(Yesterday we posted Grant Skelton’s very interesting review of the unusual debut album by Death. Void. Terror. (brought forth last month by Iron Bonehead Productions), and today we’re following that with his e-mail interview of this mysterious entity, which is also… interesting.)
How was Death. Void. Terror. conceived? Whether musical or otherwise, what are some of the inspirations behind the music?
Death. Void. Terror. is an entity conceived for a single purpose: to serve as a vessel for the Great Monolith, a true sole true finality that we as practitioners are subservient to. There are no other inspirations, musical or otherwise. When I say we are vessels for the Great Monolith, I mean that we convey what is bestowed upon us by it and express this unconsciously through our recordings.
Was the music on To The Great Monolith I improvised without rehearsing at all?
As we are vessels for what is bestowed upon us by the Great Monolith, any form of rehearsal – that is to say a pre-arranged composition that is honed into a specific form as envisioned by the composer – would be contrary to our pursuit. However, improvisation is not an accurate description for what takes place during our overall process, as improvisation implies a form of free, spontaneous creation. The creations of Death. Void. Terror. are anything but free. Rather, they require specific preparation to be more receptive to what the Great Monolith bestows upon us as its vessels and are, as such, bound to what we have received from it. The results may vary in any case, depending on many circumstances we often have little control over. However, to a certain degree we can feel when we are most effective as vessels for the Great Monolith and it is in these moments that we believe our most pure recordings are made.
Was making improvised music originally part of the band’s vision? Were demos recorded at any point prioe to the album?
Regarding improvisation and its connotations see above. The singular purpose and nature of Death. Void. Terror. renders any visions other than what is bestowed upon us by the Great Monolith obsolete. What that is, specifically, is best experienced by listening to the recodings of Death. Void. Terror. We do not record demos per se, however we have many recordings that we have deemed unworthy as they do not sufficiently transfer the true nature of the Great Monolith and as such were discarded.
Are the lyrics on To The Great Monolith I available for me to read? Would you please discuss the inspirations behind the lyrics?
Death. Void. Terror. does not publish lyrics, however, we have included a detailed outline of the purpose of To The Great Monolith I and Death. Void. Terror. in the physical copy of the album. This should serve as a sufficient explanation behind the work.
Your press release says “…the aim is to achieve the most pure expression of the ‘unconscious’ and to confront the listener with authentic ritual experiences, captured directly as they were conducted by the practitioners involved.” In exploring the unconscious, has the work of Sigmund Freud or Carl Jung influenced your music?
Although the works of Freud and Jung may be of personal interest to individual practitioners, the purpose of Death. Void. Terror. is to achieve complete severance from humanist expression and the exploration of human psychology and psychiatry. As such, I wouldn’t say their works influenced the music of Death. Void. Terror. Rather, when we say unconscious expression, we mean that any human factors such as any human experience, personal knowledge or education and other factors pertaining to individual practitioners as subjects of the human experience must be rendered mute in order to be receptive to the Great Monolith. We believe that achieving this — i.e. relieving ourselves of human aspects of personality and experience — results in the most pure form of expression; pure in the sense that it permits the most direct gateway to channel the Great Monolith. Other common factors such as composition, the arranging of “parts” in “songs” or boundaries set by humanist genre confines pollute this purity and should be, at least as pertains to the creations of Death. Void. Terror., rendered obsolete. Insofar as this can be achieved, it is in this state and only this state that Death. Void. Terror. can create authentic recordings.
Your press release also reads that your music is “an exploration of the surreal.” What role has surrealist art, music, or literature played in the development of Death. Void. Terror.?
Again, while surrealist art, music or literature may be of interest to the practitioners involved in Death. Void. Terror., they should not be considered influential in the development of Death. Void. Terror. as they are human in nature, i.e. resulting from the works of humans in their exploration of humanist experiences. Death. Void. Terror. is, however, in its nature a non-humanist entity, and should therefore be seen as severed from such ideas. When we say surreal, we mean that Death. Void. Terror. explores something that goes beyond what is perceived in everyday humanist reality: the finality of the Great Monolith. This definition may coincide to a degree with aspects of early 20th century surrealist art movements, as they – in simplified terms, insofar as I understand their works – used the irrational juxtaposition of images and words to explore the unconscious human mind. The key difference when perceiving the works of Death. Void. Terror. is that the exploration of the unconscious human mind is not a goal of our creations, rather, it is a means to an end. Once achieved, the unconscious – meaning the rendering mute of human thought “intervention” into what we deem as purity in expression, see above – serves as a fruitful vessel to explore what is bestowed upon us by the Great Monolith.
The title of your album ends in “I,” which indicates that more material will be coming. When do you think fans can expect to hear that?
We have worthy recordings completed that will serve as To The Great Monolith II, which are quite different to the recordings that form To The Great Monolith I. This difference is due to the fact that the nature of Death. Void. Terror. results in us having little to no control over what is created through us. Rather, the creations of Death. Void. Terror. are reflections of the Great Monolith.
Will DVT perform live? Or is it solely a studio project?
Death. Void. Terror. cannot perform live, i.e. in front of an audience, as this would run counter to its purpose.
For fans who want to reflect and dig deeper into the themes and motifs presented in To The Great Monolith I, where would you have them look? Are there books (fiction or non-fiction), films, art, etc. that you would recommend?
Far be it from me to impose any such thing upon a listener. However, we believe that any individual can be receptive to the Great Monolith through appropriate preparation, generally achieved by rendering one’s human perceptions and abilities mute.
Thank you very much for your time. I’m truly enjoying your music and am anticipating more.
Bandcamp:
https://ironboneheadproductions.bandcamp.com/album/death-void-terror-to-the-great-monolith
Physical copies available here:
http://www.ironbonehead.de