Q: It’s a rather well-known fact that having you for an interview could be an even bigger challenge than making ABSURD play live. Thus, it’s a great pleasure for us to welcome you today. Can you explain the reason for such discretion? Now that ABSURD was once again reformed, should we expect more live appearances in the near future?
A: Some years ago, I have concluded that I have nothing left to say in any public interview. I was not an active member of Absurd anymore, hence it became increasingly uncomfortable to reply to questions concerning the band as if I’d been their spokesperson of sorts. If they didn’t want to reply to interviews, then why should I keep doing that on their behalf? Furthermore, I don’t deem myself interesting or important enough to warrant that sort of attention that comes with interview requests, as if I’d truly have to say something that wasn’t said already (by those who actually made history or had any other lasting impact on the world as we know it). Thus I decided that I would quit giving interviews at some point, and that I did with my interview for the fifth issue of The Sinister Flame in 2015. Now that I am back in Absurd, I am sure there will be opportunity for a few more interviews that are actually band-related. Also there will be more live appearances with Absurd in the future, as a matter of course.
Q: The radical scene is famously known for being clandestine so when you say “their spokesperson”, whom exactly are you referring to? Could you please elaborate on the history of ABSURD and the recent changes you made to its line-up? Now that ABSURD was once again reformed, should we expect more live appearances in the near future?
A: Spokesperson for the previous Absurd-line up, as a matter of course. They quit answering interviews long ago, so anytime I was being asked for an interview there’d be questions concerning Absurd too. I have concluded that it ain’t up to me to talk about a band that I am not an active part of, especially not about anything that concerns their self-image. That is different if it’s me who calls the shots and decides what the band ought to be all about, as it is right now. On the official website of Absurd (www.hordeabsurd.com) one can find a “Biography”-tab that details the history of the band and talks about the line-up changes too. Long story short, the band remained in a hiatus for the past five years and would probably have vanished into oblivion without me taking over, at long last. The first two live shows, of the reformed band, will take place at the Asgardsrei festival in Kiew, December 2017, as well as at the Hot Shower festival in Italy, April 2018.
Q: Speaking of concerts, it looks like the overall situation on the Black Metal scene got much worse since Absurd has performed it’s last show five years ago. It became all the more apparent in the light of the recent “witch hunt” against the bands that were never associated with any political agenda whatsoever. First Deströyer 666, then Marduk and many other mainstream Black Metal bands came under attack from the radical left. Several shows were canceled by Antifa, thousands of angry comments and threats were left online by the Internet warriors. What is your stance on all this? Should the radical right get involved or, following the famous Nietzsche quote – “Was fällt, das soll man auch noch stossen”, one should stand aside and enjoy the show? How does this new reality differs from what Absurd has experienced before and how will it affect your live performances in the future?
A: Yes, the last live show of Absurd took place in Italy, in 2012, and it wasn’t so easy for the organizer to find a venue to begin with. He was forced to look for a new venue five times, due to various interferences, and he eventually managed to get hold of the last / final one a day before the concert date. Needless to say, Absurd are used to this kind of “cat-and-mouse”-game preceding their live shows, especially in central Europe, and it’s usually the same drama played out time and again: As soon as a concert is publicly announced / promoted (or leaked, for that matter), Antifa will alarm the local media, politicians and authorities in a joint effort to put pressure on the owner of the venue to make him call the concert off. He’s usually facing harassment, threats, vandalism and worse. No matter how much he’d believe in “freedom of speech”, unless he’s really thick-skinned he will most assuredly reconsider the decision to let a “nazi concert” take place at his venue. Keeping that in mind, there’s only one way to let Absurd play anywhere in central Europe and make sure it gonna happen for real: Do it clandestinely and keep the number of “those who know” at a minimum. That being said, I am not in the least surprised that Antifa keeps looking for soft targets that don’t / can’t go to such great lengths as underground bookers do, and thus they start to target mainstream (Black) Metal bands too. I’ve always reminded everyone, who believed Antifa would “just deal with the Nazis in Metal and leave everyone else alone”, that Antifa is operating on a strict “with us or against us”-modus operandi and that they will never cease targeting and hounding bands unless musicians actually swear allegiance to the Antifa agenda. It ain’t enough to say “Our band is not about politics!”, because for Antifa, everything is politics. Identity politics, minority politics, gender politics, you-name-it. Heavy Metal is a deeply conservative genre, it’s not “progressive” at all (just look at Manowar and you know what I am talking about). Even if there’s no NSBM anywhere to be found, there’s still so much more about Metal that offends Antifa and will provide them with ample reason to pursue their agenda in the Metal-scene no matter what. From my point of view, I’d say let’s watch and enjoy the show. Antifa gets it wrong many times, when they publish their “intel” about certain Metal-bands, but that doesn’t mean that they are necessarily wrong on all accounts to begin with. They simply don’t know where and what they need to look (for), because they are outsiders and strangers to Black Metal. Quite a few bands in this particular scene, especially the more popular ones, are feeling comfortable with fence sitting. They enjoy their private meetings and talks with the “bad guys” of the genre but they will never come out of the closet and admit that they are on friendly terms with someone deemed “Nazi”. If Antifa keeps pushing them off the fence and forces them to pick a side and stand their ground, all the better. Once bands will be so pissed off at Antifa that they ask their fans to don’t affiliate with anyone or anything “leftist”, we can step in and reach out and take over. Antifa is so much better at rallying hitherto unpolitical Metal-fans behind our banner and cause than what we could accomplish ourselves, just let them bring it on and keep it up for all I care! For every concert they manage to get cancelled, we’ll get a hundred more fans and followers of NSBM.
Q: Unlike many other artists, Black Metal musicians often strive to remain anonymous by hiding their persona behind a stage name, a mask or a corpse-paint. Some take it more seriously than others but the fact remains – having an alter-ego on the Black Metal scene is almost a must. How would you interpret it? Do you personally feel that such practice is necessary? How would you describe the relation between the creation and its creator?
A: Well, Black Metal is likely the most transcendent genre in the realm of “extreme Metal music”, I’d say. In Black Metal, the message always ought to matter so much more than the messenger. Hence the need to disguise your (individual) character and personality, to become a vessel and a medium for “higher powers” that speak in tongues through ones’ own music and lyrics. Black Metal, if it’s done right, is a communion with the Gods and the perfect Black Metal-concert is akin to a religious service where the band performs a ritual much like the (masked and cloaked) priesthood from days of yore; channeling spiritual power, from the realm beyond, by means of words and music and using the audience like an echo chamber where energy builds up until each and every individual in the place starts to share the same vision, starts to feel the same heartbeat, starts to believe in the same thing. With that being said, I deem it self-evident that any genuine Black Metal-musician needs to draw a line and keep his private life hidden from the public eye. Black Metal is not about you, not about any of your personal drama and instagram snapshots. Black Metal is a religious cult and must not be profaned by anything all-too-human.
Black Metal … is a communion with the Gods; channeling spiritual power, from the realm beyond, by means of words and music and using the audience like an echo chamber where energy builds up until each and every individual in the place starts to share the same vision, starts to feel the same heartbeat, starts to believe in the same thing.
JFN 2017
Q: Yet any religious cult requires a certain level of initiation; it varies from something as simple as baptism in Christianity or Wudu in Islam, to a much more complicated hierarchical procedure when it comes to the priesthood and clergy in any religious tradition, including Paganism. Black Metal, on the other hand, has no such practices whatsoever – anyone can record and self-release an album, live shows are open to the public and music records are easily accessible on the Internet. From this perspective, the Black Metal scene is very democratic and resembles a rather typical mass culture phenomenon than an esoteric movement. Consider, for instance, how mainstream Black Metal symbolism has become – a pentagram, an inverted cross, even Thor’s Hammer, are so commonly used in pop-culture that they’ve completely lost any occult or spiritual meaning. Taking all into account, do you believe there is really a way to keep anything sacred from the plebs and resist the total profanation of the world by the “mass-man” (as coined by Ortega y Gasset)? If so, do you think it is truly necessary or should one rather follow the advice of Ernst Jünger and adopt a sort of “active nihilism”?
