interview by: Roberto Martinelli

Any time Wrest, the guy behind one of our favorite black metal projects, Leviathan, tells us that a CD that he bought weeks before has never left his stereo, then that's something for us to check out. The album in question was Nocturnal Poisoning by the band Xasthur, a one-man operation that once again proves that the best black metal in the US is coming out of California, as unlikely as it may seem.

Xasthur's main member, Malefic, has put out a classic of depressive and heavy energy. Plodding and epic, the music Nocturnal Poisoning is oblivious to the passing of time in its epic, monolithic feeling. I contacted Malefic to see what the man behind the music was like.

Maelstrom: You know, Xasthur reminds me musically of this "band" (well, like you it's just one guy - in his apartment in this case) called Leviathan. He just had his first official 2CD album put out on tUMULt. I know that Leviathan LOVES Nocturnal Poisoning. I wonder if you've heard of this band?

Malefic: I'd heard of tUMULt before; just recently I got a CD of a band called Weakling, which I thought was original stuff, not bad. Leviathan? I'm listening to it right now. So far I like disk #2 the best. He may be on the right (or left) track by remaining in solitude with his craft. I am glad to hear of his like for Nocturnal Poisoning.

Maelstrom: Yes, Weakling is a personal fave of most of the writers of Maelstrom. Where did you record the stuff for the album? Does it take effort to get it to sound perfectly "cult"?

Malefic: My house is old and grim for real! This is where I record and nowhere else. Everything is in ruin and decay. A low budget on equipment is all it takes to have this "cult" production, a terrible aura takes something else...

Maelstrom: What did it take for the other members of Xasthur to get kicked out of the band?

Malefic: Coming to practices late, pretending they were sick so they could leave early, forgetting songs on purpose, being preoccupied with methamphetamines, complaining, being trendy etc...They'll be sorry!

Maelstrom: I'd like to hear a "being trendy" story.

Malefic: I've had so many people kicked out and quit on me. I found out that some of the people that I kicked out were living a double life...one guy I found out had a hard time making it to practices cause he was 'busy' being a raver/techno idiot, another guy had a 'secret' cocaine problem and went out dancing on the weekends when he thought his 'metal friends' wouldn't find out... these people are too trendy, and if they're behaving like this, they have no idea where I am coming from and are total opposites of Xasthur. I hate them for wasting my time...and nearly killing my enthusiasm.

Maelstrom: I liked your trendy story. Sorry if I am interested in your hate list, but I can't help but asking: why Ebay? Why WWIII, Osmose and other labels? Did they ignore you? I can't imagine why you would be interested in being signed to WWIII. That doesn't seem like your style at all.

Malefic: No, not my style at all. I had no interest ever of being on WWIII or Osmose; I see them as labels trying to make a buck off shitty black metal and giving black metal a household name when it really isn't for everyone. Osmose will jump on any watered down form of black metal if the kids think it's 'cool' be it the retro black thrash trend or the war metal thing.

Maelstrom: How did you get turned on to doing this stuff?

Malefic: I always wanted to find a way to express misery and hate, but through a way that expressed myself...why not through a form of music called black metal!? It was a vibe I felt I could always relate to. I began doing this all on my own 'cause I had no choice if I wanted to continue.

Maelstrom: Do you use a 4 track?

Malefic: Yes, I do, but I bounce tracks on a CD-R burner.

Maelstrom: What does that mean? Is that like you combine tracks?

Malefic: The way it's done on a four track by cassette is a different way than what I do: I fill up all four tracks on a good quality cassette, put them onto CD-R, take that CD-R and put it into a Discman, then plug the Discman into a CD burner and plug guitar/bass/whatever into the four track and ALSO the four track into the CD burner and play along with the CD-R in the Discman. Both the Discman and guitar going into the four track are being recorded onto another CD-R. Repeat process for more tracks. It's an unconventional method, but it gets he job done!

Maelstrom: It was interesting to read about the complex way you record your stuff. Think you'll ever have more members, like a drummer, in Xasthur? Not that I think it's really necessary for the music you play.

Malefic: I really don't think I will have any future members in Xasthur. I never got any results with people. If possible, I might want to add a vocalist someday, as vocals have been a strain.

Maelstrom: How do you do your vocals? What kind of effect do you use on them? I know Wrest uses this thing called a guitar pod, or something. It's this little red thingy.

Malefic: I have a Dod G7 effects processor/rack that I use for just about everything, including vocals. On the voice I use delay and reverb. I'm getting fed up with vocals, not something I enjoy much, but I have to do it regardless.

