1. Greetings. Since CULT OF ERINYES are still rather unknown in metal scene this question cannot be avoided. Could you please briefly present the band to the readers? It’s history, members etc.
Corvus: Hi Dalihrob,
We started CULT OF ERINYES at the beginning of 2010, even if I began to write some ambient music on my own in 2009. The tracks “Anima” (from Golgotha) and Permafrost ( from A Place to Call My Unknown) come from that ambient period. Concerning the story; Baal, Mastema and myself used to play in the deathmetal band Psalm. We could have continued under that name, but it would have been a non sense, because CULT OF ERINYES is really something more than a “band” in my eyes, where music in only a symptom of “something” that goes way deeper.
2. CULT OF ERINYES – What is the meaning of “Erinyes” in the band? As far as I know “Erinyes” are Furies – winged female beings/deities from Greek mythology. Why did you choose such name?
Corvus: The Erinyes are a very strong figure in the Greek mythology. I like the fact they are feared by mankind and “tolerated” by the Gods. That bastard status is something I can perfectly integrate. Those deities of vengeance punished directly the sinners, and that’s something you’ll not find in our modern societies anymore. This faith in mankind and forgiveness will cause its perdition...
3. I guess you will agree with me that Golgotha EP was a statement, statement what is the CULT OF ERINYES about. There is not much difference between an EP and full-length, maybe that EP has a thicker sounding and is sometimes a bit more aggressive. But I have feeling that you were composing songs for EP and Full-length at the same time and then you selected three tracks to prepare the scene for your coming. Am I right?
Mastema: You're a mind reader, I have to admit I'm impressed. Yes, both releases were written during the same period of time. It it true that the "Golgotha" EP should be seen as a statement, a manifest. We wanted to define our sound and we felt it had to happen through a studio experience. But we didn't just choose three random songs to feature on the EP. The three songs were the first which were written, so logically we decided to record them. We wrote the songs for the full-length in the same "flow" but they definitely came after the three songs featured on "Golgotha". The EP allowed us to be more confident and know exactly what we should aim for. In terms of sound, it is indeed rawer and aggressive. It was recorded quickly and we wanted something precise yet organic at the same time. With the full-length, we worked on the sound a bit more, but I think we still managed to keep it rather organic as well.
Corvus: Mastema is wrong, The Glowing Embers was written for the full length, but the song is powerful and was the perfect manifest to introduce the band to the audience, so I chose to put it on the EP. But yes, the writing process for both releases was concentrated on the same period ( December 2009- April 2010 if I’m correct).
4. Anyway “Golgotha” served its purpose. You have a record deal, listeners and journalists are starting to give you an attention. So I guess you are more than satisfied with the outcome of things, are you?
Mastema: You must have heard this a hundred times, but really the attention we get is merely a bonus. We do what we do for ourselves, because we feel the need to express this music which rages in us. Don't get me wrong, we enjoy the good reviews, but it's not our main target. But if it can help us materialize tomorrow's goals, then that's great. We're not aiming at being some underground, "true" black metal act. Attention and publicity is fine, as long as it doesn't infect the creative process.
5. Let us move to your first full-length album – “A Place to Call my Unknown”. Which bands influenced you when composing your music? I have a feeling that you really like bands like Darkspace, Behexen, Blut aus Nord. And I even hear a bit of death metal in the vein of Immolation in your music as well…
Corvus:You’re right, especially about Darkspace and Blut Aus Nord. It would be great to record an album with only one song divided in chapters like Blut Aus Nord did, but I don’t feel I’m musically ready for that. But that’s something I have in mind. About Immolation, I’m not sure it’s an influence, but I've got a lot of respect for this band; they provide a sort of “total” sound that goes way deeper than “let’s plug in, record, mix and master the album”. Creating a sound is very important and it’s sad to see a lot of bands having exactly the same so-called “big sound”.
6. The atmosphere of “A Place to Call my Unknown” balances between being depressively bleak and beautiful. What kind of emotions did you want to express? The music corresponds very well with lyrics (we will talk about them later) so I am wondering what was written first, music or lyrics?
