Terrörhammer (Srb) [01.08.16]

WinterHeim: Greetings, Pentagramator The Helltyrant! In 2010 you and Atterigner (aka WarBeast Holocausto) created Terrörhammer. But no, I’m not going to ask you to tell the biography of the band, let’s leave this common question to some other interviewers. Both you and Atterigner played in so many bands that it seems that you created just “another” independent band not for drinking and playing everytime, but for something that will determine your future. So, my first question is about the main thing - why have you decided to create Terrörhammer? What was it made for? Is it an implementation of some musical intentions that had not been realized in other bands, or your wish to transfer your personal views to the audience or to be those whom the band would be associated with in the world?

PTH: Greetings! Frankly speaking, the band was created few years before the aforementioned date under a different name supposed to be playing something more a kin to the style of contemporary blackthrash. I formed the project myself and wrote a couple of songs with the initial idea of me being a singer on that material. Later on, I invited WarBeast Holocausto to join me as a singer so that band would get more of a collective feeling to it rather than me taking care of its' every aspect. Beside the couple of demos, tracks from that period never got properly recorded and in the meantime we changed our name to Terrörhammer and decided to simplify our approach bringing it closer to the proto-black and underground thrash metal sound of the 80's. As for the intention it was an implementation of desire not realized in other bands that I played before, a will to liberate the raw, mean and at the moments, infantile side of my creativity. Not to mention the everlasting passion for the early phases of Sepultura, Bathory, Kreator, Mayhem and so.

Speed/Thrash/Proto-Black Metal fulfilled itself in the end of 80s (when people discuss who is more tough – Sarcofago or Mayhem), and worn itself long ago. However, by creating and performing a material which is quite urgent and interesting today, Terrörhammer demonstrates the opposite. What is attractive for you in this genre? Why have you decided to bring it back to life and make new music of what is dead and gone?

Thank you for your words. Well, as I said, it's about freeing a side of creativity, something that's being inspired by the strong and long-lived passion for dark, raw and brisk aura the albums of aforementioned bands had throughout the second half of 80's.  

Before “Under the Unholy Command”, “Vintage Black Mass” was your first serious work, and the last of WarBeast Holocausto in Terrörhammer... How could you comment on the release now, 4 years after the official appearance? Are you contented with the material, the general sound and lyrical message of the EP? Would you like to change anything or you are completely satisfied?

I would still say that I am satisfied with it, just as I was when the release was out in the first place. We completed “Vintage Black Mass” in modest conditions being fully unballasted and I think the audience felt that honest vibe filling the release from beginning 'till the end, thus welcoming this material with great reception.

I think it’s time to discuss “Under the Unholy Command”. How could you describe the album in general? How was it taken by the audience? Many bands tell that it doesn’t matter what reviewers write, as most of them put their marks without having a clear idea of what is the essence of the music. How the matter stands for Terrorhammer?

“Under the Unholy Command” is our first full-lenght material, a continuation of insolent and filthy style already presented on “Vintage Black Mass”, something we call ourselves “necro speed metal”. Where EP left off, album is continuing to an extent that not only some songs from EP got their direct sequels on the album, but the band's idea has principally matured, this time emphasizing even more what Terrörhammer is really about.

Album reviews are so far all receiving the album in a good sense, something we are proud of. I must say that reviews are not crucially influential for us, but it's surely a pleasant thing to witness your devotion getting a recognition. On the other hand, there is indeed a certain circle of journalists present among the scene, which doesn't seem to show much of a critical attitude towards the bands and materials they review, whether uncritically praising or denigrating the records they write about, something that has to deal with the more recent injection and presence of capital within the underground media, but as far as I am aware, we didn't have any of these people reviewing our full-lenght so far.

Tell us about the process of recording. Nevertheless Terrörhammer is a full-fledged band, you did about 80 per cent of the work, from recording the guitars to mixing and mastering in your own studio Wormhole Studios. Are you used to do everything by yourself to achieve exactly what you need, or you admit cooperation with some talented sound engineers and producers in the future? How it turned out that legendary Butcher played for your album?