A: Yes of course, Black Metal nowadays is, for all practical purposes, a genre intrinsically attached to that social as well as cultural phenomena known as “youth culture” which is, in the West at least, a fertile soil for anything mass-production and mass-consumption. However, that is not how it all began in 1992. Back in the days, Black Metal used to be a genuine counter-culture, aiming for no less but the manifestation of a counter-reality, that was isolated / insulated not only from the broader pop culture and entertainment industry, but from the rest of the Metal-scene too. There was so much spite and hatred between the nascent Black Metal-scene and the “Metal community”, with the former threatening the latter and the latter despising the former, that Black Metal really got nothing to do with Metal in all but name. Why, because those into Black Metal were not that much interested in collecting records and hanging out at concerts. They’d rather attempt to blur the borderline between fantasy and reality and make all the Blood, Fire, Death, that fueled the scene back in the days, come true. The probably most iconic cover artwork in the history of Black Metal is that of Burzum’s “Aske” in 1993, displaying the ruins of Fantoft Stavkirke near Bergen. A church set ablaze by the mastermind of Burzum (although he is denying it to this day), Varg “Count Grishnackh” Vikernes. The “war against christianity” became a reality; music and lyrics were no longer confined to the realm of art but became a means to an end, tearing apart the fabric of our reality to let us glimpse a tiny bit of “what once was”. Hence the “religious quality” of Black Metal; but it is self-evident that this must not be compared to organized religion that comes with hierarchies and ceremonies, because each and every effort of establishing one esoteric order or another, within the Black Metal-scene, has inevitably come to naught. No, Black Metal is (or rather, it was in the past much more than it is now) akin to the unbridled religious fervor of the shamans and berzerks, of the hermits and zealots. An individual communion with the Gods and otherworldly powers that requires no mediator; neither temple nor priest. Black Metal was extreme music that appealed to extreme characters. That has profoundly changed when reality caught up with many and made them face the consequences for their “evil deeds”; from there on Black Metal was compromised and slowly but surely incorporated not only into the broader Metal-scene, but into pop culture and entertainment industry too. The rise of NSBM was the immediate reaction to that development, I might add. I don’t think that we can return to a status quo ante in Black Metal, but we must not give up on this genre, either. There are so many bands, young and older ones, still adhering to that true quintessence of Black Metal, and we can provide them with an infrastructure of our own that permits them to record and release their music, get it distributed worldwide, and play at concerts and festivals where Antifa can not intervene. If we remain steadfast and loyal to our ideas and ideals, regardless of whether or not we are “alone against all”, then there will always be a counter-current to the mainstream. What else matters?
Black Metal is akin to the unbridled religious fervor of the shamans and berzerks, of the hermits and zealots. An individual communion with the Gods and otherworldly powers that requires no mediator; neither temple nor priest. Black Metal was extreme music that appealed to extreme characters.
JFN 2017
Q: In the interview with Velesova Sloboda (which is probably your best-known interview among the Russian-speaking supporters and definitely the most elaborated discussion on the classic conservative-revolutionary topics by a Black Metal musician) you state the following: “Deshalb sind meine Helden auch jene tragischen Lichtgestalten, die einen frühen und furchtbaren Tod sterben – ohne der Verwirklichung ihrer Vision auch nur nahegekommen zu sein.” Can you elaborate on this notion of heroic fatalism and maybe provide a historical figure as an example to illustrate your point?
