How did you discover H.P. Lovecraft?

Ben: I discovered Lovecraft when I was a teenager with the role-playing game Call of Cthulhu like a lot of people, especially in France. I was 12 or 13 years old. After that, I really wanted to discover the man who wrote the story the role-playing game was based on, so I began to read a lot of Lovecraft. In 2009, I began to compose some music just for myself at the beginning in my bedroom. After I composed two or three songs, I said to myself, “Hmm, this reminds me of something.” So read again two or three or four stories of Lovecraft and I said, "Oh, that’s it."

Why did you choose Lovecraft as the concept for your music?

Ben: Why Lovecraft? First, because I'm a true fan of H.P. Lovecraft since I was a teenager. Second, Lovecraft goes very, very well with Black Metal—Metal in general, but Black Metal especially. There is all that atmosphere, the very dark landscapes and a certain philosophy about Man and about the place of man in the universe.

Our previous album, Cosmicism, is about the philosophy of Lovecraft, about the case that the man is nothing if you look at the cosmos, man is nothing, just dust. So, a kind of sort of nihilistic nihilism. You know, I'm not a true nihilist, but I'm very touched about the nihilism of Lovecraft. I think we chose Lovecraft because it's the perfect concept to make atmosphere to write some music with a lot of emotion. In the Cthulhu Mythos, it's especially the fear emotion, the scary thing, very dark thing. With our new album, Kadath, it's also about something dark but at the same time more primal, it’s a dream, a fantasy, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath. It's a fantasy short story with a lot of horror elements. This is different than most of the Cthulhu mythos. It's only horror in the Cthulhu mythos. I think it's perfect to have a lot of different inspiration. You know, the base of Black Metal is typically about violence, nihilism, Satanism, darkness, but with Lovecraft, it's more complex.

Were you always a Black Metal artist? Did you look at Lovecraft and say, “Oh, Black Metal would fit that well” or did you consider other types of Metal?

Ben: I think Lovecraft can fit into a lot of music styles. Well, maybe not in Zouk music, but you know, I could be wrong. Maybe Lovecraft in Zouk music would be a very good idea. It's just a question of atmosphere. Maybe Death Metal. I love Death Metal, of course, but it can be very restrictive if you use Lovecraft. I think Death Metal and Lovecraft would be just about this gloomy entity, something like that. I think the common thing with all Black Metal bands, even though there are a lot of different type of Black Metal, is the atmosphere. Even with the first Bathory album and the first Sarcofago album and after that Mayhem, Emperor, Satyricon . . . always there is a certain atmosphere. I think Lovecraft is perfect with Black Metal because you need to have atmosphere in the music. I think it fits. My choice of Lovecraft to be the concept of The Great Old Ones was not calculated, it was all natural.

Are the other members in the band also Lovecraft fans or do they come into it for the music?

Ben: I think it all depends on the person in the band. There have been a lot of lineup changes during the life of The Great Old Ones for different reasons. Maybe I'm a little tyrant, you know, [laughs] but some of the band members were Lovecraft fans before they started, some of them not but they discovered at the same time they began to play with the band. It's an obligation to have an interest in the concept. I can't stop a musician from being a member of The Great Old Ones just because he isn't a Lovecraft fan, it's not possible. But it is very important that a new member, first of all, begin to be interested in the concept. I think you have to read one or two short stories. When we recorded Kadath all the members read The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath. I didn't ask that from them, but they wanted to read the book to understand my lyrics.

I understand the French have a special connection with Lovecraft, and that French was the first language that Lovecraft was translated to. Apparently, there's a real strong love or connection between Lovecraft and France. Why do you think that is?

Ben: I think there is a story in general, not just about Lovecraft, but in general with France and all this type of literature. Charles Baudelaire was one of the first in France to translate Edgar Allan Poe. So I think there is a story with France and horror and Gothic literature. And Lovecraft was very influenced by Poe, of course. I'm not sure why the French are so passionate about Lovecraft, but I know why I'm passionate about Lovecraft.

Are there other writers or types of horror literature that you might be interested in covering?

Ben: The Great Old Ones is just about Lovecraft. I think Lovecraft may be the sixth member of the band. It's always music first, but Lovecraft is part of the band, you know? He’s part of the lyrics, part of the concept, part of the emotion. We have a big Cthulhu sculpture on stage. Lovecraft is The Great Old Ones and The Great Old Ones is Lovecraft.

Your music has been described as Post-Black Metal. Is that something you agree with or do you think it's just a category that critics and fans impose?

Ben: At the beginning, to be honest, we used the term Post-Black Metal because this was the beginning of this style of Black Metal. I think I listened to a lot of Altar of Plagues and Wolves in the Throne Room. And it was different than pure Black Metal, the true Black Metal. I'm a true fan of Emperor, Enslaved, Mayhem, and even Deafheaven who arrived a little after that, but I can't say The Great Old One’s music is pure Black Metal. It's not pure black metal. I lie if I say that. At the beginning I used the term Post-Black Metal because I think it was a mix between Black Metal and some Post elements. But now Post-Black Metal is nonsense to my mind, because there are a lot of bands using that label and there is nothing in common between them. So no, now, I think Post-Black Metal is not a great term for us.

Who are your musical influences?

