Secrets of the Moon pour l'album "Antithesis"

Hi sG ! First of all, can you describe Secrets of the Moon, speak about the history of the band, the evolution...

I think the story and the evolution of the band are quite similar to other bands. Secrets of the Moon was formed in 1995. Actually I joined the band in 1996 after the first guitarist was forced to leave the band. In the coming years we rehearsed a lot and became a very good live band but unfortunately the writing of new songs has been a major problem. When T.Thelemnar joined the band in 2001 Daevas and I were for the first time able to achieve our musical vision and Carved in Stigmata Wounds progressed. Some years later we found a steady place for the second guitar. A.D. completed the line-up. Without his help and ambitions we would have not been able to write Antithesis, our third album. It's 2007 now and we're composing our next strike.

Why weren't you able to write new songs until T.Thelemnar join? Does that mean that you weren't satisfied with the songs on Stronghold of the Inviolables?

No the songs satisfied us but after Stronghold of the Inviolables we were not able to continue with our former drummer because the conceivability's really went in two different directions. Stronghold of the Inviolables is an album that has been written over a very long period of time. Some songs were about four years old when we recorded them. A very long wait for 30 minutes of music. This fact really pissed me off beside other personal things. So with T.Thelemnar in the band everything changed because we had the same musical vision in our minds.


Which musical vision of SOTM is… ?

Well, lives and views develop and so do visions. I remember with Stronghold of the Inviolables we wanted to make a very outstanding, raw and occult album. We were very much rooted in the black metal underground and I think this can be heard very well on this one. The cult was still alive back then. I remember that Marcel Spaller of Sombre Records asked us to release Stronghold of the Inviolables on vinyl. For us it was something like a dream come true because before no one offered us this or wanted to invest money in what we were doing. Sombre Records had a very strong backcatalogue back then so we were indeed very proud of that and we still are. Holding the vinyl in my hands was something that I will never forget.

After having released Stronghold of the Inviolables, what was your vision of the future of SOTM? Was the rupture with "traditional" Black Metal voluntary?

I remember when Stronghold of the Inviolables was released in CD format we gained a lot of good reviews and respect from media and fans. We wrote Carved in Stigmata Wounds and realized that all songs had a great potential so we saved money for our first real studio-session. We wanted a sophisticated sound; we wanted to work independently and more professionally than before. The songs just had the quality for it. Keep in mind that we did not have any label back then. We financed the record on our own, waited for reactions. The album progressed a lot while writing the songs. It was like a house that we built up. Well, the rupture... there has never been a rupture to me. Even Antithesis is a traditional album to me. It's just the way we play and feel (black) metal.


The fact that you write "black" in brackets is interesting: does that mean that you don't consider you're playing black metal? Or does that mean that metal is black metal, or further, that what you feel black metal is, isn't what usually people feel about it?

I think it is more because I don't like to label our music. That's it. After all it is just metal because we have distorted guitars and fast drumbeats. Actually the best bands nowadays are bands that are not able to be labelled. We strive for freedom in music. All our records will hopefully sound different to each other with the main connection that it is dedicated music played with the heart. That's the most important thing!

Have you any example of those bands you speak of?

Well take a band like Opeth for example. I don't like all of their albums but this is a band that can do whatever they want to. Their fans will appreciate it. This is an exciting development.

So, if you have any goal with SOTM, it'll be that whatever the next albums sound like, the fans would like it, because it's your inner vision in it, and that's one of the reasons people are fan of SOTM ?

At least I think that our fans approve development in music. But of course there will be people out there who are not able to follow us any longer. I don't have a problem with it. The top goal is that WE are satisfied with our outputs. But we appreciate it a lot if people are following what we are doing. They give us and so we give them.


It appears to me that you are a band who really wants to be near of his fans. What do they give to you? What's the very link you want to setup between your fans and you?

Well it's easy. They make us grow as a band. They make us recording a next album. They understand what we express. We try to be thankful. It's not easy sometimes because there are a lot of emails coming and a lot of people talking to you at a concert. But to us it is important to be in touch with them and will always be. They are as dedicated and as possessed as we are!

Before speaking of Antithesis, it should be interesting to hear you speak about the evolution you followed from Stronghold to Carved in Stigmata Wounds, from Carved to The Ambience of a Dead Star, from The Ambience of a Dead Star to The Exhibitions, and from The Exhibitions to Antithesis.

