Aeternus - this name should ring a bell to most fans of extreme metal. Through the years of their Dark metal career they've served us with heavy and powerful hymns, brutal lyrics and their trademark dark atmosphere build upon slow classical guitar passages. Their latest release "Ascension Of Terror" shows a slightly different side: shorter, more aggressive and faster Death style sounding tracks that have only one purpose; level everything in its path. This interview was conducted almost two months ago but for some mysterious (or 'dark' if you prefer) reasons I just got my answers, and Ares straightens me up on some of my vision problems and explains all the personal and musical changes since their last release.

Chris


First of all I'd like to congratulate you on a brilliant piece of work "Ascension of Terror", but what took you so long to release it? It was definitely worth the wait but the material was written last summer.

Allot of delays occurred and we couldn't control any of it. Basically it all came from HHR, but some were on our shoulders as well. Yes, I wrote these songs a loooong time ago, when it came out in Europe this November, it really felt strange as we're way into the new material already.

It's nice to hear that it was worth waiting for: Thank you! People seems to be quite happy with this release and they all say it was worth waiting this long, but then again it should have been out early this year (2001) so...

A few months ago Morrigan left the band and was replaced by V'gandr. How did you find him and is he a permanent band member by now or still with a status of permanent session member?

V'gandr gas a status as a permanent session member, this means that he's there for us as long as he has the time. We didn't actually "find" him; he was the first and best choice for us. He's good at playing and we've seen him live with his own band and were mostly interested in someone who believes in the aggressive way of performing Metal on stage. Aeternus puts allot of weight on that so...

You also have a new guitarist Radek. Can you give us a little background on how did you get him, where did he play before.?

He never really played anywhere, we never really knew him that good either. The thing was that we were tired of having a session guitarist on every damn tour so it was time to get a person who would be with us at all times, doing guitar on tours and at the end, of course, give of himself to the band in the shape of lyrics, music and so forth. When we learned that he played guitar, we asked him if he was interested and he was very, very interested as he was actually a huge fan of Aeternus.

Did Radek have any input, was he involved in a writing process of the new material or he's role for now is just to play what you give it to him?

As far as "Ascension..." he was involved in nothing, but certain arrangements on 'The Lair of Anubis', the last song on that album. I am still the composer of the Aeternus material, but it doesn't mean he can't make stuff for the band.

Even though there are four of you now, the cover is missing Radek (what the hell was I smoking, I meant V'gandr and it turned out to be Morrigan anyway) as a 'source of terror'. Didn't he make the photo shots with the rest of the band?

Hehehehe, Radek is actually on the cover my friend. It's Morrigan who isn't there!
The reason for this was that her interest and time didn't fit with ours and since she had quit the band, we decided to go on ahead without her.

Did lack of Morrigan in any way affect the composing process of the new material?

Aeternus is functioning 100% without her; the only thing I miss sometimes is her great lyrics. They really inspired me and they are all great. Erik and me mixed "Ascension..." alone with Pytten, our Producer and that went just fine. At times I remember that we felt that her opinion could solve problems, but we managed just fine. Morrigan has a strong musical insight and great ideas so not having her there felt weird, but not in any way where we felt that she should have been there.

Your new material differs from your previous releases, is it a natural progression of the band or did you want to do something different and whole process was calculated from the start?

What we wanted with "Ascension..." was to increase the brutal atmospheres within the music by using Death Metal elements in the songs, mixed with the typical Aeternus riffs. This worked out really great and we also got songs that sounded really interesting, looking at them as Death Metal songs. Not typical Death Metal, but something more and melodic. People have told me exactly this and they look upon it all as very interesting as well... Now, allot of people missed the folk elements and acoustic parts, but this was too unsuitable for what we were headed for so we left those aspects out. Our new material contains more "good old" Aeternus riffs and we'll have some folk elements and acoustic guitars on the next album along with some Aeternus elements which people can recognize as Aeternus and nothing else.

Although typical Aeternus dark elements are still preserved, the new album shows much more death metal influences in it. Is this the direction you want to go?

We don't want to go this direction at all. This is stuff we did for "Ascension of Terror" and that's that. However, there are some of these elements on the new material, but that's only natural. I'm trying not to do too much of this, I'm really into the "New thinking" right now and that takes allot of time and hours of playing/practicing and not at least composing.

