Finnish black metallers Saturnian Mist have just signed with Candlelight Records for the release of their second album Chaos Magick. A title very true to the material within, both musically and lyrically. ZT had a wee chat with vocalist Zetekh.
ZT: Congratulations for signing with Candlelight Records! Can you tell us how the deal came about?
Zetekh: Thank you! Just a normal route I think. Candlelight was in touch with us couple of years ago and things evolved to the point we had no other obligations and then we offered them our demo versions of our latest songs and they liked it. Initial thoughts were that good things do happen to bad people, hah. We are of course rather excited to see how things goes since this opens more doors for our cause than there have ever been open ones altogether for us before, not to mention that the whole nature of our work is pretty… let’s say, challenging, for common metal heads or, well, people in general.
ZT: Can you give a brief introduction to Saturnian Mist for the UK legions?
Z: We are Saturnian Mist, occult black metal band from Tampere, Finland. We use music and art as methods of working with occult, magick and mysticism in the context where chaos and destruction are the means toward self-development and enlightenment. Although, these kind of self-proclamations have gone through kind of an inflation during the last years since I think every other black metal band says these and yet they still lives with their moms in their 30’s and gather their “occult” from fantasy books. Actions define us more than words, let the music and art speak for itself. Chaos is the law.
ZT: Black metal has become a rather broad expression in this day and age, what ‘school of thought’ do you represent… if any?
Z: Was the third-wave black metal new school? Best way to answer this is perhaps to tell how we produce the Chaos Magick album. We will record with this “super-analogue” principle, where you combine the best of analog and modern equipment of which latter ones are more in the use at post-production phase and first ones in the recording phase. We know and adore our roots in heavy metal, but 80’s are long gone and so called modern sound alone is nothing but a digital blur, not real sound, so we kind of combine the “schools”. Also, our black metal is not this slow-tempo-blast-beats and constant tremolo picking with donald-duck-kind-of-throat-singing which sadly seems to be a synonym of black metal nowadays, but in our case, it’s more like an old spirit blew into a new form, or a new spirit blew into an old form, it really depends how you look at it. Music-wise we are more perhaps a black/death metal band I think, but ideological tendencies draw us to regard ourselves mainly a black metal band and yet in most fundamental part we do represent ourselves (and therefore everyone who do represent themselves), not any “school”.
ZT: What can you tell us about the follow-up to Gnostikoi Ha-Shaitan? What direction are you taking the band with ‘Chaos Magick’?
Z: Album will be like the name explains: Chaos Magick. Both musically and lyrically. We want to forge music that takes minds back to their primordial being, beyond all control and desperate attempts to categorize world with “gods” and “ideologies”, to the reality itself, the ultimate experience which cannot be explained with words. Direction is the same we started with Gnostikoi Ha-Shaitan, or to be more accurate, with Repellings EP (2009), but now more matured, holistic and determined way yet what changed from Gnostikoi Ha-Shaitan besides that the development and expanding of our expression in general, is that we have two drummers now. One regular drummer and other percussionist. I was fascinated about the tribal drumming from Shamans, Voodoo cults and India’s equivalents for that with tabla drumming: Watching and listening it really silences your conscious mind and you are part of something more primitive and real than you can put a finger on, like “you” do not exist anymore. That had to be combined with our expression and here we are. We have 12 songs ready to be recorded and you can expect something we are already known for but more powerful and versatile, and also something rather experimental on the side.
ZT: From what I gather, Saturnian Mist have the reputation of a most intriguing live band. You are also a very active – dare I say, theatrical – frontman. What is your approach to live shows? I take it they are an important part of the entire concept?
Z: They are important. It’s all about energy and for my opinion everything sounds, feels and is more much better when it’s living, when it happens to you same time it happens to somebody else. Our approach to live-shows is to achieve “religious” ecstasy with more primitive and fundamental way more suitable for black and/or heavy metal instead of something world religions tries to offer. Loss of control is first and last step towards the enlightenment. If you want to meditate in silence or have some kind of gregorian experiences, you can go to church or stay home.
ZT: Are there any further plans for 2014 besides of the album? Is there a long-term vision in place?
Z: Some gigs confirmed, and many things which are not certain yet. There is a long-term vision indeed, always been, but it’s useless to draw pictures too far beforehand because all there is just chaos and things change, mature and even wither during the way. Anyway, there will be more than enough to digest with Chaos Magick when it will be released.
ZT: Any final words?
Z: Hail Satan!
info } official website