Maelstrom: That's remarkable. The vocals are so well done. Thick and fuzzy and bodiless and omnipresent. I see that lyrics aren't something you're not putting in the forefront.

Malefic: Vocals and lyrics are more or less improvised, meaning I'll skip a verse sometimes. The lyrics are about taking of the soul, mind and blood, murder, winter, suicide, astral projection type of subjects.

Maelstrom: I was talking about Xasthur being perhaps the best black metal album of 2002. You disagreed. What do you think are the best (or, the best) black metal albums of this year?

Malefic: Of the year? Silencer Death Pierce Me and Shining Angst III, just to name a couple.

Maelstrom: I just ordered Silencer and two Shining albums from Supernal Music.com. Thanks for the recommendations. I'm psyched that Silencer is German. I think overall the best bm stuff now is coming out of Germany. Have you heard Nagelfar (not the Swedish band, obviously)?

Malefic: Silencer is like Bethlehem's Dictius Te Necare, but more insane, suicidal, traumatic. As for Shining, my favorite is Within Deep Dark Chambers. I have a demo of Nagelfar.

Maelstrom: Do you like Burzum? If so, I wonder if you prefer stuff like Hvis Lyset Tar Oss or Filosofem?

Malefic: Of course I like Burzum. Those two you just mentioned are my favorites...and in that order too.

Maelstrom: What's the music that's the least like Xasthur that you enjoy?

Malefic: Probably Thergothon and This Empty Flow Magenta Skycode.

Maelstrom: You embrace the style of slow and despondent, atmospheric black metal that is played by bands like Abyssic Hate. What do you think of the fast-at-all-costs styles, like Marduk?

Malefic: I prefer a variety of tempos in black metal, whether listening or performing. Fucking Marduk and Dark Funeral seem to make the same album over and over when they are just going fast all the time; there's only one emotion they're giving instead of many and unknown ones, whereas Abyssic Hate is really layered with dark harmonies/in disharmonic keys - octaves, if you will. And if I go too slow all the time (the one track minded equivalent of Marduk going fast all the time), I'll be sure to correct myself.

Maelstrom: I think that black metal, in order to be labeled "true" by the most conservative fans, is a genre of music that has some of the most narrow, stringent rules. Do you agree with this? How long do you think black metal can continue to exist under the guidelines that have been applied to it without being redundant?

Malefic: The blackest of roots need to be there, but some open mindedness here 'n there really shouldn't hurt black metal any. Some like it redundant, but whether they know it or not, if the redundancy continues, those same people will eventually drift away from it...sooner or later.

Maelstrom: How did you get signed to Blood Fire Death?

Malefic: I sent a CD-R of some songs, (I don't remember how many) to a Red Stream sub division at the time called Cicatrix, a label that didn't last very long and I think was replaced by Neil/Krieg's Blood Fire Death. Neil and I were talking shit back 'n forth at each other for a while, when it died down...he gave me an email saying that he wanted to release a Xasthur CD. We didn't get along for a while, but what a non-biased way to settle our differences...So, it was kind of by accident.

Maelstrom: So what does the mortal incarnation of Malefic do?

Malefic: There's not much to do: Sometimes I take walks in areas where there aren't many people, waste time on the computer, relax when I can with a cup of coffee. Sometimes I can even stare at a wall or at nothing and be amused, but about 80% of my time is spent in a black metal related way, whether keeping in touch with other bands, labels, people to trade, or writing music when I can etc... If I could, I would do some leisurely traveling to get out once in a while, 'cause I'm more or less a hermit due to being fed up with city people and all.

Maelstrom: If you could, where would you like to travel to? Where have you been that you enjoyed?

Malefic: Ironic you should bring it up, but the rare 'vacations' I take are about 70 miles north from where you are, Sonoma, CA, to be more precise; the Forestville, Monte Rio, Gurneville area along the Russian River. I lived there up until 11 years old. Other than that, I would like to travel to other states...and places like Holland, France and surrounding countries. I've been to Ohio and I liked it there.

Maelstrom: I like Sonoma a lot too. Mostly linked to the memories I had when I was a kid and I went there to the town square with the park in the middle and the turkeys in the trees. Where in California are you situated?

Malefic: I am situated in southern California, a real slum! I'd say I'm about due for another trip up to the woods of northern California to say the least!

Maelstrom: I'm half French - my education is French. What appeals to you about that country?

Malefic: I have the feeling I could learn to speak French easily. When I've seen pictures of France, it just looked very unlike America. Other than that...I don't know.

Maelstrom: How did you come up with the name Xasthur?

