A man of few, but very impactful words… since 1998, Kaiser Wodhanaz of Ad Hominem has been a champion of black metal in its truest forms: controversial, dangerous and 100% legit. The anti-black metal movement has made their meager voice heard to no avail! Because ours is a revolution based on sacrifice, strength & honor whereas their modus operandi is driven solely under guise of smoke & mirrors. Ironically, Kaiser doesn't care one iota about any of it, because his war is against ALL of mankind as it stands today: mediocre, degenerative and incompetent. On February 28, Ad Hominem, without a second's worth of fanfare, released its brand new album, "Totalitarian Black Metal", via Osmose Productions. A lethal weapon of an album - spreading over the scene like wind blown napalm - reminding us all what true black metal is supposed to sound like, feel like and stand for. During this interview for MetalBite, Kaiser of Ad Hominem touches on the new album, past controversies and the emerging "new scene".

Jeger

Hails Kaiser and welcome to MetalBite. I usually like to start with a little background but let's skip the formality shit and get to it. You really came out of nowhere with the new album ("Totalitarian Black Metal", released on February 28 via Osmose Productions / Goatfucker Records). This record marks your first LP release since 2018's "Napalm for All". What inspired its creation and surprise release?

I had it in mind to make a new album for a couple of years. We've been talking about it with Osmose and decided we'd release it without any teasing. I had to strike back with force, and I believe this is what happened. As regarding inspiration, same as usual; the mediocrity of mankind.

As per usual, this album is chock full of hate with tracks like "Choke the Woke" and "The Nuclear Solution" to get the blood boiling. It seems we both share in our distaste for humanity and in simply not giving a fuck about the world. Plenty of material to write about these days considering the overall state of things. Would you say that you get off on the reality of our inevitable self-destruction? I, for one, find world chaos to be quite fascinating.

Black metal and music in general are for sure a way to escape the surrounding crap; an outlet for all our grieves and negative feelings. I gather through Ad Hominem the worst of myself (which could also be considered the best).

On the musical front, how would you describe the writing/recording process for "Totalitarian Black Metal"? And can you tell us why you choose for Ad Hominem to be a solo venture?

I just follow my mood. Sometimes I just don't feel like composing, and some other times I can make several songs in a row. Hopefully, I'm no professional, so I'm not committed by deadlines.

I was reading an article in Pacific Standard that mentioned you. PSMAG appears to be one of those hysteria-driven liberal anti-fascist publications that collectively believe that white supremacists have literally invaded the international extreme metal scene, namely the black metal scene. They brought up Ad Hominem because of your use of imagery such as the iron cross along with your participation in the split LP, "Purification", and the release of your 2003 LP, "A New Race for a New World". Of course neither one of these recordings has anything to do with race purification, but nonetheless, Ad Hominem has since been labeled an NSBM band… I feel like some black metal bands would pay good money for that kind of notoriety. How have these false allegations impacted Ad Hominem?

Both in a good and bad way, that's for sure. But who cares now! Ad Hominem is what it is, no matter what whiners say. The project is made for those who understand it, I don't give a shit about the rest.

Do you think people will ever understand that the world of black metal is one without virtue anyway?

I don't care what they/them (LOL) understand or not.

The only real scene invaders have come in the form of Social Justice and PC Warriors whose sole purpose is to stifle and censor art like the art of black metal. There are even anti-fascist black metal bands who use BM as a platform for virtue signaling and for spreading their own ironically fascist political agendas: "think like us or you're a bigot!". I don't buy it. Taking all this into consideration, how do you feel about the current state of black metal?

I believe a new scene is emerging with bands proposing a strong resistance to the current "I-wanna-be-a-pussy" trend, such as Marduk, Destroyer 666, most of the Finnish scene and Ad Hominem of course among others. That bunch of pathetic weak losers shitting around us are doing nothing but reinforcing that feeling, which is eventually good for us.

What's the most valuable lesson you've learned throughout your time spent as a black metal artist?

Create, give it your all, be strong and don't listen to people.