Puh, this is a heavy question because I can not really say more than it has all just been a natural development from release to release. What flows out of you is flowing out of you. There is nothing planned really. During all these releases we grew as musicians we learned a lot about how a song works and about how to record songs and how to turn visions on disc finally. There are so many different aspects that one has to keep in mind before judging our releases. We were a very "poor" band in the beginning. we have never been able to work with studio equipment. We came from the dirt, recorded rehearsal tapes and spreaded them all over the planet. This is a development nowadays bands did not have to go through. We are very "old school" in this case I guess...

Don't you think that you are not the only band which comes from nothing? What do you mean as you say that nowadays bands don't know this kind of development?

I mean that nowadays bands have a lot of possibilities to get their band started. They can easily reach a good production when playing their stuff in the computer and via internet they have brilliant ways to spread their name. Just think about MySpace. When we started there was nothing like that. We were not able to cooperate with people from the other side of the world like we do now. Snail mail took so much time and money. There was nothing like streaming or mp3 technology...but of course we are not the only band that comes from nothing. Many many bands before had to go through the same shit.

Anyway, what I wanted to ask is, while looking back, how do you see your evolution? Can you speak of it; tell what really changes on Antithesis?

To speak of it all would blow any frame here. I would have to listen to old recordings, old demo tapes... but what has changed on Antithesis for sure is the way we worked. For the first time I was able to work with a second guitarist on my side. A.D. brought a lot of fresh air in the band. We really have the same musical vision and we were able to bring our experiences together. That's one thing that you definitely hear on Antithesis. Moreover we tried to concentrate on the more basic core of music. We wanted it very pure and very straight. We wanted a pure dark metal album. Carved in Stigmata Wounds on the other hand was very more progressive and unloading. We ran off riot on Carved in Stigmata Wounds and did not want to do that again on Antithesis.

Is that in a way why you left keyboards behind on Antithesis? Because I see the absence of keyboard as one of the biggest difference between those two records. On Carved, keyboards used to take all the space, to fill the atmosphere... on Antithesis, it's the guitars that fill the atmosphere. Is that the goal of your search and work?

In a way, yes. We knew that the songs were powerful enough. They did not need any keyboards. We only used one day in the studio to record some keyboard over dubs. That's it. But they really turned out the way we wanted them to be. Carved in Stigmata Wounds lives from the "mystery" the keyboards invoke. Just think of all the detailed sounds in between two songs. It is very monumental. Antithesis is much purer and yes, we wanted it this way.

So now, tell me things about Antithesis, things like the description, the concept, the recording...

Let's start with the recordings... hmm where to start? I remember a long drive from Osnabruck, our hometown, to Mellrichstadt, the small city where the studio is. I drove alone listening to "...And Justice for All" all the time in the car. It was kinda magical. I had to drive through Cologne to pick up a mesa boogie amp that we used on Antithesis. The drive was very weird because you pass a lot of horrible ghost towns. Finally there I met our producer in the studio and we talked about the record for the first time. We talked and talked and talked. He really understood what we had in mind. It became a long night. Later that evening our drummer came and began to raise his drum kit. It took very long to make it ready for the recordings because everything had to sound perfect. The upcoming week we three recorded all the drums with click tracks. It was a great experience because every beat turned out really heavy. I could not wait to get all the guitars over it. The first week was a great one. In the second week the other members came, ready for putting all the guitar lines on disc. It was an adventurous experience to find the right guitar sound. We recorded four guitar tracks for each song plus lead and acoustic guitars. It took about two weeks. After these weeks in studio I kinda felt an inner collapse. I was about to freak out and pack my job. During these weeks we lived in an apartment all together. There was nothing like privacy. I remember one evening when I lay in the bathtub. I again went through the songs in mind and suddenly had to puke. Immediately I jumped out of the tub to reach the toilet, smashed on the floor and puked the hell out of my stomach. It was horrible. The album devoured me too much. The music went a bit too deep and for some hours I hate this bastard called Antithesis. But after we recorded all the keyboards and all the vocals and pre-produced one song (which took about three weeks all in all) we were able to say goodbye to studio. The next three weeks producer Markus Stock worked on the final mix while we were cooperating with him through thousands of mp3 files. I was not able to set a step in the studio again so this was the easiest way to get the record done. But not all was hell in this time. I remember we had some nice evenings with all the band mates and our female manager Jenny Kalbitz. She came to the studio for a couple of days to listen to some tracks and to talk with us about the marketing business of the record. we had some nice evenings walking around in the woods, made some barbecue at the top of a mountain... seeing it all from a distant point of view it was a very deep going and profound time and I don't want to miss it.

