S.L.

The Devil's Blood

Chaos and Magick. Satan and Freedom. Blood and Lust. And all these under some killer riffs and mind â€ taking female vocals. S.L. talks about his band and their bombastic debut The Time Of No Time Evermore. Let the ceremony begins...

By Yiannis Doukas

• November 3, 2009

Interview with: S.L. from THE DEVIL'S BLOOD

Hailz from the TEMPLE. Honestly I didn't expect to release something such good as Come Reap. If your next album will be in the same levels I'm seriously thinking packing my stuff and come to Holland making an application for your road crew. But what are your impressions so far with The Time Of No Time Evermore? I guess you are satisfied, aren't you?

I am completely satisfied. The album is absolutely perfect and each and every aspect of it is exactly the way it was intended. I as a person have put a great deal of my soul into its foundations and I am thrilled to see it doing so good. This is an affirmation of everything I stand for and an affirmation that what speaks through me, the voice of Satan, is a voice that must be heard.

For how long were you working on your songs? Can you give us some info and details about the studio and the recordings there? Once again Pieter G. Kloos created very good sound without a doubt.

Most of the songs were written in the period between 2007 and late 2008. In March of 2009 we started to rehearse full time on the songs and the arrangements. In April we entered The Void Studio and worked for about 3 weeks on the recording and another 2 on the mixing and mastering. We worked almost continuously on the shape and sound of the record and Pieter's help was definitely very important. He is a very dedicated person who knows exactly how to achieve a certain sound or atmosphere in his work. This is very important and it worked out perfectly.

How did you come up and reâ€record the demo songs Christ Of Cocaine and The Anti-Kosmik Magick? By the way that 2007 demo in what format was and how many copies? What were the songs included?

They were from the beginning a part of the album. You could say that the rest of the songs were written around these two pieces. As it were you could see them as Omega and Alpha or rather Below and Above, respectively. The demo was never officially released. Just available for free download from the website of VAN Records. The same songs are featured there as are featured on the myspace page.

I am impressed with the feedback you are getting from the majority of the Black Metal scene, both from bands and fans probably because of THE DEVIL'S BLOOD's occult image. What are your feelings about Black Metal? Do you like any bands? Do you see any differences between the late 80ies â€ start 90ies scene and of the today's one?

I have been a follower of the Black Metal scene since I was about 14 years old while listening to bands such as BURZUM and BATHORY and still today I enjoy bands such as DEATHSPELL OMEGA and URFAUST amongst many, many others. So it is safe to say I have a great passion for Black Metal. I do not care however about scene I only care about certain bands that have a real ideology to spread. The words of the adversary. We share bonds with a few of these individuals and these are very important to us.

The logo of your band is in constant change. From the fantastic one in the Come, Reap to the occult of the I'll Be Your Ghost and the tripy one of the full â€ length. You and the Japanese SABBAT. Which one is your favorite and why?

They were all designed for specific releases; they all have a tie to their respective releases. I don't care about having one specific and easily recognizable aesthetic. I'd rather do something different with each and every release. It is a fact that we will never release the exact same sound on two releases or even the songs will not be the same, there will always be some kind of variance, this should be reflected in the artwork. When it comes to the different logos I have no favourite.

The album's artwork is very good but there is serious problem with the lyrics inside the booklet. The colors and the letters are in such way that you need a microscope to understand them. A truly decipherment. Who is responsible?

I am. As I am responsible for everything which is done from the name of THE DEVIL'S BLOOD . And everything has a reason.

Your approach to Satan probably has a chaotic component together with a thelimistic (hedonistic) one, at least as I recognize it. Tell me your thoughts about it. Do you consider chaos as a life giving state (in many levels like for example spiritually)? Does the law representing for you the mental death since there is no contribution for something new, a creation's force trammel?

Satan is Chaos is Freedom. translate that to any state you want; Life, Death, Spiritual or Matter. This universe or the next or the previous.

What is your opinion about persons like LaVey or Crowley? Have their thoughts influenced THE DEVIL'S BLOOD world or maybe your music fits better to a chaotic Nietzsche based universe with a Dionysian anti logic caress?

LaVey was not a Satanist but rather a humanist philosopher who saw the exaltation of the crude human Ego as the most important thing in life, I do not agree. Crowley was a strong and major influence on me and still is. A lot of his writings are valuable for anyone interested in the Occult, be it for right or left hand purposes. Also some of his contemporaries such as Israel Regardie and Austin Osman Spare are valuable voices.

I like very much the musical eloquence that your guitar riffs have. Maybe it's the warm sound, the Roky Erickson's influences but, correct me if I'm wrong, I catch a lot of N.W.O.B.H.M inside. Where would you place your musical references as guitarist?

I could not tell you honestly, I enjoy so much different styles of music and have listened to so many different styles of guitar playing that it is hard to say where it comes from. I could name such names as Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Michael Schenker, Richie Blackmore, Tony Iommi and about a thousand more. And yes of course NWOBHM was and is a very great influence through bands such as ANGELWITCH and IRON MAIDEN.

I don't have the luck of seeing you live. How is a THE DEVIL'S BLOOD live ritual?

Our Rituals are usually very vibrant and powerful gatherings in which we try, and usually succeed, to invoke the Sinister currents of Satan into this world. In our own little way we can channel Chaos forth to destroy and recreate. It can happen that through this experience the minds of the viewers are opened to new possibilities and gateways are opened.

The band right now looks like has taken the road to the top. Does this scare you?

I don't know if that is true, we are doing fine at the moment. We will have to see what happens. In any case I am not scared because I do not care about success apart from creative success.

I cannot avoid asking you about POWERVICE. What happened and you left from the band? That Behold The Hand Of Glory demo was bombastic. You had also come to Greece for a gig. Do you remember anything?

I don't want to talk about POWERVICE any more.

Are there any plans for a new album? Any new songs? Will be any changes in the band's style?

At this point I am not making any plans for that. All the material I had prepared is now materialized into The Time of No Time Evermore and previous releases. We shall have to see what the future brings, if it brings anything at all.

So, these were my questions. Thanx for your time and mostly for your good -from the heart music- and I hope catch your band on stage soon. Add anything you want!

My gratitude for allowing us this forum from which to speak to the Greek music listeners and Devil seekers! We look forward to haunting the shores of the Hellenic tribes! Hail Satan!

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