(On November 22nd Vendetta Records will release a new album by the UK black metal band Ante-Inferno. Probably intrigued by certain Lovecraftian imagery hovering around the album, our interviewer Comrade Aleks reached out to the band’s lyricist, vocalist, and guitarist Kai, and that led to an excellent discussion, which we now present below.)
Founded in Scarborough, 2017, Ante-Inferno have performed their black metal almost without stop, and there’s just a normal two-year-long break between their second album Antediluvian Dreamscapes and the new one – Death’s Soliloquy.
This is a sort of concept album based on traditional black metal sound with atmospheric touches and a depressive message of self-destruction. Vendetta Records has scheduled Death’s Soliloquy for release on November 22nd, and the interview we’ve done with Kai (vocals, guitars) should shed some light on this grim dramatic work.
Hi Kai! How are you? What’s happening on your side?
Hey! We are all doing well and keeping as busy as we can. Weathering the cold, blustery nights and ever-darkening evenings. Covering our ears to block out the scratching sounds coming from the basement. Steering clear of the moors when the moon is full. That sort of thing. The usual.
Sounds familiar indeed. Okay, you recorded the previous album Antediluvian Dreamscapes (2022) together with Gary, and now there are four men in the band – first time since its creation in 2017. Is it more comfortable now when you can focus more on vocals and share other obligations with Nate and Ben?
Well, there are three men and me. And yes, it is both easier and infinitely more satisfying when playing live. We don’t have to compromise as much by ditching leads that would otherwise be on the recordings. And I don’t have to concentrate on as many things, since anything trickier (guitar wise) can be performed by Ben. In terms of the songwriting, Gary and I still wrote the album together. However, Ben contributed some excellent instrumental pieces and Nate spared me the irritation of having to come up with the basslines! So, all in all, definitely more comfortable.
By the way, I see that Nate joined you in 2019. How did it happen that he didn’t record Antediluvian Dreamscapes?
Timing and circumstances! Gary and I had written and practised the entire album together. Any practices we did with Nate were just focused on playing specific songs in preparation for live shows. So, by the time we hit the studio, Nate hadn’t had time to learn all of the material. So, I played the bass since the album was safely stored up in my head.
Traditionally black metal is perceived as a genre based on expression of sheer emotions, but as years have passed the attitude toward black metal has changed, as a lot of bands choose a more intellectual… self-aware approach. Do you agree with that? And how do you see Ante-Inferno in this context?
It’s funny that you should bring that up, because I was thinking recently about how much I love the old black metal – the ’80s and ’90s stuff. And I realised that what I loved most of all about it was that the bands of those eras were driven by a perfect mix of sincerity, conviction, and naivety. That naivety, of course, led to some unintentionally amusing band photoshoots, album covers, etc. But that doesn’t matter. There was genuine conviction and belief – and that’s something that’s missing nowadays. Like you say, everyone is terribly self-aware, as though it’s all one, big joke that everybody’s supposed to be in on.
My personal approach to it is something like this: Firstly, I don’t take myself remotely seriously. I don’t think I’m cool. I don’t adopt some rockstar-esque or “faux-evil/kvlt” persona for the Instagram likes or underground approval. I am able to laugh at myself and recognise that I make mistakes and do dumb things from time to time. However, I do take the music and artistry of black metal seriously. My passion for creating and performing this music is absolute – and what I convey on stage or through our music and lyrics is an extension of my being and not an act. I truly believe in what we’re doing, and I think that’s integral to what defines a true black metal band.
Do you think that intellectual black metal is the scourge of our age?
Well, as far as modern-day scourges go, there are surely more important ones to be worrying about than which styles of black metal we approve or disapprove of! So, I’m going to say “no”.
Anyway, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with taking an intellectual approach, per se. My previous answer was more in relation to the self-aware sort of attitude you mentioned. I was making the point that, despite whatever flaws and foibles are present in the black metal genre, it’s important to have conviction and integrity in what you are doing. You can still have integrity whilst following a different path.
Also, although you’ve not specified any particular bands that fall into this “intellectual BM” category, I am more than confident I would like or appreciate quite a few of whichever bands you are referring to.
