Interview with Eugen and Andreas of Voidskald

Date: 2008.10.12

• BELLVM GERITE: Hey guys, thanks for taking the time to talk to me.
• Eugen: Sure.
• Andreas: Any time. Ok, I didn't mean that (laughs).
• BELLVM GERITE: First off, what is the name of your project all about? What does "Voidskald" stand for?
• Eugen: The "void" part is really just obviously the English word "void". Skalds were old Norse poets who really dedicated themselves to their work. There were other contemporary groups of poets in other linguistic groups in Europe at the time but I decided to go for the Scandinavian one because of its meaning in black metal. I still consider Scandinavia, in particular Norway, the origin of black metal as I love it. The "void" is an important image to me in relation to realising that we are really just a bunch of molecules and that emotions are just biochemical/electric processes in our bodies. Realising that there is no objective purpose in life, realising that there are no supernatural omnipotent creatures watching out for us and realising that we are just a small blip in this vast void of the universe we exist in describes that feeling. Initially it can fill you with emptiness, it can paint life in bleak colours but when you figure out that it has always been like this and that it is never going to change you can embrace this void to become a confident realist. I also associate controlling and overcoming the emotions that rage inside us and our inherently irrational human nature with it.
• BELLVM GERITE: One of the first things that struck me about you are your lyrical themes. Now, nihilism, existentialism and misanthropy are not exactly unusual for black metal but your open opposition to all forms of supernaturalist beliefs and your promotion of atheism are extremely uncommon. Can you elaborate on that?
• Eugen: Well, I didn't grow up in a particularly religious family but both my parents are 1-day-a-year pseudo-Christians who magically turn into Christians for christmas only. I got baptised when I was a baby. They forced that stuff on me and I was certain of the existence of the Christian deity until I was 12 or so. A basic scientific education and more knowledge of the world opened my eyes and I finally realised that there is no big daddy sitting in the sky fucking with mankind - there is absolutely no evidence to support this view. Most religions contradict each other anyways, so all of them have to be wrong except for a small compatible subset. Chances are all of them are superstitious beliefs which have no basis in physical reality. Anyways, I didn't even know about the label "atheist" until I was 16 or so but it's what I'd been all this time. My mother tried to force that protestant confirmation thing on me when I was 13 I think but I refused to do it. It caused some minor drama in the family but it wasn't a big topic for long. Later on I developed a strong dislike for all forms of unscientific supernaturalist beliefs. Religion and other irrational beliefs are an unnecessary cancer that has been decreasing the quality of life of far too humans for far too long. We must educate people and fight these harmful beliefs whereever we encounter them.
• BELLVM GERITE: Andreas, how do you feel about this?
• Andreas: Err, as you can see Eugen writes the lyrics and stuff (laugh). I grew up in east Berlin, when it was still part of the GDR (German Democratic Republic/east Germany prior to 1990) and I grew up totally non-religiously. My family consists of atheists really - but not outspoken ones like Eugen is. But, yeah, I'm an atheist, too. I never took religion seriously because I had no reason to. It wasn't until later that I realised that there are religious fundamentalists who actually have lots of political power in countries like Iran but also the USA. That was what initially caught my attention and it deeply disgusted me. That is when I started to see this pattern of indoctrination in other places aswell but I can't say that I feel as strongly about it as Eugen does.
• BELLVM GERITE: You previously said that you are opposed to all forms of supernaturalist beliefs. If I am not mistaken this would also include the satanic and occult imagery which is so prevalent in the lyrics of the black metal scene. How do you feel about that?
• Eugen: That is a big problem for me actually. You see, I absolutely love the sound - the riffs, the drums, the screams and all. But as a radical outspoken atheist I absolutely disagree with that supernaturalist non-sense which is spread by far too many bands out there. I wish they would finally realise that it is a silly teenage rebellion against Judeo-Christian religions - a rebellion which uses imagery from the religions itself - so it is equally supernaturalist and ridiculous. By doing so you do not really oppose it, you reinforce it as a framework you operate in. And what do you replace it with? What have you really achieved? Absolutely nothing, you replaced one false belief with another false one - which makes you pretty much one of them, to me, at least. So I have a love/hate relationship with many black metal bands in that way. I know that many of them do not take this stuff seriously but even in that case it is still unnecessary and wrong. Anyways, I try to ignore the lyrical content for the most part and I just focus on the sound of the music and it does not fail to make me happy.
• Andreas: This annoys me, too. All the inverted crosses, the goats, the pentagrams and all that crap are rather ridiculous. I fully agree with him (Eugen) on this one. Replacing a god with a devil is an infantile revolt and it is not opposed to what they actually should be opposed to. What are they revolting against anyways? The lies of the Bible? Satan is a lie, too. The glorious Christian code of behaviour and the commandments? Well, most of it is archaic bullshit but some of it is a common part of most successful human socities, namingly things like "Don't kill people" and such. Don't get me wrong, I am not claiming that those come from the Bible. They are much older and you will find them in most religious scriptures in one way or the other. They have proven to be successful altruistic principles. If you reject those laws because you reject authority on the basis of, say, anarchist ideology, then do it in the name of anarchism but not in the name of a stupid blood stained pentagram and furry goats (laugh).
• BELLVM GERITE: If I am not mistaken you make lots of references to Nietzche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra in your lyrics, in particular in Zarathustra's Descent. What do you think about Nietzsche and his writings? What do they mean to you as black metal artists?
