Talking with . . . Belphegor
Interviewed 5/29/2005 by Brett VanPut
Interview with vocalist and guitarist Helmuth
Austrian black metallers Belphegor are one of those rare bands which get better with each release. Their early albums; 1994's The Last Supper and 1997's Blutsabbath, only hinted at the greatness to come on 2000's Necrodaemon Terrorsathan. They're now signed with Napalm Records and their latest; 2003's Lucifer Incestus and 2005's Goatreich Fleshcult, see Belphegor combining death metal and black metal for a crushing combination. Here are some questions which frontman and guitarist Helmuth gladly answered.
You should be out touring with Arkhon Infaustus and In Aeternam right now, how is the tour going?
Hey maniacs, well, it was great journey through Europe. We had a good time and lots of good shows. It was amazing for us to finally present the new songs from Goatreich Fleshcult album live. I think that the maniacs are as content as we are. All tracks we have played from the new album are really mighty live.
What type of accomodations do the bands get for a tour like this?
You can't tell it that way, it's all very different. It was a cool nightliner tour with three bands, crew, soundman and some support acts and let me tell you it was a total success for Belphegor.
What do you like the most about being on the road?
A good PA that guarantees a transparent sound of course is a hammer and also different from hall to hall. By now its more important for us to guarantee the people that come to our show and support us a good show with fat light (if possible) and a good sophisticated sound. Of course it's always difficult to make the speed perfectly soundable, cause our songs are very fast. Belphegor is a live band, we love to play live and we're on the road a lot too. There is nothing better than to shoot the songs in highspeed blasts into the crowd and when the people begin to bang, to flip out, yeah that's it, it's a good feeling, a real pleasure if you have played a concert and if the people like it, hard metal is for the fucking stage.
What do you do to keep busy while doing the travelling?
To drink a lot. Belphegor is a live band, sometimes it can be a real pain in the ass of course; the steady waiting and seventeen people in the bus, but a good concert compensates all the efforts. Of course we always meet faces we already know and there are always new ones too. Let me say that 80% of a tour are simply interesting, you experience a lot, travel around, meet metal communities and have a good time in the sign of the blastbeat.
You've had to deal with some censorship issues lately, does this cause any significant problems?
Yes we had a lot of problems that for. Still we´ve never done this for any shock value, we fucking dig that obscure stuff, but if any moralizers out there feel provoked or disgusted by this art, fine with me. The vocals on Goatreich Fleshcult again tell you about the church as an institution, that dig their own graves. And let me tell you- no, it's not about a bad boy image or bullshit like that. We are not worse as a gardener, we are simple metalheads, who glorify hard metal for more than a decade. It's more about resistance, denial, rebellion against these superficial- conservative old-established structures/ religions - fanatics. Look what for example money- greed can do with the species human, we destroy our environment, nature, to got even more out of mother earth. But nature hits back more and more often, and the next generations will pay the bills for the decades of daylight robbery.
I'm always amazed at how Belphegor albums just get better and better- what do you attribute for this success?
Thanks for your appreciation, yes we work hard on our instruments, to get better and increase on each album. No matter if leads/ vokals/ drums, we try to set in the instruments more effective in each album, to arrange it better and to develop in every aspect. It's always a big challenge when we start with the songwriting, it's like a labyrinth into the abyss, and yes, we try everything to do everything better in the musical area, we are addicted to this hellride. It was our goal to ban our hardest and tightest album on c.d. and I think we made that. Hell yeah, we tried a few new things, trying to take our typical sound a bit further each time, musicwise we gave our best, like always. The whole album got very brutal and fleshy, the variety is for sure one of our strengths on the new album, let me tell you that we are very proud of this album. Goatreich Fleshcult became a total death-monster.
Your band has been around a long time, how does everything differ today compared to when you were preparing The Last Supper?
Let me tell you I enjoy listening to the old albums and I am very proud of them. I combine every album with a certain period of life, it's like a diary, or a tattoo, if you know what I mean.
You recently released a tenth anniversary disc with a lot of early recordings, when you look back to the band's origins what thoughts come to mind?
Our goals simply were to make brutal music and to have a good time. It's indescribable what I was allowed to experience. We are now there for so much time, and it still is a fun, the feeling to produce hard music is still in us. I'd say we are even more ambitious than ever before.
Other than music, what are some other important aspects of your life?
The most important of course is my instrument, hard guitar music in general, then there is the band, managment, rehearsals and then the usual things like travelling, food, and sport.
Do you have free time to do what you want and if so, what consumes this time?
We are just metal fans who play/ hail this music for years now, hard guitar. You know, it's all about music, say music has absolute priority, I couldn't imagine a life without music or guitar.
Final comments?
Well Brett, thanks for the space and support. We are already in contact with some bookers from Canada/ U.S.A., and I wish 2005 we'll have the opportunity to tour here at your place, would be an absolute dream for us and it's a big wish to present our new opus Goatreich Fleshcult live. All metal demons should go out and check Goatreich Fleshcult, so see you on the road to hell, death cheers.
Discography:
2005... Goatreich Fleshcult (Napalm)
2003... Lucifer Incestus (Napalm)
2000... Necrodaemon Terrorsathan (Last Episode)
1997... Blutsabbath (Last Episode)
1994... The Last Supper (Lethal)
Current line-up:
Helmuth... vocals and guitars
Sigurd... .guitars
Barth... bass
Nefastus... drums
www.belphegor.at
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