Malefic: I combined two names that interested me, Xenaoth and Xastur, and came up with Xasthur somehow.

Maelstrom: Where did you get those names? Are they just black metal like names that you liked?

Malefic: The name Xenaoth is a higher celestial spirit. I used to know this middle aged lady who studied Santeria and saw that name in a book of hers that I looked at. Xastur is from the typical Necronomicon paperback, which many other bands are guilty of taking their names from, haha. Xastur is a demoness who kills people in their sleep.

Maelstrom: It's pretty amazing how extreme metal stuff comes from two major
sources, HP Lovecraft or JRR Tolkien. Then there's the artwork that so many times is of Gustave Doré.

Malefic: True, that seems to be a source of inspiration and fascination for a lot of black metal bands. I don't really match an artist's name with their work, so I don't know of the name Gustave Doré.

Maelstrom: Shit, man, his stuff is all over metal. The one that comes to mind the most is the cover of Emperor Anthems... More readily all you have to do is go on my site- every page has a dore engraving on it. Once you begin to recognize the style you'll see it over and over again. Iced Earth Burnt Offerings, Agalloch, the back of Krieg's The Plague, so many more. It's really overused. it helps a lot that he did SO much excellent stuff. What do you think of the growing NSBM movement? Do you like any of that stuff? If so, is it for musical or ideological reasons?

Malefic: Growing? Seems like it's already past its peak, though still alive...I don't mind it, they have their reasons for their beliefs, who's really to say who are the real one's behind it and who isn't? I am not in any way affiliated with national socialism, yet in layman's terms I see it, or they may see it as a fist in the face of a liberal society. When humans are given too much freedom, they often abuse it, being free to overpopulate and let everything go to shit. But then again, if national socialism came into power, into effect in their own countries, I think there would end up being a lot of details to it that they wouldn't like about it. I would say I'm a fan of some of these bands like Gontyna Kry, Veles, Kataxu etc... as they play some dark, grim and hateful black metal.

Maelstrom: How did you first discover metal? How about the more obscure stuff?

Malefic: Some asshole my mom was dating at the time had a couple AC/DC tapes when I was about 9-10 years old. They seemed like they would be louder than the other tapes, so I asked to hear them. A few weeks/months later, I was hooked. At random, in 1988 I bought Death Scream Bloody Gore because it looked more extreme than the thrash stuff I had been listening to like Dark Angel, Mercyful Fate, Megadeth, etc... Then a couple years later I found some more death metal albums like Obituary and Morbid Angel at a store like around '91 and assumed they would be something like that Death tape I bought, and I was right. A couple years later I heard black metal like Darkthrone and....

Maelstrom: It's been remarkable to discover time and again what those involved in black metal are like. Invariably I've discovered that these people are really nice: Wrest, Fenriz, the guy from Winterblut, a bunch of black metal people in Norway (ok, Abbath is kind of a dick), and now you. I can largely identify with how sensitive these people are, and why they are drawn to this kind of music. (although Wrest gets annoyed with me because I have too much "fun" with black metal. haha)I understand if this is too personal for you, but what do you think of the contrast between some of the most hateful music on earth with the true personalities of the musicians?

Malefic: how can there be a contrast or difference? Extremely angry music can only be played by an extremely angry person, if you doubt the anger in their songs, then you might question some of those peoples anger...like Dark Funeral would be a good (or should I say bad?) example of that...sure it sounds 'furious,' but they're just going through the motions so to speak.

Maelstrom: Why hate people? What would it take to not have to hate them?

Malefic: I hate people because they are useless, lying, arrogant and judgemental, yet they hate to be judged even when they live up to all their negative stereotypes. People have no respect and other people can't seem to teach that to them. Typical people live to eat and 'create' other stupider humans of tomorrow. I do admit that there are exceptions to what I'm saying, and therefore nobody really hates everybody, not even the most misanthropic of people. To not hate them?...hmm… I would hope and they should hope that the hate could someday be reduced to a dislike. People are slightly different from country to country - state to state at the least - I'm sure people would piss me off less if I was living in, say, South Dakota, for example, where their 'agendas' are a little less pretentious. Wherever there are too many people, such as New York, L.A., Chicago, whatever, there are problems with people. People in places such as these are worthy of hatred. They're very stubborn and have made life a lot stupider and harder than it has to be...I have watched the lowest of lives dish out an unbelievable amount of pride, arrogance and ignorance...sickening. I don't deal with them... I stay away from them as much as possible, I don't really know what they live for, but whatever it is, it must not be the same as I often forget what it is I'm living for, if anything. But I can say it's not for them. ... That's probably enough outta me for now.

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