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Features

Dr.Bartak on The State of the Union

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Written by Sameerah
Saturday, 30 January 2010 06:33
STATE OF THE COUNTERCULTURE UNION – c/o Dr. Ryan Bartek (1.27.10) Tonight President Barack Obama gives The State of the Union address. This is not only the most important speech of his career, but the most significant SOTU moment of my generational demographic. As Americans, we’ve hit a pivotal moment of change. I believe that we are entering a period comparable only to the 1960’s, but confronting all the issues the 60’s dodged in a completely reversed spectrum. Instead of Nixon, we have Obama. Instead of MLK, we have Sarah Palin. Instead of social revolution, we get the digital revolution. Instead of minority rights, we confront gay rights. The atheist/agnostic movement is coming out of the closet, and the 9/11 Truth Movement is entering mainstream consciousness. Above all, the largest emerging issue will be Neo-Gulf War Syndrome (i.e. the after-effects of Depleted Uranium Munitions). All those Iraq/Afghanistan vets are going to be coming home with radiation poisoning/genetic mutation, multi-form cancer, and an endless rate of “flipper babies” & stillborn children… As an underground politician of sorts, every overground political season jettisons my tendency to act or feel as if I’m running for office. Despite being a social/cultural radical, there is no hypocrisy in admitting there is a theoretical way a government should be run and openly voting for its inch-by-inch manifestation. A change in leadership does not alter the machine, yet one must recognize that progression is gradual and that mankind by nature is a herd animal. Never have the Stalin’s of world history been able to eradicate social/familial tradition through some “revolutionary society.” Positive idealism is honorable, but one cannot negate brutal reality. And while I certainly would love to see every American drop out of the mainstream mold and fanatically create some radical new foundation, I know very well that what is desirable for me is not right for society. Thus, I remain a “paradoxical villain” -- as if The Joker were openly voting for Harvey Dent, as it were… Therefore I openly admit that while American “institutional culture” rightfully deserves extremist subversion – as well as the prevailing cannibalistic economic, political, media, “justice” & educational system – I am essentially a pragmatic realist. Thus, I officially endorse a centrist, moderate government -- because that is what is sane, and that which is effective. As I noted, a change in leadership does not change the system. This is the issue with Barack Obama. Before any critique ensues, let it be said that I met this man in person amidst a somber moment, far away from the campaign trail or any media hype. Before I even realized it was him, my preternatural sense hit like a lightning rod. Most people are of such a low “vibrational level” I don’t even notice them, because sometimes you can just “feel” a spirit via internal radar. This guy was like a nuclear power plant, and every fiber of his aura truly good. Had I only the media to rely on and my intense distrust of politicians, I’d most likely be decrying him today. However I knew immediately this was a guy I could trust, and had he been some local nobody, we’d probably be hanging out right now smoking ganja on a sofa, watching A-Team reruns. Back to the point. As a pragmatic centrist, Obama has successfully opened the Pandora’s Box on every major political shift -- yet I, of course, would have done far more, far radically and already been assassinated by now. What is needed to save the American economy is a manifold approach of proven effectiveness – chiefly a low-ball variant of European Democratic Socialism combined with a fairly regulated Free Market Economy. Obama knows this, the euro-intelligentsia know this, but 300+ years of American Bureaucracy & Apple Pie Tradition won’t allow it. As a result, this “Recession” will last the rest of our adult primes, and won’t be getting much better, especially if the GOP takes over in the coming elections. For extremely decimating real-time figures, visit --http://cohort11.americanobserver.net/latoyaegwuekwe/multimediafinal.html Mussolini might have been a monster, but never forget that the “Corporate State” was the only economic model in the world that actually beat The Great Depression. Not because of the half-ass, partially erected “Corporate State” [which was more a propaganda front then anything] -- but because the entire economy was in fact a massive public works project (FDR’s New Deal was modeled primarily after Fascist Italy). Many of these methods can be utilized again while entirely expunging the Fascist ethos. Yet how do you explain that to a terrorized majority of Reagan Revolutionaries & Die-Hard Evangelicals? True, I am this wool-dyed anarcho-counterculture radical that is completely against military aggression, imperialism, etc – but we must recognize that Afghanistan is where the problem is, and it must be confronted. As much as I detest authority and violence, I acknowledge that the “War on Terror” is essential – but it’s not a conventional ground war. It must remain a wide-ranging police effort, conducted through SWAT/ surveillance. As a Head of State, it is Obama’s duty to flex military muscle where needed. Al Qaeda must be destroyed (as well as, you know, whoever actually rigged the demolition of WTC I/II & VII). Unfortunately we’re stuck with bitter realities that do not coalesce will with our idealism. We acknowledge that we are of Dystopian stock, and our language is hope through cynicism. So what is the alternative? The only one we have – individually live as prime examples of the world we wish to manifest, even if to some extent our hands must remain partially unclean… Obama wants to be the People’s President, and I’m astounded to hear an American president rail against Wall Street so aggressively. Never has a president been this transparent. Has anyone reading this actually been to the official site www.WhiteHouse.Gov ??? Everything the man has done, day by day, has been posted to the public – the downloadable/viewable document of every piece of legislation. Again, a first for a TV President, and setting the bar for all future