Chaos; complete disorder, utter confusion, the property of a complex system whose behaviour is so unpredictable, it appears random. It will cause people to stop and look in fascination or run away in fear. There are those that are terrified of it, and those that see the power and possibilities contained within. We caught up with Death Commander of Dikasterion on how the pandemic fuelled their fires of chaos, what inspired them to turn an Italian folklore tune into a song on ‘Chaos As a New World’ and the crucial importance of passion and attitude in Black Metal.
Thank you for doing this interview with us! ‘Chaos As a New World’ was just released on the 1st of September, but the EP was written more than two years ago. How do you feel listening to it after it was finished quite some time ago? Do you in some way follow how people respond to it?
After such a long wait, it was hard to realize that the EP was finally out. It felt like a combination of liberation and victory. We still have the same conviction and will as when we wrote these songs, and still have a lot of rage to play them. When passion is true and honest, even time can’t do anything against it.
Not being on social medias myself, I don’t get much feedback on people’s reactions, but that’s not the most important thing for us. The essential thing is that the message gets spread, that people react to it and stop seeing Metal as a masquerade.
The material feels like a further refinement of the style on the previous releases. The sound of the guitars seems slightly cleaner yet very authentic, but the music is more diverse with an even stronger sense of untamed energy. Would you agree that as a band you’ve grown in translating your inner unrest to music better?
The guitar sound is a personal choice. We wanted a sound that recalls the band’s rock ‘n’ roll energy and stands out from the over-saturated modern sound.
Exactly. We wrote this EP at the beginning of Covid, which only exacerbated our hatred, our desire to rebel and our feeling of fed-up. The energy of the riffs is intrinsically linked to our desire for provocation and opposition.
In a previous interview you’ve indicated your strong appreciation for the Australian Black/Thrash Metal scene, but it didn’t really come back in writing for Dikasterion. I would argue that on ‘Chaos As a New World’ it’s more audibly present. Maybe not always in a literal sense of riffs, but more in the “No Fucks Given” attitude and energy of Deströyer 666, Gospel of the Horns, Sadistik Exekution etc. How do you feel about that?
“Zero fucks given” is literally the band’s motto. For the previous releases, we were careful to make sure that the riffs weren’t too influenced by our major inspirations. We didn’t want to copy a style, but pay homage to it. We’ve kept this approach for “Chaos…”, and the rage of recent years has made our riffs more aggressive and punchier. The change of line-up certainly also played a role in the songwriting (especially the lyrics) compared to the other releases.
I’ve often talked about “keeping the flame alive” in previous interviews. This flame, and the vision we have of Metal, comes mainly from the wild, violent, convinced, chaotic and rebellious aspect of the Australian scene. Raging beasts who make no compromises. It’s to them that Dikasterion wishes to pay homage by perpetuating the legacy.
Chaos has had a strong presence in Dikasterion since the beginning, but I’m sure seeing the mass hysteria following the Covid pandemic unfold was fuel for the fires. Was the EP title ‘Chaos As a new World’ directly influenced by the mass hysteria of Covid, or was it something that had been set for longer?
That’s exactly what inspired this EP. Even though the intentions were always there, Covid brought the whole thing to a head. We would have liked the EP to have been released earlier, in response to Covid hysteria, but the message is still relevant and not new about submission, compromise, fear, norms and so on. It’s a fight that must go on, however small our impact is, it’s always a good thing.
Chaos frightens people, makes them doubt and accept submissive authority, and they are ready to give up their freedom. When we embrace chaos, when we take part in it, it becomes a force, a weapon, infusing us with an energy that makes us grow and overcome our fears.
The artwork of both previous releases had a striking colourful palette that fit with your passion for medieval times. The cover of ‘Chaos As a New World’ is an altogether darker work, with what appears to be riders of the apocalypse and demons raining from the sky to engulf the world in darkness. Is this a reflection of the vision and message of the band that has turned bleaker in the year between releases?
When we recorded “Chaos…”, we were still four of us. The horsemen represent the band leading a horde of demons (symbolizing chaos) on an assault against an industrial town (Seraing, where the band was founded), symbolizing the modern world.
Each artwork is linked to the release and symbolizes the main theme developed therein. For this new EP, it’s revolt, chaos, the choice to be an outcast. Unlike the two previous releases, which tackled more spiritual and historical subjects, “Chaos…” takes the side of opposition to today’s world.