Ben: In general, all the same bands because I'm a true fan. I can say Enslaved, Mayhem, Cult of Luna, Neurosis, the whole post-hardcore scene. But I have two bands that I have loved since I was a teenager. Metallica is the first one. And Emperor. I think these two bands, to me, it's all I love. I can say also Radiohead. I'm really big fan of Radiohead. It's always sad with Radiohead and I love that. But I really also like to listen to classical music and movie scores. I think maybe you can feel that in our music there is a classical music influence about the composition. So for Black Metal, Emperor. Metallica because that’s my band, you know. And classical music and movie scores. I think it's a good resumé.

How would you describe one of your concerts?

Ben: On stage we have two or three goals. The first one is to make The Great Old Ones music more powerful than in a studio and an album because it's live show. So generally, it's louder, so of course it's more powerful. Second, we work to maintain a certain atmosphere because The Great Old Ones without atmosphere is not the same band. But when it's more powerful and you can lose some atmosphere, you know, the aggression is maybe better, but you lose some atmosphere. We really try in the sound, in the manner we play, to keep all the atmosphere we put on our albums. After that we really want to make the audience travel with us. It's like a ritual, you know. Like a ritual, we arrive, we want to respect the Lovecraftian things and with that, we want to keep the audience with us and go to the cosmos, to Kadath, to Innsmouth. Always each song is a journey.

If you could perform anywhere, where would it be?

Ben: One of my hopes is to play the Necronomicon in Providence one day. I visited Providence as a tourist to make a pilgrimage about Lovecraft some years ago, but never with the band. It was like a consecration, you know. I dream of playing The Great Old One’s music in Providence. Maybe one day.

What can you tell us about you upcoming album, Kadath?

Ben: It's The Great Old Ones music, of course, but maybe a little different than the previous albums on certain things. It's all about the concept. On the previous album, Cosmicism, all the songs were about the mythos. This time it's about the dream cycle of Lovecraft. As I said before, it's a fantasy story with horror elements. The album is brighter at certain times. It's very immersive. You can imagine all the quests of Randolph Carter, who is the protagonist of the story. You can really imagine the emotions. I had to make some cuts to the story, of course, because if I put in all the story, it would be a very long album. And it's over an hour as it is.

We really wanted to take our time to put the atmosphere, a true atmosphere and to respect the story. I can say it has a lot of variety: You have some violence, you have some atmosphere, sometimes some groovy things, some rock ‘n’ roll things, but with always a dramatic approach—not in terms of using a big orchestra—but maybe a certain cinematographic side to the music. It's like reading a book. It's like watching a movie. We didn't put limits on ourselves. For instance, we have a 15-minute instrumental song called “Leng” on the album. Not a lot of bands would put a very long instrumental song on their album, you know, and I really wanted that because I think it's a perfect way to bring the listener with us. I think it's an album that has some Black Metal feeling but with something different. The album is like a journey.

I’m really impressed by how well produced Kadath is. The bass sounds really fantastic throughout, which you don't get a lot with Black Metal.

Ben: That's because the bass guitar is generally not a very important instrument in Black Metal, but I really like bass. When I compose, generally I compose all three guitars and the bass. When I compose the bass, I think there is a little influence of Cliff Burton (Metallica) because he's not just a rhythmic bass, he's a melodic bass. Sometimes the bass has to be really rhythmic, but sometimes I really want to have the bass notes just between two guitars. I think it serves the music, I'm sure of that.

Are there any other works by Lovecraft that you're thinking you'd like to get to?

Ben: To be honest, the short story "Beyond the Wall of Sleep" would be great. I think the novel The Case of Charles Dexter Ward could also be good great. There are a lot of things—"The Color Out of Space," but maybe it's too short, but it's so beautiful. The older I get the more I discover of the poetic side of Lovecraft, for instance with the dream cycle and with the Gothic side of "The Outsider." I'm a really big fan of the short story, "The Outsider," which is very beautiful. I'm not sure how we could adapt an entire album with this story, but I'm sure we can compose something great about it.

That's one of my favorite Lovecraft stories. It just really blew my mind.

Ben: Right? It's fantastic. I love it. It's not very complex, you know? It's not a complex story, but it's about the emotions of the protagonist and in a very gothic way. I think there is something sad about it. It's a very particular story. I really like when Lovecraft puts off some dark poetry, you know, in this story. It's a different side of his writing, but it's very interesting and very beautiful.

If I were to get a closer look at your bookshelf behind you, I would probably see Lovecraft, I'd probably see Stephen King, I might see Clive Barker. Would there be any books in there that I might find surprising?

Ben: Let's see. I have all the Harry Potter books. I'm a great fan of Harry Potter. You know, it's not very Black Metal, but, yeah, I like that. I have a lot of horror and fantasy. I'm a true geek. I think I'm a simple geek. Nothing too surprising.

Do you have any live performances coming up in support of Kadath?

Ben: Sure, official gigs announced so far are the Fortress Festival in the UK in June 2025 as well as a EU tour with Cult of Fire and Caronte from Italy. I'm sorry, there is no US tour. It's very complicated to play in the US.

Well, thanks for taking the time out to chat with me today. We look forward to the album coming out. I think there's a lot of Extreme Metal fans out there looking forward to it and I would Lovecraft fans everywhere that the discover your music as well. Any final words for your fans out there?

Ben: We have a lot of very dedicated fans, and I hope all people will enjoy Kadath. While we make music for ourselves, we also really want to make music that allows people to leave all the common things in life behind and just go inside this space between dream and nightmare and forget all the other current life things. I hope all our listeners will travel with us on this journey to Kadath.