ITHIEST INTERVIEW

What is the name of your band and how did you come up with it?

What is your name and what do you do for the band?

Dan: The band name is ITHEIST. Kane (vocals) came up with it. We were never really satisfied with our previous band name (Aetherium Mors) and when Kane wrote the lyric “self-deified Itheist", the word stuck with him and he suggested it as a new name.

My name is Dan and I deal with the music; writing the music, performing and tracking the instruments, editing, dealing with mixing, cd layouts, and the ‘business’ side of things.

Kane is the lyricist and vocalist and comes up with the art concepts.

Neither of us could do this without the other!

Kane: Like Dan said, the word Itheist was used in our last release as Aetherium Mors, on the song ‘Divine Order Without God’. I found the word and its meaning in the Satanic Scriptures by Peter H Gilmore. Its correct spelling is I-theist. As a band moniker we prefer the visual impact the word has without the hyphen.

My name is Kane, I create concepts then write them in the form of lyrics which are then vocally grafted to the music that Dan creates.

2.Tell us where you are based and describe the scene. How do you think where you are located influences your sound.

Dan: We're located in the South West of the UK. Farmer country. We have the sea on our doorstep, as well as moorland, country fields and woodland. Beautiful part of the world except it pisses with rain for more than half the year! I wouldn’t say the landscape particularly influences our sound, I’m not hanging out in a primordial wood dodging vipers or sitting by a fire on the beach strumming a ukulele as I write riffs... the music I write is just a combination of what I like to hear and the way I have developed my guitar playing over the years, tempered by Kane's guidance when I need a second opinion.

The local scene has never been amazing for underground or extreme metal. There are a lot of great bands in various genres, but besides a couple of grind bands most of the bands that have used blast beats and speed extensively, I’ve been the drummer! (Holodomor and Carcinoma). The area is short of true maniacs…

Kane: I live in a quiet retreat by the sea. I do spend time on the moors and in woodlands. Connection with nature permits a closer relationship with oneself. My writing is not influenced by my environment as with many great black metal bands. My writing is a map of one’s inner world and reveals a gateway that when opened can harness one’s own potential from the quantum field.

3.Who influences your sound that would surprise people?

Dan: There was a riff on the last Aetherium Mors e.p. that a reviewer correctly identified as being inspired by Jerry Cantrell (Alice in Chains). I have stolen many Ritchie Kotzen (Shrapnel Records teen shredder-turned blues/jazz/soul singer) arpeggio shapes and licks too, although they’re well hidden! I try to keep my songwriting and playing as varied as possible, just to keep myself entertained.

Kane: Rob Halfords enunciated delivery of his words allow them to strike emotional chords with the listener. That is a powerful influence that has inspired me.

4. Are you endorsed by musical companies , if so who , and if not who would you like to be endorsed by?

Dan: Nope, I’m not really interested in that. I don’t have the right face to advertise stuff for companies anyway, haha. If anyone wants to send me free stuff though, I wouldn’t say no.

5.When you started what was your ultimate goal? And how close to the goal are you now?

Dan: When me and Kane started a band back in 2004, the goal was to find a drummer and play some gigs. A humble goal, but one that would define the rest of our struggles up to this point. So we haven’t even achieved that meagre goal, haha. However, I took up drumming, got distracted playing drums for a couple bands and playing guitar for a couple more bands. Kane and I hooked back up and recorded demo versions of our old songs, which eventually became the Aetherium Mors debut album, Drenched in Victorious Blood. We did a 4 track follow up ep (Entrails of the Soul), which got us signed to a small US label. Then we wrote another album, renamed the band Itheist, and here we are today. So, it hasn’t been the journey we envisaged, but it has been a good time despite all the adversity.

Kane: My goal was to write concepts and ideas that were my own and like no other extreme metal bands. I am an avid metal fan and I can candidly say that I have achieved this on the last Aetherium Mors e.p. and most certainly on this record. I believe this is the most authentically Satanic piece of extreme music you are likely to find. Everything else has been a bonus. Performing our music live with a band with the same level of passion me and Dan have would be great, but the key is to enjoy everything you have, whilst in pressure of everything you want.

6.In today's digital environment it takes creative strategy to keep things moving. What creative ideas do you have to keep your band relevant over time?

Dan: If I told you that, a bunch of other bands would steal our ideas, haha. I’m old school, I’ll just keep writing and recording music and hopefully people will listen to it.

For this album I am working with Clawhammer PR to get the album out to a wider audience. I did all the PR myself before, but I just don’t have time to do that any more. They’re doing a great job, I would recommend them to anybody. I’d say we have stepped up every aspect of what we have done in previous bands - everything has had more time, experience and professionalism applied to it this time around.

Kane: How we get our music will always change, what music does for people will depend on what they want. I want people to feel the dark power within them and for that power to make them feel unconquerable when listening to our music.
How relevant that is will depend on how many like-minded individuals there are who like this kind of music.

7. We've all seen a terrible live band that is awesome on CD. Is that cool with you or do you lose respect for bands that cannot pull it off live?

Dan: You can forgive a lot in the live arena, once you’ve played in bands and had to deal with shit monitors, someone else’s gear, a falling apart drum set etc, you tend to have more sympathy for a band giving a bad performance. That stuff tends to happen more on a local DIY gig level though.