A: Well, I am an ardent believer in the cyclic nature of history – of mankind and the world we make and shape. There is no linear progression (evolution) that takes man from a gloomy cave, some hundreds of thousands years ago, and places him in the enlightened environment of a Galactic civilization long after. Contrary to that, history is like an ocean with tides, ebb and flow, and small or strong currents that sometimes intertwine, mingle, and ceaselessly circulate. Many a high civilizations were swallowed up by the bottomless chasm (literally so!), with just a few remains washed up on the beach that have left us marvel in wonder when we came across them on our quest for deeper knowledge and hidden lore. History repeats itself inasmuch that we witness the rise and reign of cultures that blossom within civilizations just to be torn asunder by the onslaught of barbarians who, in the long run, may just beget a new culture and civilization of their own. The overarching concept is that of the cosmic cycles starting with the divine Golden Age and slowly but perpetually declining into the profane Dark Age, when entropy takes over and everything culminates in apocalyptic blood, fire, death – just to start the cycles anew. According to esteemed scholars like Devi and Serrano, we do indeed live in the Dark Age – the Kali Yuga of Hinduism – that is toxic to anything and anyone embracing a divine spark carried over from that myth-enshrouded Golden Age, when Gods walked the Earth and created man after their image. With that being said, it ought to be self-evident that heralders of the Golden Age, those who hail from an era long gone and not yet to be, will inevitably come to naught, be defeated and devastated thoroughly, in this age of utter moral degeneration and spiritual decline. They have no place here, just like man, without proper protection, has no place in the cosmic void of outer space. We have for far too long cherished the notion that our heroes always must be the victorious ones, be it on the battlefield or in the political arena. But that notion is short-sighted, nay, it proves to be fallacious actually. It is a notion that instills a hope that can nothing but be deceived, in our day and age. Yes of course, I do perfectly understand that gut-wrenching desire for victory at last; for a superior man who inspires one invincible movement that will crush our enemies and stem the tide and reverse the wheel of time. However, there already was a Man against Time; fathering a political movement that seized power in a state and waging war on the eternal enemy and his manifold minions – and yet, he too ultimately failed. His Empire lasted no longer than a few glorious years and was vanquished so thoroughly, that it is all but erased from the face of earth. His was the last and final manifestation of a counter-reality, in our time and on a grand scale at that, linked to the Golden Age. He attempted no less than reversing the succession of the Aeons and thus He was crushed underneath the wheel of time so thoroughly like no other. It’s futile to hope there will be another one like Him. There will be embers under the ashes, that is for certain; but I don’t believe we’ll ever witness another bright beacon of light until Kali Yuga has ended and the New Dawn of the Golden Age approaches, once again. Do we have to despair, when all hope is gone and our heroes have fallen one after another? No, not at all. We may find solace in each and every effort to manifest an ever-so-finite vision of the Golden Age, because it is a reminder of the glory that once was and shall be again. Hence, I am fond of those brave souls with a hopeless cause, who did stop at nothing in the manifestation of their unique vision against all odds. One particular historic character whom I hold in high esteem is Baron Nikolai Roman Maximilian von Ungern-Sternberg, who ventured from being a loyal officer in the Czarist army in World War One to become a Khan in Mongolia just to end up as prisoner of the Red Army and to be executed as “traitor” in 1921. In his wake, he left a trail of blood spilled by the Bolsheviks and Jews he and his men slaughtered without mercy. During a few years only, the Baron slowly but surely cut the cord that linked him to the reality of his time until he literally transcended beyond “good and evil” and received the divine blessing of the Living Buddha (the Bogd Khan, the third most important person in the Tibetan Buddhism hierarchy). He ceased to be looking for a place in a world that (after the 1917 revolution in Russia that toppled the Monarchy) wasn’t his anymore, but instead, he wanted to create a new world (order) of his own making. Needless to say, he failed. But did he, indeed? His enemies have vilified him as madman, as butcher and war criminal. Yet he made an impact and imprinted himself on history so he won’t be forgotten, ever. Our ancestors knew that of man, nothing lasts forever except the fame of his deeds. The Baron is a prime example of the Triumph of the Will, that bends and twists the confines of reality in a forceful attempt at manifesting a vision of his own. A vision where ancient hierarchies, traditions and customs are restored to their rightful place in the world, as he wanted Mongolia to be under his short-lived occupation. If Black Metal is an art form that puts the mind over matter, that favors vision over reality, then Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg too has to be hailed as a distant founding father of the genre, I’d say.
I am fond of those brave souls with a hopeless cause, who did stop at nothing in the manifestation of their unique vision against all odds.
JFN 2017
Q: It’s interesting that you mention Roman Fedorovich – a truly poetic figure so dear to the Russian anti-Bolshevik movement. 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the Communist revolution of 1917 so let’s talk about this unpleasant topic. How is it perceived in Germany nowadays? Do the radical left or the radical right pay any attention to this period of turmoil in European history? After all, Germany had its own communist revolution just a year after that in Russia with the Bavarian Soviet Republic being created as a result (not for long though).