But there's no keyboard on Antithesis, right?!

There are a few keyboard parts on the record.

Like the horns?

Yes for example. There are also strings in Lucifer speaks and a piano in Ordinance. But it is mixed so calm that you almost do not notice it. You would notice it when the lines were removed I think.

Then, can you speak about the musical and lyrical aspects of Antithesis?

Lyrically Antithesis is a very wide-ranging album which deals with the main topic "death". The ultimate death and the question: "how would we react if we would comprehend and KNOW that life is a consecutive evolution "only"?” There is nothing like an afterlife and nothing that will be left of us after we die except for the human shell. Ashes to ashes. All in all it is a very negative, pessimistic and even nihilistic lyrical approach from my side. It is maybe because I had to deal a lot with the death of close relatives and friends in the young past. It really had an enormous influence on my way of writing the lyrics for the record.

So, it's not longer kind of esoteric lyrics, like in the past?

It has some occult and mythological backgrounds like e.g. the role of seraph in Seraphim is Dead or the approach of Megiddo in Confessions. But it is not so deeply rooted in occult sciences as it was in the past. It was forced. I wanted to have much more personal lyrics to find a balance. It helped a lot to write about things that you HAVE TO deal with.

May you speak a bit about your occult/esoteric background, your researches, and the way it occurs with SOTM?

Well nowadays these are just things that I deal with or I read about. I let some things too close to my mind and I had to brush them aside in the end. It's hard to speak about anything in a direct way. I have always been an "admirer" of Sir Aleister Crowley, his furcations in the Ordo Templi Orientis. And all in all the law of Thelema (liber al vel legis) will always have a huge value in my life. I think it is only natural that you write about stuff that you are into and so is the connection with Secrets of the Moon. I don't want to "preach" with this band. There are way too many bands already doing so.

What do you think of bands that, as you say, preach their ideology through their music? And, furthermore, what do you think of that NSBM wave?

It's hard to say. It's a good thing to praise Satan in all its shades and faces through black metal for example. It is something that I can identify with. In the core we do the same with Secrets of the Moon because we carry our admiration for the dark side of life outwards. BUT it should remain art and it should be art on a high level. the NSBM wave... it is just something that I can smile about. NSBM surely doesnt hit the meaning of black metal. but it is something that I don't care too much about. in my opinion music should never be linked with policy in general, so... it's crap!

Don't you think that, in a way, having NS opinions in BM is just what BM is, as BM stands for hatred and violence?

Black Metal is music and no soccer match so why it is linked to hatred in violence and why national socialism must be linked to it? I don't see the point. Black metal is extreme music for the non-masses. Black Metal stands for freedom and individuality. NS stands for the opposite.

We agree. Another question : what's your vision of Satanism ? Do you see it as it is, as the opponent of God, or as a big metaphor?

To me Satanism is a metaphor for freedom = the free will linked to the free man. Satan is the precursor of the free man. The adversary that leads us to total independence.

How do you write your songs?

Usually I play guitar all day to improve my skills. Sometimes I feel that the time is right to record some riffs that are coming out of me. So I take my four track recorder to record guitar lines. It feels very satisfying sometimes. After a few days I listen to the recordings again and if they appeal to me again I know that these riffs are going to be SOTM riffs for upcoming songs. So I present my ideas in the rehearsal room. Usually we speak about each new song before the actual writing process. The direction and the atmosphere it has to invoke has to be clear to everyone first. So if the others support and feel my ideas we try to build up the structure, the riffings and finally the lyrics for it. Normally it takes up to 6 rehearsals before a song is finished in its basics

I heard that your next album is currently being written. What will change comparing to Antithesis? What are the ideas for it?

The main "goal" for us is to dive even deeper. We want to create a very outstanding and heavy record that goes beyond you usually hear day by day. It must be intense once more. We want to improve the sound again. Everything has to multiple in its strengths. I know that we can... I hope so! It will most probably become a double album. At least that's what I wish. But it is too early to speak about a certain direction. Just wait and see (hear) what is about to come.

