The Metal Crypt - Belphegor Interview

Interviews

Interview with Belphegor
Interview conducted by Barbara Williams (Crowley)

Date online: March 18, 2003

Hails and greetings from "Hell" Paso, Texas!!! How are you?

Things are alright so far. We are very busy preparing our new "Hellblastoutput," 'cause we're going enter the studio on the 19th of February to record our new highlight. Date of release ought to be on September 03.

How would you describe BELPHEGOR to someone who's never heard your music before?

As one of the fastest brachial bands on this fucking planet, playing the most high-speed collages possible so that it sounds reasonably ok.

You've got quite a few releases out and some killer art work. Who gives the final approval of the art and who is your artist?

Some of them are out of books about brilliant late artists and a couple of them are from contemporary artists. For our last cover, though, we decided to use photography, so that one gets a more authentic, more "real" impression.

Your first album is no longer available. Have you considered re-releasing it? How about the ones sold-out?

Nothing planned so far. We'll see what new label we'll find. Probably they are interested in our back-catalogue or at least in outputs which are no longer available.

After two labels, you now have your own, Phallelujah Productions." Who is in charge and how is it working for you? Are you much happier?

We started up Phalleluja exclusively for the INFERNAL LIVE ORGASM 10-year-anniversary CD, to be fully in control of everything, to make it our way—covers and so on—because a 10-year-anniversary is something special. We are proud as fuck; the whole genius shit turned out exactly the way we wanted it to....uuuuarrrghhhh!!!

You've got some killer T-shirts out. I couldn't help but notice, though, that one the shirts has the English version Sabbath of Blood instead of Blutsabbath, the album's title, on it. Why the change?

No change. THE SABBATH OF BLOOD means the same and if you take a look at the lyrics of the BLUTSABBATH track, you will see that SABBATH OF BLOOD shows up in the text of BLUTSABBATH.

Do you see a difference between Merchandise sales in Europe and the United States?

Definitely! 'Cause we don't have an official merchandise distribution in the United States, 80% of our sales affect Austria, but who really cares?...shit question!

You have two songs, "Tanzwut Totengesaenge" and "Untergang der Gekreuzigten" in German whereas most of the music is in English. Why did you choose to write these particular two songs in German?

We did this once before on our OBSCURE & DEEP 7-inch single in 1994. The German language has its own effect on singing, shouting, grunting...call it as you like. It creates a cold, extreme vocal sound and a couple of things you just can’t translate to English properly. We used this before on quite a few tunes, not only the ones just mentioned. Well, those are the main reasons.

How do you get the inspiration for your writing?

First of all, books are responsible for that as well as Christianity and, of course, (porno) movies.

Which bands are on your list of favorites? If I were to look through your CD collection, what would I find?

All concerning metal. You would find all different sorts of albums, from Led Zeppelin, Judas Priest and Slayer over Deicide and Morbid Angel up to classical geniuses like Brahms, Mozart a.s.o. Classical music is metal music. No other music can offer this range of atmospheres, moods... a pure revelation of hardness.

I noticed the Black Sabbath Tribute on "Obscure and Deep". Have you gotten on any Compilation CD where fans may hear your music or this tribute exclusive for this album?

No. We did this exclusively for the OBSCURE & DEEP single.

You are getting ready to go on tour this coming April, playing at a big metal fest in Oslo, Norway. Any words to fans who may be interested in seeing you play there?

We had been on tour in Dec. 02. and a couple of killer shows in 2003 are fixed already. We are looking forward to the gig in Oslo. For us it is a honour to set their stage on fire because this festival means something very special and surely is unique in Europe. We are the first band from Austria which is invited to join that festival ever. We are going to stay up there a whole week. The only shit is that alcohol is really expensive there...fukk!

Which songs do you like most playing Live?

"Necrodaemon Terrorsathan," "The Last Supper," "Diabolical Possession," "Purity Through Fire," "Swarm of Rats," "The Goatchrist," to mention a few. But generally I enjoy playing all songs of our repertoire.

When did you start playing and how old were you when you became interested in metal?

I started playing guitar at the age of sixteen, practiced a lot, and played with two local shit-bands at the age of eighteen already—a hard rock band & a rock-blues band. I have been listening to metal since I was fifteen; my first record was KISS DYNASTY...fuck, that was a while ago. As I made progress on the guitar (I got better and, most of all, harder) my taste of music got faster and harder too, and by now I've been playing in a blast band since more than a decade...har, har.

Have your parents and friends always been supportive?

Sure as hell no! I've always been a damn rebel...rebellion and resistance is what metal stands for.

Outside of playing Metal, what kinds of things do you enjoy doing?

To work out, gettin' drunk sometimes, mountain biking, women, sex, listening to music, but 70% of my life belong to my guitar & band.

Any collectors among you? What kind of artwork attracts you? Any good books, movies, drinks, or anything else you wish to recommend?

Fetish, occultism, blasphemy, blood, sperm, urine, inquisition, black Sado-romance.

Noticeably, your lyrics, tiles, and your website are very out-spoken. I have just recently read an article (on anus.com) about boycotting Christian metal, and shortly after that a metal fan approached me with some heavy criticism who finds that Black metal is no longer acceptable because the satanic content most albums have. As an atheist he sees this as a form of religion. What's your take on this?

I consider myself as an atheist. I'm not a slave of any kneeling-crawling-praying shit-sect.

You are obviously an extreme black metal band, so I'm just wondering if your life-style reflects this as well. Some metal bands live about as normal as you may have it. Others decorate their homes "metal." If I were to walk into your home or room, would I know that you are in a metal band?

We call our brute sound collages "Blasphemic hyper blast death/black art." My flat is 110 % metal, from goddamned jesus statues, which are over 2 meters in size, goat skulls, knives and posters, up to gas masks and all other sorts of leftovers from war.

What are your plans for the next album in the making? How soon can we expect to see it? Any material yet?

We are going to enter the studio in the middle of February and with Alex Krull as our manufacturer, we'll produce an absolute hell-blasting masterpiece. Release date shall be in September 03. For more information look up: www.belphegor.at

Your website mentions some video clips. Could you tell us a little about that?

No, not in the mood...har!

What does the future hold for Belphegor? What are your major goals?

A brilliant new album and some killer shows in 2003! Our main target is a good label, which provides us the necessary support the new output deserves.

Any last words to fans?

Thanks for the interesting interview, Barbara. As said before, our new work will come out in September. Be prepared: it's gonna be the ultimate hell trip for all incubus'/succubus' in this underworld. Bomb the Vatican-united in blasphemy!!!

Other information about Belphegor on this site

Review: Lucifer Incestus

Review: Bondage Goat Zombie

Review: Goatreich - Fleshcult

Review: Pestapokalypse VI

Review: Totenritual

Review: The Devils