A: From my point of view, the Bolshevik revolution in Russia marks a far more cataclysmic and dramatic event than anything that came afterwards – yes, the tragedy of World War 2 included. Even as of today, the shock waves sent forth by this revolution can still be sensed. Bolshevism never was defeated, and despite many failures, when implemented as the governing world view in state and society, it just experienced various transmutations that kept this ideology alive in different forms and shapes all over the world. Bolshevism is a cancer; but unlike the disease, for this ideology there seems to be no cure other than thorough cauterization. That is exactly what NS-Germany set out to do in her crusade against Bolshevist Soviet Union, from 1941 until 1945. Alas, we know how it has ended. Nationalsocialism is demonized and marginalized ever since, said to be the most vicious and hateful world view causing the death of millions. What about the far higher bodycount of Bolshevism, though? Only a few seem to remember; but for everyone else, the victims of Bolshevism are non-existent. Especially in Germany, where we do have numberless dates, events, and other occasions supposed to “remind” everyone of the “horrors of Nazism” – but no one, save for a few on the political right wing, speaks of the Red Terror that swept across Russia and Europe from 1917 onwards. I do not deny that Nationalsocialism was responsible for death and destruction in World War 2, but still Bolshevism does more than killing people – this ideology attempts to eradicate the very human soul, that faint semblance of divinity inspiring art, culture, civilization. Bolshevism is a truly godless ideology, it is the perfect spiritual void that is so characteristic of Kali Yuga. Now this ideology returns as “Cultural Marxism”, but once again it aims at annihilating traditional values (in particular, “family values”) in society for the sake of dissolving any and all natural order until the utter entropy takes over. Such is the quintessence of Kali Yuga, and thus the advent of the Bolshevist revolution in 1917 marks no less but the transition of our world into the final and culminate stage of this Dark Age. That being said, I do not believe we can rid our world of Bolshevism, in whatever form and shape it currently manifests, until this world is no more. I don’t think this plain truth has actually registered on those from the political right wing, who still hope that the political left wing can be subdued and that the havoc wrought by leftist world view be remedied. However, there can’t ever be a rollback to prior that fateful day in October 1917, because that’d violate eternal cosmic laws and the last attempt to do that has laid waste to Europe in a fratricidal war like no other. But then, maybe that is exactly what we need to do: Lay waste to the world and ultimately usher Kali Yuga into entropy, so that the New Dawn can eventually shine upon those who survive the world’s burning?! Nietzsche said: “What is falling, that should also be pushed!” So be it!
Q: At this point of the interview, most other zines would ask about your recent favorite albums or bands, however we at URKULT are more interested in books. Could you name and briefly describe three books that you read in the last year or two and that you believe continue to have merit.
A: For once, I read “The Black Sun Unveiled: Genesis and Development of a Modern National Socialist Mythos” by James Pontolillo. As the title says, this is an in-depth study of the origin and meaning of the Black Sun, which is often (yet falsely) claimed to be an invention of the SS-Lords of the Wewelsburg castle. Camazotz, of Spear of Longinus, recommended that book to me when we met in Italy earlier this year. Another book that I have read some months ago is “The People’s Money: How Voters Will Balance the Budget and Eliminate the Federal Debt” by Scott Rasmussen. He’s one of the few pundits in American politics who predicted the victory of Donald Trump in the presidential elections last year, and his book explains the dynamics of the populist-nationalist grass-roots movement that helped to bring Trump to the White House. From the outside, we do perceive the US of A as one single-minded juggernaut with globalist aspirations, whereas the domestic politics of America are far more diverse and oxymoronic actually. Here you have one global superpower whose citizens resent big government and would rather want their country to stay out of foreign affairs. If you think Trump is erratic, well, then you have to understand that the American nation, too, is the same. Last but not least, I have read a great work of (not so much) fiction that also deals with the America of a future not that far away: “American War” by Omar El Akkad. It’s about the Second American Civil War and as much as you’d deem this an unlikely scenario, given the perspective of an outsider, for anyone who has been there (as I was in 1999 – 2001) it’s a matter of fact that the American Civil War (1861 – 1865) has torn this nation apart and the scars have never fully mended ever since. Ordinary Americans are obsessed with this history, so much more than what they care for the history of any other place in the world, and they still fight the same old battles over and over again. In a way, the Confederate States of America do represent a facet of that nation that has become suppressed and demonized but can’t be exorcised for good, ever. Hence, the ghosts of the South keep haunting America and the rebel blood has never run dry, either. It’s a plain truth that America can not be defeated by any power other than herself. And sooner or later America will turn on herself once again, mark my words.
