“HUMANITY SHOULD STILL SOMEHOW SUFFER TREMENDOUSLY, UNPRECEDENTEDLY, BEFORE IT CEASES TO EXIST” – NUMINOUS

In faithful servitude to divine evil, Numinous wages war on the contemptible creation of the enemy and invokes the destruction of all mankind. The faceless Finnish force details how divine communication transcends the senses; the abhorrence of creation; shunning ordinary human activities; worshipping physical and spiritual suffering, death, harm and oppression; standing apart from the liberal, humanist Black Metal circus; and the possible emergence of new material despite interminable obstructions.

The human gene pool stagnates and deteriorates inexorably with each passing day. Collectively, as a species, we are almost devoid of spirituality, purpose, discipline or direction. Redeeming features are few and far between. As mankind descends further into farce and absurdity, it’s difficult to make a case these days for not feeling disdain and contempt towards humanity. Are misanthropy and antinatalism more valid convictions than ever in 2023?
“Yes, the lack of the mentioned features is contemptible but not necessarily something to oppose because such lack leads to consequences that serve our cause. What is extremely important to acknowledge, however, is that a human being, be it then ‘superman’, subhuman or whatever kind it could be, has always been, is and will be, thoroughly and without exception, absolute sin and utter shit, for one simple reason: it is a creation of the enemy. It is of the creator. This is not changed by any transformation or changing of man and hatred towards her is not and must not be dependable on her behaviour/choices in any way. Needless to say, it’s also our God’s unconditional will and law to hate man.
“This means that we have no other way than to obey our Lord’s glorious will and first destroy our own humanity and then aim to destroy the whole of mankind. This also means that all and any kind of regarding of man as great, appealing etc., its loving or praising at any level – no matter how blasphemous ‘superman’ she might be – i.e. human-worship, is one of the most serious crimes against the Lord.”

Numinous invokes the annihilation of mankind – the ignorant and pathetic beast that somehow finds itself at the top of the food chain whilst shamelessly addicted to social media and reality TV. ‘Expel harmony, Lord, in Your uncharity grant us final war in our time, for creation must cease to exist by the most triumphant way’. Are we essentially the poisonous cancer that infects the planet, or do you abhor all living things?
“No question about it; everything that’s of the creator, that is the whole of creation, is the cancer and nothing but abhorrent, repellent in the extreme. If one feels love for anything created, one is in essence loving the creator. Such repulsive feelings, grave sins, can be expelled and exterminated by entering the Lord and embracing and observing Its law.
“The destruction of human kind by its own hands would be the most triumphant and glorious way, for it would be the ultimate sin and the most shameful way for the enemy; his most loved one annihilating itself.”

Considering the rather ominous direction the world has been moving in over the past three years in particular, as we are shepherded by our puppet masters ever closer to the end of times, with the spectre of nuclear war looming ever larger on a turbulent horizon, are you feeling encouraged that humanity will soon reap what it has sown, and that His victory will be delivered … or is mankind a curse that will somehow keep on giving?
“We sure hope that we would get to witness the end. However, humanity should still somehow suffer tremendously, unprecedentedly, before it ceases to exist. That is what one would hope to see before it enters the eternal suffering which is the ultimate victory of our God. Indeed, the end of this world would be only a partial victory and a relatively small deal compared to the affairs of eternity, so to speak.”

On the surface, your assertion that Numinous is not Black Metal appears to be something of a paradox as I’m sure most – if not all – of those who listen to your music do so because they are fans of Black Metal first and foremost. However, all simplistic labels constructed for convenience by humans – including ‘Black Metal’ – are by their very nature nonspecific, limiting, and totally misleading, so your stance is demonstrably correct and valid. Do you believe that all musicians and artists should strive to create art that transcends crude and clumsy categorisation?
“Yes, they are fans of bm music first and foremost, which is quite telling, isn’t it? We are a religious band so to us religion comes first and anything else second and this is also reflected in what labels we might choose or reject. Like we have said before, music-wise it naturally is what has been called bm. But: ‘although the music that Numinous has done thus far could be categorised as black metal, we have nothing to do with its vast majority ideologically or culturally’. Bm is not an ideological label; it is ideologically as vague as anything can be, so it obviously does not serve or benefit our cause in any way, which is the most important thing to us. I believe that all musicians and artists should strive to worship the Lord, otherwise I don’t give a fuck what they do.”