presidencies to come. In my sincerest view, I deeply believe Obama is a genuinely decent human being that won power by fluke, and is now beleaguered by all the seemingly hypocritical themes I’ve entailed above. This is a man that busted his ass to get through college and got into politics to try and help. He spent most his free time as a social worker in South Side Chicago, single-handedly manufacturing one of the highest recidivism-killing rates of that areas history. He was not created by a “power elite” base, and above all he is the first president EVER to have no direct ties to Skull & Bones. Unless he turns this propaganda war around (which he already seems to have lost), he’ll be a lame duck in the history books. Obama “gets it,” but the problem is Americans do not. Americans receive the majority of their information from AP/Reuters or Fox News but they do not understand that Fox News is not a news channel but a propaganda source niche-marketed to appeal to an angry right-wing base. Democrats/Independents could be arguing to legalize oxygen, and because they are the opposite side, Fox would be against it. Obama needs to speak down to the American public like the frightened, ignorant children they are, and give them sustained slogans & sound bytes. He needs to directly say “I am not a Marxist Lunatic” or “No one wants to live in the Soviet Union, let alone myself.” He needs to directly confront the most ridiculous accusations, not keep playing this “plain folks” Uncle Tom card. Or maybe he’ll just snap and start ranting & screaming at Americans for being so fucking stupid about virtually everything. Which brings us to Health Care Reform. It can be argued that it should be done this way or that way, but what cannot be argued is that nothing should change. Not only are we the laughing stock of the world (ranking #37, just above Slovenia), but millions are dying as a result each year. There is something seriously wrong when I’ll be charged a felony for concealing penicillin without documentation, and when every insurance company has a “pre-existing condition” clause-moderating taskforce that just hovers over data-mining caches like vultures scheming for the smallest legality. It’s depressing and shameful. How can one not look at the conditions of pre-Union factory capitalism and not be able to apply it to the medical field? What’s more insulting to you -- working 12 brutal hours a day for bread and soup, or randomly getting mauled by a pitbull and waking up 3 days later with a $45,000 tab? Having some basic form of socialized medicine available to every American is just as important as women being allowed to vote or black people not being slaves. And I don’t respect this ass-ugly “illegal alien” card the GOP’s playing. “Oh you’re bleeding to death in the ER room? Oh you’re Mexican? No ID? Fuck you, go die in the street.” Instead of MLK, we get the first major anti-feminist female politician Sarah Palin marching through the streets with a legion of mullet evangelicals. These Nascar people are actually taking it to the level of Obama’s blown up mugshot with a scribbled Hilter ‘stash. They never bothered to even read the health legislation or grasp how it would work, and like always they were immediately cowed into complacency & fear through sound byte repetition. What’s new is different and what’s different is therefore scary, and even if what we have on our hands is the apocalypse at least we’ve seen The Road Warrior 12 dozen times and have an idea what to expect. The ingurgitation is nasty, panoramic. What people don’t understand is that these sort of social programs are such a small percentage of the annual budget – some 5%. Another 85%+ goes to the never-ending black hole of military expenditure. Nobody wants to pay for serious welfare leeches, but every one of those slobs combined barely equals the cost of keeping one of our 1,500 nuclear missiles ever-ready for launch. I mean, come on, can’t we get by just destroying all human life 100 times over rather then 6 million or so? Yes, there was still debate to be had -- but instead of trying to sift through it rationally this legislation was rejected outright despite having the backing of every major medical group not tied to massive insurance companies. The House-backed Health Care Plan would have made pre-existing condition exemption illegal, would have forced insurance companies to supply 85 cents worth of treatment per dollar (compared to the free reign percentage now in play), saved 3 trillion dollars over the next 20 years, supplied health care to 90% of the population, and made every plan in America cheaper by default. It would have offered the public not some monstrous government run health care system but the ability to independently buy into a public option like you can car insurance – i.e. the same health care plan EVERYONE in Congress/Senate has. $70 a month, done deal, and under this plan you had a 2 year grace period before you could choose to either keep it or sign off on it. But hooking it up that fat is, of course, “commie-antichrist” action – or just something so fantastical sounding it was bound to implode and make things worse. So now all these people who for one second “got it” are running back to the Cheney mob after the smallest glitter of hope set in their eyes. It’s akin to the slave running back to his master two months after the Civil War because he knows nothing else. Again, the whole Mad Max thing… **So here we are. I’ve been beaten back to the South on a Tropical Island, isolated like Napoleon post-Waterloo. America is caving in at every angle, and I’m surrounded by white sand and ocean, working the lowest job on the face of the planet for 15 hours a week at minimum wage, amazed that I have even this when the county I’m in is around 30-40% unemployment. When not emailing “THE BIG SHINY PRISON” to everyone on earth I ride around on a bike, cruising a tourist trap that has no tourists because no one has money to go on vacation. There are some Italians here and there, but they are slight and hording green… I try not to cave into hopelessness, as are the vast majority of people in my predicament. It was always my contention that no matter how bad it got, one could always find a couch to rent and a full time job at some fast food chain. But now it’s to the point where grown men with college degrees are scrapping