The demo and 7” EP had track titles that hinted at mockery of (historical examples of) religious narrowmindedness and constraints. The new EP’s titles are a little more left to the imagination. The LP and CD versions of ‘Chaos As a New World’ seem to contain a lyrics sheet, but since at the time of writing I don’t have the lyrics yet so I’ll just ask. Can we expect that the lyrics of the four tracks (we’ll get to ‘Death’s Serenade’ later) more inspired by more personal matters and deliberately further away from association with occult themes?
In addition to the message of opposition (mainly present in N.W.D.), “Chaos…” lyrics are based on our experiences of life through chaos and our quest for freedom. The way we’ve decided to be in full possession of our choices, to be outcasts, to live intensely, according to our rules and in correlation with the values we defend.
For years, we’ve explored the night and its underworld, living surrounded by vices, violence, extreme behaviors, destruction and insubordination. It’s what made us who we are today, through good and bad experiences. It’s this nocturnal chaos, on the bangs of the blind world we were born into.
We’ve met many people who proclaimed the great values of respect, brotherhood, love, loyalty and devotion, and many of them ended up betraying their own rules. This is also what we deplore in today’s Metal scene: great speeches, lots of false attitudes, but they’re just an image. People don’t believe anymore, it’s all a farce, and we refuse to be part of that. The flame still burns for some of us, and for the rest, may they die!
While you’ve professed adoration for the Middle Ages through your lyrics, ‘Death’s Serenade’ does so by a Folk-rich interpretation of a medieval tune. The song is based on the ‘Schiarazula Marazula’ originally composed by Giorgio Mainerio in the second part of the 16th century. The dance was performed with women on the eve of Pentecost to invoke the rains, and ultimately forbidden by the inquisition as they believed it to be a witchcraft ritual. Besides the back story, what was it specifically about the track that inspired to create ‘Death’s Serenade’?
We grew up with this song, sung by Angelo Branduari. It lulled our childhood and we wanted to pay also homage to it. In fact, it’s dedicated to the deceased father of one of us.
Apart from our love for this masterful work, the lyrics are directly linked to the other songs and remind us that everyone is equal in the face of death. Regardless of life choices, ideals, deeds, it will be there, cruel and hard, but if it enters our dances (as when we accept chaos), “even death will be dead by dawn”. Again, people are afraid of it because they have no control over it, it’s a mystery that has fed many theories and once we let go and let it penetrate us, it no longer represents a fear, but a force that leads us and pushes us to enjoy life without hindrance.
During Covid, fear of death was the government’s main weapon for controlling the population. Throug lies and propaganda. Just as we refused to fear the chaos of Covid, we refuse to fear death, and fear can no longer be used against us.
As far as I could find the original ‘Schiarazula Marazula’ does not have lyrics, although there is a version with Italian lyrics that doesn’t seem related to the lyrics of ‘Death’s Serenade’. Are the lyrics also based on the original story, or more a free interpretation using the folk melody as a musical backdrop?
Lyrics have been written by Domenico Zannier. Branduardi used them in french and italian for his song. They originally come from a 1539 painting from Simone Baschenis da Averaria in San Virgilio’s church.
To me the story also symbolizes the fear, often of the catholic church, of the unknown things, and the compulsive need to blame something, in this case the devil, for it. Although this is an example from 1624, I think it highlights two things that are sadly embedded in society even to this day: The fear of the unknown, and the need to judge and compartmentalize things. What are your thoughts on this?
That’s directly linked to the EP. As I said before, fear is a weapon we decided to not care about. I’m not saying we don’t fear anything, but we refuse to kneel in front of anyone who’d try to use fear against us. You can read it on N.W.D. lyrics “No submission, no surrender, no fear”.
Calling ourselves “outcast by choice” (Rites of Conviction’s lyrics) obviously gives us a kind of label and “compartmentalizes” us. The difference with people judging us, is we decided to proudly claim that choice and position. They can say anything about us, we know who we are and if that means being being on their blacklist, because we don’t fit their standards, good ! We don’t want to.
To get back on chaos, it also comes from the unknown. People can’t see what’s happening inside our chaotic world so they’re afraid of it. And that’s what Metal should be again. Not a fancy parade of trendy patches, dancing shoes and hipster beards.
