“ANYTHING THAT ENABLES YOU TO REDEFINE AND BREAK THROUGH YOUR OWN HORIZON CAN FREE YOU FROM PROFOUND MANIPULATION” – NEPHESUS (AMYSTERY)

The (oc)cult is very much alive as Bavarian Black Metal enigma Amystery returns triumphantly with spellbinding new album ‘Chaos Empire Satan’. Marking the unholy arrival of this stellar eruption of traditional Black Metal mastery, Nephesus considers the meaning of it all; opening portals to let the darkness flow; choosing forks on an otherwise preordained path; the ignominious influence of the church; and lessons learned from chaos.

Amystery is back from the tomb with your fourth full-length and first in 14 years. Although a lot has changed in the world and in the ‘scene’ in the meantime, ‘Chaos Empire Satan’ is (sonically, at least) a natural continuation from ‘All Hail the Cult’, delivering a ravenous and glorious onslaught of raw yet rapturous Black Metal. Is the prime purpose of Amystery to celebrate traditional, occult Black Metal in all its glory?
“Of course it is. We are not trying to turn the genre upside down and reinvent it, we have neither the reason nor the motivation to do so. We do what we want and can do, and that is ultimately to play traditional black metal, at our own pace, with our own arrangements. Of course, you could ask what the band Amystery’s raison d’être is if we do exactly what thousands of other bands do. But we take what we do absolutely seriously.”

Your music invokes the adversarial intent and uncompromising spirit of Black Metal’s most notorious era – the early ‘nineties. Down to curious pseudonyms and the reverential donning of corpse paint, all the customs of old remain intact. Do you feel a strong sense of nostalgia for this time and movement … and why is it that so many of today’s so-called BM bands fail to or struggle to make that all-important connection?
“I think the term nostalgia is inappropriate for us, because we haven’t consciously experienced the beginnings of black metal and the first wave of it. The original band members of Amystery just experienced the second wave of black metal and celebrated it, so the way we present ourselves and the backdrop we build is an integral part of Amystery; it’s in the DNA of this band.
“A lot of bands in this genre don’t put as much emphasis on that these days, which I can partly understand. Maybe it’s partly due to the idea of letting the music stand on its own, or maybe it’s because these bands want to distance themselves from the ‘original’ scene with all its good and bad sides. There are a lot of great bands that create a gripping and rousing atmosphere live on stage without corpse paint and without a big show.”

You had the same line-up for the first three albums, which were released inside three years – a very prolific period. Now there is a new cast, with yourself as the sole surviving founding member alongside Grond (drums) and Culpa (bass). On ‘Chaos Empire Satan’, you have taken on guitars as well as vocals. Original drummer Malphas is still involved in some capacity as he created the cover artwork for the new record. Is this a new chapter for Amystery or a continuation of what you started with ‘Extermination, Followed by Cryptic Silence’?
“You can look at it in different ways. We are currently in a completely new chapter of Amystery. A lot has happened in the time between ‘All Hail The Cult’ and ‘Chaos Empire Satan’, and these 14 years have left their mark on people. Of course, we now have a completely new line-up. But the basic idea that the first album was all about continues right up to the current album.”

A notable, admirable and presumably non-negotiable aspect of the Amystery modus operandi is that you choose to stick with tradition and rehearse together as a real band. ‘Chaos Empire Satan’ resulted from group rehearsals as opposed to individuals composing and recording files separately then emailing them back and forth (a convenience which many modern musicians avail of). Why is this old-school approach, which prioritises personal, human interaction, so essential to Amystery?
“We have simply developed a habit of spending time together in the rehearsal room. We have a fixed date once a week, or more often before recordings or concerts. This time is important in order to have a personal exchange, clarify things and practise the music. The rehearsal room is our place to create and exchange ideas. This is where everyone brings in the ideas they have collected between our meetings and we take the time to work things out. We’ve never recorded in a studio, but always in our rehearsal room. We have a rehearsal room in a building that houses several bands; there is always someone there and we occasionally have visitors during rehearsals. We also spend time there without making music, simply because it’s a place where ideas are born and you can exchange ideas with people who have similar thoughts.”A ritualistic, ceremonial, resonance permeates the new recording, which is at least in part conceptually inspired by the work of chaos magick forefather Peter James Carroll. You allude to the paradox between the insignificance and powerlessness of man on a universal scale and our ability to influence the world around us on a personal level. Are we trapped and free at the same time? Within obvious limitations, is it possible for man to alter his perceptual and belief systems and become a master of his own destiny?
“It could be that people are free in themselves, but still have a certain mission in this world that they must fulfil. Accordingly, the path and direction a person takes is predetermined. Only the branches that a person chooses are not predetermined, they can choose them themselves. As a result, life can take drastic turns.
“And of course, every person can free themselves from the implanted and acquired thought structures and thus become more and more self-determined. There are some universal laws and if you know and understand them, you will gain more self-determination and independence in this life. I believe that one of the most important laws is that everything is one. All objects, all subjects, every celestial body, everything originated from one. And accordingly, everything is interconnected and influences each other. Thoughts have power over matter. There are many examples of this in science, which are unfortunately too often ignored. You only need to look at the research results of Renè Peoc’h.”

It is strange and perhaps telling how some aspects of science are promoted and exaggerated while others are either ignored or dismissed. Wisdom – especially that which facilitates awareness, self-growth and good health – is deliberately hidden. The natural is outlawed! Can gnosis or chaos magick serve as the antidote to this deep-rooted societal manipulation / programming by helping the practitioner achieve an altered state of consciousness that enables heightened clarity and understanding?
“Basically, anything that enables you to redefine and break through your own horizon can free you from profound manipulation. This doesn’t necessarily have to be something like gnosis or chaos magic, there are many other possibilities. I would spontaneously include things like meditation, fasting, conscious eating, exercise and avoiding toxins. I see these things as an entry into a world that gives your mind more clarity. As a result, you become increasingly aware of the prison cell you are in. How and whether you can ever free yourself from it is a completely different question.”

