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<< Interviews this month
file under black/pagan metal
The Dutch black metal scene is alive! Last month both SauroN and Cirith Gorgor released a new record and both bands surpassed their previous work convincingly. First up is Cirith Gorgor, their fourth full-length is simply called ‘Cirith Gorgor’. Lords Of Metal briefly touches upon this monster of a record before turning to a more in depth examination of Marchosias’ (guitars) thoughts about the black metal genre and scene.
Text: Richard G.
 You have just released a new record simply titled ‘Cirith Gorgor’, which I enjoy far more than its predecessor ‘Firestorm Apocalypse’. Where do you feel your band has progressed the most?
‘Firestorm Apocalypse’ came out after a long and difficult period in which we replaced guitarist Astaroth Daemonum by Inferno and in which we finally after a long search ended up with Ketzer Records. The material had been written a few years ago already and with time some of the songs had become fairly long. I have always liked lengthy sophisticated songs but for the new album I tried to keep things more compact (with the exception of the historic epic ‘Der Untergang / Победа!!’). I think that this combined with simply better riffs have led to this good result. On a side note: people that keep on complaining about the length of the songs do not understand our music and have absolutely no feeling for the black art that we create and they should just shut up! Cirith Gorgor will never ever become a mainstream band that plays extremely simple or catchy songs just to crawl up the ass of today’s lazy generation, people who would like to see that from us can sod off! In any case, the songs on ’Firestorm Apocalypse’ do not differ that much from those on ‘Cirith Gorgor’ and because I see the new album as a logical follow up I am kind of surprised that the reactions to the new album are much more positive than the previous one. Of course it is true that the quality of the recordings on ‘Cirith Gorgor’ are superior to that of ‘Firestorm Apocalypse’. The massive sound that we create now benefits the songs greatly because all of the details are better audible than ever. Even though I am still not fully satisfied with the production it is at least as solid as a rock thanks to Erwin Hermsen (Toneshed studio). Cirith Gorgor still plays hyperfast brutal black metal with a melodic twist and this will never change!
Self titled records often are special records in one way or another: it is either the debut album of a band, or it turns out to be the most successful record. Do you expect ‘Cirith Gorgor’ to be a special record?
To me every record is special! Even though each album that we release follows a rather strict musical path it still reflects all of our feelings and thoughts of a certain period in time. Do not be fooled by the way, we named this album ‘Cirith Gorgor’ because no-one could come up with a suited title. And since I despise people who want black metal to be original in every thinkable aspect, this was a good reason not to think up an original title. I do not expect ‘Cirith Gorgor’ to be more special to us than our other albums, again with exception of ‘ Der Untergang / Победа!!’, that is a song that I am extremely happy with! It started out as an experiment to write a somewhat slower song, because usually we write most of our material on blast speed. I have been interested in the history of the second world war ever since my childhood and it seemed fitting to dedicate a song to one of the most brutal episodes of that war: the battle for Stalingrad. I nearly went mad in the long nights that I was putting together the lyrics and the music, but eventually it all worked out fine and the song will remain very special for me.
Your previous vocalist Nimroth has left the band, why is he no longer part of Cirith Gorgor?
There have always been musical differences between Nimroth and the rest of the band, mostly concerning the complexity of the music and the lyrics. Nimroth is an ardent fan of straight to the point in your face black metal with ditto lyrics. As main composer of all of the Cirith Gorgor material (after the departure of Astaroth at least) I have always had problems with consciously keeping songs more accessible as I simply refuse to do it!! Yet this situation never posed any real problems and the cooperation with Nimroth has been without any troubles for many years. I was always impressed by his energetic live performance. But a year ago the it became too much after all and we parted ways. Nimroth had lost his interest in the music and we did not really like the idea of having a not fully motivated vocalist performing on ‘Cirith Gorgor’.
On the new record Levithmong took care of the vocal part quite convincingly, yet it will be quite difficult for him to combine this live with his drumming. How was it for him to do the vocals? And how is the search for a new singer coming along?
