2007 Pitchfork
http://pitchfork.com/features/show-no-mercy/6720-show-no-mercy/
Aluk Todolo is often described in occult or spiritual terms. What are you conjuring with your music? Is there a Satanic theme like your (Diamatregon) black metal work?
A.H. : We conjure the Music. Sound is the begining and the end, the summoning and the manifestation. The presence of Satan depends of WHO is LISTENING. It is only a name, among many others, given to one of the Antediluvians, who are our ENERGIES.
Can you explain the symbol that shows up on your 7" and in the jacket of the new one. Where does it come from?
A.H. : It is an Enochian letter, from the alphabet re-discovered by John Dee & Edward Kelley.
What's the concept or content behind Descension? The songs have brief, blunt names.
A.H. : Never-ending Falling, from Enslavement to 1DeatH3, through Mourning & Illumination ... as above so below ... world without end. This is what the song names could mean. But Descension tells no story ... the key: There's no lock, so the Key is useless. HERMETISM is not a gimmick, it is a necessity, and only the informations given are necessary.
The liner notes mention drum, bass, and guitar, but there are so many different noises and pulses going on. Are you using any other instruments or are you just manipulating the core instruments in various ways? How was the album recorded? Sounds extremely cavernous. Reminds me of something that would've come out on Siltbreeze in its heyday.
A.H. : This is our very goal to play Ritual music with Rock instruments. Homerecording. It sounds cavernous because it was recorded in a cave, where what lurks between the folds of audible can become real. For this reason the mixing process took a long time. Some HIDDEN things had to be unveiled.
What are you listening to these days?
A.H. : These days I am listening to Alfred Schnittke.
Stylistically, how did you arrive at Aluk Todolo's blackened-Can/This Heat sound. Am thinking in terms of Diamatregon and Vediog Svaor... it's a departure. Where do you see Aluk Todolo's sound going next? Are you interested in straightforward black metal?
A.H. : «Austerity is strength. Black Metal knows that, somehow, magically, the less of YOURSELF you put into it, the stronger it is. The playing is FOR THE SONG. not FOR THE SELF.» NN. Stylistically, AT is Epuration & Abberation, Crawling Chaos & Hypnosis. What will come next ... Black and White Dreams...
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