The relationship between Black Metal and Satan is an enduring one. At the very core of the identity crisis that has gripped Black Metal since the turn of the millennium is a failure by many to acknowledge or accept that this adversarial artform was always supposed to be a celebration of darkness and dark deeds. When writing or performing music, is it important to you to let the devil in? Is this a prerequisite for Amystery?
“I can only answer this question for myself, the other band members may see it differently. But for me it is absolutely crucial to set the darkness to music. I can’t answer exactly whether this necessarily has anything to do with the devil. It’s up to each individual what they associate with the devil, and whether someone actually believes in the devil as the antagonist of a real existing God, or whether they see the devil (as in most organised associations) as a symbol of freedom and a figure of knowledge. I have my own opinion on this subject, but I will not elaborate on it here.
“You won’t find the word devil or Satan once in the lyrics of the new album, which was a very conscious decision on my part. Nevertheless, I think that the lyrics are very dark and evil in their core statements.”
Do you stand steadfastly against organised religion? There seems to be a resurgence of Christianity in certain circles, which is alarming to witness. As darkness engulfs the world, desperate people are coming to the conclusion that Jesus will save them rather than realising that they need to save themselves. Is Abrahamic religion the greatest (and most damaging) trick ever played on mankind?
“I am not an opponent of most organised religions, I personally have no reason to be. And there’s a reason for that: why should I fight something that has virtually no influence on my life? If someone thinks it’s important to go to church and pray for their salvation, they should do so. I can even partly understand why people think that way. However, I am observing exactly the opposite of what you are describing: more and more people are turning their backs on the church and everything is becoming more secular. What is growing, however, is the number of Muslims, and their influence on the population is increasing accordingly.
“And to answer the last part of your question: of course Abrahamic religion has done a great deal of damage to humanity, we all know by now what has happened in the past, but the consequence is that more and more people are turning away from this religion or they are seeking their salvation in one of the other major world religions.”What is your view on the nature of chaos? Would you subscribe to the José Saramago contention that ‘chaos is merely order waiting to be deciphered’? Is chaos the law of nature? While we live in a world of apparently random chaos, is that a pattern in itself? Does chaos teach us to always be prepared for the unexpected?
“José Saramago’s statement leaves a lot of room for interpretation. I think chaos as a law of nature is too short-sighted; it is certainly a natural state, but not alone. It is part of dualism, on the other side of which is order. Chaos has many levels on which it must be viewed. If we start from a philosophical point of view, chaos is of course a state of complete disorder, i.e. the opposite of the orderly universe. The state before the universe or our world came into being has often been described as chaos. Accordingly, one could put forward the hypothesis that chaos prevailed before the creation of the universe and that chaos will prevail again at the end of the universe’s time. There is also a scientific theory of chaos, according to which the smallest changes in a dynamic system cause absolutely unforeseen, non-linear changes. Accordingly, chaos naturally teaches us to be prepared for the unexpected at all times, as we live in a dynamic world.”

Compared to some other territories, there’s never been much hype around the Bavarian (or German) Black Metal scene. The line-up at this year’s Madness over Thuringia, where you recently took to the stage in the company of Total Hate, Baxaxaxa, Paragon Belial, Grabunhold and the recently-formed Mortem Agmen, provided a snapshot of what your land has to offer the Black Metal underground in 2024. Just to mention a few, Lunar Aurora, Gràb and Winterblut are other outstanding Bavarian Black Metal acts. Does the unique culture of Bavaria help make this region a rich breeding ground for BM and the dark arts in general? And does your Bavarian identity manifest in Amystery’s music, or are such notions overstated?
“Bavaria itself is incredibly diverse, so it is difficult to speak of a single Bavarian culture. We have completely different types of landscapes here, from flatlands to the largest mountains in Germany, there are different administrative districts within Bavaria and people speak a different dialect everywhere in Bavaria. So even within Bavaria, people differ, not only in the obvious things but also in the way they think. We come from a region in Bavaria, 50km south of Munich close to the Austrian border, which is associated with Bavaria and Germany worldwide, Oktoberfest, beer, lederhosen, to name just a few things. And of course we have this powerful and impressive nature here, which leaves its mark on people, which is certainly reflected in art and music. The people here, especially in rural areas, are very attached to tradition. However, we as a band don’t have much to do with it; of course we recognize the customs here as part of the culture, but we don’t celebrate the whole thing the way many others do. Maybe that’s also because most of these traditions and festivals are influenced by the church and of course we don’t have anything to do with it. But I don’t think our music reflects Bavarian tradition.”

The return of Amystery is as welcome as it was unexpected, some might say a grim satanic blessing. As you embark on this new chapter, what are your aspirations for the future of the band? Might we bear witness to another prolific period of productivity like we did with the first three albums materialising so closely together? Or are you planning to stay calm, take your time…
“We will simply continue working after the release. There are a few concerts planned, a tour next year is currently being discussed and we continue to meet once a week in the rehearsal room. It just continues like the last few years and we’ll see what develops from this. Of course we will start writing new songs, but for now our main focus is on live shows and a good performance on stage because we want our audience to see a show that will stay in their memory.
“For now, we are very proud that ‘Chaos Empire Satan’ is out and we are looking forward to the reactions. We have put a lot of time, energy and, above all, passion and conviction into the new album and hope that our listeners are satisfied with it.”