Mastema: The music was mainly written first, but we've experienced a bit with the creative process, yes. It might sound like a lazy answer, but I really think there's something very wrong if there is a will behind the expression of certain feelings or emotions. I can guarantee you there was no masterplan for the record. There wasn't any in terms of emotions, but also in terms of energy or even structure. The songs express what we are, they came out that way and none of us would be able to explain why. I'm not gonna lie and tell you that the songs were left untouched. Of course there were some discussions, of course there were arrangements. But we followed our guts with every decision we made on this album, everything you hear on it seemed natural, even obvious, to us. I'm glad you've felt strong emotions pouring out from the music, it's a real compliment as it is, in my opinion, the greatest achievement of music. But the emotions you've identified probably aren't the same as the ones we would identify. That's the beauty of it: it appeals differently to every one of us. And it might not appeal at all to some people too. I have no problem with that. Aside from this little "idealistic" speech, I think you're right when you associate positive and negative feelings when talking about "A Place to Call My Unknown". We don't like onedimensional feelings. It doesn't reflect who we are. Our vision is essentially pessimistic, but as long as there is willpower there is hope. This is by all means not idealistic. Only the strong will live their life to the fullest. And they will have to swim through a sea of shit to get there, make no mistake. Our music reflects this everlasting struggle.
7. Before we dive into a lyrical side of album there is one more thing that interests me and that is the symbol of Triangle. Triangle has three sides, there are three people in the band, EP had three songs, new album has three times three (9) songs. So what is the meaning of Triangle and number three in the band’s concept? Are you some kind of “unholy trinity” ? :)
Corvus: Being unholy would mean in a certain way being a part of the dualistic vision of the world that the good thinkers are trying to impose, so no, we aren’t unholy ;=) We are a trinity where everybody has something specific to propose, and I like that. There is no bullshit during the writing or recording process, every role is well defined, and that’s the reason why we recorded an EP and a full length in only a few months. With a full line up (guitar+guitar+bass+vocals+drum), we would be sitting, discussing, for NO REASON. There is place for discussion in the Cult, but no need to discussion, and that little nuance is what makes the difference.
8. I must admit that the lyrics of the new album intrigued me in the same way as the music. That’s quite something because majority of metal lyrics is garbage (Hail the Exceptions!). Lyrics seem to be a kind of “social critique” – pointing towards the alienation of mankind and its “castration”. I guess you are quite disgusted with a modern society but the lyric of the last song shows a little hope. Please elaborate about the lyrical content of the new album.
Mastema: I'm glad you got exactly what I expressed through my lyrics. There are different themes on the album, it's not a concept album, so it's quite hard to summarize it. But I noticed afterwards that there are definitely some links between a couple of songs. History is one of my passions so a few songs are rooted into historical events. But I didn't want it to be just "stories", so I kept the historical events only as a starting point, maybe even as an excuse, to develop something more personal. Alienation of mankind and intellectual castration are two of the main themes of the record, you're absolutely right. I'm definitely digusted with modern society but, really, who isn't? If you aren't completely braindead, you cannot feel but that way. But I wanted to go further than just spitting on today's society. After all, everyone can do that and I'm no fucking punk or something. People are disgusted by society and even their own life, but they keep living their life just the same. They keep swallowing the same bullshit every day, they cannot think except when someone else drills a thought through their minds. I despise them, yes, and I despise even more the so-called "rebels" who are even hollower because they have no idea what they're "fighting" for, and they too feed the system, paradoxically. What I'm defending is simply doing your own thinking. Taking some critical distance and judging things with your own, personal values. That's why there is always a bit of hope in my lyrics. I'm no revolutionary nor an idealist, I know I'm not completely free. Nobody is. But maybe I'm a little more than most people. I try not to sound too boring in my lyrics so I also write about fiction a bit, as I did on one or two songs on the record.
