One of the most consistently extreme bands on the Death/Black scene crest their throne built of bones once again to uncompromisingly attack humanity, three years after their 2014 demonstration of brutality, ‘Conjuring The Dead’. ‘Totenritual’ consists of nine compositions which, blow-by-blow, silence any doubts about the supremacy of these icons of the European scene. We caught up with founding member Helmuth to find out more about the new album and what makes Belphegor one of the more interesting extreme metal bands out there.
Ricardo: Thanks for the opportunity you are giving us, how stable is the line up these days in the band? As we know you had your fair share of so many people leaving and joining, is this the strongest line up you had played with?
Helmuth: Not more than other bands nowadays. A few guys always came back if their work allow it. We demand a lot and aren’t a mainstream band, so often it’s a hard fight to survive and so on. We are a three piece now, and for live cremations we always recruit a talented guitarist to represent the material as it sounds on CD. Our wall of sound is way too complex and doesn’t work with one guitar. You open yourself, get taken by the chaos, that’s what ‘TOTENRITUAL’ stand for and that’s how we see ourself in a live situation. Attend our cremations and understand the real darkness.
Ricardo: Is it fair to say that you are a hard person to work with or just a misunderstood genius?
Helmuth: Well, people that understand and respect my working ethic and passion [possession sometimes…] when it comes to BELPHEGOR have a easy life with me and in the band, people that think they don’t have to stay passionate, practice and get better, get a ticket and have to leave. Some people I worked with in the past, I really miss and we turned out to be good friends and some I have been happy they got out of the band. It’s like relationships sometimes you know. At the beginning you never know the other person. That’s why I tell all artists before they start working with me how I operate and what I expect, so I avoid trouble. Some get it, some just fuck up and are wastes of oxygen, I just try to be honest and know what I want and how I present BELPHEGOR and everything surrounding us.
Ricardo: As the years went by you had a chance to show your art to the masses, how proud were you when your first album was out for the world to witness the might of Belphegor?
Helmuth: The might of BELPHEGOR…well that sounds poetic to me. Its been a long time ago, I can’t even remember anymore. I just know we have always been into excess and it was a great time to release “THE LAST SUPPER” January 1995. I didn’t have the chance, I took the chance and there have been thousands of sacrifices on the way, you can’t imagine. Anyways I guess if you fight hard and go step by step than you are pleased about every small thing that works out. This strength and iron well mixed with a huge portion insanity made it happen that we are nowadays one of the spearheads of the extreme Metal genre.
If I look back I’m really proud of what we achieved and always come back after we fell down, stood up again and re-started the march again and again worldwide, never give up, fight for your visions no matter how many obstacles are in the path…you can overcome almost everything, like Friedrich Nietzsche taught.
Ricardo: Your upcoming album “Totenritual” will be your 11th studio album, was the writing and recording process done in a different approach or had you kept it as it was before?
Helmuth: For TOTENRITUAL we tuned our guitar down even lower than ever before, so we reached a different low-end tone and a more ritualistic vibe, a kind of new soundwall [B and A# drop – info for shredders]. Those lower tuned guitars are a new challenge and an interesting experiment, it opened a new guitar world in my playing, I’m still blown away by how the new material rips. The tone and the atmosphere have really given a new heaviness to BELPHEGOR´s sound.
Ricardo: By listening to your first two singles ‘Apophis-Black Dragon’ and ‘Baphomet’, this record sounds as dark as ever, what did you want to bring as a listening experience?
Helmuth: Yes, everything sounds exactly as we wanted it to. Tracks like the above mentioned and “SWINEFEVER – REGENT OF PIGS, or “THE DEVILS SON” represent exactly how we wanted to sound anno 2017!´
Soon we will release the video of “BAPHOMET”…first the censored one and than the “uncensored” after the release date. Be prepared for incarnated evil in the form of a video clip.
Ricardo: Where would you like to take this record on the road, is there a magical place that you would like to tour? What are the plans when you hit the road again?
Helmuth: I adore leaving spiritually my body for plus one hour during a BELPHEGOR stage presence, letting the demons take over and get into total possession, in trance with the music, it’s a great feeling if you feel the people, their sweat, their energy,…cant compare it with anything else.
Each show has its own feeling, the louder and wilder the audience gets the more we force ourselves to shred the tracks with uttermost brutality into the horde. That’s the essence of BELPHEGOR on stage experience, to get more intense and combine it with an authentic – raw Ritual show. Each ceremony is challenging-a challenge we rise to, it doesn’t matter if we play for 200 or 20,000 people. Priority next year will be marching in worldwide, we start Europe and than followed by North America, mid December a cult indoorfestival in Sweden, the BLACK CHRISTMASS, will mark our last ceremony 2017.