for part-time McDonalds jobs. This is not the future I envisioned. Thus, like many, I come to sobering clarity. I graduated high school in 1999, and I’m pushing 30. I was told I would never amount to anything. My pre-ordained fate was to be some blue-collar auto-worker guy in Detroit, or droning it as a factory line-worker. I came from a struggling only mother/single child household, and I have very little blood family who are in far more dire shape then I – and all of them in Michigan, economically the worst place to be right now in the USA. I left Detroit at the dawn of 2007 and went everywhere over the next 3 years. My plan from the outset was such – build as big a network as possible, and when I could go no more simply pick the best option and roll with it. As a result I met many new life-long friends along the way and had the adventure of a lifetime. But now as I roll up my sleeves to get back to work, I find the bottom has completely fallen out and I’ve fallen through the cracks with millions of Americans. 80% of everyone I know are destitute, on unemployment, hammered by debt, involuntarily working part time at best – coagulating in nests like apocalyptic tribes. A horrid amount have had to face the humiliation of moving back in with their parents, or even worse – forced to take care of their parents because they lost their homes and jobs. Everyone on Michigan is on unemployment, and its lifeline hangs by a thread. What happens when the funds dry up this year? What then? I feel like Princess Laia forced to watch her home planet blown up by The Death Star, but George Bush is cackling under that Vader helmet and Cheney is the hooded Palpatine on the throne. There’s just no going back. I wanted to be a journalist, to be an artist and writer of some repute, able to tour at will and travel frequently. I wanted to live in some capacity in every major city of the USA. I accomplished all these goals, and on the eve of my greatest professional triumph, the entire print industry died like the extinction of the dinosaurs. Now journalism students are being taught how to successfully employ pop-up ads through online Daily sites, as if this is all their career amounts to. The cyber-radicals have won the digital war – but at what cost? While I’m idealistically slap-happy about this, it’s still a bummer. I always thought that print media would survive in some capacity, at least the important outlets. Well, we still have Terrorizer, Wizard & Rue Morgue right? My plan was to do the Euro-sequel to “THE BIG SHINY PRISON” this year. Instead I’ve been fire-walled. It seemed reasonable to think one could amass 3 grand over 6 months. Instead I’ve been batted all over the country into yet another untenable position. At this point I’m not thinking of Paris – I’m scrambling to create a foothold in Portland or Seattle. That’s where my life is, and all I want to do is go home, start a tiny local band & play a million shows. It’s not that I want to be some heating/cooling guy, but it seems my only workable option is tech-school training. I’m old, tired, and physically incapable of going back to the street in terms of Crust World. That era is gone, through I fear I may have no alternative. So the bigger question to tackle, in general here, in re: to the whole “subliminally convincing myself I’m running for office” political season thing. The parallels exist between Obama and I in abstract ways, and in a sense I too feel that I ran a personal campaign at the same time. In the end I felt I was given a panoramic vote of confidence. When securely in action, while Obama attempted the Health Bill, I attempted my own “legislation” – chiefly “THE BIG SHINY PRISON.” Both of us tried valiantly to make it a reality, and both of us have failed because the forces of old ruling the castle. The message is loud and clear – the vast majority of major metal/punk outlets have outright refused to run any press on this book. And this is not delusion, because I was in constant contact for a number of years with many enthusiastic parties promising all sorts of help the moment I let it loose. The second they do finally get it, they won’t even return an email. I’m not stupid -- either people are appalled by the content in itself or simply the audacity to make myself the centerpiece of the narrative. They get the joke, but the jokes not funny – it’s slimy, dangerous, and sure to put “scary ideas” in people’s heads. “THE BIG SHINY PRISON” openly shits on every sacred scenester principle, because quite frankly someone needed to say it; someone had to go this far. But the real question is do they think I’m an asshole, or do they just outright fear it? Still, it would be unfair to claim that all of this silence is caustic. Chances are most are in the middle of reading it. After all, it has only been circulating for 2 months, and when cropped out at 2x space/12 point font, it comes out to 600 something pages (without photos, mind you). Time will tell. I just wish people would speak up rather then perpetuate a hushed silence. After emailing it to 10,000 people and tagging another 10,000, all I have to show is 1440 downloads and a handful of blog mentions. But its slow & steady, and it’s not going away. There’s something magical about dropping such a thing in the most economically devastating, arctic winter imaginable. Besides, how else would it get to its audience? A book for those who don’t read passed off in the blaze of the summer? Fuck no. The Death of the American Economy only aids my cause, since people have plenty of time on their hands. In about 3 hours, Obama will speak. So I wish to end this abruptly. To anyone entrapped by identical hell – all those rebels & dreamers – here is what I say: There is strength in numbers, and that is why I advocate “subculture colonization.” This is not a dangerous or absurd notion, but rather a necessary ideal that will only contribute to the sustained organic growth of the counterculture movement. In short, my message is to quit duking it out in the middle of nowhere and just relocate to one of many major epicenters of activity. I’ve traversed every corner of the nation and the future blueprint is as follows – Seattle/PDX in the Northwest, The Bay Area in California, Albuquerque/Austin in the Southwest, Denver in central, Tampa/Orlando in the tropics, either Chicago or Philly in the Midwest, and somewhere strategic in the Tri-State near NYC. Both Detroit and New Orleans have amazing scenes and the greatest potential for rebirth, but you might as well be walking into Mad Max. If you ask me personally -- hands down* – the Seattle/Portland Axis is where it’s at. All you have to do is show up with a backpack, a few bucks, know your etiquette and be ultra-social -- someone somewhere will grant you asylum, guaranteed. Just trust me -- once any serious artist/musician embeds themselves within Seattle/PDX culture, you’ll never look back… And such is my rant… Thanks for listening. - Dr. Ryan Bartek Fictional Head of State; The Pan-Tribal Socialist International
