Interview mit Stefan Necroabyssious von Varathron

This year already marks the 30th anniversary of VARATHRON. What comes to your mind when you think about how long you’ve been around?
I feel so great because our friends and brothers keep us alive with their eternal support and they put the band on the highest level in their souls! I have total respect for them and I promise that I’ll never disappoint them!

What has motivated you to continue through all these years? And can you imagine keeping the band going for the rest of your life?
My band is like my blood flowing through my body, like a breath which gives me life to continue to living! I’ll never stop until my death. My „influence“ for that is the true passion and desire for creating true unholy psalms for our Utter Dark Lord!

Although VARATHRON have been around for a long time, Rotting Christ, for example, are better known. Why, do you think, is that so? And does it bother you or is that of no concern to you?
VARATHRON had so much trouble with the line-up through all these years. I was a faithful servant in the name of darkness and I only care about that; spreading the satanic manifest around the world. Anything else is only for the fashion victims!

If you had the opportunity to make the band your main job, would you do it?
My band is not a job. For my pure opinion; if you change something which you love into the situation-„job“ you lose all the magic, you lose the feeling that makes it so unique! I’ll never do it because I want to keep my band like a cradle of my utter dream! It’s something so ultimately pure like a dream that comes true!

In our last interview about your EP „The Confessional Of The Black Pentinents“ you said that the next full length album would be soon to come. Still, it took quite a while until „Patriarchs Of Evil“ came out. What was the reason for this?
Our last EP comes with a few new tracks and some live tracks which we promised to our friends and fans. The new full album was something that we needed to be like a true anniversary album for our 30 years of life! It was something which I promised to our brothers around the world and I never want to disappoint them! A new occult manifest that kills!

Would you say that taking your time had a positive effect on the album – that this is the reason for it being a strong record?
I think it is not about the time but about our desires. We wanted to release an album that contains elements from our all previous albums like an album tribute to our long carrier. The results were amazing and the people love that album eternally!

The general feedback seems to be pretty good, isn’t it? Have you ever had to struggle with more negative criticism? And does that matter to you?
I believe the right criticism is something that gives us some serious thoughts for our next work. Besides, our music or a new album that we release is not necessary to be beloved by all. I noticed that we recieved only good criticism through all these years! Thanks for that!

Although your music is regarded by many as „oldschool“, you also use other stylistic things such as keyboards and the production is by no means low-fi. What do you think of bands that strictly stick to the dogma of „trve“ black metal?
Our music is true Greek black metal style! We’re the owners of that style and I feel proud of it! Yes, our stuff is „oldscool“ now compared to the style of the modern bands. The true black metal is not the „status“ of music but the beliefs and the values which one must keep immortal inside one’s soul. You know the pseudo image is one of the reasons that destroy our pure black metal music around the world. The true believers are immortal.

You’ve used keyboards before, but they seem to be more present on your new album. Was that your intention and if so, for what reason?
Our guitarist Achilleas put some keys on our new album because he wants to give it a more evil and abysmal atmosphere. I like the results and we’ll keep them.

Would you say that you kept your characteristic style or have you also tried some unusual things on „Patriarchs Of Evil“?
Of course we kept our original style from our first steps until now. We have our own unique indentity and we never lost that through the years like so many other old bands.

Lyrically you once more deal with all kinds of occult and devilish topics. Who do you think are the „patriarchs of evil“ and to what extent can they be found in your lyrics?
We’re the patriarchs who want to spread the unholy communion to the chosen ones. Our lyrics and our music are a trip through the corridors of Hades and the main meaning is the utter salvation in the presence of the Dark One! A sacred „key“ which opens the gates of salvation, which opens the gates for astral trips.

How important are the lyrics to you compared to the music itself?
I think they are the most important thing aside from the music. The best „result“ for a track is the great „wedding“ of lyrics and music. I love it and I try to accomplish that on any of our albums and on my other bands and projects too.

The artwork looks very occult again. Who created it? And have you given the artist certain guidelines or given him full artistic freedom?
The artwork is a great creation of my great friend J. Castellano. I feel so proud for that because I sent him three large pages on which I described all of that, a pure dark thought, a nightmare of my mind. I imagined that and I sent it to him to make it a reality on paper! Yes, what he did is totally amazing!

What will happen next with VARATHRON? Will there be another full-length album next or will there be another EP in between?
Well, we’ll play some shows around the world and we have our own jobs too. So, if we’re ready for a new full album, yes, we’ll create it and it will be done. Otherwise, if we don’t have so much time, we’ll release something else, maybe a new EP again, besides we have two new tracks already! Really, I don’t know, the only thing I know is that: We want every new ‚step“ by us to be perfect and powerful. Time will tell!

Let’s finish the interview as usual with our traditional Metal1.info-Brainstorming. What comes to mind while reading the following terms?
Matriarchy: I prefer patriarchy!
Major label: Some good labels who do great work with bands.
Satanism: I worship Him!
Dimmu Borgir: I was in contact with them on the first demos and EPs and their first full album. Then things changed and all was „sacrificed“ on the altar of the god of money!
Summer: Perfect time for live shows!
Ambient: It’s not my taste, my friend!

Thank you again for this interview. The last words shall be yours:
Thanks so much, my friend, for your attention and support for my band. Embrace our evil occult music and worship Him! I salute all the black metal maniacs, I’ll see you there!

Publiziert am 10. September 2018 von Stephan Rajchl