Q: As opposed to many Black Metal / RAC bands that embrace right-wing politics, the concept behind Absurd does not boil down to the nostalgia for “home, soil and tradition.” The tracks like “Green Heart,” “Ulfhednir – Todesschwadron,” “Ein Jäger Aus Walhall,” “Weltenfeind,” just to name the few, are not about devotion or defense but rather about the attack, avenge and demons broken loose. This brave handling of opportunities provided by art is what makes Absurd so unique (meaning the combination of sublime hymns and a sense of dark freedom). How would you explain it? Was it consciously chosen as a certain metaphysical disposition behind the “Teutonic Black Metal” or the way to show the audience that a chivalrous pose of the tradition’s guardian looks different when faced with reality?
A: As a matter of fact, the lyrics for Absurd were written by a number of different individuals (plus you have the old German poems like “Die Rote Rune” or “Nordmännerlied” as well as the German folk songs adapted on “Grimmige Volksmusik”) and they turned out very diverse – you’ve got Venom-alike devil-worship (“Heaven in Blood”, among others); Pagan Germanic anthems (“Wenn Walküren reiten”, “Der Hammer zerschmettert das Kreuz”, etc.); ideologically charged orations (“Als die Alten jung noch waren”, “Germanien über alles”, etc.); praise of the sinister forces (“Weltenfeind”) and last but not least, love songs too. “Dreaming of Love” being an obvious example; but probably only a few listeners are aware that “Gates of Heaven” too is a love song, inspired by true events actually. I don’t think it is up to me to talk on behalf of anyone else who was writing lyrics for Absurd at some point in the past, but I can explain to you the raison d’être of the record “Weltenfeind”, for which I wrote the Absurd-lyrics as well as came up with the underlying concept of this release. In the Germanic mythology the Weltenfeind, the enemy to the world, is akin to the sinister wolf Fenris, the fire giant Surtr, the primordial serpent Jörmungandr… The Weltenfeind is the harbinger of doom, who spells the end of the world as we know it. He is the Pale Rider, and Death follows him. If we take for granted that Black Metal is a music that is chthonic, tellurian, dionysian by default, then the Weltenfeind ought to be the prime Archetype of this very genre. Hence this record, a collaboration of three notorious bands bound by long-time friendship and mutual world view, was meant to be a statement about Black Metal that can not be mistaken if you read my liner notes: This release is dedicated to those who know by heart that extreme art and extremist opinion are but two sides of the same coin. True black metal is a crime against humanity! With that notion in mind, I wrote my three lyrics for the Absurd-part of this record (the fourth Absurd-song is a cover of German Horrorpunkband Der Fluch): “Weltenfeind” is a philosophical lyric actually, telling about that everlasting strife between antipodes in our world and how much you might have to sacrifice for just a brief moment of bliss, because everything comes at a price. Our elders have understood that very well, and thus they wished to appease the sinister forces by blood sacrifice lest they wreak havoc on the world. As it is told in the song:
Meine Macht bleibt unbesiegbar,
nach Gnade steht mir nicht der Sinn.
Weil von Anbeginn der Schöpfung
ihr schlimmster Feind ich immer bin!
(My power remains invincible
and I will show no mercy.
Since the dawn of creation
I am her worst enemy forever!)