Yes, we prefer working on our own so far, this way having control over the entire process of creation in our hands. Just like you said, with did the great majority of work by ourselves, from writing and composing the material to recording, mixing and mastering it in “Wormhole Studios” with me being behind the production desk. I said majority since the drum parts were previously recorded by Butcher in his very own “Hellsound Studio” located in Volyne, Czech Republic. I came in contact with Butcher (Avenger, ex-Masters's Hammer, Murder, ex-Judas Iscariot) through our common and close friend Khargash with whom Butcher already participated in some of the past studio projects. By already attending Butcher's concerts from my teenage years with several of his bands playing in Serbia and being since then a great admirer of his outputs and impact on the scene, I invited him to perform a session drums for our album. At first he clearly demanded to hear the pre-production tracks, but when he finally listened to it, he keenly accepted the invitation, describing the material as - “uhhh this is metal” and “evil” .

What do the lyrics of “Under the Unholy Command” tell about? Is there any hidden message in the lyrics or they are mostly the expression of pure rude emotions wrapped in the spirit of old 80s? Who is the author of the lyrics?

All the lyrics for “Under the Unholy Command” were written by me. They are pretty much straight-forward destructive pieces with no hidden message behind it. Based upon the themes like: blasphemy, witchcraft, death, armageddon, supremacy of evil, grave desecration and so, they are the expression of a primitive destructive power pointed against the myths of humanity such as of love, peace and eternal life.

How much is the visual side of your creativity important for you? How much should it reflect the content? What does the artwork depict? How is it connected with the content? Were there any other variants for the “Under the Unholy Command” artwork?

Visual side is an important aspect of creativity and therefore should be complementary with the musical one. The artwork was done by Marko Danilović Tihi, a visual artist, but also an ex-drummer of ours, in Terrörhammer previously known as T-Scream Agonizer. He did everything by himself including the cover, design and layout based upon his experience of our music, something sufficiently known to him since he was our member 'till not so long ago.

I would like to learn something about your personal views. What is your attitude towards Satanism and Paganism? Do you distinguish between them or treat them as one? What else could you say about your worldview? Could you comment on such notions as misanthropy, nihilism, abstractness?

To be quite honest I usually don't like talking this kind of topic, specially not in a broad public circles, 'cause one's worldview is a personal achievement adapted primarly to serve private cognitive and empiric needs. I am aware of the popularity of this question within the extreme metal scene and how many of metal guru wannabes look forward to place their beliefs among many hungry faceless losers who seem to be addicted to this kind of consumerism that has been spreading for some time. It came down to who bought whose book, which mythical being someone wears on a necklace, who is a member of which society/order, earlier it was LaVeyan Satanism, today it's Occultism, tomorrow will be something else replacing it. To avoid confusion, I am not opposed to any of these above mentioned beliefs and systems, but would first of all need to clean up what is exactly meant when you talk about them.

Satanism and paganism both have been stigmatized and if I should relate myself to them, they should be predominantly cleansed from all the generalization and negative notion they got throughout the history. If we speak about a devil worshiper bringing sacrifice and humbly bowing to a horned one living in the fires of hell beneath ground, then I rarely have something in common with that. The same goes with the christian perspective of paganism presenting it as a narrow-minded belief of savage tree-worshipers getting drunk and running wildly through the forest just like that. Not that I am against getting drunk and running through the forest, but I see no point in making it an ideology. Joking apart, if we embrace it like a spiritual path, in case of contemporary satanism, correlating human life with the tragedy of The Fallen One, liberty and power that such sacrifice is bringing to life, that's something I find myself familiar with. To have a strong metaphysical connection with something known in slavic tradition as the forces of nature in case of paganism, or if you please, in hellenic tradition with the forces of universe is something that can take an important part among my interests. However, without an intention to enroll myself upon any of these banners specifically, I am free enough to take an integral approach and to include even some nihilistic teachings if I find them valid without a concern if some might not find that as rationally explainable. In the end it doesn't need to be rational at all, since human being and spiritual matters are of irrational nature.  