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 30 November -1 00:00 )

Wodensthrone

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Written by Sameerah
Tuesday, 08 December 2009 04:54
Once again I have run into a band that is so bad ass and so awesome I am having a difficult time writing an intro that will do them justice. I guess if I am going to have writers block this is the best kind to have right? If you haven't heardWodenthorne's Loss , you need to head out and get it yesterday. It is one of the best Pagan Black Metal albums of the year. Drenched in battle hymns and the kind of old world honor that people talk about but don't really seem to understand.Wodensthrone doesn't bow to trends and is always true to the Pagan roots of England. So without further ado here is Wodensthrone Interviewee: Chris Walsh (Rædwalh) – guitars/vocals Earlier this year you were pulled off of Cancelfest along with a few other bands for reasons that I still cant seem to wrap my head around ( I think I am trying to use logic and reason on a situation that has none ) What happened? What is your take on those events? We were pulled from that festival (duly and ironically named) because of some unfortunate circumstances which were brought about by an ignorant minority with ties to the venue in question. There may have even been personal motives behind the events which took place, but I don’t want to speculate. Ultimately, it was venue politics that resulted in our cancellation, where certain people took offense to the stupid implication we were a political band. Our name got dragged through the mud just like many other great bands’ names have. The promoter of that show, who we know personally, called us immediately after the controversy erupted and did his best to find out the exact reasons for our being pulled. Unfortunately, it seems the instigators of this witch hunt have acted in this way before. Negura Bunget themselves were pulled from a gig at the exact same venue a few weeks before we were for the very same reason. It doesn’t take much for a band like ours to attract unwanted attention, it seems, but this is purely due to people jumping to conclusions and clinging to misguided notions when listening to a band that takes pride in their heritage. Rather than finding out that Wodensthrone stands against reactionary politics, they chose to jump to conclusions about us. Sadly, our art has rubbed a few people the wrong way because we’re dealing with subjects that predate the modern political arena’s myopic view of the world, and often our critics come from this field of ‘left versus right’. Identifying with their own skewed ideas of liberalism – again firmly pitted in that left/right paradigm – they are threatened by a band that speaks of English history and ancient themes that betray the very different world we live in now. By default, they align us with politics when we want nothing to do with such a pathetic and divisive way of thinking. But the good news is that we are working again now with the venue in question and that same promoter is putting on an amazing UK Black Metal festival to make amends for what happened earlier this year. Whereas we don’t tend to give much time to ignorant people’s thoughts and judgments, they do have a negative publicity effect and we’ll always stand our ground and defend ourselves when we’re slandered. If people want to look for hypocrisy in our words and misinterpret our lyrics with their own twisted perception, we can’t stop them from being ignorant. But we can do interviews like this in response to these matters and hopefully draw a line under this nonsense once and for all, because we’re tired of false accusations and slander from these usual suspects. Your sound and all of you lyrics draw upon Britain's Pagan/Heathen past. Were there any battles or events in particular that you wanted to focus on with Loss? One of the most important battles to focus on is the one we’re in now as we try to preserve our cultural identities and traditions in the face of rampant globalisation and homogenisation. Of course, Wodensthrone relates our contemporary struggles to past events lyrically, but we’re not doing that to embellish past events in some kind of historically edifying way or as a way of rejecting the present. We’re trying to shed light on how ancient struggles against monotheism and other oppressive institutions emboldened many of our ancestors to greatness and how we must take up that mantle when faced with parallel situations in the modern age. Those of us who are culturally sensitive today, who see many traditions and values being done away with in the name of appeasing certain agendas, must be prepared to stand up and protect what we believe in. Because the dominant and pernicious religious and political institutions in this world will continue to usurp that diversity and true wisdom in order to further their own ends and continue to disassociate man with his roots. It is absolutely imperative that people like us don’t lie down and conform to the ever-growing culture of vapidity we see around us. With this in mind, Loss is a rebellious outcry aimed at the apathy of the postmodern world, but also an indictment of humanity’s inability to ward off these leviathans of religion and politics, who keep us ignorant and manageable. However, our lyrics do refer to some particulars from England’s history that we felt were worthy of attention and are linked to our modern struggles. The final song on the album relates to the year that Roman Christianity was brought to our shores, thus beginning the conversion of our native lands to that religious monopoly. Needless to say, the lyrics are a lamentation for