1. Although the band band has been active since 2008, it seems that the name of Black Pestilence is much better adapted to the current times with Covid-19, why did you decide to use the name of Black Pestilence when creating the band ? At some point, could you imagine that it would be related in such a close way to the social events that we have experienced?
In the beginning, starting as a one-man recording project, I decided on the name “Black Pestilence” simply because I like the way that it sounded. Never would I have ever thought that this name would be so closely related to a global pandemic. Although, a number of years ago I attended a large indoor music festival with some of my friends. During that time we did talk about how if there was an unknown virus being carried by one of the fans, how easily it could spread and the chaotic aftermath that would likely happen afterwards.
2. Does the fact of creating a band like Black Pestilence respond to the need to create a band where you can express yourself in a more personal way, without feeling so pigeonholed within the more traditional black? What motivates you to create Black Pestilence? What Does Black Pestilence offer you compared to other bands you've been a part of?
Yes, that is exactly it. I did feel pigeonholed playing only traditional black metal, hence the reason for creating Black Pestilence and combining various genres with each other. I simply wanted to create music that I wanted to hear, regardless if someone would or would not agree with mixing elements from vastly different genres. Overall, I still see Black Pestilence as a black metal band, even if sonically, it may have elements closer to thrash/punk or crossover now. Black Pestilence does allow me complete control over the music I want to write and hear. Now that doesn’t mean I am some musical tyrant in the studio. Collaboration and contribution from the other members of Black Pestilence is still very important and is much more apparent now than the earlier years before. This can be best heard on our latest album, “Hail the Flesh”.
3. Your recent “Hail the Flesh” is the eighth album of your career, a career more than consolidated, how has the writing and recording process been for this album?
The writing process took about one year for this album and the recording process took around three months. In comparison to previous albums, this one we spent a much longer time recording. Most of the previous album took just over a month to record and release.
4. What aspects do you think have evolved in Black Pestilence since the recording of your first album “Vice” (2009), to the most recent “Hail the Flesh” (2020)?
Many aspects have changed since “Vice” was recorded. On “Vice”, I recorded all the instruments and used programmed drums. At that time, the nature of the music was much more chaotic and noisy. The use of the drum machine allowed me to program inhuman drum beats. At times, this allowed for a tone to be created as opposed to an actual drum beat. This was one of the key elements that made “Vice” a unique album and extremely different from any other Black Pestilence release. Now with, “Hail the Flesh”, the music is much more polished in terms of production, performance, and overall songwriting structure. Thrash and punk elements have also been much more common in Black Pestilence in the last five years.
5. In your most recent “Hail the Flesh” (2020) there are nine songs that, starting from a black metal base, have been added styles such as punk, noise or thrash, creating a sound that is completely recognizable for your fans. What are your main musical influences when composing songs like the ones on your last album? Is it very difficult to achieve the expected final result when merging so many different styles?
It would be difficult to list all the influences and bands that I like to listen to for inspiration. It changes quite frequently. The most important influence to be able to continue to merge multiple genres together, is to always keep an open ear and mind to whatever music you are listening to. Anything can be an influence, not just music. It could be the sound of cars driving by, absolute silence at night, anything. I never really thought too much about the difficulty of merging the genres together. Of anything, I find it easier because traditional black metal has so many restrictions. At the end of the day, regardless of how much of one genre is emphasized in a song more than another, it doesn’t matter. As long as it sounds good, that’s what matters.
6. Your lyrics also cover a wide spectrum, on the one hand we have the classic themes related to Satanism and on the other hand more current themes related to social issues, what is inspired when writing the lyrics and why do you consider these so many different interesting topics to focus on?
For many years, I have studied and supported Satanic philosophy in my personal life. Like anyone’s perspective, it shapes one’s worldview. It just seemed natural to continue to write lyrics that are related to this philosophy. Social issues and world events have always interested me as well. Again, this also just seemed natural to write lyrics on topics that I hold a specific stance on.
7. How have you dealt with and in what way have you been affected as a band by Covid-19? In what way do you think you have been harmed due to not being able to offer concerts since the album was released?
Since the cancellation of a number of shows and tours for us this year, we have pushed for a greater online presence. We filmed a few live performance videos featuring some songs off of “Hail the Flesh”. It was unfortunate that we had a large number of merch pressed for the shows we had booked this year but we are grateful of the people still continuing to order from us online. Overall, we have been forced to think outside the box and to start thinking about moving forward with the band in modern way.
8. All the members of the band come from Calgary, what is the extreme metal scene like in a city like Calgary?
Over the years since Black Pestilence first arrived on the scene, the Calgary metal community has improved quite substantially. There’s a lot of talented musicians and bands coming up the ranks and making some really cool music.
9. How were your beginnings in music: first albums you bought, first concerts you attended? What did you do in your lives that made you want to dedicate yourself to music?
When I was twelve years old, I remember my older brother was the first in my family to start playing music. At that time he played piano and guitar. He taught me how to play a number of different songs on both of those instruments. I knew I wanted to pursue music with the same enthusiasm as he did. Later on, he ended up showing me a video of a live performance by the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. After seeing that, I knew I wanted to play bass.
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0. You are a band that in a quite clear way you have always opted for the self-publishing of your albums, has there been no interest on the part of any record label to publish your albums or the self-publishing responds to a way of having your work more controlled?
In the beginning, no labels were interested in releasing “Vice”. It would have been a tough sell, so I can understand the lack of interest from labels back then. At that time, I didn’t want to wait around and saved up the money to release it on my own. Additionally, at that time, Black Pestilence was still very much a solo studio-only project. I had no intentions back then for it to become what it has today. In more recent years, there has been label interest and even a few re-released some albums on cassette. But overall, most of the label interest is minimal and what they are offering is usually a really bad deal. A few older albums I had talks with them being released through different labels but I always ended up self-releasing because that was still the better option.
11. What album represents the essence of black metal for you? What recent albums have you bought? And what album does not stop playing on your player?
The album that represents the essence of black metal for me would probably be any album by Marduk. The album that first inspired me to start Black Pestilence would be the self-titled album by Endless Dismal Moan.
12. One of the ways that bands have had to maintain contact with their fans, has been the work done on social networks with the inclusion of unpublished material, videos, etc. .. How have you maintained contact with your fans? what future plans do you have for the band?
Ironically enough, releasing “Hail the Flesh” in the middle of the pandemic allowed us to have lots of opportunities to interact with fans. It was something to talk about and there was a lot of press that we were able to share to keep people engaged. In Canada, some venues have reopened to allow for live shows but with limited seated audience. That is something that does interest us and we may take an opportunity like that if it comes our way.
13. Thank you very much for the time dedicated to Black Metal Spirit, if you want to add something for Black Pestilence fans this is the place. I hope the questions have been to your liking.
“Hail the Flesh” is available now on CD, digital download, and streaming! We continue to press new merch available on our Bandcamp (https://blackpestilence.bandcamp.com/). Thanks for the interview!
VALAX
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