What happened to your signature classic guitar parts? Are you going to include them on your future albums?

Yes, this I kinda answered on the above answer.... I still really lay the sound of acoustic guitars and I feel it should still be a part of Aeternus and so forth. On "Ascension..." it was simply unsuitable.

Your songs got also much shorter which in my opinion are easier to get into but at this same time more powerful. What was the main difference during this writing session that caused so many differences from your previous releases?

We just wanted to change in different ways you know? It was important not to completely "Take Off" and I don't feel we did. Having shorter songs was natural due to the Death-feel most of them had yes? Powerful and more in the face, yes, that's another thing we wanted with this album. Something that really hit you hard without you understanding what hit you before putting the album on a couple of times you know?

If that's not enough changes you've also lost the corpse paint and Erik goes under his own name instead of Vrolok. Did you get tired of all those black metal comparisons and decided to end it once and for all?

Yes! That's exactly what happened. Erik chose to go by his real name as Vrolok didn't appeal to him in any way any longer and I think that's great because I personally feel that one shouldn't have an "artist-name" unless it means something to you.

Are you or any members of Aeternus still involved in any side projects? I know V'gander has Helheim, you have Corona Borealis...

Right now, I don't have anything, I'm glad though as I have no time these days for something more than Aeternus when it comes to music. Yes, V'gandr has Helheim, so far there has been no complications with him helping us and so forth.

Since "Ascension of Terror" was written over a year ago I bet there is a new material already written for the new album. If so, what can we expect?

Allot of brutal shit of course, but also stuff we haven't done before. We'll try to do some things that one can't really relate too much to Aeternus. This is hard and I'm not sure if we're doing it now, but we'll see... We have to move on as time goes on yes? The challenge is to sound like Aeternus and still be original and make music that gives a feel of something new.
So, we'll see...

What is the promotion plan for the "Ascension of Terror"? How's the touring schedule look like? Any plans to visit the States?

No, USA is not among the tour plans; it's not easy to get things done over there. We'll tour in Europe in March to promote "Ascension of Terror". So far it seems like it's going to be almost a month of touring and that's good.

Speaking of promotion, are you satisfied with the work Hammerheart has done for you so far?

They've done allot of great things for us and they have done some shitty things too. It's like this with all labels and we've been a pain in the ass too, I'm sure. One can't agree on every damn thing in this world so...

Anything else would you like to share with you fans?

Well, Stay Metal and be good!

Quick Q and A with Belarusian one-man band Lynch Victim about the origins, his ideas and how he became a musician, originally for the Cemetery Sound magazine "Voice from the Grave".

Samaroth

Hello, I would like to ask how the idea of ​​creating the project came to your mind? Why did you choose this name and what does it mean? By what genre would you classify your project?

Hello. The project itself was created by me in July 2023. There was no idea as something integral, because I started writing music at the age of 12 and produced a huge amount of material in my time, mostly, of course, terrible in every sense, but sometimes something interesting slipped through. At the moment, some of the archive songs are still gathering dust on disks, but I would like to quickly erase from my memory the time when this was created. Before Lynch Victim, I had about 6 projects with completely different musical components and more than 300 songs, which now do not carry any special value for me. However, it wasn't some kind of dumb and badly made shit, I put a piece of my, already at that time, dirty little soul into each song. Now all this seems terribly naive and stupid to me.

The Lynch Victim project was created at the very moment of changing the emphasis in my work. Over the years, my thoughts became darker, the darkness was increasingly enveloping, as it seemed to me, the world around me. There were many tragic episodes in my life. It was at this time that the first melodies of this project were born. In the title I showed a story that has long been imprinted in my memory. This is the story of a pregnant slave, Mary Turner, who was lynched in 1918. It only further ingrained in me the idea that humanity as a species is not worthy of existence. And in itself, lynching is quite an interesting phenomeno for me.

I wouldn't like to associate my music with any particular genre, but if you remove the pathos that is typical of almost all musicians, I would define it as Misanthropic Post Black Metal with touches of other genres.

Who is your music inspirator?