Levithmong enjoyed the screaming so much that he proposed to function as the new vocalist and that we should go find a new drummer. The rest of the band turned this down immediately, because we feel that Levithmong’s drumming defines our brutal style of black metal. Because of this we are searching for a new vocalist for over a year now… It seems as though there are simply no vocalists at all in our region. At the moment we are working with Mor de Naere from Walpurgisnacht as a session vocalist and that is going pretty good. Now we are at least able to promote the new album and we have a European tour scheduled for September 2007.
 What does the concept ‘true black metal’ mean for your band and how important is it?
I always feel kind of strange when I hear the term ‘true black metal’. On the one hand it is a description for black metal as I came to know it in the early 90s, originating in the Norwegian scene. In this respect I would almost place it on a pedestal, but I do admit that this is partly due to a lot of nostalgia from my part. On the other hand it is a fact that there are thousands of bands out there screaming from the top of their lungs that they are playing ‘true black metal’. It is very annoying to discover that many of those bands do not exist that long or have very young band members; I tend to not take their statements very serious then…. In my opinion you need to have a decent amount of life experience and musical background in order to fully understand the black metal subculture. To me black metal is not so much a musical genre as it as a feeling and it is exactly this characteristic which sets black metal apart from other genres. I get the same feelings of superiority when I am walking in the mountains on my own, far away of today’s so-called society. Black metal will always be defined by an extremely anti-christian and anti-societal morals, in short spreading the message of the horned one! People who do not understand this or do not agree should stay away from our live gigs… I do not object to use of the term ‘true black metal’ by bands that adhere to a black metal life style. I usually try to avoid the term, because it has lost its meaning over the years. To Cirith Gorgor true black metal is important in that the way that we understand this term holds the band together.
What is the role that Satan or Satanism plays in your music? Who or what is Satan for Cirith Gorgor?
Black metal is by definition satanic, the entire concept is based on that since the beginning and I feel that black metal bands should honour this. Satan is the force that abides deep within yourself and at the same time binds the entire cosmos. By meditation and self-learning it is possible to go through a process of becoming aware of oneself and so become aware of the presence of this power that lies in everything around you. Apart from being a bunch of very decent drinking partners, Cirith Gorgor is also a spiritual collective based on satanic morals.
The most important ingredient of good black metal is probably the misanthropic ideas of the band members that produce the music. What is the best reason for hating mankind anno 2007?
The feeling of superiority of being human.
How important is it in these days of Christian decline (especially in western society) to oppose religion and the Christendom?
What do you mean Christian decline! It is of course different throughout the country but where I live at the moment you receive religoius pamflets during lunch and you are under constant danger of getting converted! Also take a look at our new government which contains more than enough Christian elements, what are we supposed to think of that…? Personally I think that everyone who supports such a government should be deported. Religious influences in the western world are still very much present and a lot of generation will pass before these have disappeared. The most extreme example is (of course) the USA, where 92% of the people believe that there is something up there and half of its inhabitants do not believe in evolution (and indeed in general, Americans have not really evolved…). Fundamentalist Jews and Christians are in charge over there and determine the future of our planet. If you ask me the axis of evil runs straight from America to Israel! And then there still is the biggest religious threat that is the Islam, which has been able to gain ground in our country thanks to reverse discrimination. In any case there is still a lot to be concerned about the coming years!
Which other genres of music and bands do you like to listen to outside black metal?
Outside od\f black metal trher is not a lot that I like… I sometimes listen to traditional heavy metal like Iron Maiden, Metallica and Cacophony, and occult doom like Pentagram and Black Sabbath, thrash as produced by Slayer and Kreator and satanic death metal by Deicide and Morbid Angel. I sincerely hate classical music!!
What is the best black metal band and the best black metal album ever and why?
Abigor remains my favourite band because their music has the power to make my soul rise into the ultimate darkness far above our own dimension. On top of that members of Abigor have always adhered to a very extreme philosophy from which they will never stray. It is virtually impossible to name the best black metal album ever, there are simply too many…
http://www.cirithgorgor.nl
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