Can you be sure that Ante-Inferno won’t play post-black metal in the future, for example? By the way, could things like this be an evolution or is it just “modernization”?
Sure, we might! Probably not. But maybe? Who can say what the future will bring? There have been post-BM/shoegaze type elements in our songs before, and we have often been called atmospheric black metal, which I guess is along comparable lines to post-black metal – not that I’m the expert on all of these sub-sub-genres… It’s fine for bands to evolve their sound, or even to change completely, if they wish to do so. So long as the change is done out of sincerity and not out of some cynical attempt to cash in on a trend or become more popular. As for “modernization”? I guess that would suggest the latter – changing your sound to keep up with the latest trends? Which to me is kind of silly, but each to their own.
Do you feel that you control the things you channel through Ante-Inferno or is it all an unconscious process? Is it necessary to keep black metal chaotic and ruinous?
Hmm. I’m not sure it’s entirely intentional. I think Gary does rein me in quite a lot throughout the songwriting process. Left to my own devices, things would probably be a lot more off-the-wall – and not necessarily in a good way. I like my black metal chaotic and ruinous, but I also appreciate a lot of bands within the genre who play in a very disciplined and controlled manner. I think there’s room for all approaches. There are certainly riffs we end up discarding because they don’t fit in well with what we’re trying to do with Ante-Inferno – so there’s an element of control in that respect.
Okay, we’re used to the “easy” view on themes of death, because of all the metal and extreme metal bands who write about it. Death, dying, murder, blood, gore, sacrifices, slaughter, and violence are common words to metal bands. But life can change our attitude as our family members, friends, or colleagues pass. When “life” happens, so to say. Was there a turning point that made you approach this topic from the angle of Death’s Soliloquy?
From the beginning, I have been well-aware of the sheer unoriginality of using “death” as a theme or subject matter, absolutely. But I remain convinced we have approached it from an angle that gives it worth. We’re not celebrating splatter movies or fantasies of violence and murder like your average death metal or goregrind band. Nor are we glorifying suicide or looking at death with a complete absence of empathy – the way many black metal bands like to do. I really did want to examine the awful pain, hopelessness, and tragedy associated with death. It was also a subject that I couldn’t get off my mind during this time, so it made sense to write about it.
Do I understand you correctly that you’re ready to move from theory to practice? That would probably be a kind of antisocial act, as… you know – one can write songs about how to burn the church, and the other one will go and burn the church.
I’m not entirely sure I understand what you mean. “Move from theory to practice” – so, you mean would I go from writing about death to actually killing myself or killing somebody else? The answer to the former is: I certainly hope not. The subject has been on my mind a lot – it is a large part of how the album’s concept came to be. But I hope and aspire to stay alive, despite how bad things can feel at times. Life is hard, but I’m cognisant enough to know that suicide isn’t the solution.
And as for killing somebody else: no, absolutely not. I have empathy and respect for other people, animals and life in general. Exploring themes of death, suicide, murder, tragedies, etc, does not mean I desire to cause real-life pain and suffering to others.
To be more precise, your album is described as “A work of death and a study of despair, or the audial and poetical manifestation of mental illness”. How did you develop this concept? Did you just fill the songs with necessary lyrics or was there any grand scheme from a start?
The lyrics came first, and from those lyrics the unifying theme was developed. I started thinking: “Why am I writing all these violent and morbid things? Why am I putting such terrible visions and depressing thoughts to paper?” So, the album is about death because my mental state was causing me to obsess over death. Therefore, the album is also about mental illness, because that is what was driving those deathly visions for me.
How would you compare Death’s Soliloquy with your previous work? Do you tend to make each new album a bit more complex than its predecessor?
In some ways, each album does get a little more complex. Although, I’m not sure there’s a song on this album that gets as complex (at least from a compositional point of view) as “Two Score and Ten Souls” from Antediluvian Dreamscapes. I believe this album is nastier and more unpleasant. I’d go as far as to call Antediluvian Dreamscapes a nice-sounding album. It was melodic, it was atmospheric. For me, Death’s Soliloquy isn’t quite so easy on the listener.
How did you manage to show death “through different lenses and experiences”? Did you focus on different stories? Or did you find another way of channeling your message?