From a very early age I began to absorb a huge amount of music. I am still forming my musical taste. I listen only to music that resonates in me with an echo of hopelessness, because I simply hate the musical product that I often hear in different places. At that time I was strongly influenced by Swedish and French black metal and rock, led by Shining, Bathory, Apati, Ofdrykkja, Peste Noire, Amesoeurs, Les Discrets, Katatonia, Le Prochain Hiver, Abduction, etc. USA, I listen to a lot of music from Belarus, Ukraine, Russia.

I try to maintain contacts with people, I am interested in creativity. I hope that with my music I can push someone to take the first steps in creating creativity, especially in Belarus, because it is one of the best places for singing such things. Alexander Nepomnyashchy, Ian Curtis, Roman Sidorov, Nick Drake, Alexander Litvin, Bashlachev, Anna Varney, Lomovsky, Starkov - these are people whose lyrics and music are dear to me to the point of goosebumps. Of classical music, I was surprisingly greatly influenced by Chopin (although the ideas of romanticism are not close to me), Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Schumann, Vivaldi, Dvorak, Verdi, Shostakovich, Beethoven.

What you want to say by your songs?

Rather, a worldview. Over the years, an idea has become something that tries to impose itself on me by any means necessary. A worldview is what can truly inspire people to the darkest thoughts and actions. However, ideas are also present in my work, and it is extremely difficult to refuse them. To tell the truth, I myself sometimes cannot understand the line between these two paradigms. Misanthropy, decay, fading, total decadence - the quintessence of Lynch Victim, no matter how it sounds.

Do you like any other types of art, except of music?

I love everything connected with art. Art is the only selfless and honest thing that humanity has ever been able to create. I adore painting and tried to learn this ancient craft, but, again, I have no strength for it. I was immersed in literature. I also can't call myself erudite enough in this, although there is simply no room left in my room for new books, whatever that means. From the age of three to seven, my favorite activity was modeling with plasticine. I could spend hours on end doing this, so I also have a craving for learning about sculpture as an art form.

Well, and, of course, I really love everything that is connected with acting and theater. I hope that soon, when I move to another city, I will have the opportunity to visit the theater at least once a month and watch my favorite operas and plays on stage. Films are also interesting to me when a film can evoke an internal response. This applies to all types of art.

How do you think, the sound of your project is finalised or it would develop after time?

The sound will definitely change. Changes are evident in each new album, and I'm not going to constantly plough that part of the land that can no longer give me a harvest that satisfies me, or not give me one at all. Perhaps the changes will not be so radical, but there will still be a lot of them. But those distinctive features of my music by which my project probably stands out among hundreds of similar ones will remain. I can't say for sure wouldn't change.

How do you write your song, is it a spontaneous action or the thoughtful process?

I have tried different approaches to creating music. And since all the instruments and vocals are recorded directly by me, I have a complete monopoly on the vision and creation of my work. In most cases, the instrumental part is the process of finding a harmony that is suitable for the moment the song is being created. Most often, this happens quite quickly, within a couple of hours. Then I try to add harmonic moves that are interesting to me, and the instruments are recorded over the base. This all happens, as a rule, in a sober state, but the recording of vocals is the opposite

There are no current system. Just inner pain, dissatisfaction and doubt give me the strength to try to pour it all out. But moments of burnout are some of the hardest moments in my life. Thoughts can't give me peace, but there is no use in them, and therefore everything around me ceases to be the darkness in which I feel so comfortable. Everything becomes transparent and hurts the eyes. It is a depressing feeling.

Who do you consider to be representatives of good music on the local scene?

In my country, this kind of music is just starting to gain momentum. I can single out bands like Pagan, Ciemra, Dymna Lotvа and Travvma. And how can I not mention here, as a sign of respect, my friends from the bands Förstörelse and Desire to forget. There is always room for improvement, so I can only wish them to direct their creative abilities in the direction they themselves want. All for the sake of glorifying darkness in all its manifestations.

Any final words?

Take everything said above as you wish. This life of senseless searches and eternal torments is not worth it. The meaning is always much closer than you think. It has always been flying nearby, but most people never realize it. There is no hope or faith in my words. Darkness and decay are our brothers and comrades.