This is a bit more explained in the next song, “Black Hand of Death”, which tells of the “invincible power” wielded by the Weltenfeind. This power is Death, as a matter of course. No matter how much we struggle, regardless of how oblivious we are to it: Death can not be denied. This is the invincible power that everyone has to surrender to, after all. Up from the High Ruler down to the Low Beggar, we can not escape Death. We all are going to die someday, even the Gods do. And thus, our world will perish inevitably, just to be reborn once more. The third and last song, “Ulfhednir Todesschwadron”, is the grim yet obvious conclusion to this Weltenfeind-theme, in terms of Black Metal at least: If we don’t need to appease Death because we do not fear Death, then we may just become Death ourselves. We can wield his invincible power and strike utmost fear in the hearts of our enemies. The Ulfhednir Death Squadron is a sinister cabal of outlaws and outcasts, a lycanthropic Order sworn to Wotan (in his fearsome manifestation as the dark Necromancer and King of the Living Dead, granting his disciples the power to summon forth their primordial essence and let them blend in with the wild beasts of the forest) and set out to terrorize and torture, to plunder and pillage, as enemies to the world. I have deliberately included the oral sentencing at the Nuremberg Trials, in form of an audio sample, in this particular song to underline that the very essence of Black Metal must be everything that is deemed abhorrent, and a crime against humanity, by others, in our day and age. The Weltenfeind can not be judged by any moral code or concept of ethics or man-made law, because this Archetype is firmly set beyond good and evil and so must we, too. Something that has most certainly eluded the attention of even the most ardent fan of Absurd, but “Ulfhednir Todesschwadron” and my much older lyric “Sonnenritter” are but two sides of the same coin. Whereas in “Sonnenritter” I was talking about a chivalric Knight’s Order that will manifest in times of dire need, guided by stern Solar / Apollonian principles and defending “home, soil and tradition”, as you put it, in “Ulfhednir Todesschwadron” we have this clandestine death squad, guided by nothing but blood frenzy and waging a terror campaign with impunity. So, yes of course, the Sonnenritter and the Ulfhednir appear to be representatives of one dichotomy, but only on the surface. When a regular army was defeated and gave up their arms, you’ll always have a few soldiers who, for whatever reason, wish to fight on. They become irregulars, guerilla, and terrorists. They forsake all chivalry for the sake of spreading utmost fear among the enemy. They are the enemies to the world, hated by man and dreaded by God. Needless to say, but I am not a White Knight myself. As much as I admire the numberless examples of valor and virtue to be found in our history, I can’t resist the urge to smite and tear the world asunder. This inclination for creation through destruction can be found in “Sonnenritter” too, where I wrote that they, the Solar Knights, are “beseelt durch Muspillis Feuer im Blut” – animated with the Muspels’ fire in their blood, that is. In Germanic mythology, it is Surtr and his fire giants, the Muspilli, who are believed to ignite the world’s burning at the end of time. Up from the ashes, a New World for a New Man will rise.
If we don’t need to appease Death because we do not fear Death, then we may just become Death ourselves. We can wield his invincible power and strike utmost fear in the hearts of our enemies.
JFN 2017
Q: Asgardsrei fest is a broad international event yet notable for its apparent Germanophilia. In turn, Oswald Mosley once remarked that “the most ardent Europeans were to be found among the Germans in the early post-war period, but the destruction of many hopes and the continually increasing sense of insult, humiliation and repression among many of them awakened again in some degree a sense of the old nationalism.” Indeed, little has changed since then, and German nationalists have to think first about less global issues. But still, in terms of a strategic vision, is modern German Right, in your opinion, capable of advocating paneuropean attitudes as a healthy alternative to multicultural “Merkelreich”?