Do you see The Exhibitions as a link between Carved in Stigmata Wounds and Antithesis?

No, The Exhibitions EP is a totally independent release. All in all I don't want to see any link between our releases because they all stand for themselves.

So Antithesis isn't the sequel of Carved, which isn't the sequel of Stronghold?

Well it is more to see from the musical point. We want to have all our albums different to each other. We don't want to repeat ourselves. And we want our latest release to be our best. If this is not the case we would stop to make this kind of music immediately. Each new release shall represent a new step for us.

I read in an old interview from the Carved-era that it was the second step of a trilogy begun with Stronghold. So is Antithesis the third and last chapter? Or a record aside? And what's the concept of this trilogy?

No. Antithesis is the last chapter of this trilogy. It is based on an act of evolution. Antithesis represents the death of all while Carved in Stigmata Wounds is based on universal evolution and the importance of mankind in it.

And what does Stronghold represent?

Stronghold presents man being the centre, the monarch, the sovereignty above all.

Why did you choose the name "Secrets of the Moon»? What's hiding behind the Moon?

Well this is like a relict from the old days. Back then we were much inspired by astrological sciences and the name fitted quite well. Nowadays the name brings us musical freedom as it doesn't fit in any direction I think. Well I won't ever tell where we got the name from, haha...

When Carved has been released, the press's reactions were really positive. However, you keep being really discreet. Why?

Well what else should we do in your opinion?

I don't know. Put ads everywhere where it's possible, do shows through Europe...

Well to put ads is not of our concern but of our label. They seem to concentrate more on the German market because with Antithesis we had huge ads and interview in all German metal magazines. You were not able to NOT read the name Secrets of the Moon somewhere. I don't know how the situation is in other countries. About touring... we always wait for good offers and most times they just suck so we continue waiting. Our time will come I guess...

So you're confident with the future? Anyway, what were the reactions for Antithesis? Are you satisfied with the selling of it?

Well I know that we will write a VERY GOOD new record. At least it feels right what we do right now. And I hope we are able to move on the ladder. The reactions of Antithesis were very positive. We were able to reach more than twice of the listeners than with Carved. I hope the sales do well.

Do you have in mind the idea to record a video clip?

We have for a few years yes and it will come sooner or later. We spoke to different directors and it will surely happen someday.

Any idea of the song? Or how it will looks like?

A song from the next record I guess. It's too late now to do it for Antithesis. And we better concentrate on the new record now. How it will look like? It has to look good and it has to represent a song. You will rarely see our ugly faces but something else instead. That's for sure.

If we look carefully, we can see that hands come back in each of your releases: in the booklets of Carved and Antithesis, the hands of the girl on The Exhibitions... Why? What's the meaning of them for you?

Hands create life. They are the most sophisticated tool a human being has. And they tell something like stories and so our albums do. You can read so much from them. That's the point I guess.

Secrets of the Moon uses a lot of symbols in their artworks: the eagle, different stars and crosses... What's their meaning?

You can not put it into any certain direction. Some symbols have a very deep meaning to us and some were chosen because they just fit and because they look good and represent a certain kind of atmosphere. We've been asked very often why we used the eagle. It's really confronts the people it seems. But there is no meaning behind it. It's not a political symbol but it represents the monumental aspect on Antithesis. That's the only reason why we chose it.

What do you think of the actual black metal scene? About the bands that keep on playing raw black metal without any evolution? Do you think that the black metal scene has to reinvent itself?

I am not the right person to judge about it. Fans and supporters should judge about it. As a musician you should always have a certain distance to it because it's all about YOUR artistic impressions and no one else. Who am I to judge about the music of others? I don't have to care for it only for myself. To me only Secrets of the Moon has to re-invent itself over and over again.

I don't want you to judge, but to give your opinion, if you prefer the traditional BM scene or not, etc.

What is traditional? To me we are a traditional band because we keep our tradition alive that we follow for more than 12 years now. But we are not seen like that. I like some traditional Black Metal a lot but I am sure that my "tradition" is looking different than the tradition of others. To me a band like Celtic Frost or Mercyful Fate is traditional but I don't see the point to name a Norwegian newcomer "traditional" only because this band plays raw music. It's much more than the music only.

