Interview with Temple of Baal

First of all I’d like you to introduce yourself to the readers of Metal Coven – making a short rundown on how it all started.

OK. At first it began as a solo project of mine when I felt the time had come to release all the inspiration I had had during several years. When listening to the two tracks I had recorded (using and old 4 track machine which gave a cool necrosound) I felt they would really fit a live concept. Hence I put up the band, and here we are today, after five years. The line up hasn’t changed, except once, at first we had MKM (Antaeus) on vocals but he left the band after a few rehearsals. But it was in the very beginning of the band so it didn’t have much of an influence. I started handling the vocals and there we were… Finally as a power trio I feel we have the ultimate line up.

Hahaha it’s not a theory, it’s the truth. Many people misunderstand or do not even know what it is all about. I can describe myself as a Satanist. But these beliefs of mine are actually a blend of several dogmas. It stays a personal quest… From the inner feuds of the Black Metal scene regarding its Satanic aspect, I can say that there are as many conceptions of Satanism as there are individuals in this scene. And that’s for good. I serve the enemy of mankind because I do not believe in man. Even if I am a man myself, even if I live a human life in many aspects normal. I do not pretend being something I’m not. I’m not a teenager anymore to say I am some kind of demon or whatever. But humanity has been such a source of deceit for me that… Well… Religion ? Pros and cons. It can be a tool in many ways. For the leader and for the follower. It can be used and misused. Like any way of manipulation, it’s very interesting.

I do not really think so. It’s Metal. It’s not spiritual, meditative music. For sure it can create a bad/violent/evil feeling which, itself, can create an energy that can be used to summon something violent. But to do so, several persons should unite their energy IN THE VERY GOAL to summon/create this entity. And one must not tell bullshit, it’s never the case in Metal audiences. And I really doubt a congregation of warlocks would use Temple Of Baal’s music in order to obtain a magical goal. You must never forget that the persons really involved in such things do not hold Black Metallers for serious.

In my feelings. It can be the hate that someone inspires me, it can be the desire to reach a “higher” state of mind, it can be the repulsion I feel for mankind. It can be the despise I feel for all these young pseudo metalheads that try to give you lessons on what is Black Metal. The latter case is quite an important one these days, to tell you the truth. You can not imagine how fed up I am with so called metal people. They are so boring.

I have a very precise idea of the way I want the Temple to sound. The guitar must handle the high frequencies and the bass must cover the low range. The drums must sound like drums, and not like electronic devices. And the whole must always have a kind of live feeling. That’s why, on “Servants Of The Beast”, we have recorded all the basics of the songs playing live. I added a few guitar overdubs just to fatten the sound a little bit, and did the vocals afterwards. If you compare the sound of the album to the one of our demo, you can feel an improvement, because the recording conditions were better and on the demo it’s totally live, there are no overdubs except for the vocals. That’s for the sound aspect. If you want to talk about the music itself… I guess there are a bit more old school/thrashy components in our music today, yet the core is debut 90s Black Metal. Norwegian pioneers (of this era, not of Black Metal, mind you), French bands of this era like Mütiilation or Vlad Tepes, older bands like Hellhammer, Venom, Bathory, Sarcofago… All this blended you can have an idea.

The fact of being on stage with such a crowd is a great feeling, it’s indeed special. And that’s why, in fact, I like concerts. On the other hand, I don’t really like meeting people, because I’m fed up with rumour mongers, which represent… Maybe 99% of the Black Metal audience here. But the feeling of a good concert, on stage, is something you can’t get elsewhere. I have had this feeling of special nights yes. Like on the show we did at Toulouse, with Barbatos, Nuit Noire, Fornication etc. The crowd was great and I was in optimal mental conditions during this gig. Really a great experience.

As far as I can remember, I’ve always been into music. And when I say “into music”, believe me, the expression is quite shallow to qualify what music represents for me. In fact, I have dedicated my life to music. I have done classical musical studies at the university. The first disc I remember liking is Beethoven’s 5^th symphony, conducted by Herbert Von Karajan. Incredible. Beethoven is still one of my fave composers. Two versions to recommend symphony wise : Karajan’s 1963 Deutsche Gramophon recording (the complete 9 symphonies) , and Furtwängler’s complete 9 symphonies also (there’s a 5 CDs boxset available through EMI in France, including some with the Vienna philharmonic, and others with the Stockholm philharmonic). But my interest do not end with Beethoven. I’m into all the eras, from medieval to contemporary music. I started listening to pop and rock by the age of ten or something I think, and Metal around 14/15 years old with the mighty Iron Maiden.

I don’t think there will be major changes in Temple Of Baal’s music. It will last as long as I feel the need to create this kind of music. When I feel like changing, Temple Of Baal will vanish.

Well, it has been a great pleasure to make this interview – stay in touch with Metal Coven, and let us know whenever, there’s stuff to tell from the world of Temple of Baal.

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