the Pagan archetypes that were gradually eroded; much the same way our country has lost its sovereignty in a gradual and covert way over the years. Again, we’re not from those old times, so we must not spend too much time looking to the past unless we are doing so to illuminate our modern predicament through reiterating some of the challenges our forebears failed or were unable to fully realise and therefore overcome. In getting ready for this interview, I ran into a lot of posts and people on the Internet machine that seem to think that your music has some sort of political agendas. What I found odder still is thatWodensthrone wasn't the only target. Almost every Pagan Black Metal band has been accused of something similar at one time or another. Why do you think people still want to force political agendas onto this brand of music? As I stated in answering the first question, the reason for this knee-jerk reaction is ignorance: both cultural and historical. The attack dogs with their politically correct mantras, unfortunately, can generate a lot of attention. But they never seem to admit their own shortcomings when we demonstrate that their assumptions are false; nor do they tend to recant with any humility when we show them why they are wrong to prejudge a band like ours, especially when they’re coming from that hollow political realm I talked about. I think having a split CD released on Ancient Nation brought about some of this unwarranted attention, due to their roster having some nationalist and political bands on it, but we’ve always been open about our reasons for working with them. When offered the chance to have our album released, it felt right at that time, and we wholeheartedly reject the notion that a label or other affiliation comes before what Wodensthrone as a band stand for. Perhaps we were a little naïve at the time and didn’t see the connections that people would make – maybe we didn’t even care at the time – but we maintain our right to have our music released and even if we don’t agree with the political bands and their messages, they are entitled to free speech, as is the label. But if it’s not Wodensthrone, it’s Negura Bunget or Drudkh who are slandered when they try to go beneath the superficial surface of reality and discuss their native culture and spiritual traditions. The impulse for this kind of false-branding, I think, comes from the detractor’s inability to recognise pride in their very native culture, which doesn’t mean you despise other cultures as a direct result. It is a type of ignorance borne out of a need to colour everything black and white. For sure, we do have our own ideas about which establishments are long ready for the dustbin, and we can argue emphatically why, but honouring our forebears is not synonymous with hatred for others and certainly it’s not a racial issue. Paganism in metal and elsewhere is seeing a natural revival currently and, of course, there are bands who abuse that to further some base agendas, but we will never be one of those bands. I don’t know how many times we have to state this before it sinks in: the realm of politics is absolutely beneath our musical vision. I would go as far as to say this band’s members hate politics, because we understand the dynamics at hand and that these allegiances mean nothing when our leaders are working towards an altogether different agenda than that which theypublically declare. But that’s definitely another conversation altogether, so I’ll digress! We have always been clear that what we are striving for musically and spiritually is something far removed from the political play pen others choose to embrace. However, let me be clear: freedom of speech is absolutely paramount and any human being worth their salt should recognise that. Whatever the agenda – political or not – we do not wish to censor bands because we don’t like what they have to say. That kind of censorship opens the door to tyranny, so we must guard that threshold when the mindless hordes come knocking. Even with the best intentions, those who seek to restrict human expression ultimately deprive us of the right to say no to the prevalent order of ideals or morals, which themselves can lead to despotism. Your music is made to honor Britain's Pre-Christan and Pagan history. Are any of you practicing Pagans? Do you sometimes find it difficult to get Pagan ideals to coincide with the morals of the modern world? We are Pagans in the sense that we believe nature is the pinnacle of truth and order, and that man is an intrinsic part of nature. But if you’re asking do we don arcane regalia and perform rituals and spells, no, we do not. If people want to call themselves Pagans and do that, that’s fine, but Wodensthrone are not interested in that aspect. There is definitely a conflict between the high ideals we engender in the music and modern existence: the two are polar opposites almost. We are very aware that Paganism is incompatible for the most part with the current state of affairs in the world, which is dictated mostly by ego-driven impulses and materialism. And this is why we play the kind of music we do; which laments what we have lost to a socially-dominant hierarchy responsible for bringing about this state of world affairs; the constant wars, the mass consumerism, the manipulation through fear and so on. In fact, our music can only ever be niche in this respect, because it stands against many prevalent institutions and speaks in tongues that only a few discerning listeners can really hear and appreciate. There would be no need for a band like Wodensthrone if humanity had not lost touch with the gnosis of the ancients and strayed waywardly into a situation where we seek guidance and welfare at every turn; where the herd mentality grows continually and therefore forces us into a smaller and smaller perception of reality. You all hail from the city of Sunderland which is an area that was once a major learning center of its day. Do you draw a lot of your influence from local lore, or do you prefer to branch out and pull from other areas of England's as well? Sunderland is our spiritual home, but we don’t all hail from this location, so it’s hard to say whether we all take influence from the area in the same way. Lyrically, we do branch out and touch upon some historical themes from around the country. In the song 597: That