interrogated by Maija - Answers by AE

DEAR READER,
Welcome to another bloody and near-rotten slab off the Butcher’s block. I am most proud to announce that the Mr. and myself have a new addition to our devilish household. Ah, don’t worry, we’re not having any brats, doing the ‘settling down’/normalizing out thing. Nope. Our addition to the family is a 30 LB, 3 month old demonic pitbull terrier! We expect our little monster to grow to 60- 80 LBS when he reaches adulthood. Why am I telling you about all of this? Well, hell, I am a ‘proud parent’, and thus have to brag to someone.

Ah, but the point of this column is to bring to you interviews with the bands that... well, are not otherwise exposed to the liberal city of Seattle in other regional publications. So, here we have an interview with one of my newest favorite obsessions: AVSKY. I reviewed their “Mass Destruction” some time back. Hopefully you found the spare cash to buy the album. If not, you better trade in some of the boring crap occupying your music shelf and collecting dust for a copy of the masterpiece. I shit you not when I say it is the best thing since BURZUM!

The following interview was done live on a late Saturday night. Yep... that’s how I spend most of my weekends. So, if you don’t see me at the shows (I try and attend as many as I can), it means I am drunk... at home... stirring up something new for my column or working on some of my other creative endeavors, or just stirring up trouble.

Settle in to your bar stool, slam that shot of tequila or whatever the hell floats your boat and enjoy!

Maija: Hails and thanks for taking the time to answer a few of my questions. As you know, I am a big AVSKY fan. What I find most strange is how ‘obscure’ you are. I mean, you should be talked about as much as some of the other bands who have risen from your country (Watain, Shining, Pest, etc.). It’s not like you’re new, with one demo or something! You have a couple of (killer) demos + a killer album with a new one soon to be unleashed. Yet, you’re like Sweden’s big dark secret. Why do you think that is?
AE: Hails! Well both the demos and the album was released not too long ago, so we’ll hope the name Avsky will spread and that more people will know of us is the future, plus that Mass Destruction was released by a small label so the promotion could probably be better (we’re very pleased with Humanity’s Plague though).
And we have to blame ourselfs when it comes to spreading the demos, we we’re too lazy sending it to magazines etc....

M: When exactly did you release those demos? They are fucking KILLER!!
AE: Both we’re released in 2006, “Embrace Armageddon” in March and “No Cure For Mankind” in September.

M: How were they received by the Black Metal community, mags, etc?
AE: Both got very good reviews and response from the Black Metal community. To be honest we were quite surprised with the good reception.

M: Were you involved in anything before 2006? I will always remember the 1st time I heard/ got into Black Metal. I was about 18 and things haven’t been the same since. I know it is kind of a generic question, but what got you into Black Metal in the 1st place?
AE: I played in a couple of local black metal bands from 1996 to 2000, but none that ever released anything. Then we started Avsky in 2002.

I discovered black metal back in -94/-95, when I read in media about the Burzum/Mayhem murders and church burnings and were fascinated, like any teenager ( I was 15/16 back then) interested in the more extreme kinds of musics would be. Until then I had mostly listened to death metal like Carcass, Morbid Angel and Napalm Death.

M: I too started off in Death Metal (I was about 15 myself). And... heh... then I heard BURZUM and it was like “yeah, this is it!”. So you released the AVSKY demos in ’06, but is there some kind of rare recordings before then? I mean 2002-2006 seems like a long time.
AE: No not really. We did a rehearsal recording back in 2002 but it was never released, I don’t think that recording even exists any more, the tape is probably lost by now. But it sucked anyway. We rehearsed for some weeks in 2002 then we put the band on hold until early 2006, when we recorded the demos.

M: Any particular reason for the hold up?
AE: No... don’t know why we put the band on hold actually. No real reason.

M: The entire Scandinavian scene seems to be consumed with this new rise of Orthodox Black Metal. And, nothing against the devil worshippers, but to me, it’s Christianity, all the same. What are your thoughts on this religious standpoint?
AE: I don’t really care, If people want to worship the devil it’s fine with me, but Avsky is not a religious band.

M: I know that Avsky is not religious. I’ve heard your lyrics. Actually, one of my favorite things about Avsky are your lyrics! But to our readers, who may not be familiar: what then, is AVSKY about?
AE: Total destruction and disgust for the human race, spreading like a tumour over the world! I also read Nietzsche a lot, so you might recognize some ideas from there!

M: “Will to power”? Or “Beyond Good and Evil”?
AE: Personally I try to read all that I can by Nietzsche, but I think “The Antichrist” is probably what has influenced recent Avsky lyrics the most.

M: What draws such hatred from you? As far as I know, Sweden, along with Norway has the ‘highest standard of living’. One would think that some kind of ‘happiness’ would prevent you from creating the gut-twisting, blood curdling people-hating music you create. But, perhaps that’s just America’s misconception. Are ‘they’ putting something in your water?
AE: Maybe it’s the long, cold and dark winters up here, or maybe “they” DO put something in our water. haha... Even though Sweden probably has among the “highest standard of living”, it’s the behaviour of people in general, and the effect they have on the world that draws our hatred!

M: On a personal level: what religion would you consider yourself? And what are your thoughts on religion as a whole?
AE: I don’t think there’s any religion I would consider, though I’m interested in the Nordic mythology. I can see why they needed religion back in the past to explain things they couldn’t understand, but I think that people nowadays should know better. Religion has always been a way to control the masses. “If you don’t follow us you’ll end up in hell” or whatever. Anyway Sweden is a very secularized country so religion has basically no power or influence on society here and most people are not religious at all. But I think it’s worrying when religion gets to much power.

M: If the walls in your house could talk, what would they say? Or, heh, do THEY talk?
AE: Fortunately my walls haven’t started to talk yet, but if they could I have no Idea what they would say. “Get a life” maybe... haha...

M: I’m dying to ask you about shows! Do you perform live?
AE: “No we don’t perform live. It’s not possible at the moment since there’s only two of us. But if we can find the right musicians to help us out, we would like to play shows in the future.

M: Well, if you ever come to the U.S., don’t forget to visit the West coast! Unfortunately, the hour is getting late here: almost 5:00 AM to be exact and alcohol has taken its toll on me. So, we better wrap this up before I pass out on my keyboard... If time and energy allowed, I would probably ask you another 13 questions as, well, Avsky to me is the best thing since Burzum. I thank you once again for the interview AE! Time for the almighty ‘money- shot’ question: your last words?
AE: Hails and thanks for the interview!

AE/Avsky