9. “La conscience n'est dans le chaos du monde qu'une petite lumiére, precieuse mais fragible” from the last page of the booklet. What does it mean and where does it come from?
Mastema: It means "Conscience is in the chaos of the world but a small light, precious yet fragile". It was written by Louis-Ferdinand Céline, a French writer. Not only was his brilliant style of writing a true revolution in litterature, but the man was also a true visionary. He had to cope with lots of criticism, and whether he deserved it or not I'll leave to everyone's own opinion. But he was an incredible poet, he could turn the vilest, most miserable things mankind is capable of into something incredibly beautiful. His words turned shit into gold. I chose this sentence not only because I think very highly of Céline, but also because it reflects our record very well. When I look around me, I see mostly chaos and darkness, and even more so when looking at the future. But like Céline, I try to find some hope and beauty in this gigantic mountain of shit.
10. Interestingly, lyrics speak mainly about mankind but the pictures in the booklet are showing the desolate nature. Why you didn’t use a more urban pictures for example? When reading the lyrics and listening to your music I imagine pictures very similar to those which Blut aus Nord used in booklets during their most “urban” era (Thematic Emanations + MoRT).
Mastema: That's a very interesting question! I guess you caught me on that one, because I've never thought about that. You're right, most of the lyrics have "human" themes. I think we chose pictures of nature (which I've taken last year while in Iceland) because we're kind of torn between two feelings. Mankind is so inspiring, so rich...but we also hate it from the bottom of our hearts! We wanted landscapes which are virgin of all human presence, we also didn't want to put any picture of the band or something. The landscapes featured in the artwork are our haven, our sanctuary. Nature allows us to forget the miserable things mankind is responsible of, while reminding us of our insignificance. But who knows, urban landscapes might also be used in the future. I doesn't appeal to me that much, but it could reflect certain themes and feelings.
11. What about the future of CULT OF ERINYES? Do you have some new material ready? Or at least a vision of how CULT OF ERINYES might sound in the future?
Corvus: First of all, we are preparing a live line-up, just to be ready if a good opportunity pops up. On the other hand, I already started the writing of the next album, and I’m very confident it will sound way more intense than what we did so far. While a lot of bands become more mainstream (that’s not necessarily a bad thing) with the years, I can already tell you that the next album will have some very extreme songs.
12. Do you have any live shows scheduled? There are three core members of the band and I guess you need 2-3 extra session members to present your music live. I know that you are preparing some video-projections. What about costumes and stage set? The live show of CULT OF ERINYES might be a quite ritualistic spectacle.
Corvus: We have two good friends that will join CULT OF ERINYES as official live members. Plus Dolmanseh; he was present during the recording of Golgotha and A Place To Call My Unknown, did the lyrics of a song, took the promo pictures we did and was also responsible for the teaser we shared on the net two months ago. Needless to say Dolmanseh is very important to us, and I’m sure he will create some nasty and twisted video-projections for the live shows.
13. It is becoming more and more evident that one era comes to an end. How do you think that it will end? Due to a clash of cultures, failure of some political/financial pillar, some natural cataclysmic events or that we will simply kill each other? Do you think that there is some hope for mankind?
Corvus: Hope for mankind? Mankind NEVER learns from its mistakes. The dualism you’ll find in History books literally destroyed any chance to understand what mankind is really about. Politics became publicists with slogans for morons, that’s particularly obvious in Belgium. I don’t see any reason to have some hope for mankind.
14. To conclude this interview. Thank you for the interview and the new album and I hope to see CULT OF ERINYES live before everything goes to hell. Now you have a chance to convey any message you want to our readers and your fans. Take care!
Mastema: Your questions were challenging, thank you for really digging into our music, and it feels good to see you understand all we've wanted to express with the record. Thank you also to all the guys out there who purchased the record or just listened to it, whether they actually liked the music or not. Fans won't have to be too patient, we've got loads of ideas floating around... See you soon.
Corvus: That was an intense interview Dalihrob! Thank you for the time you spent on CULT OF ERINYES and maybe we’ll meet in hell, or before!