Which Is Now Forgotten, we allude to the arrival of St Augustine upon our shores, who, on the orders of Pope Gregory, began to convert our Pagan lands to Christianity. This occurred in Canterbury, but was recorded by Bede, who was a native of the North East of England. In fact, any student of Anglo Saxon Britain will be familiar with Bede’s historical records. Our alignment with the Wodenist period of England’s religious history is not only a stance against the Judeo-Christian usurpation, but since it was firmly rooted and practiced in the North East, we’re also paying homage to the folk tradition that nurtured this faith. But while it was important for us to touch upon this conspiracy to pervert the minds of our forefathers with a Christian religious dogma, Wodensthrone are not trying to glorify this past age much beyond the Pagan worldview; when man recognised his symbiotic relationship with nature and was not above it. So we’re very keen not to hark back to the old times and denounce everything that is modern. Although we sometimes put a historical framework around our lyrical concepts, we can only use written records and our imaginations to connect with these lost times. Therefore our looking back is in search of lost wisdom without discarding all facets of modern life. For it is in this modern crisis that we must look back and see the truth about the destruction of heathenism at the hands of those who forced an alien religion upon us. Man nurtured these ancient Gods through oral and written traditions, and perhaps the deities were based on real events, so we must remember how offensive it is for our ancestors to be told their beliefs were improper and to have their monuments destroyed in the wake of a new religious order. That is the definition of despotism and provided us with much inspiration for this album. When you're writing the lyrics, do you like to take a collaborative approach to writing? On Loss, all the lyrics were penned by Hréowsian and Æðelwalh, who worked independently on lyrical ideas which culminated in an overall theme. In fact, if you pay attention to the lyrics, you can probably tell that it’s two quite distinct speakers. There are personal tribulations embedded in both sets of words, I think, as well as some uncanny confluence between the ideas presented on the record, resulting in a successful marriage of ideas that point to a deep sense of yearning for the spirit of Woden. In future, Hréowsian and myself will mostly likely take up the task of lyric writing. I only joined the band after Loss was written and didn’t get a chance to add my own poetic expressions to the album; something I would like to redress on the next record. Loss is a massive and epic album, how is it being received at live shows? Since its release, we have only played one show in Leeds, which was actually our album launch. It was an amazing night, not only for the band but for the fans as well. We had people who travelled from afar to see us perform and made lots of new friends that night, so I’d like to think people enjoyed the event. We were certainly encouraged by what was communicated to us after we came off stage. From a band perspective, it was particularly enjoyable to play a 50 minute set exclusively featuring Loss material. It was our first show with our new keyboardist, Michael (yet to find a suitable Anglo Saxon name!), who many will know as one of the visionaries behind The Axis Of Perdition. I think the audience enjoyed hearing the full aural spectrum Wodensthrone are capable of, because we had played a few gigs previously without synths after Æðelwalh’s departure. Being a six-piece again means that when you come to see us live, you can expect an authentic experience that does not betray what you hear on the record. Michael even embellishes some of the keyboard parts, which he has interpreted himself after listening to the album. So it’s important to point out that we don’t want to just mimic the recorded music in the live setting. And it’s fair to say we sound more extreme when we play live; partly down to the high volume, the higher gain amplifiers than which we used on Loss andBrunwulf’s unmistakable rasp, which the sound man will always struggle to hide in the mix, despite his best efforts. The ‘soft’ mastering and more ethereal qualities of the new album are done away with whenever we play live, adding another dramatic dimension to the overall atmosphere we create.
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 30 November -1 00:00 )

Merauder, The Gangster Gods of Metalcore

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Written by Sameerah
Thursday, 03 September 2009 03:31
Normally when I'm writing an intro I sit around for a few days trying to write something that gives you a bit of background on the subject and what theyre all about. And of course there is the editing and all that other shit that those of us who word smith for a living fuss over. But Jorge was just so bad ass in his answers that for once I am going to put my grammer nazi in the box and let you have it straight from the GOD of Metalcore,Jorge founder of Merauder. There was a pretty big gap between albums for Merauder. All the while everyone was working with other projects. What drove the decision to revive Merauder? First off we never quit I'm da only one from da original lineup left and I went through some member changes lookin 4 dat Merauder blood, cause its takes mo’ then music skills to be in this band. But anyway it was hard with all da other shit goin on dat wasn’t good… between da streets and da big house (prison) shit was hard just to keep myself from sinking. But we’ve always had some problems even with original lineup , which is probably why we struggling with da writing; me and Sob were da real street dudes in da band and we brought dat everywhere we went and people knew it. We grew up fucked up and we were a lil’ ruff around da edges!! It worked for us and killed us at da same time, but da fact of da matter is we were real motherfuckers at everything we did. but now things are just a lil’ different; got 2 kids and a wife and new band members who all try to keep me in line or out of a police car!!lol!! so I need them!! But over all we hungry mo than ever!! and this is our house……we created this motherfuckar and nobody can do it right still after’ 20 fuckin years!!! Dats why we