Although the band has been active for over a quarter of a century, Anael is not exactly a hot topic. That was somewhat the case in their early years, when new material appeared regularly, but since the release of the excellent ‘On Wings Of Mercury’ (2005), the pace has slowed considerably. First, we had to wait three years for ‘From Arcane Fires’ (2008), but it wasn’t until 2011 that ‘Mare’ was released. That means that now, at the time of writing, we have been waiting five years for new work. The pace is slow, that’s for sure, but the quality that Anael delivers is as high as ever. A bewildering and enigmatic sound, which can rightly be called unique, characterizes the band, who clearly don’t let themselves be rushed by anything or anyone. It is this combination of idiosyncrasy and independence that makes Anael so special and certainly deserves more appreciation. I spoke to guitarist and vocalist Seraphackh about these matters, the history of the band, and, of course, asked him about the current state of affairs…
Hi Seraphackh, thank you for doing this interview with me. I have been meaning to do this for a long time, and finally, here we are. Let’s start with killing a bit of my curiosity. I always wanted to know what your pseudonym means. When I look around on the internet, I find very little. Whether it’s a fictional name that just “sounded good” or not, what does it mean to you personally?
Heya, no problem, my pleasure answering your questions. Well, the pseudonym is obviously derived from the word “seraph”, but changed a bit to make it more personal, not something that already existed before taking the name. But afar from that I haven’t really thought much about it in the last years.
If we start with going down to the earlier moments of the band, we’re looking back some 25+ years. Since then, everything changed: the band, but also the musical environment and the world we find ourselves in. How would you describe the development of the band, if you want to call it that, or at least the journey of the last twenty-five years? How do you feel about your career so far?
Hmm, OK, I would describe it as quite slow but steadily moving, haha. In the first couple of years we progressed pretty fast, be it in song writing, releasing albums or playing live. Then I took a break after the third album for a couple of years.
After we started writing again, it took a while to get back into the swing of things, and as you said, the world has changed quite a bit in some aspects. I think we did as good as we could, all things considered, but I don’t look back too often to reminisce about it. I don’t love nostalgia, there’s still enough in front and ahead of us!
Something inevitable, when you’re around for such a long time that also means that you’re also older now and life changes with you, giving you other priorities. In the beginning you came out with quite a few releases, but the last, say, 15 years you have slowed down considerably. Did life just take over, or are there other things at stake here?
Well, as I said I took a break from writing for Anael after ‘From Arcane Fires’. We didn’t really start to work on ‘Mare’ before 2016. But yes, life does certainly take over. We all have jobs and other interests in life, none of us makes money from being in Anael. And we have no pressure to release something, no label pushes us, we never had to worry over losing some kind of popularity – we are just not that kind of a band it seems.
Your last album, ‘Mare’, was released in 2021 and its predecessor, ‘From Arcane Fires’, dates all the way back to 2008. Despite all these years in between, how would you say both albums relate to each other on both a musical and spiritual level?
I’d say these two albums are maybe the closest to each other that we have done, despite the rather long time between them. Musically, we have taken some of the atmosphere of ‘From Arcane Fires’, and mixed it with some of the approach concerning song structures and riffs from ‘On Wings Of Mercury’ for ‘Mare’. And of course our experiences from the time between ‘From Arcane Fires’ made it possible to make the songs more layered and ambiguous, both musically and lyrically.
If we take the previous topic to a slightly wider perspective, Anael has always been described as a band closely related to the sound of Samael. Although I do understand where that idea is coming from, I always found that comparison a bit too easy. In your early work especially, there is much doomy and gloomy stuff that reminds of bands like Candlemass, Varathron, Bathory, Master’s Hammer, early Tiamat, Necromantia etc. Can you relate to the comparisons with Samael and the ones I just brought up, or are you at a point where you don’t care anymore?
I can absolutely relate to the comparison, until the second album. For me since then there are almost no relations musically to Samael, otherwise than belonging roughly to the same metal genre. I think you’ll have to try really hard to construct a lot of similarity since that point in time. There are dozens of rather obvious other influences in our music. But in general I don’t care with what bands we are compared with. And I have heard some pretty amusing ones over the years.
That, of course, requires further explanation. Which comparisons do you think are completely unfounded?
Well, I couldn’t give any names from the top of my head, I’ve read the reviews for ‘Mare’ just once when they were sent to me. But there have always been some reviews mentioning bands I’ve heard by name, because they’ve been talked about at the time, but I never actually heard their music. And on the other hand, having written the songs, I know the influences reasonably well that I myself can still hear in the songs. I remember an evening at Pri’s place quite vividly, when after a couple of drinks we had the glorious idea to check the Spotify recommendations for people who listened to ‘Mare’. Let’s just say it was “interesting”, haha.