• Eugen: I have a problem with philosophy in general. Most of it concerns itself with non-problems and creates redundant layers of abstraction around the most irrelevant parts of human existence. There are so many books which basically go on and on about nothing at all and I think that is quite sad, actually. I am not saying that you should burn all the useless philosophical texts - I fully support intellectual diversity and all. I am just somewhat disappointed that mankind has wasted so much time on that and I wish there was more material out there that would appeal to me. In its current form "philosophy" is somewhat laughable. Nietzsche is not perfect either, some of his writings are actually borderline supernaturalist at a first glance. Take his eternal recurrence theme for example - it sounds like Buddhist reincarnation, really. I think that man had something for Buddhism. Sometimes, I do, too, but for me it's all about detaching from physical existence, letting go and gaining the power to simply say 'no' to emotions that control you. Back to Nietzsche. He was an important early figure who rejected religion and who pointed out all the hipocrisies inherent to religions like Christianity in their current form. Thus Spoke Zarathustra especially appeals to me because the main character is a man who got tired of mankind. He fled into the mountains and left his old life behind him to dedicate himself to thinking and enjoying nature without the distortions introduced into it by human society. I often feel like that with the exception of the whole nature thing, maybe. I actually prefer the simple civilised lives we have in western society nowadays. However, it is true that I like to isolate myself from a lot of things many people consider normal for human beings to do. Zarathustra says "I love mankind" and I mean, even though you call our lyrics misanthropic - I suppose a lot of them are - we fully depend on human beings and their technological achievements and such. What would I do if I had no house to live in? No drums? No guitars? No music? No internet access? No super markets? All of these are somewhat mundane objects which do not receive our full appreciation in the course of our daily routines. If you think about it they completely shape our lives and they change everything. It is only when one of them is missing that you realise how much such an object actually means to you.
• BELLVM GERITE: Alright, let's go back to the silly standard questions. Whom do you guys consider your biggest musical influences?
• Andreas: Since I write the riffs for Voidskald I should probably take this one. Some of our biggest influences are old Darkthrone - around Under A Funeral Moon - Horna, Deathspell Omega, some Gorgoroth, Immortal, Katharsis (GER, as in NOEVDIA), Marduk, Mutiilation, Satyricon around Nemesis Divina/Rebel Extravaganza, 1349, and such. You get the picture. Darkthrone's Natassja In Eternal Sleep has this characteristic dissonant riff which I frequently pursue in my music in all varieties. It totally blew my mind when I heard that song for the first time. It was so unlike anything I had every heard before and it was just beautiful. Eugen listens to a lot of black metal really and so do I but I also listen a lot to death metal. Stuff like Morbid Angel, old At The Gates, old Cryptopsy, Decapitated, Atheist, Cannibal Corpse, some Deicide and so on shaped me musically, too. I don't listen to all these classics all the time, you know, but they still imprint you with that genre. I try to keep up with new releases and I always check out contemporary music. Some people whine a lot about all new music sucking but that's just bullshit and they know it. It's just that "Everything Used To Be Better" trend but it's such a lie. You could give them some old school 90s black metal release and they would totally reject it if you wrote 2009 on it.
• BELLVM GERITE: What music do you listen to besides extreme metal?
• Andreas: Oh. You know, I see this one popping up in a lot of interviews with extreme metal bands and I frequently read answers along the lines of "Oh, I listen to all kinds of stuff ranging from black metal to techno to classical rock", etc. But with me it's really just extreme metal, I don't listen to anything else, really. I can't speak for Eugen on this one, though.
• Eugen: (laughs) Yeah, I actually do listen to some other stuff aswell. I find Drone/Doom projects like Sunn O))) quite fascinating. Southern Lord is an interesting label anyways, by the way. I also listen to some thrash occasionally, or at least stuff which is heavily influenced by it. Once every 3 years I get interested in noisy drum'n'bass for some reason. That beat... I just love it sometimes. Yeah but mostly it's black metal for me, as he (Andreas) said.
• BELLVM GERITE: I believe to have read a reference to cocaine in one of your songs, something about "drug induced apotheosis" and "snow of bliss" or so. How do you feel about drugs, in particular in connection to metal?
• Eugen: (laughs) That was actually a reference to heroin, oh well. I'm a vegetarian and I don't do any drugs, nor do I drink or smoke. This is purely for health reasons. I actually hate political vegetarians/vegans and animal lovers in general. Hurting animals can be a lot of fun (laughs). I don't do drugs because it simply doesn't give me much, I think. All the side effects are such a big downer for me, it's just not worth it at all.
• Andreas: I do drugs occasionally and I think it definitely enhances the musical experience for me. But I am always careful not to overdo it but sometimes I get carried away with it and I end up puking my guts out, for hours. I think it's worth it, though. In the big picture.
• Eugen: The beauty in drugs to me is watching other people suffer. It gives me a better feeling about myself. I feel like I'm in control when I'm surrounded by people like Andreas, as high as a fucking kite. Maybe that's why we work great together, you know (laughs). I'm all for legalising all drugs anyways.
• Andreas: That's a pretty fucked up thing to say, you know? I'll watch out for any drug references in your lyrics in future...
• Eugen: (laughs)
• BELLVM GERITE: Alright, guys. I'd like to thank you both for this interview. You actually said much more than I anticipated. Do you have anything you want to get off your chest? Any final words?
• Eugen: I can't think of anything, really. Oh, yeah. About the misanthropy thing. Many bands say non-sense like "We hate mankind so much, we hate you all equally, yadda yadda". If those guys actually meant that they should reject all technological achievements they are using to make their music aswell. They should reject their fellow band members. They are just posers who apply this term outrageously selectively. Attention whores. That's it. Thanks.