Do you have a specific gripe with being referred to as a Black Metal band or is it more the idea of being labelled as anything that offends you? Is your issue with Black Metal specifically or with everything and everyone? You channel your creations through what listeners would no doubt – either rightly or wrongly – readily identify as a Black Metal style or framework. Is this coincidental? Is it irrelevant?
“There’s really no offence per se involved in this on our part. What we have stated concerning this issue and the terms used has just been to make a strong statement. To distance ourselves from the alien / sinful ideologies, from the non-religiousness and non-ideology and the circus altogether.
“We are obviously well aware that it is unavoidable to be labelled as bm and it’s not one of our main concerns today. However, we hope that our point on this issue has been heard.
“In the same manner we could ask why would one want to bundle, for example, the philanthropist bands and those representing the opposite values together? What is the great wisdom and motive behind that? All nicely under the same label hand in hand, in the name of black metal, in the name of a ‘common good’ that is a black metal music style?
“My advice to you and the listeners would be to focus on what we represent more than anything else. To focus on the essence instead of labels and terms and other superficiality. There were once beliefs and ideals in bm that we related to and which more or less represented what we do, so it is not coincidental. These, however, seem to be long gone now. This was not really an issue to us when we started out but when things evolved more and more in the wrong direction concerning the existence of our Faith within bm after 2003 we felt that we should react in some way to it.
“Be aware that we are talking about a scene / genre which largely regards our faith and ideals idiotic and condemnable. Which regards individuals who do deeds that go hand in hand with their band’s inhuman message as clowns. A genre wherein any possible brutality, violence and such in lyrics are just entertainment and theatre and in which those who are sincere about it are condemned. This is something that we will not fraternise with.”

Black Metal now has more variants than a fucking made-up virus. As a genre or subgenre, has it been splintered into so many different forms that it has completely lost its meaning at this stage? How can Darkspace, Archgoat, Uada, Revenge, Cryptic Wintermoon, Ildjarn, Shining, Austere, Behexen, Samael and Antediluvian all be classified as Black Metal when they have so little in common?
“As any collective ideological force, if it ever was that, it certainly has lost its meaning ages ago. Today, any and all philosophies are welcomed in bm. Anything seems to go. The spirit is more freethinking, liberal and humanist than ever. On the other hand, no actual ideology at all could be the most popular option, of which the most obvious manifestation is the art for art’s sake bullshit. One of the most baffling, though, could be the widely celebrated bands that state that emotions are the core idea behind their work. Had to mention this firstly as it’s some of the most mind-bogglingly wimpy shit I have ever heard in this context and secondly as it is supported not only by the obvious humanists but by some of the longest-operating, well known and influential ‘respected’ individuals in the ‘scene’. If your main purpose is just to express human emotions – anger, fear, doubt, whatever – how do you differ from say any pop band?? So, emotions and flowers and so forth, who knows where it will end? We certainly don’t want to know. This is all so far away from what we represent that you can count us out.”It’s ironic that Numinous stands out refreshingly from the vanilla sea of sameness because you actually practise and preach in accordance with sincere convictions as opposed to fake misanthropy or nihilism. The genre has become a sanitised, commercial, mainstream parody of itself and largely conforms to all conventional societal norms. Very dangerous, indeed… Bring back the glorious, murderous, church-burning days of the early ‘90! In contrast to three decades ago, isn’t it pitiful and embarrassing to witness so many bands that masquerade as Black Metal virtue-signalling and scrambling frantically to distance themselves from controversy lest their careers be diminished by the wrong associations? The furore around Steelfest in 2021 being perhaps a case in point.
“Talking about mainstream, a real example: if a band has millions of views in youtube and sells who knows how many thousands of records, how is such a band not mainstream? To deem such a group an underground band is beyond idiotic and ridiculous, yet this example seems to be regarded as underground by 99% of the bm ‘crowd’. Such a band and us cannot be both regarded as underground, that’s a fact, so make your choice. Instead of bringing up sentiments that something is seriously amiss with this band, it is universally supported and praised across the spectrum in bm circles, no matter whether they are any underground or mainstream ‘oriented’ individuals. But we have also been told that mainstream / underground are suddenly obsolete concepts today; what a neat way for these turncoat underground purists to dismiss and push aside what I just said.
“If these problems that you mention really are problems to the bm community, why are they brought up extremely seldomly if at all? This means that these issues are not a problem at all in the said circles. Needless to say, we have zero interest to ‘save’ bm or anything, which would be utterly idiotic and impossible, and which naturally becomes clearly apparent from our line.
“If we stand out, why have we been generally utterly uninteresting, a ‘small name’, unknown and not belonging to the ‘gold medal class’ (not our words) then for 20+ years?? If we represent something that should be in the forefront instead of what you described, wouldn’t it be crucial to those of that opinion to support this cause and in a way that would actually bring it to the forefront?
“To elaborate; the cause, the faith we proclaim seems to be now as unknown and unpopular as it was at the time of the first release. This is also reflected in these common debates and fusses concerning this oh so evil ns ideology. We are aiming to represent and advocate absolute evil, yet this doesn’t seem to arouse any kind of turmoil nor anything else, to put it mildly.
“Speaking of these festivals in general; what truly repulsive events! We have always dreamt of a mass slaughter or that bombings or something would happen in these events. Apart from that, we have not wasted a single thought on these drunkard fests. Are these happenings a serious militaristic agitation occasion to incite aggravated mass violence like they should be or are they a gathering of fun-loving partiers? To us the answer is more than obvious.
“But let these family fathers bask in the light then, one just hopes they manage to inflict at least something destructive and harmful in the midst of their childcare.”