Tell us about your feelings that you experience on live performances. Do you remember your first concert? And what a concert do you remember most? What do you think about live performance - is it more than just play music alive?

We definitely like to play live. Our music is concepted that way that it liberates it's pure power and energy when performed live. Playing it live also means returning to the original atmosphere where our art begins being rude and crude.

I remember well our first live show, even have some recordings of it, but I see our recent show in Moscow as perhaps one among the most memorable since we ended up in a shocking interchange of fire with the audience, which heavily effected both us and the public. In a positive way, of course.

This year you played in Russia and gave far more than one performance. Taking into consideration that you communicated with audience freely, you’ve managed to find the way to them, and it means a lot. Tell about the feelings that you have experienced while performing and traveling over Russia. Were there any funny accidents, or something that on the contrary made you feel anxious or sad? What could you say about those Russian bands you shared stage with?

Yes, beside Moscow show I already mentioned, we had one more in Saint-Petersburg and two more are coming up next autumn in the Russian Far East. For the time being we didn't have any bad experience while playing in Russia, but on the contrary we were always warmly welcomed. I could be exaggerating, but being a (south) slav myself I find no major obstacles in understanding russian mentality and russian soul perhaps. I think that's a mutual connection where russian audience also understood us well in releasing our rough energy and that could be one of the reasons why we had a great time and great shows in Russia so far.

Beside your Serbian bands and projects you have also participated for 5 years in Kawir from Greece, and play for Russian Ulvdalir as bassist at live shows. How do you manage to keep up in spite of travelling every time about the Europe? Are you busy with working in several bands or you are planning to take part in some more serious projects in the future? How does it feel to work in different bands with different musical approach and characters of your bandmates?

I enjoy playing in various different bands and projects, although lately I find not much time to cope with all of them. This doesn't mean that I start or join a band just so, but rather prefer trying myself in a new expressions which again must correspond to my artistic and personal sensibility. If you don't know what I mean, take a look at the bands that I played with and you'll notice they all significantly differ between each other, something I prefer to be that way.

I was a vocalist and the studio guitarist for Kawir from Greece and during that time we recorded two albums and several splits. On some of the studio recordings I played wind instruments as well and that collaboration lasted for 5 years as you said. At the moment I play bass for the live shows of Ulvdalir and will also be playing on the upcoming album which is currently in works. Recently me and my serbian friends have awakened the old and forgotten cult of All my Sins and after 11 years are currently working on a brand new release. In addition to all this, one more project with international names is floating around the ether and it shall be announced more properly when the time comes.

Did you hear Black Metal from CIS\East Europe – Russia, Ukraine, Belarus? Can you name the most worthy bands in your opinion? (Except those whom you known already)

Yes, I listened many bands from the eastern scene you are talking about. Some of them I know personally through work as a music producer with them and others I discovered through friend's connections or from a personal curiosity. That scene is quite big and it has really a lot of high-quality acts in itself, especially the underground bands, but majority of these bands (except maybe in the case of Ukrainians) are somehow alienated and quite unknown in the eyes of the world scene, for the reasons I do not comprehend. I am talking about bands such as: Merknet, Veter Daemonaz, Ill-Omened, Deathmoor, VTTA, Затемно, Tanator, Anksunamoon, Godcider, Forgot, Blazing Rust, Drama, Teitanryre and so on. Not to forget Ulvdalir of course.

Tell us about plans for future.

We are currently finishing our work in studio for the upcoming two splits of Terrörhammer. The first one will be 7 inch vinyl release with the Brazilian maniacs from Whipstriker while second one is yet to be announced.

Apart from that, I mentioned the reunion of All Mу Sins which is also at the moment in the studio bringing to life a new record on the path of southern slavic mysticism. The release shall be called “Lunar / Solar” and is dedicated to the Sky as a mythological creature thus following the tradition of our previous endeavours.

Thank you for interview. Any final words?

Thank you for the interview, your support and interest in Terrörhammer!

Decimate the holy kind!

666!