Contrary to the usually otherwise quite chauvinistic proud nature of the French people, the French Black Metal scene has remained quite modest when it comes to their influence on the overall genre. OK, that about the chauvinism might be a bit generalising, but the point about the undeniably big influence on the Black Metal scene is absolutely indisputable. When you talk about French Black Metal, it’s easy to refer to Les Légions Noires, but the “second wave” of French Black Metal, with bands like Deathspell Omega, Blut Aus Nord, Antaeus and Aosoth, has once again left a deep impression on the Black Metal genre. So when a new band emerges that is entirely helmed by one of the key figures from that second batch of French Black Metal bands, we should be twice as sharp. Multi-instrumentalist and jack-of-all-trades BST talks about his latest addition: Sotherion….
Hi Sébastien, welcome to The Whispering Darkness. You started Sotherion as a solo project in 2020, I can imagine that the global pandemic had something to do with this? As far as I know this is your first solo-project, where does the need to do everything alone this time come from?
Hails… Actually this is not the first time this has happened. Back in 1998 or 1999, in that period of time, when I first started the project then called BALROG, I was on my own, programming drums on an old Roland drum machine (poorly), and taking care of everything else. It became a collective later, for practical reasons, because I needed a live lineup, but it always was my “thing”. After some years I buried this project as I was never really satisfied with what was achieved both in a live configuration or in the studio. In a way I don’t think my songwriting was mature enough for this thing to become truly relevant. In that regard, the time I spent writing music for AOSOTH made me change my perspective, and after all these years, I felt it was time to revive BALROG, go back to its initial form with me alone in charge of absolutely every part of the product (except for the visuals, fortunately). What happened then is that a friend committed a grave mistake by letting me borrow his old Gibson SG, which I totally destroyed, and I plugged it into a distortion straight into the recorder, and just like that the fire was revived. BALROG was reborn, and it appeared obvious that the name did not fit at all anymore, and SOTHERION was born. Now if I stop digressing and answer the last part of your question: To put it bluntly, people, especially musicians, are unreliable. There is a very relaxing aspect to being the only one in charge, not having to wait after anyone. I now am able to play (more or less) the drums at a limited level but enough to make this type of music work, so it made sense to proceed this way. I do have some old companions along for the ride, for live performances, of course.
To me, Sotherion sounds like a kind of amalgamation of many bands you are (or were) also active in. That may be a simple observation and an open door for a reviewer’s work, but sometimes that just makes it harder. How would you yourself describe your music and with what musical goal did you start this project?
One could say that this project represents what I became musically after these twenty or so years I’ve been doing this. It avoids some major mistakes I made in the past, it shows I’ve finally learnt to play something I’m actually able to play and not above my level, and the goal is clearly to trim off everything that is not necessary, to go straight to the point with as little complexity as possible. Also a major difference with all my previous bands is that this was motivated first and foremost by the search for a specific sound, and these guitar riffs were written to fit this sound, the tempo of each song is defined by it as well. Paradoxically, it may seem pretty primitive, simplistic, and even childish in the way things are expressed, but as far as I am concerned, I believe it is my most mature work to date.
Your CV reads like a voluminous and impressive listing of extreme metal bands, but due to variety in musical content is especially quite diverse. It goes from Genital Grinder to Aosoth and back again…. In terms of experience, what do you bring to Sotherion from that wide range of bands?
Once again, this is the sum of the lessons I learnt by making mistakes, recording things that did not really work, not being selective enough about my riffs… And focusing on making an idea land without losing oneself into overly intricate manoeuvers.
With ‘Schwarmgeist’ you have released a 2-track demo tape. W.T.C. Productions signed up for its release, but with your track record you would think you could have come up with a long player right away. Why the need to first explore the world with a demo tape?
This demo was the raw first draft, so to speak. It was very spontaneous, and had a really interesting “first take” feeling to it. I think it would have been a shame to just archive these two tracks because they are special the way they are. They have actually been re-recorded for the debut album, but these demos will always hold a special place in my discography. Plus they are here to pay a tribute to the guitar I destroyed.