So, how do you see SOTM in the actual black metal scene?

I think we found our place in it and I am sure we will be remembered.

SOTM is still an underground band. Does the fact that Antithesis is more accessible than Carved in Stigmata Wounds mean that you'll try to reach a wider audience in the future?

It's very difficult to reach even more listeners than we do now. But if we can continue on this level we are very happy with it. We are a German underground band and that means that we will never get the attention as a Scandinavian band for example. But it's nothing that we are sad about. Maybe this "fighting" will bring us forward. We'll see. Antithesis was not meant to become a more accessible record anyway and I am sure that our next album will become very different once again. It's a challenge again and it feels great.

SOTM is always creating a very particular ambiance in their music. You must have listened to a lot of different things. What do you consider to be the main influences in your music (just for you, not for the whole band)?

Puh, that's a difficult one. I am very much inspired by dark, progressive and intense music. Music has to be dark I guess otherwise it doesn't find entrance to my heart. The intensity that music can invoke in me must be my major influence to me. Moreover I am very much into traditional metal if it's dark enough again.

I think the reader expects some names, haha.

Names are just words. Readers should find out themselves what appeals to them haha.

A lot of people say that you should have listened a lot to Satyricon ; they see a lot of common points between your music and theirs, especially for Antithesis and Volcano. What can you answer to that ?

I can only answer that I don't see the comparison. Satyricon is a good band. They are good in what they are doing. Maybe it is because we have the same musical background I don't know. I hear a lot of Voivod-ish dissonances in their music for example and this is something that had an enormous impact in us as well

How do you feel playing in June at the Hellfest?

It feels good. I hope we bring 30 minutes of entertainment to you. It's a good opportunity for us to reach more than a handful of listeners and I hope we succeed.

Ok, now, it's time for the personal questions, and the stupid ones. What do you listen to these times? What have been your last musical discoveries?

I really like the new PAIN OF SALVATION album. It's called Scarsick. I am listening to it right now. What else? I got the new album by ANTIMATTER album. It's not out yet but your reader should check it out when it's unleashed.

What have you felt after learning the news of the Jon Nödtveidt's death? Did it really affect you? And further, did it affect the band ? Because Dissection is the other band else than Satyricon that people use to compare SOTM to.

What did I feel? I thought about him and other people close to him. I met him personally I couple of times and he always seemed quite interested how SotM were doing. I think it was T.Thelemnar who met him in Sweden finally two months before his suicide. What shall I say? He was aware of this solution and I can retrace it in a way.

So you understand fully his decision, and you don't feel any regret about his loss?

No one can understand. It's a personal decision and it was free will. I don't regret his loss. He wasn't close to me, so...

How do you feel having a short-haired guitarist in your band? Are you comfortable with this?

Haha well, he had pretty long hair when he came into the band but he decided to cut it. I never gave a shit. His skills and his determined attitude are more important.

Can you tell me a joke?

Hell no. I've never been a good joker-teller and for now no joke comes to my mind. I think no typical joke can arouse a smile in my face. It has to be of wickedest nature to achieve attention. But you can tell me a joke!

Ok. let me try. There's a guy in a swimming pool, who is pissing. The guardian comes and says: "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN HERE?” and the guy just answers: "well... I'm pissing."

Haha... ok. At least there is a smile here.

It's better than nothing.

Absolutely.

You earn twice 10 on 10 for Carved and Antithesis on Thrashocore, the best extreme metal French webzine ever. How do you live it? Doesn't it give too much pressure? What's like to be a living star?

Well I printed both reviews on big black paper and framed it. They are hanging right here beside my platinum records. It's good to wake up every morning and to think: yeah I made it!

Do you hope to get another 10 on 10 for the next release? Don't you think it'll be difficult?

No. We could record some farts and everyone would lick our asses. The Twilight of the Gods is with us.

It's the end of the interview now. So the last words are for you. Say whatever you want, and if you want to say something to the French readers, go ahead!

The only French sentence that I remember from two years of learning it in school is: "Voulez vous coucher avec moi?" I really hope to use this sentence a couple of times in June when we visit France again on the Hellfest! Hope to meet some of your readers out there, especially young blonde sporties in red leather jackets! See you soon! Hail Satan!