Lord Kaiaphas
Thokkian Vortex
Hi there. Thanks for this interview. Yes, I'm doing quite well.
The bassist who played on our first album, "Into the Nagual", left the band in 2015, before the album was released. Shortly after that, he moved to Germany. Our current bassist, Sil, took his place. She recorded bass on the new album, "Thy Throne is Mine", and is a dedicated full-time member. Our former guitarist, Zed Destructive (Winterhorde), was more occupied with his own projects, so I had to search for a replacement. The drums on "Into the Nagual" were handled by myself. We used a few local drummers for live gigs.
It was just a coincidence that the new guitarist and new drummer are Italian. When I announced that I was looking for a new guitarist, Sabnock was simply the best choice. Asmodevs was already a friend of mine. I already knew that he was a great drummer and that he also played for Ancient so, naturally, I invited him to join.
Actually, I completed the album first. Then, I started looking for a label. Non Serviam Records gave me the best offer. So far, I'm very happy with the label. They're doing a terrific job.
In general, I am interested in different myths from different belief systems. When writing the music for the song, "Banishing the Lion of Kutha" (before it got its name), I felt that a Sumerian theme would be appropriate. So, I did a bit of research into Sumerian and Akkadian mythology and I came up with a story for the lyrics.
Actually, I'm not a fan of Melechesh. I've never heard any of their albums, but I saw them play here in Israel some years ago. I went to the show because their bassist at the time, Scorpios, was an old friend of mine and I wanted to see him again. At the show I met their drummer, Asmodevs, and we became friends. The rest is history.
There's no particular theme or concept on the new album. Every song is a different story unrelated to each other. The only shared theme is the occult, and different types of mythological beliefs.
Let me give you a brief synopsis of each track on the album.
BANISHING THE LION OF KUTHA- a story I created based on Sumerian/Akkadian myths. It's a tale of betrayal and conspiracy. A war breaks out between the gods, mortals, demons, and the dead from the underworld. In the end, the god Nergal is banished to the underworld by Ereshkigal the queen goddess.
THY THRONE IS MINE - A metaphorical story about a forgotten king dreaming of reclaiming his throne.
THE MOON BRETHREN- A story I created based on a few stories by Gustav Meyrink. Four powerful sorcerers gather at a chateau in the countryside to sacrifice an angel to Satan.
GODSPEED SATAN - A song pleading for Satan to bring on the apocalypse. Nothing very deep here.
THE WREATHING SERPENT- Another story I created based on a few stories in occult literature originating from the philosophy of esoteric orders in the early 20th century. This song deals with Leviathan portrayed as a female demon from the sea, calling the main character of the song to do her bidding.
TRAVERSE THE TONAL - A song dealing with the Nagualism in Carlos Castaneda's interpretation. I wrote a few lyrics like this on the first album. In order to reach the Nagual (spirit world) you must cross the Tonal (our world).
WINTER FOREST CRY tells about forests of the north being invaded by a dark force, but the forest is powerful and will fight back. This song is a metaphor open to listeners' interpretation.
COME TO THE SABBAT- This is a cover song with a simple message. Bring your family to the woods to worship Satan.
I'm the storyteller on most of the lyrics. There are a few ideas within the lyrics which could apply to present day if they are interpreted in a certain way.
I've become a much better composer and producer since the first album, "Into the Nagual". Indeed, I'm a Hard Rock and traditional Heavy Metal fan, so those influences shine through. I'm also particularly into shredding guitars, and that's why I wanted to have solos on the album.
I'm most proud of "Winter Forest Cry", which has a piano. It's my favorite track from the album. I'm also proud of "Sunrise over Irkalla", the acoustic dark ambient track. These are more experimental, and it was an interesting creative process for me.
The standard for musicians has been raised significantly over the years so, naturally, younger Metalheads expect a certain level of musicianship and production. Having said that, I'm sure there are many people who prefer a more primitive and lo-fi production.
I wrote all of the songs of the album in my home studio except for "Come to the Sabbat", which was written by Black Widow and "Godspeed Satan" which was written together with bassist, Sil. She came over to my studio one day and we had a jam session with me on drums and her on bass. We wrote all the riffs together in that session. Later on, I arranged the track on the computer.
Sabnock and Asmodevs worked very hard to make their parts as good as possible. Sabnock experimented quite a lot with different guitar sounds before finding the right sound for the album. His dedication is what made the guitar sound so powerful. Asmodevs was also very creative with his drum parts and recorded his drums at a professional studio with a good engineer to make sure that the drums sounded raw and punchy. No triggers or heavy compression.
Marcelo Vasco also made sure that his solos were perfect. Danielle Sassi, being the talented flautist that she is, did some amazing improvisation. Lastly, Sil bought herself a new bass capable of producing some serious bottom end thunder. I'm very proud of all of their contributions to the album.
I had just a minor dilemma back in 2017 when I started composing new Thokkian songs for a new album. I wasn't sure exactly which direction to take. Some of the songs were not so good, so I ended up not using them for "Thy Throne is Mine". In 2018, I went back to writing songs and it ran smoothly after that. I'm quite pleased with the overall result. No second thoughts.
"Come to the Sabbat" is actually a cover song. The original track was released in 1970 on the Sacrifice album by British Occult Rock band, Black Widow. The original version had flute, so I decided to have it on our version as well.
First, I put together the song on the computer using my MIDI keyboard to play the guitars, bass, & flute parts over programmed drum tracks. Then, I invited Danielle Sassi from a local Prog Metal band, Storchi, to record her flute. Then came the real guitars by Sabnock, the real bass by Sil, my vocals, and, lastly, the real drums by Asmodevs.
My favorite songs from the album are "Thy Throne is Mine" and "Winter Forest Cry". I'm not sure yet what direction the next album will take. It all depends on my inspiration and the feedback I receive from the new album.
Well, overall I think it is a good film and that Jonas Akerlund was probably the best director to handle that story. If you take any film based on a true story, especially, a music-related film, there will always be plenty of mistakes and offended fans. Lords Of Chaos is not a documentary, but an interpretation of the events by the director, telling us in the very beginning that his film is based on truth and lies. Those who know the truth, know how to spot those lies. Others may feel entitled to get offended or appreciate it for what it is.
From what I know, they got a lot of the facts right but, of course, there are a lot of things that they got wrong as well. For example, one of the obviously strange scenes in the movie is when Euronymous cuts his hair and puts on a white shirt on the night that he was killed, and he simply allows Varg to kill him like that. According to Varg's interviews from 1993, Euronymous was wearing only his underwear and he died fighting.
Besides all that, I would prefer that the movie was in Norwegian and played by Scandinavian actors to feel more authentic.
Our biggest challenge is the distance between band members. If we were to tour, the best way would be for Sil and I to fly to Italy and rehearse with the guys over there for a few weeks before the tour.
I'm not sure yet about any upcoming gigs to support this album. However, I'm definitely hoping to tour for the third album maybe in 2022.
Thanks again for the interview. I appreciate your support.
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