In my review for the demo tape I mentioned that it fits perfectly in the tradition of what you could call the ‘Second wave of French Black Metal’. “Bestial, wild and with a solid Death Metal edge to it, yet quite challenging with all kinds of contrarian and slightly dissonant riffs”. Is that something you can relate to?
I don’t know how “French” my music sounds, but after all I do belong to a group of peers who have been inspired by the same scene(s) so it would make sense that a common identity ends up linking us all. SOTHERION is definitely inspired by the Second Wave of Black Metal, one might call it a DARKTHRONE rip off, and they would not be wrong. But your description works too.
Of course, we can all use Google Translate and get some idea of what “Schwarmgeist” means in a literal sense, but could you also take us into the broader idea behind this term? What, conceptually, does this demo, and Sotherion in general, stand for?
You did mention the pandemic in your opening question. The mass hysteria caused by this unusual situation was very interesting to observe, with a little distance. I found it fascinating to watch new prophets be born every day, carried up by greedy media outlets, motivated by the opportunity to access quick money and fame. This all paints a striking picture of human nature, and to see how easily masses are manipulated in an age where data and information is supposed to be accessible to all reinforced my misanthropy more than ever. This title, and this demo actually, are a declaration of scorn to the human race.
Since you run your own studio (BST Studio), it is of course no real surprise that you recorded and mixed the demo yourself. Still, it sounds a lot rawer than a lot of your other more recent production work. Something I think is extremely beneficial to the music. Was this a deliberate choice or just the result of, say, a quick process of creation?
Not only is it a deliberate choice, but like I said earlier, the search for a raw guitar tone, and overall production, was a key element in the creation of this project. Having been obsessed by bands that had this garage abrasive quality to them (DARKTHRONE’s “Ablaze…”, the first SATANIC WARMASTER record, KATHARSIS, also some of MUTIILATION’s stuff) , I simply tried to create the music/sound that I wanted to listen to. This might actually be the first time in my musical “career” that I chose a production angle before writing any riff.
‘Scharmgeist’ is not the first thing you released at German W.T.C. Productions, so the fact that you guys put your heads together to release this tape is no surprise from a business point of view, but Sotherion also fits perfectly into the label’s roster musically. How do you personally look at this and do you expect that a next release will also see the light of day through W.T.C. Productions?
Sotherion’s debut full length album is almost ready for release, still with WTC. They are the only label I sent the demo to from the start, because it felt logical to me to look for a label with this type of mentality and obviously terrific taste in music. I love the fact that they always gave me some very concrete pieces of advice on some production and artistic aspects that were always extremely relevant. They’re not just a label that releases one project after the other just in order to have a big catalog, they put a lot of heart into it.
Picking up on the previous question… I guess I can assume that ‘Schwarmgeist’ will have a sequel, what can we expect from this and when can we start keeping an eye on the local distros?
I cannot give you a date for now, as printing vinyls these days is a complicated business. However I can tell you that the CD version of the debut album “Vermine” is ready, and already available through me directly. I’m sure WTC will announce an official release soon enough.
Although you will undoubtedly have a very full agenda… On a more general level, what are you doing musically these days? Some bands have been very quiet for years, with Genital Grinder (one of the first reviews I ever wrote was of Genital Grinder’s self-titled debut) seeming to have been on hiatus for well over a decade.
With time, my professional and personal life have evolved, obviously. Although I still am more or less involved in a ridiculous number of bands, some choices have had to be made. GENITAL GRINDER is my first band, we all got old and after a while some of us were less motivated so it was decided to put the project on a permanent hiatus. I have a couple of things going on which I’m doing “incognito”, ranging from Grindcore to industrial black metal, or Punk rock. I still like to keep busy, even though most of these projects might never release anything or do it very discreetly. These days the most music I play is first and foremost for my own enjoyment.
I want to thank you very much for your time and for sharing the story behind Sotherion. I would like to say, until next time and on this note, I would like to give you the honour of wrapping up the interview.
Thanks for the time you put into this. See you on the road, while I’m still standing… Better hurry though.
Hail Satan, Hail Death.