continue to play we never got a real chance to show da world our stuff and problems kept us from doin so and da fucked up contract from century media too along with dat asshole manager we had, which I'll never mention his name cause he doesn't even deserve a drop of piss! But were here now!! Better than ever!! Merauder forever - forever Merauder!!! This album feels a lot rougher and harsher than some of the past ones. What kind of place (emotionally, creatively, etc.) where you in when you were putting this album together? Well it's all dat shit from all those past years dat built up inside of me homiette dats all!!lol!! but seriously its dat were musicians now, same old Merauder just different approach on things now. Got good people I work with now; my manager Frank Watkins from Obituary, also my Hermano (brother) from another mother!lol! but we work well now. we all still got problems but we get da job done 150%. We wanted to show da real Merauder sound!! Heavy!! And how metalcore is done!! So emotionally it was a mixture of excitement with some rage and desperation to be back in full affect!! The differnce between being a thug and being a gangster is a recurring theme of this album. Why do you think making that distinction is so important? Thugs got no value or respect for life or anything else. They don’t live by da “G” code!! They get dirty to stay dirty na’mean?? What they do is never about survival or feedin your family it's always about themselves! Gangsters r different, we don’t shit where we eat!! We take care of what's important and fuck da rest!!! We get dirty to clean our lives up!! We don't terrorize our community or old people, women, children nor shot at cops…. unless their shooting first. Just others who wanna take whats ours or disrupt what's ours….and neither of dat shit fly’s around!! In others words….we don’t stand for dat shit!!..original gangsta till I die!! And whle we are on the subject of gangsters, You are from one of the most gangster cities in the country, NYC. Who are some of your favorite gangsters? Personally, I am a lucky Luciano kind of girl. Well those guys were Italian hero’s but in my hood we had our own Latino mobsters and lots and lots of streets gangs!! We had Hellburners, Dirty Ones, Phantom Lords, Crazy Pistons, The Dukes, The Southside Brothers, Ghostriders,The Unknown Bikers, The South 9th St. Bikers, Bartlet Boys, Latin Kings, etc. Just da tip of da list of gangs!! But I gotta say my uncles were a big influence on my life good and bad!! They taught me da value of life of people and of my heritage and da real political reasons why we're in da situation dat we're in, along with learning how to shot a gun and do some stuff I can't tell u about ever….I can still pay for a lot of these things. But they never tried to bring me into what they did …I always went on my own and they respected dat. I got lots of love from da streets dats why I'd never turn my back on da streets!! Fuck everything else!! But my idols were Latino street and jail house OG's!! Not famous to da world but to our barriers. There are some interesting samples on the album. What films and speeches did you pull those from? For Don Pedro Albizu Campos!!!! Lol! A famous Puerto Rican revolutionist or nationalist!! He was fuckin awesome!! It's hard to get into politics around non-Latinos cause they don’t know our history and history books in this country are so fuckin watered down facts dat they only shows you what makes this country look good…….lies!! U can't hide da facts with books!! People live it and you can't hide da facts anymore!! We're too smart for dat patriotic mind control bullshit!! But back to Pedro; he's a big part of why I am such a proud spic!! Lol!!.....Viva los Latinos!!! Somos pocos pero locos!!! These days the scene seems to be trending towards bands that are going for the extreme evil thing. To the point where they are almost a parody of themselves. Or they are so polished that they are almost robotic. Where do you think your brand of Blue Collar Metal fits into the scene? I can't do dat evil shit!! I can make shit sound evil but it's always as another meaning like our song Downfall of Christ!! It's not directly about Christ it's about da priest dat molest kids. Well it's not really blue collar its street or gangsta metal but not entirely blue collar. But metal is to fuckin fantasy!!! To many devil worshipers and all these evil people who are really fuckin metal nerds with a gimmick. U wanna see evil shit….then cross my path on a good day and I’ll take u to hell and back!!lol!! seriously!! Dats why I think everyone respects us! We're true to what we say and others have seen us in action before…so our rep speaks for itself! But we're not here for dat really we just wanna rock out!!! Make music and money!!! Music is changing faster than most people can keep up with it. What do you in the future for Merauder and for Metal overall? Well da future of music doesn’t have anything to do with metal’s future cause were not here to follow it were here to revive it, bring it back to life !! Are there any plans to tour with album? Yeah!!! Got some European shows in December with Entombed. And dats so far what we got!! While other bands just use our songs and our name as a stepping stone but in reality they have no involvement with us!! It's cool to sound like you know Merauder but just because you played a show or 2 with us doesn’t make you a friend. Da same people who love and respect us, cover our songs and all dat shit are da same ones who are keeping us from getting on their tour!! Giving us da run around!!! Fuck them I don’t want what they got…it's not enough for Merauder!!! Plus whatever they got they it from my house!!! Metalcore is ours and till this day nobody's doin’ it right. Everyone thinks their metalcore cause they got short hair army pants and a Hatebreed shirt!!!ha ha ha funny motherfuckers!!! I don’t wear any of dat shit!! And im da king of metalcore period!!! Whomever doesn’t think so can suck my dick!!! You can’t change history!!! ……………….MERAUDER FOREVER FOREVER MERAUDER!!!! Is there anything you want to add before we wrap? TO ALL DA KIDS DAT ARE WONDERING ABOUT US JUST COME AND SEE US………….I PROMISE YOU WONT REGRET IT!!!!!! SUPPORT DA KINGS OF METALCORE!!!
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 30 November -1 00:00 )

Necrophobic! Dead to All!

