three veterans of the French scene.