Ricardo: I have to say in the last 3 or 4 albums Belphegor has really found it’s identity, like you know it is Belphegor when it’s played, especially those mid tempo songs that I think is a signature style from this band, how do you identify yourself with your songs?
Helmuth: We wrote “THE LAST SUPPER” in 93-94 and released it January 1995, since this time we have developed our signature trademark sound. We were the first band that tried to find a balance between brutal Death Metal and blasting, vicious Black Metal and melt it together to a kind of symbiosis, a mixture of the extremities of both styles.
I identify myself with everything that belongs to BELPHEGOR, it’s a part of my life you know. It’s way more than just a band to me, its my attitude and my legacy, my identity. Doesn’t matter if its the cover, the lyrical content or the music that thrones above all.
Ricardo: One of the things is your lyrics feels like they are tales, we all know bands like Belphegor have that approach but after being playing them for so long how fresh do you try to keep your lyrics without getting repetitive?
Helmuth: There is a lot of shit currently going on in this world and that always makes for good inspiration for art and music. Religion is still the base of political power in most countries, and as long as there are sheep, there will be corrupt tyrants intent on leading them. Religion is the most efficient way to control and mold a large number of humans, so I do not see true freedom of expression happening anywhere in the world anytime soon. Some countries are just more brainwashed more than others.
Here is lyrical-wise a kinda breakdown of some songs:
“APOHPIS – BLACK DRAGON” the ruler of darkness and chaos – incarnated by evil, the black dragon, indestructible. He always takes the forms of dragons and serpents. If you look into his eyes for too long you die. He is said to be the oldest enemy of the sun god RA [RE] in Egyptian mythology, born from the saliva from goddess Neth. Vocals on this exalted track are in four different languages.
For this exalted brutal hymn we also added a 4th language, ancient Egyptian from an archaic book of the dead [Toth] . I’ve been on vacation to Egypt three times. I’ve visited the Giza Pyramids [been inside a Pyramide, über-impressive same as I stood on top of the sun Pyramid in Mexico, an honor that I had the chance to travel to such magickal places..], also traveled toValley Of Kings, Luxor, Museum in Cairo where I saw the mummified Tutanchamun and the golden mask and alot other inspiring relicts, so I kinda know what I’m talking about
“BAPHOMET“, The song is both a chant and a metaphorical description of the ancient Baphomet deity. The church considered it an enemy and a demonic character, so naturally we enjoy using it against them to mock their ignorance and witless fears . The sabbatic Ritual Goat, a divine androgyne, the creator. Power absolute. Goat God Dominus!! The arrangement deals with the duality of life. Man – Woman. Death – Life. Fire-Water. Human-Demon, Love – Hate. It is also about discipline, freedom and the will to walk your own way “alone” without letting someone else decide things relating to your life. Its essence is purity in solitude. When two become one, all is silent. There have been many old rituals for understanding the Baphomet, since it is not a deity to be summoned, but rather one to be becomed. There are influences from these rituals in the text. And that is the reason why it is written in the first person “I AM” style.”
I thought the lyrics for “THE DEVIL´S SON” asked a particularly interesting question. History is filled with artists who got their gift from selling their soul to the devil. As if being more than average is a dark and frightening thing from a Christian perspective. “THE DEVIL´S SON” deals with the life story of the Italian violinist Niccolo Paganini, written from his point of view. He had very pale skin and always dressed in black His virtuoso violin performance and [demonic] technique of precision and his appearance with his long limbs, nimble fingers, and joints led people to the idea that he must have been possessed and had a pact with the devil. Very interesting indeed. The song is blasting with ultra-fast shredding guitars and a classically influenced arrangement. I don’t want to reveal more here, so people will have to wait and listen to this blasting, intense hymn. Btw, if you ask yourself why the title “THE DEVIL´S SON”, that was one of Paganini´s nicknames they gave him
“EMBRACING A STAR” is musically probably the most experimental track on TOTENRITUAL, and I am very proud of this composition. It’s a Death/ Black Metal opera to me with so many varied influences,…an eruption of extreme sounds and goes direct into the track „TOTENRITUAL“. Pure Magick. We tried a lot of new things and incorporated several new elements, such as acoustic guitars, monk choirs, chants etc.
You can hear these ceremonial influences throughout the whole album. It is very different from the rest with the lyrics being very philosophical. Old magical manuscripts and works of Crowley are also referenced in the lyrics; sex, magick, and self-creation. It celebrates the inner ecstasy and self-empowerment that comes from sex for pleasure. Every sexual act is not meant to create new life and that is as blasphemous and insulting to the Christian ideas of human relations. I relish in this idea and practice. The mood is elevated and holds the spirit of what Friedrich Nietzsche preached: self-overcoming.