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Written by Sameerah
Sunday, 23 August 2009 05:31
Of the many genres of Metal, I think Black Metal may be one of the hardest to do consistently well. One of the things that always impresses me about a good Black Metal band is their ability to conjure up and maintain the kind of ferocity that the music demands. And when a band takes on the moniker Satanic Black Metal, things become even more intense. As you wade through the muck to sort out who is just shouting Satan for shock value and who picks up the dark arts as a way of life. The thing that separates the dark hordes from the posers is the ability to use Satanism not just for shock value, but as a way to encourage the listener to cast off shackles of organized religion and embrace free thought even if it is only for a moment. Not just the glorification of evil, even though that's always fun.Sothis , Woe and the sorely missed Dissection are bands that immediately come to mind when I think of Black Metal at its best. Now I can happily addNecrophobic to that list. Their new album Death to All is nothing short of brilliant.They are unapologetic and brutal as they expound their view of the world. The music is their way of connecting to this world and the worlds beyond. Yet they don't use it the scare the masses, well not intentionally anyway. Its a declaration of who they are, the listener can either run from it or embrace. But no matter what you wont be able to ignore it. I've recently had the pleasure to talk guitarist Sebastian Ramstedt about Death to All, Satanism and all manner of things Metal. Enjoy Your music is full of Satanic imagery. Are you all practicing Satanists? Sebastian: In the bible Satan is the one who questions the authority. He chooses to go his own way even if that means there will be blood, both his own and others. Even if I’m not a Christian or Christian Satanist I support the way of the Devil fully. To me It’s not a matter if God exists as a physical person/power or not. As long as a majority of the people on earth live by the rules of religion God’s message will rule. In these terms I will stand proud as a Satanist and fight the ones following “God”. Practicing I guess you mean participating in magic rituals. In these matters I think it’s a bit narrow minded to concentrate on Satan. I practice dark magic to gain knowledge and power. To me it’s a free zone from all of the world religions and there’s more interesting things to explore than just Satan. I don’t practice magic to fight “God” even if the outcome of rituals can strengthen your ability to fight religion in your physical life. There are bands out there that use Satanism as a gimmick. Do you think using Satanism as a toy hurts bands that want to put out music that revels in darkness? Sebastian: This is very interesting. Writing music is for me purely ritual art. I go deep into myself to find the inspiration to write both music and lyrics. Even the design and concept of the whole product that is the album is something that reflect your thoughts and beliefs. Bands going through all of this without actually supporting the message is pretty dumb. If you have the channel to say something and you waste it on spreading words you don’t believe in then I think you missed the point. But, performing live is another thing. The audience is mainly there to be entertained. This rhymes bad with the message of serious Satanism. If you want to make a change then you don’t gather a bunch of drunkslamdancing guys and try to spread the message. Live performances must be seen as self developing rituals and can at best make the audience feel that they are a part of something bigger. Therefore I don’t think bands using Satanism as a toy hurts us. Satanism is strong within but powerless as an commercial product. Bands faking It makes us look more serious though. I've run into a few bands over the years that write their music to be used with a duel purpose putting out kick ass Black Metal and use during Black Magic. When you're writing do you come to the process with any kind of set agenda? Sebastian: No. The actual writing is the ritual. The outcome is a bonus that we choose to share with the audience. They can use it as they want. I don’t care. The cover art for Death to All is brilliant. The image of Pan sitting on high over the masses is stunning. Its the kind of picture that seems to be a part of a larger story. Whats the story behind the cover art? Who did you line up to create the cover? Sebastian: The cover is made by Erik Danielsson of Watain. We wanted an image of the Dark lord summoning the forces before world annihilation. We wanted to use human soldiers and concrete instead of the usual “Tolkien” environment withorchs and forests. This is now, the war is now and we wanted the listener to get the feeling of being a part of this. Not illustrating some ancient battle before time as we know it. Erik did a great job. The title track, Death to All, is broken into 3 parts. Almost like an opera. Are these songs going to be used as part of a greater project down the road? Why did you decide to break that song Sebastian: The intro is actually just another version of the outro. I made “..and jesus wept” first but thought it sounded to weak and harmonic. I recorded both versions and talk with my friend Necro (Pest) about which version to use. He thought I should use both. Normally this is not the way Necrophobic work with long progressive songs so I had to come up with an idea. Thinking of it as a concept in three acts made it possible to keep all the riffs and still stay within the frames I like to work with. This also gives us the opportunity to only perform a part of it live. The whole act “death to all” will be hard to make justice for live but the mid “Triumph of the Horned” will be great live. La Satisima Muerete, is a great song. If my crappy Spanish is right it translates to The Death of Satanism. Do you Satanism or Black Metal as you see it taking a turn for the worse? Sebastian: Funny how everyone gets this title wrong. It’s “la SANTISIMA muerte”. HOLY Death. Something they celebrate in Mexico for gaining succes and wealth. The thought of Death as something good is taken away from Christianity as it seem to negative but it’s still celebrated in Mexico. Tobias started to work on this lyrics after a week of dark rituals in Mexico City last year. For Those Who Stayed Satanic is another great track. What was going on with you as a band to inspire such of whole hearted thank you to your fans? Sebastian: It’s rather a thank to the bands we like staying true to their roots but of course also a to all the people in the metal scene not giving up. I don’t know where Tobias got the inspiration for this but I guess he started to think about how many persons that actually have left the scene since the late 80’s and thought that the ones left deserved some kind of applaud. Are there any plans to tour with Death to All? Sebastian: Yeah of course. We are booking gigs right now. For sure Europe will be covered but hopefully we will come abroad. How would you describe what you want to accomplish with your music? Sebastian: Turn it around. Music is what we accomplish. Anything you want to add before we wrap? Sebastian: Death to all!
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 30 November -1 00:00 )

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