Actually I’ve seen so many gigs over the years it’s often the shit gigs that are more memorable, haha! I saw Carcass back in ’93 or ‘94 (the Heartwork album UK tour) in a local venue, and I was disappointed with it at the time, there were a lot of of technical problems, the guitars kept cutting out, and the band just walked off stage with Jeff Walker announcing there would be no encore. Not a great introduction to live gigs for an impressionable teenager. Now I’ve done so much live stuff I can totally sympathize with that situation! I’m happy to say the last 5 or 6 times I’ve seen them in their reunion phase, they’ve been awesome every time.

What pains me more than bad live bands is when you listen to a CD and you can hear how much studio trickery has been used to get the end result, like you can hear where the riffs have been copied and pasted or recorded in small bits at a time. I understand time and budget constraints, but at least make it sound somewhat natural!

Kane: Like Dan said performing live has its challenges, I remember seeing Hate Eternal at a venue that is renowned for its technical faults. The whole crowed was inspired by the bands professionalism and persistence to keep moving forward and performing regardless of what went wrong. That was commendable by my standards.

8. Tell us your “core” are you Metal , Rock , Punk , Pop etc because people just have to categorize these days you know?

Dan: Itheist is unquestionably a Metal band.

Kane: I would say that my creativity is free form to free feel, otherwise what is the point of individual expression? I would say that if you lay our sound and lyrics out as a creative tapestry, it would look like Dark Satanic Powerful Metal.

9. This is a tough question but a very real reality, Is your band actually talented or just popular?

Dan: Neither!

Kane: Great question. That is not for us to decide.

Many bands make it with a cliche or publicity stunts etc. Would you accept fame even if it was just because of being the “ in” thing or is it actually important to you that you gain favor with talent?

Dan: I’m not comfortable being the centre of attention at all. I’m not really into the idea of ‘making it’ in the traditional sense of touring and album release cycles. These days, you can reach a huge audience without leaving your house, that’s more my style, haha. Most bands that trend hop are always slightly out of date as trends come and go, so although I try and keep my playing fresh by devising new chord shapes etc, I’m not trying to jump on any bandwagon.

10. Tell us what to expect from you live. Nothing is more boring than watching bands stare at the floor and bob their heads to music nobody but the band knows. What can your band offer in a live setting that people will remember?

Dan: Sadly, for reasons already mentioned, we are a studio band only at this time. The new material I’m working on is more aimed at being played live, so we’ll see what happens in the next couple years. I know that Kane is a formidable force on the live stage; I have seen him perform at both tiny local venues and on bigger stages, e.g. a big UK festival called Bloodstock, and he always brings a stage presence that will grab people by the throat, so I am excited by the prospect of sharing a stage with him.

Kane: I would love to perform our music live, it's finding the right musicians. I used to do live shows with a previous band, and I miss commanding the stage and getting the crowd to move in unison with the music. It would be loaded with energy and confidence. And our main objective would be for our metal kindred to have a good time.

11. What releases have you put out , When will we see something new?

Dan: We are currently promoting out debut full length album, which is entitled Itheist. It will be released on the 21^st June. It was originally planned to be the second Aetherium Mors full length, but we like a challenge so we thought we’d start all over again with the new band name, haha. For now, check out the first preview track, Guardian of Baphomet, you can stream it here and pre-order the new album… https://itheist.bandcamp.com

12. If you have videos where can we see them?

Dan: Just a static video for the first preview song at the moment. You can find some studio promo clips and old Aetherium Mors songs on YouTube. Just search for them.

Kane has lots of ideas for videos, but it’s a case of finding the time and money to do it.

13. Everybody has Bandcamp , ReverbNation , Soundcloud , etc

Why do you think this is so important? Doesn't it seem like everyone is giving everything out for free?

Dan: The music industry is in a confusing state at the moment, music is essentially promotional material, or ‘content', to sell merchandise and gig tickets. For us, we do it for the fun of it, it’s a break from normal work and family life, it’s our passion, and it keeps us off the streets haha. I believe recorded music still has a power that few things can match, I’m sure many out there agree. Unfortunately for many people that powerful feeling isn’t worth the price of an artisan cup of coffee these days.

It is nice to see a resurgence in Vinyl sales, it goes to show that some people still hunger for a tangible package rather than just some digital files.

Kane: The biggest enemy of underground bands is obscurity. Recognition for your music is greater in emotional value than the price people would pay for it. Therefore Bandcamp and the like is a great way for like-minded individuals to communicate and get exposure.

14. Best moment of your career so far?

Dan: Speaking from Itheist’s point of view, getting this album released is the defining moment and will hopefully lead to more of the same. It has taken 5 years of my life, from writing all of the music which took a year, to recording everything while dealing with logistical issues, building my own home studio, learning how to record decent sounding tracks, learning how to mix over the course of a year (then scrapping the mix and paying a pro to do it)… all with job changes, juggling other bands, and the arrival of parenthood (I became a father and Kane had his second child). It has been a long road.

Kane: That is a goal that exists within the quantum field. So it's personal for the time being.

15. Your message to the fans?

Dan: Hope you enjoy the new album, thanks for the support!!

Kane: Haha.... You are alive! Now what are you going to do about it?

Bonus Question who do you bring back

Dime , Cliff , Dio , Lemmy , Randy

Dan: Cliff, no contest. I spent more time with his music than anyone else on that list. They’re all titans though, and I enjoy all of their contributions to music.

Kane: Because of the great contribution these legends have made, they never really left. But if I could bring back one that was taken way too soon and was full of life, it would be Dimebag Darrell.