“SWINEFEVER – REGENT OF PIGS“ is blasphemy against the hypocritical institution of the church, and it is probably the most brutal constantly attacking track on this album with hateful vocals.
Ricardo: When Sigurd was in the band you both used to share the lead guitar work but since he left you had really stepped up as a total shredder, what is the secret to come up with some evil and twisted solos like you only can do?
Helmuth: Yes Mr. Sigurd was in the band from 1993 til 2006, we still and always will miss this inspiring guy. We were constantly drinking and just excessively and it got worse and worse. Guess that was the main reason why he left or he would be dead right now- at least his liver would be. We had a great, intense, creative time together and travelled the world. Was a big loss back than as he left. When we meet nowadays, unfortunately which is very seldom, we get trashed and celebrate. We get nostalgic. I mean he was in the band 13 years, so we went through a lot together.
I had luck and Serpenth joined 2006, and since this time he’s the force on my side and now with Bloodhammer on drums since 2014 we are an unholy trinity, a force of the dead – unstoppable, there is no other band that comes close to our sound nor that I see as competition, especially not in a live situation. We crush.
“You only can do”…hahar thank you for the appreciation man! I wish and I practice a lot before we enter the studio, but still I would dig to have more time to play guitar. My main secret is probably my insanity and possession when it comes to my visions that I try –even for years– that they come true, and I don’t try to force it you know, sometimes it works sometimes not. But I always try you know, if I fail..okay fuck it, I stand up and march on and get over to my next masterplan. It’s important to have visions and dreams and to not give up easily, and that’s what I’m doing. I preach freedom, one of the most important things in life. I’m very hermetical against everything and adore solitude and silence, to walk my own way and make own decisions and decide for myself.
Ricardo: Apart from devoting your life to the band, what do you do in your spare time, how’s life outside Belphegor?
Helmuth: I prefer to keep my private things to myself you know, I live close to the mountains surrounded by magnificent nature. When we aren’t on tour I work out, motivate me to stay in shape for our tours and stay isolated and mostly alone in my own Reich with myself. I adore it to not be surrounded by people all the time, when I get in my misathrophic Shaman mood I often don’t talk for days. Insane, yeah it is sometimes, same when I start creating a new project.
Ricardo: We all know your music is relentless and has no boundaries but what other musical tastes do you have?
Helmuth: I’m very open minded when it came to Music, I dig a lot, list would be endless. Starting from KISS [my first band, I remember as I bought DYNASTY on MC format, back in days the most evil band…all was talking about them and in newspaper there was articles and people get warned to not listen to such evil bands, in Austria it was like that, when I listen to this album nowadays its pop music [laughs] so they get me infected by all this that I’m doing here and of course the beloved AC/ DC]. Also NWOBHM caught my attention later on and still does, one of the best forces in Music. Also I adore flamenco guitars and classical composers such as Mozart, Brahms, Bach Paganini, Mussorgsky etc. So yeah from DANZIG to MÖTLEY CRÜE, MOTÖRHEAD [Rest In Piece Mr. Lemmy Kilmister, I still cant believe he’s not here anymore. Big loss for all, one of the last authentic guys in this circus, he was my youth idol and his sounds helped me through a lot hard times] to thrashers like FORBIDDEN, SLAYER and brutal Death/ Black acts such as MAYHEM, DEICIDE, NILE, AUTOPSY to just mention a few, I adore them all!
Ricardo: Now that we are talking about it why had you never toured Australia before? It is a shame because you have a great following here.
Helmuth: It’s a big priority for us, and we will sieze the opportunity when it comes to us. Yeah man it’s unfortunate, it’s the only continent we haven’t been to. Always when we get an offer we already have a tour lined up or are in the studio and not available. We get so many mails from the Metal community over there, asking when we finally make it to Australia, who want to see us in a live situation and it’s a big wish from us to finally make it to Australia, I heard so many good things about the Metal scene over there. I hope we get the opportunity 2018. We are ready and loaded. Hail Australia!
Ricardo: Thank you Helmuth for letting us know more about the man behind the machine of Belphegor hopefully one day we will see you down under, any last words?
Helmuth: Thank you for this interesting chat mate. I’d like to mention that the digipak version of the album comes with two bonus live tracks, both recorded in April this year at Inferno festival in Oslo, Norway with the titles “GASMASK TERROR” from the “CONJURING THE DEAD” LP and “STIGMA DIABOLICUM” from “BONDAGE GOAT ZOMBIE”. I hope people can’t wait to get and order/ buy the new album, titled “TOTENRITUAL”, and support us so that we can continue marching with maximum strength worldwide and finally make it to Australia as well! Hail Death! Hail Magick!
