2007-12 Terrorizer
1- How did the band come together? Were there any specific events or shared obsessions that prompted the formation of Aluk Todolo?
A.H. : The band formed when we all returned to France after some trips to different parts of the world.We did not really planned this, but the band is the result of a pact between us : sturm der urgewalten.
2- I read that the band's name alludes to an Indonesian tribal religion - what's the significance of this, and why choose this particular name?
One of us came back from Indonesia with this name in mind.When we heard it, we immediately thought that it was our name. Aluk Todolo could be translated by «the way of the ancestors», and it is what we follow.
3- What's your interest in occult and/or magic ritual and how does this translate into your music? Would you ever provide the music for a ritual?
Our music is a ritual. Rehearsals, gigs, recordings are all planned as rituals.We conjure the music. Sound is the begining and the end, the summoning and the manifestation.
4- Can you tell me about the new album and how/when/where it was made? Are you pleased with it? How do you want listeners to feel when they put it on?
It was recorded during summer 2006 in the Alps, in a cave. There, what lurks between the folds of audible can become real. We just started recording at dusk, exhausted after several hours of invocation. When we finally disappeared behind the forces we summoned, we reached the requested conditions to record Descension. I cannot tell if I am « pleased » with the result. I guess that it is not a very pleasant album... It is primitive and hermetic at the same time, so I reckon that it requires an effort on behalf of the listener.
5- There seems to be a genuine air of unsettling menace to much of Descension - do you ever feel unsettled by your own music?
Yes. The forces conjured in Descension are wicked. Several times we were surprised by our own creation. We were sick during the recording sessions. Then, I spent a lot of time on the mixing process. I unveiled some hidden things and I was depressed and sick all the time. At the moment, I didn't thought it could be related to the music. But now, when I'm listening to the album, the same feeling is coming back. Seems it is the essence of the album. Once again, we had not foreseen this result, It just came like this, purified, absurd, crawling and malignant.
6- Is there a lot of improvisation to what you do - it sounds as if some of the tracks have been arrived at via improvising.
Our music always come from improvisation sessions, then, rehearsal after rehearsal a structure emerges.
7- I noticed that the album is mastered by James Plotkin, who has a really interesting approach to sound. What made you want to work with him?
J.R. Fritsch from Public Guilt records asked us if we would be interested by being mastered by James Plotkin. We knew his work and thought it was a great idea, since we needed someone able to understand our experimentations in sound. But it was not easy to work with him, because of the distance, and also for we had some precise ideas of what we wanted. Eventually, he managed to do the job.
8- Where would you most like Aluk Todolo to play a show? This can be anywhere, however unrealistic!
We 'd like to play in Varanasi, the city where Fire never stops.
9- Finally, can you tell me a bit about the black metal scene in France? Many thanks!
We are not into this scene, but for what I can tell, most of it is a bunch of losers whose devotion to Satan consists into drinking beers & taking extasy, thinking that they are TRVE. I do respect only a few bands such as Blacklodge and Nehëmah. |