In my review for ‘Mare’ I wrote that you again took another step in widening your musical scope. It seems that the album has a stronger heavy metal connotation when it comes to the overall song writing and some catchy leads. Yet, as a whole ‘Mare’ has a profound dark atmosphere that creeps up to what is found on some iconic 80’s Dark Wave records. Is this a direction in which the band is deliberately navigated? Or is this just the result of the creative process in which personal musical taste and preferences run wild?
Both probably. We like a lot of music, a lot of Darkwave stuff too. And the meaning of the album title, which can also be found in the word “nightmare” asks for inspiration from the whole range of dark music that is out there. So it was only natural to incorporate these influences. But I can’t say that this is a general direction we’re heading, the new material is quite a bit different, but it’s not finished yet, so who knows …
As a whole I think over the years, the band has found quite a bit of a niche sound. If we listen to ‘Mare’, I think it is fair to conclude that Anael sounds rather unique, both in terms of its complex song writing and the diverse overall sound. Can you explain the magic? What is the secret to sounding unique and relevant in this oversaturated musical climate where everything seems to have already been done and the pigeonholing spirit leaves no room for idiosyncrasy?
I can’t really say that sounding unique has been a conscious effort, apart from not developing most ideas that have obvious parallels to other bands in the song writing process. And even there we make a few exceptions, if some part can be seen as homage to a band we really love. We have a wide palette of influences we draw from, and only the overall song dictates if a part fits, so maybe it’s just the way we write. And maybe our start as a band that tried to sound quite similar to another helps, we just try to not do that, haha!
‘Mare’ is the first release where Iron Tyrant, as a label, does not seem to be involved. Instead, the album was released by Into Endless Chaos on vinyl, Paragon Records took the CD (like the previous album) and Darkness Shall Rise signed up for the cassette tape version. Was Iron Tyrant no longer interested or were you just ready for a new partnership? And how did you end up with these new parties?
After the long break we were ready for something new, although we asked Luca if he would be interested if I remember correctly. We know the people behind Into Endless Chaos and Darkness Shall Rise, so we approached them when the album was ready. We approached other labels for the vinyl too, Into Endless Chaos just made the offer that made the most sense at the time. And they did a great job, as well as Darkness Shall Rise! Paragon Records approached us a year later, and asked if we wanted to do a CD version too. And as some people had been asking for a CD, we thought it was a good idea.
I am not claiming or assuming that Iron Tyrant did much promotion or an overall better job in the past, but I found it somewhat disappointing that hardly any zine paid attention to your new album. I might be mistaken or have looked at the wrong places, and much of my personal frustration comes from the metal scene that changed so much from when I started writing almost 25 years ago, but isn’t that something that you find discouraging? Or is creating music with Anael something that goes way beyond looking for general appreciation and likes on social media?
I wouldn’t say it was overlooked, we got quite some reviews for the album, but it depends on expectations I’d say. We were just back to activity after a long break, the album was released during the pandemic, so live shows were not really possible at the time; and we were never a popular band to begin with – being always somewhat different than the zeitgeist. But I can relate a little, I think, before the break I might have found it a bit discouraging. But nowadays I don’t care anymore, me personally, I write and play music because I feel that’s something I need to do. And from time to time people tell me they’re appreciating what we do, which is fantastic. But I would probably write and play music, even if nobody ever hears it, as long as I enjoy it. I just wouldn’t release anything then.
When you put it that way, it feels to me as if time has worked its magic. Perhaps a certain desire to assert oneself also has something to do with youthfulness. Has time made you more lenient?
Not necessarily more lenient, but the focus has shifted quite a bit from trying to achieve some perceived position, to putting in the effort to make creating and performing as good and enjoyable as we need it to be. What we do, has to be valid for ourselves in the first place, there’s no need for much external acknowledgement.
And more generally… Surely, over its quarter century of existence, the band had some proud successes, but as a whole, I always feel that Anael is a massively underrated and underappreciated band. How do you feel about this yourself?
Well, as I said, it doesn’t bother me much, if at all. For a band to be successful, it has always taken a lot of hard work, but also quite a bit of luck and the right timing. And for every band that has been successful, there are always a dozen that worked just as hard, but were not there at the right time, or just didn’t have the luck. That’s fine, it’s just how the world works.
Speaking of such proud moments. If you look back, down that same road of 25 years of history with Anael, what do you personally consider as the absolute highlights?
As I said, I don’t look back too much, but I would say the recording of ‘Mare’ was kind of a highlight for me, to be able to piece the songs together collectively after not doing an album for a decade. Other than that I wouldn’t name specific events, rather the opportunity to play live with many great bands, some of them bands we were fans of since our youth, is surely a highlight.
Back to the past of the band a bit again. I remember some older interviews in which you talked about being into mysticism, occultism and kabbalahs. Is this something that still has your interest? From an outsider’s perspective, these themes seem less prominent now, even though your music feels just as dark and mystical…
Yes, for me this still has my interest. But since the ‘On Wings Of Mercury’ album, which was really focused on these themes, I try to come up with lyrics that can be related to without necessarily being an involved occultist. The other band members are interested in these themes to varying degree, so I try to create something they can stand behind as well. And one goal, especially for ‘Mare’ was to have multiple layers for the listener to explore.