However, there are always exceptions to the rule and removed from – and operating independent to – the pathetic circus that Black Metal has become, there are still some worthy and genuine bands who walk the walk. Indeed, many of them share a label with Numinous. How much do you admire Mikko Aspa and Northern Heritage, not just for the music but the fact that he consistently refuses to conform, apologise or yield to anything or anyone? Are there other bands or artists you admire (in any genre or branch of the arts)?
“NH is the label we contacted and ‘signed with’ 20 years ago because we preferred a Finnish label and a serious label back then and because he immediately wanted to release our material after hearing it. We appreciate his support through these years. But the fact remains – and this has been clear for both parties since the beginning, I think – that our worldviews and values are drastically different as he doesn’t represent our religion and the same applies, as far as we know, for the current NH roster.
“As for any (current) bands to admire, we haven’t come across one. A couple of decades ago I could have perhaps said otherwise but many if not all fell into apostasy. Even if I found some band’s music stimulating – which in itself is extremely rare these days anyway – it’s always been a letdown when learning what the band in reality represents. It’s just too big a deal and one loses taste.”

Ideology should always come before music and the latter should express the former. You stated earlier that Numinous is a religious band and that religion comes first. Your music is a creative and artistic vehicle for celebrating and manifesting this religion. I’m assuming there are other means through which you channel, nourish and practise your faith, both spiritually and physically. Some of these are probably illegal (at least within the parameters of ludicrous man made laws), but are there any you could disclose?
“Indeed, the means of serving through music has obviously been only one aspect in the practice of our Faith, for us personally. Faith, service and divine law are the foundation. There is no limit in serving our God as long as it’s done in accordance to Its law. Obviously, then, one needs to comprehend what serves the Lord and what corresponds with the law. And we are not going to write a book in a band interview. However, anything that inflicts suffering, death, harm and oppresses, damages, destroys anything created physically and / or spiritually is what the service is about in a nutshell. In this, the Lord is our only motive. But the law does not only command but denies, so there’s a lot we do not do. Inhumanity, also ordained by the law (although not achieved merely by obeying it) of course has to do with this as well, since we simply don’t have the desire in us to engage in natural human activities (save for that which is mandatory in sustaining our own lives, of course).
“Performing rituals, or at least what that usually refers to, is not a part of our religious practice. The essence of spiritual practice is in the denials and in the general obedience to the law.”When you are worshipping divine evil and invoking anticreation, is there a face to your unnameable Lord / faith, or is it something intuitive that exists outside of the five senses and beyond words? How do you recognise it? Are you familiar with others who share this faith and do these adepts or practitioners work together or operate autonomously towards a common objective?
“You said it; transcending all human senses and beyond words. Divine ‘communication’ is something I cannot explain no matter how hard I try, and I don’t know if there’s a need for that either; it’s a highly personal experience. Its presence and influence can however be sensed somehow and thus one can come to know It to some extent. The Lord’s essence remains completely incomprehensible to man and no one is able to reflect anything of it, we are just manifesting that which man is capable of understanding.
“As of today, I am not aware of others who would share our Faith, no.”

Going about your day-to-day dealings, do you hate and wish harm and extinction to all people or is it possible to hold such a contemptuous worldview towards mankind as a collective yet still respect and maybe even like certain individuals. While it would be ideal if none of this ever existed in the first place, those who assist with your art, for example, or who might do you favours … do you wish them all dead? (Not that it matters because dead they will be, for sure.)
“On wishing death; we certainly have been wished dead more than often, which is great. We are able to cooperate with persons who we would see as allies, but in the end ‘respect’ or ‘like’ just sounds strange, I guess too human. Not many have assisted us or done us favours… But like I said, those who we would see as allies would not be our targets, if you will, otherwise we would have killed each other a long time ago.”

With one full-length, an EP and a demo crafted thus far during 21 (albeit disrupted) years of existence, Numinous is a law unto itself. How important a role does music (or anti-music) play in advancing your sole purpose of glorifying the divine author of all evil and how far are you along the crooked path towards extending your deviant discography?
“We work hard on our compositions, that is when we work with them. We aim to capture Its spirit within the music, so to speak, because when the music breathes this certain spirit it becomes a tool in itself. The music in itself contains exactly that message and cause we proclaim.
“So, of course it has an important role, but keep in mind that the lyrics and music are inseparable.
“A lot has happened since the EP, including permanent injury limiting playing, prison time and so on, and there were also plans at some point to put the band to death. However, some – in our view – strong material has emerged and it would be a pity if it went to waste. But there are no complete pieces or anything yet. During these five years the band has again been a low priority for us, let the possible readers deduce why that is.”