Yes, that’s it. Each song is a different person’s story that pertains in some way to death – some more explicitly than others. But all contain this essence of madness and despair that leads one to the inevitable, fateful conclusion.
Also there is the “Cold. Tenebrous. Evil” song, which is based on your impressions from the illustrations to Lovecraft’s story Dagon, and I understand your fascination with that. How did you manage to fit Lovecraftian horror into the album’s concept?
I probably wouldn’t go so far as to call the lyrics to the song Lovecraftian. The song itself is a bit of an outlier, in that it’s clearly fantastical and not looking at things from a real-life perspective. But it emanated from my fixation with death and all that is horrifying and morbid – something I’ve carried with me since I was a young child. In many ways, the song’s lyrics are a manifestation of my imagination going wild when I looked at those lurid book covers as a child. As young as five, I was writing and illustrating stories where people got their heads ripped off by scythe-wielding Grim Reapers or were brutally mauled by werewolves. Ha… But I turned out okay in the end.
Besides that, your project Baba Yaga had an At the Mountains of Madness demo. How far has your interest in Lovecraftian mythology spread?
I’d say the spectre of Lovecraft is ever-present. Back in the Baba Yaga days, I was writing directly about Lovecraft stories (I also had a song called “In the Walls of Eryx”, from one of his stories about a man who gets trapped inside an invisible maze). Nowadays, I wouldn’t bother inserting characters and narratives from H.P. Lovecraft into any of my songs, considering the theme is being done to death by countless bands at the moment. But the kind of horror that Lovecraft evokes – that unmentionable dread that lurks beneath the surface of the fabric of existence – that is something I can’t shake off. I still find his stories frightening to this day – and I always will.
All of the songs are inspired and/or informed by things I have experienced, but no song on the album is actually based on a real event I have personally lived through. There are glimmers of my own experiences, observations, and thoughts in there, of course. The songs give life to many of the destructive and unhappy things I was so often dwelling upon, but the lyrics are neither confessional nor auto-biographical.
The album’s stunning cover art was created by Khaos Diktator Design. How did you formulate your task to them / him?
I was pretty clear about what I wanted, detailing the exact scene I wanted him to depict and the style we were interested in. I pointed him to paintings by Caravaggio as an idea of the mood we wanted to go for. I also pointed out the sort of thing we didn’t want – namely, the sort of silly, over-the-top splatter/horror scene you might see on a death/gore album…
I also want to point out that I am in no way bashing death metal, deathgrind, or goregrind! I listen to these genres as much as I do black metal and count bands like Impetigo, Disgorge, Regurgitate, and many others among my all-time favourites. I guess it’s just the album’s subject matter that is causing me to bring up the comparisons!
Honestly, black metal isn’t entirely my cup of tea, though speaking about UK black metal… I would mention Heathen Deity and Old Forest among the most attractive bands. Can you tell a few more names to help people like me sort it out?
I like both those bands. Others from back in the day include Thus Defiled, Bal Sagoth, and then Forefather, Meads of Asphodel, etc. As for newer bands, the UK scene is quite healthy at the moment, with the likes of Abduction, The Infernal Sea, Blood Countess, and many others… there is also Underdark, who are more along the post-black metal lines you talked about. I will also give mention to Inhumanization, who have a more barbaric, death/thrash influenced sound and feature one of our ex-members.
Do you have a concept for another album or would you like to make things calm down after the release and think it over later?
No concept as of yet, no. Honestly, I feel quite tired at the moment. I am currently taking a break from things: reading, sleeping, going on long walks to the beach, along the cliffs or to the woods with my dog. Just taking things easy. So we’ll let things calm down, like you said, and see what sort of ideas I come up with. I haven’t attempted to write any lyrics or poetry for a while, but we have been toying around with new riffs, so that’s a start.
Thanks for the interview, it was good to have such a productive conversation about Ante-Inferno and other stuff. Did we skip something important? Would you like to add a few more words to our readers?
Thank you very much for the interesting questions and for giving me the chance to talk. I think I’ve said all about all I want to say for the time being, so we’ll leave it at that. Cheers!
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