Chaos and disorder seem concepts people fear, as a loss of control. At the same time there is a great force released when things break and become disordered, think of nuclear fission, the force when an object breaks etc. Is that yearning for comfort and unwillingness to submit to disorder the greatest constraint and limitation of our creativity?
Good point! Creativity comes from chaos (among other things), in my opinion.
It’s something that can’t be born of organized or structured mentalization. You can structure your creativity and use artistic techniques or theories to put it into practice, but creativity itself is born from an emotion, a trauma, an idea, an impulse… from something that is not “controlled”.
People who have accepted to submit and exchange their freedom for security and comfort, who have chosen to stay away from chaos, have lost this creativity.
Stormtrooper, whose song ‘Armies of the Night’ from 1984 you covered, had a similar sort of mentality, essentially combining the music of that time with a filthier, rowdier approach. Would you say that the key to good music is the attitude and intention and not necessarily what the music sounds like?
Absolutely. There is no point covering a song to make it sounds identical to the original one. You have to put your mark on it without changing the essence of the song.
In Metal, in our opinion, attitude and intention are the most important. If you have the correct attitude, if you believe in what you do, if you respect what you’re singing about and the honest reason you’re writing songs for, then the music will follow. They are so many bands with amazing musicians, but they look fake because the attitude isn’t there or because they play for wrong reasons.
Attitude doesn’t mean playing a role. It must represent who and what you are. It must be true, not a stage character.
‘Chaos As a New World’ is an EP with about 30 minutes of material. I personally think intense music is best if it’s 30 minutes, maybe 40 max. What’s your view of the ideal length of your releases?
It could have been a bit longer, but that fits with the kind of music we play. It must go straight to the point, fast as a shark.
Just look at those few examples : Deströyer 666 – Cold Steel… For an Iron Age (35min), Sarcofago – I.N.R.I (28min), Blasphemy – Fallen Angel of Doom (30min), Slayer – Raining Blood (34min), Black Witchery – Desecration of The Holy Kingdom (27min), Shackles – Traitors Gate (40min), Nocturnal Grave – Satan’s Cross (30min), Vomitor – Bleeding The Priest (35min), etc.
On November 11th you’ll perform at An Odyssey to Blasphemy in Oberhausen together with Taake, Ancient Rites and Old, just to name a few. Now that you’re back to the original trinity of Death Commander, Cinis and Pz.Kpfw, will you recruit a live guitar player or rather just continue with the core members?
For now, we prefer to remain as a power trio. The three of us grew knowing each other since a long time and it would be difficult to find someone who could join with the same will or energy.
Of course we had to adapt the songs for live shows but it doesn’t change the rage and the intention. If people want to hear the songs as they are on the records, they can just listen to the records. If they come to gigs, it’s to share the energy, to join our madness.
Image courtesy of Void Revelations
What musical memories from your past, be it albums or live shows, formed you and set you on the path you’ve taken to this day?
To me, it’s the first time I saw Deströyer 666 live, in 2010. The conviction they inspired me was like a revelation. Then after being involved in the scene for years, working with bands, for shows, festivals, etc. I decided it was time to bring my own contribution. I’ve also been very disappointed by a lot of bands and people in the actual scene and I felt the duty to bring the old way back.
The first wave of Black Metal bands seems a larger inspiration for the music of Dikasterion than the second wave. While I love both musically, for me the biggest difference is that the first wave was an unconstrained expression of violence and hatred, while the second wave seemed more defined by values set by individuals. What is your take on that?
It depends on where you come from. The first wave mostly still had this rage linked to their social and economic condition, their geographical origin, this will to rebel and live according to their convictions. The intention was pure, honest and violent.
In both cases, they wanted to create something innovative (sometimes without realizing it) to shout out their faith and hatred. They weren’t trying to copy or change established codes.
They composed according to their intention, their will, their opposition to the world, to sow discord. Motivations that have all but disappeared today, thanks to bands that are increasingly inclusive to posers & tamed losers, politically correct and have disavowed violence, honor, all the values and codes that the first wave established.
I appreciate the time you have taken to answer our questions. Would you like to add something?
Thank you for these interesting questions.
To anyone reading this, open fucking your eyes, remember that Metal isn’t “cool”, isn’t a trend, and should be listened to at maximum volume. Break your chains, remember our history, live intensely according to your choices.
Keep the fucking flame burning or get the fuck outa our way !
D.C. For Dikasterion
S.Y.I.H.