It will largely have to do with the youthful energy and passion from when you guys started back in 1999, but as much as you were involved into the then-current Black Metal underground scene, that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. A split LP with a band like Lust is hard to imagine anno 2025. Or am I wrong? Are you still considering yourself a metal enthusiast and are you still interested in what is currently happening?
Oh, I wouldn’t say we’re much less involved nowadays. Pri still co-organises a festival here in the summer since almost 20 years now. I help him out there in the stage crew. We still play music, even if the live activities are a bit sparse at the moment. And we still go to underground metal shows regularly, so I couldn’t tell what other involvement is possible there. A split with a band like Lust would be just as possible today as it was back then, from the musical standpoint. The only reason we would never do it again, are the political views that guy mixed in, as we disagree with those quite a bit.
I personally don’t follow the current developments as much as I used to, but I’m still interested in new bands if I see them live and like them. The other guys follow the current scene a bit more. I’d rather think, I’m a music enthusiast, I’m interested in good music that makes me loose myself and find myself, but these days I wouldn’t limit that to metal only.
The first time I heard about Anael was somewhere in the early 00’s, when you were lined up for playing a show in Arnhem (NL) with, I think Fluisterwoud, at least it was (co-)organised by them. There was a discussion on a Dutch message board where people made jolly, corny and mostly very childish jokes about the band name sounding like “Anal”. Obviously, the name was taken from an angel, but since then I wasn’t fully able to shake off the idea that this particular band name might have held you back a bit too. In early interviews you mentioned that the name Anael had a very personal meaning that, as far as I know and able to find out, was never revealed. Can you reflect on the band name now, some two decades and a bit later?
Holding us back from what exactly, would have to be my question then, haha!? I think it’s a pretty good name, maybe not the most original one, I can give you that. I still find ways that it fits what we’re doing, even after all that time, so it wasn’t a bad choice after all, don’t you think?
From a personnel point of view, I have always been curious whether Patrick Engel’s departure had any impact on the band, both in terms of inner chemistry within the band and on a musical level. Patrick now has a thriving business with primarily remastering music, but is widely praised for his knowledge in and view on music. How big was his input for Anael in the four years (roughly between 2002 and 2005) he was part of the band?
I wouldn’t say it has had much of an impact, but that’s a bit hard to tell, Patrick played the bass live for us for some time twice in the band’s history, between our debut and ‘On Wings Of Mercury’ and then around the ‘From Arcane Fire’-era again. And shortly after ‘From Arcane Fires’ we took a long break, so… His input was, apart from playing the bass live for us and being a good friend, the recording and production of almost all releases until ‘On Wings Of Mercury’, and the mixing and mastering of ‘From Arcane Fires’, which we recorded with a friend of his.
Something that is quite a rare thing these days: you have founded Anael in 1999 and as far as I have been able to find out, this was your first and still is your only band. Nowadays it is as normal as anything else to at least have a handful of other bands and projects. You have never had the inclination or urge to do anything else besides Anael? And was Anael really your very first band?
Anael was the first band in which Pri and me played, yes, we founded the band not long after we picked up our instruments. Well, the other guys in the band have other bands and projects, Pri and Chris played together in Alchemyst and Orae, when I wasn’t writing for Anael. Chris plays with Hellish Crossfire, and Pri has another project with Tyrant from Nocturnal Witch. And I have a musical project apart from Anael as well, I just don’t have much time for it when I work on stuff that is related to Anael, so it might take another couple of years before any material surfaces, if anything goes public at all.
Would you be able to share some details about that side project? Is it related to the metal genre at all, or is it something entirely different?
There are not too many details yet. When we were writing ‘Mare’, a friend suggested that, instead of the usual process, I might want to record ideas a bit earlier, before they are fully formed riffs or song parts. And after ‘Mare’ I wanted to go back a bit to the way I wrote for ‘From Arcane Fires’, writing the guitars just on acoustic guitar. So now I have a couple of recordings that just don’t fit to anything I’d do with Anael. And, no, the songs that might shape themselves out of these recordings won’t be metal related, rock maybe, but not metal.
The obvious last question is about the successor of ‘Mare’. Our patience was tested for 13 years before that album came to us, we know that all good things take time, but I hope are not putting us to the test that much again this time…?
God, I hope not, haha! I’m not that patient. Right now, we have the skeletons of 3 new songs, just drums and bass. I hope we can demo 4 or 5 of those until the end of this year, so we can start working on guitars, synths and vocals etc. So, if we work a little harder, we might be able to have enough songs together in 2026, but time will tell.
To be honest, it wouldn’t be difficult for me to ask you another fifteen or so questions, but I am already very grateful for your time, so let’s leave it at that. Thanks a lot for your answers and let’s keep the rest for later. The last words are yours…
OK, thank you for your questions and the interest in our work, we appreciate it! See you on the road, hopefully!
