1. Hi and welcome to Reacciones Negativas. How is everything going in Liturgy since the release of “Renihilation”? Any news we should know? What are you listening to while answering this interview?
Things have been going great. We’ve been touring a lot in the past six months. We’ll be coming to Europe in September, though I’m not sure if Spain is on the itinerary or not. Currently I’ve been listening to a lot of weird post-romantic classical music. Right now I’m listening to a violin concerton by Szymanowski.
2. The first know release of Liturgy was your previous six-track EP, “Immortal life”, from 2007. That EP has a very different sound from your first album. It seems you were using a drum machine on that one and the sound is definitely closer to a mix of droning Post-Hardcore, Industrial and some Black Metal influences than what you’re playing now. Why did the sound of the band change/evolve and how did this evolution get started, until you had the sound of “Renihilation”?
Yes, the first one has a drum machine. I had the idea of using a “burst beat” instead of a blast beat. That meant accelerating and decelerating the tempo of the drum machine to create a dynamic effect that follows the harmony. At first I didn’t think it would be possible to create the same effect with a live drummer, but Greg was willing to try it out, and it turned out to work. But of course with a traditional band arrangement one inevitably sounds like more of a traditional band.
3. On that EP you covered a song from My Bloody Valentine, “No More Sorry”. In the latest years we've seen an approach of styles which used to be quite far like Post Hardcore/Shoegaze and Black and Doom Metal. Why do you think those, apparently, totally different styles ended up giving birth to such brilliant releases as we're seeing in examples like Alcest or Lantlos? Which are the common points between them and, specially, between their creators, in your opinion?
Yes I think sonically shoegaze and black metal share a certain vibe. There’s a common sort of earshattering transcendental drone that underlies both styles. My interest in My Bloody Valentine predates my interest in Darkthrone. In a way the former was the starting point but I felt like using black metal it would be possible to go further with a certain chaos…. But anyway, I think more and more genres don’t matter, because everyone listens to everything anyway. I don’t like splintering into subculture; I think music should always strive to be universal.
4. I’ve read on the Internet that in 2005 and 2006 you released two demos. How was the sound of Liturgy on those recordings? Was it similar to the one of the EP? How did four guys from Brooklyn with obvious influences from other kinds of music end up listening and playing this rawer style you've got now, more usual in Europe?
Those demos were made on a four track and there are very few copies. The music doesn’t sound very distinctive; it sounds basically like an imitation of LLN black metal. A cross between Mutiilation and Vlad Tepes. I was really hit hard when I discovered those bands, and that’s part of what made me want to make black metal of my own.
5. From the name of the band to the title of your first EP or some of your song titles, we can find references to religion, paganism and life after death. Is this the main subject or philosophical influence that drives your music and your energy? How would you sum up the background or spiritual influence of Liturgy and how is that reflected on your usual life?
I think its very important to be conscious about ethical choices and to be very disciplined. The philosopher that has influenced me the most is Nietzsche. His ethics boils down to “Say yes, and keep going” which is a truism if not taken seriously, but it’s actually very difficult to do and there’s a strange mystical quality to that maxim because following it amounts to a kind of faith is a true self. What you have to aceept is that saying yes entails intense suffering along with intense ecstasy. The influence on my usual life is that I’m devoting it to Liturgy instead of some desk job.
6. I hope you won’t mind if I do this question, but when it comes to the vocal part of Liturgy, which I liked a lot for its outrageous energy, I have the impression that you're not using any lyrics and simply screams, using the voice like another instrument. Am I wrong? On which level do you see the voices as an instrument and how much necessary do you find the lyrics? I ask you, not only because of what I was saying before, but because of the intros you used on the album, which are fields of clean voices too.
With black metal there’s no question of lyrics being understood, obviously. I like writing lyrics and they are important, though what I’m singing tends to only be loosely related to what the lyrics actually are. I think as time goes on the chant element in the vocals will become more prominent.
7. The influences of bands like (especially) Ulver or Burzum (should I add Vlad Tepes, as you wrote on your Myspace profile?) are quite obvious. How did you get introduced into their music and what was the first effect it had on you? Were you into any other form of extreme Metal before or there was something else than music that attracted to those sounds? What does this music have, that you couldn't find in any other form of art?