A: You know, it is one of the many consequences of World War 2 that German nationalism lost much of its former raison d’être. In the 18th and 19th century, German nationalism wished to unify the fractured fatherland. There were Germans populating many countries in Europe; but ever since the end of the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation, there was no real Germany to speak of. German nationalism also was the response to the French Revolution, where a secular nation state was born for the first time in modern history and became so dynamic, so powerful and aspiring, that Napoleon could actually conquer almost all of Europe. The first German nationalists appeared under French occupation, and they wished to unite all Germans in a nation state of their own. Even though the Prussians eventually managed to defeat France in 1871 and unite much of German territory in a new German Reich, you still have had many Germans living in other countries (most notably in Austria-Hungary) and thus a Pan-German nationalism evolved in Germany, Austria, and elsewhere. The German nation would not be whole unless all Germans were ultimately united in a single fatherland. The outcome of World War 1 made this situation much worse, e.g. Austria was denied to join the German Reich and due to the Treaty of Versailles, in places like Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, but also France (Elsass-Lothringen), Germans found themselves to be minorities in other and new nation states, all of a sudden. One popular rally cry of the German right-wing political parties, in the 1920ies and 1930ies, was the “Heim ins Reich!” (Bring them home into the Reich!) that called on the German government to rectify this situation and to unite all Germans, regardless of where they live, and thus German nationalism turned from defensive into aggressive. The foreign policy of Adolf Hitler aimed at nothing less but fulfilling this old dream of Pan-German nationalism, and the Großgermanische Reich von Deutscher Nation (Greater Germanic Reich of German Nation) was destined to be the culmination of everything German nationalists have been envisioned for 200 years. Not anymore, though. Germany was severely butchered and divided in 1945 and lost vast stretches of former territory, from where the Germans were uprooted and expelled in a massive ethnic cleansing. There simply is not anyone left, outside of the present-day German borders, who could come “heim ins Reich”. Any genuine German nationalist of our day and age will acknowledge that the agenda of German nationalism was indeed accomplished, because now we have only one nation state for every German. I say that much without cynicism, even though part of my own family too was expelled from Silesia, but German nationalism of today must be concerned with the challenges the Germans face today and not with the grievances they suffered in centuries past. Now it is not the German who is at odds with other Europeans, but it is all Europeans who are at war with invaders crossing into our countries unimpeded. The German nationalist of the 21 st century must be among the avant-garde of any Pan-European movement stretching from the Black Sea to the Atlantic, from the Arctic Ocean to the Mediterranean, because he of all people knows by heart what it means when Europeans fight one another and lay waste to this ancient continent that is the cradle of every culture and civilization that made us become German, French, English, Italian, Polish, Hungarian, Ukrainian, et.al., in the first place. I have no doubts that the young generation of German nationalists does understand the importance of networking with like-minded people from all over Europe, for the sake of making Europa great again. German nationalism must not longer be the cause of dissent and strife in Europe (and when I say that, I am not passing any judgment but stating the obvious) but quite to the contrary, German nationalism must become the catalyst for a Pan-European strategic vision. Who else is better suited for this task but the German, who was with neither Reich nor Nation for the better part of his long history, and who thus mastered the art of transcending national ideas and ideals into sublime philosophy that keeps inspiring so many Europeans far and wide, whether in the Slavic East or in the American West?
Q: This interview is coming to an end, so let’s briefly talk about what lays ahead for Absurd. Do you have any particular plans for the forthcoming year? In our interview with Famine of Peste Noire he mentioned a split with Absurd that was planned for release somewhere in 2018. Can you elaborate on this project and maybe name some topics that thrill and inspire your imagination at the moment?
A: We’ll play another concert at the Hot Shower Festival in North Italy, on April 7th, with a slightly different setlist. Afterwards, we’ll start composing and recording new songs. I want to resume the time-honored tradition of doing Split-releases with friends and allies, prior to recording another full-length album, and the aforementioned Split-release with KPN will be one of these. The basic idea is to record, on our part, French traditional folk songs (w/ German lyrics) whereas KPN will record German folk songs but with French lyrics. Despite the difference in language, culture and customs, we do share the same European and Occidental heritage that binds our fate together regardless of the many fratricidal and bloody conflicts that transpired between our great nations in centuries past. Even though the songs and legends of our distant forebears have their own unique and local character, they remain to be forged in the same furnace. In a time when Europe’s being challenged like never before, from inside as well as outside, I deem it imperative to highlight a European Brotherhood that respects different borders, nations, ethnicities and cultures from the Atlantic Ocean to the Ural mountains, but that can easily transcend them with a unifying Occidental vision. With that being said, I do hope that your readers will realize that Absurd is nothing but a means to an end; tearing at the fabric of a rotting reality and setting a dying world ablaze: With words as weapons and a music of mass destruction. We are not here to entertain you. We go to war!
Absurd is nothing but a means to an end; tearing at the fabric of a rotting reality and setting a dying world ablaze: With words as weapons and a music of mass destruction. We are not here to entertain you. We go to war!
JFN 2017