There’s lots of metal and hardcore that I’ve loved for a long time. Band I’ve been in to are in the vein of Converge, Meshuggah, Suffocation, Tragedy. There are two things that are special about black metal: the first is that it interlocks with drone. The blast beat is such an extreme thing, it’s like it pushes the music beyond metal into a different sphere. I wanted to conceive of the burst beat as something that would extend that tendency. And secondly it is so imbued with romanticism, philosophy and grandeur. It really reaches back and touches a lot of western history in a way that opens up a lot of avenues for exploration. And it is so spiritual of course.
8. Some of those bands had a very brutal and raw approach on their first albums, as you have, but then evolved into more experimental ways of music, even completely abandoning Black Metal. What’s your opinion about that evolution? Is Liturgy a band which could have a similar evolution, or one of any kind, or do you prefer to keep that raw and aggressive sound?
I imagine sticking with a raw sound. Liturgy won’t ever abandon black metal. Especially not the way Ulver did. I’d rather look for ways to bring new things into black metal, while keeping it consistent as black metal.
9. Another important reference to Ulver’s music comes when we speak about the production of the album, and I’d like to ask you about this subject. When an album like “Nattens Madrigal”, “Hvis Lysett Tar Oss” or the recordings of many other primitive Black Metal bands are unleashed, people tend to think the production is bad and the band didn’t pay attention on getting a good one. What’s your opinion about this? Do you think that kind of sound/feeling would be unaltered or even possible with a clean and perfect production? What’s your favourite album, speaking about the production, when it comes to this kind of sounds?
Oh yeah I think it goes without saying that with respect to both of those examples the production quality is a conscious choice. Especially with Ulver. Nattens Madrigal is in fact my favorite record in terms of production, and we were going for that sound in producing our record. So raw but also so crisp.
10. One of the things that really surprised me from Liturgy is how far you seem from the usual visual aspects of the Black Metal scene, not only for not showing any picture of you on the booklet of the album but because of the live pics I’ve seen of you,where you’re simply four guys dressed like any other people in the street. What do you think about the image of Black Metal? Being (I imagine) Black Metal fans, do you like it anyways on other bands or is it something you never were into?
I’m very into the black metal look when other bands do it. We just aren’t part of a metal scene, and so we don’t dress up that way on stage. It really wasn’t such an intentional choice.
11. Still around the same subject, in the first days of the Nordic Black Metal scene there was a huge mysticism around those bands which were mostly unknown, who didn’t show their real faces and praised a misanthropic and satanic way of life. On which degree you think that way of being is reflected on Liturgy? Do you agree/understand that way of expression or Liturgy is completely disconnected from that part?
I support a satanic way of life if that means channeling vital energy and disrespect towards conventional morality. What I completely disagree with is misanthropy. Transcendental Black Metal is humanist and affirmative in the spirit of Zarathustra. Misanthropy is confused and sick; I recognize that earlier generations of black metal valued it, but I don’t.
12. These last years there has been an explosion of bands from the USA which mix the purest forms of Black Metal with other influences from Post-Hardcore, Drone and similar styles, which started to be known through Wolves In The Throne Room and then Krallice, Cobalt, Liturgy, Ecthra and others, with different results but having some impact on the Black Metal scene on a global level. How do you see that explosion? What’s your opinion about those different bands? Is there some kind of connection or relation between them or you work on an individual level?
Yes, it’s interesting. I think it’s all happening spontaneously in a disconnected way. I never payed attention to USBM until we began playing shows more often. At the creative level I’d almost say there is no scene, thought the grouping from the outside does make sense.
13. Finally I’d like to know whatever you can tell us about the near future for Liturgy. Are there any recordings/releases planned? Is there any possibility that we could see you playing live over here or is it too soon to know it?
We’re working on a new record which will most likely be released in early 2011. We are doing a European tour in September.
14. Thanks a lot for your time and answers, it’s been a pleasure to have you here. I’ll be waiting for the follower of “Renihilation”. If you want to add anything else, go on.