LP: What's your musical history? For how long have you made music which falls within the realm of black metal?

Set: Music has been a massive influence on me as long as I can remember. My parents were, and still are, huge music and book fans. Music was always being played and I grew up with piles of books around. I was encouraged in both regards. My parents had a mixed bag of influences but by the time I was 10 years old in 1981 I was listening to all kinds of music including Queen, Adam and the Ants and Black Sabbath but certainly not limited to just that. I think 1983 I started listening to the Plasmatics and the Sex Pistols but even some classical like Grieg, whom I was quite fond of at the time. My interests kept broadening and I became more and more interested in abrasive and fast music.

Sometime in 1985 I got a guitar and started learning to play it, Sometime soon after that I started playing in bands but nothing exciting. In 1989 I got my first cassette 4track and started composing music on that. At the time I was very interested in "Industrial" and Noise, which I saw as the same at the time. Throbbing Gristle, Merzbow, Controlled Bleeding, Coil and Skinny Puppy along side many other interests in metal (Bathory, Celtic Frost, Slayer et al.) and also punk/hardcore (Septic Death, Seige, Bad Brains, DRI, Heresy, Sacrilege, Contrete Sox et al.). I was also playing in a punk band. A local punk rock, small town band, every town has one. Most of my recordings fell under the category of Music Concrete. I did not call it that, but in retrospect it was essentially that. Sort of like the abstract T.G. material and maybe like early Nurse With Wound, though I did not know them then. It was mostly soundscapes with some vocals heavily processed over the top.

I do not think it was until 1998 that I listed to what would be considered classic Norwegian Black Metal. I had been living in Portland for a year or two and a friend Jasin Fell mentioned Mayhem and Emperor as his favorite metal bands, he was wanting to start a Black Metal project, but wanted it be all acoustic and only play shows in very specific locations and certain timesÉ Solstices and Equinoxes. This is the year that Lords of Chaos, co written my Michael Moynihan, was published. Moynihan was living in Portland at the time. I was working at a bookstore and was told to check it out. Everything sort of clicked and certainly when I first heard Mayhem's Wolf Lair Abyss, the first Mayhem record I came across, I thought, "Fuck, what have I been missing all these years! I had hated most Death Metal during the early nineties, too much of the Chug Chug technical crap with too many solos. But Black Metal, I had loved Bathory and Celtic Frost and as we all know that was the leaping off point for the whole scene.

So the first "Black Metal" project was called Hexenhammer and that was in 1989 I believe. It was an intellectual corruption of the form from inception. We played 2 shows in consecutive Summer Solstices at a place called "Witches Castle" a small ruined rock building a quarter to half mile hike up along a creek in a Portland park. It is often photographed; bands like Agalloch and Oakhelm have used it for some publicity photos. It was great, we played at dusk, in candle light, in black cloaks with corpse paint and the singer held rusty weapons of various kinds and we played acoustic guitars as fast as possible playing long, drawn out songs. We also played a catered "Donner Party" for Halloween, where we served an extensive dinner party and intimate set with the main course being a sacrificed "human."

The next "Black Metal" project was with my friend Carl Annala who was in several popular noise rock bands in the Pacific Northwest and who also did a brief stint in Earth when their popularity was at its lowest point. Our project called Hail, it was a two guitar, drum machine project with background sounds and samples with the inclusion of Markus Wolff on additional percussion. In many ways it can be seen as a direct influence on Acephale. The samples, sound collage, weird song structures and intellectual underpinnings using a Black Metal aesthete stem from that experience. Mind you, I was playing in other bands of various kinds and also recording music on my 4 track this whole time from 1989 through to now. Hail performed once at an opening ceremony/festival for a local branch of the O.T.O. in Portland. The band switched around after that, did some recordings but never released them and eventually died or went into hibernation. So at some point in 2001-2 I started L'Acephale.



LP: Are L'Acephale active in a local scene sense, or do you operate more in isolation (self-imposed or otherwise)?

Set: L'Acephale has been active in a local sense, but is not currently. I moved with my wife to the small Oregon town of Corvallis so that I can help her go through a Doctorate program at OSU. It is an hour and a half drive from Portland so the "band" and that level of activity, as in performing live, has been on hold. We shall see what happens when I return in a year. Meanwhile, I continue to work on material as part of my continual obsession to fabricate sonic material out of disparate parts and satisfy my compulsions to make music.

When L'Acephale was active as a full band of 6 or more people we wrote and performed music. This started from the Book of Lies ep recording. We have recorded an lp of material entitled "Stahlhartes GehŠuse" which has been at the label for many months held up due to financial problems waiting to be released. We also have written 3 other songs, which would be another whole lp or more, we have not recorded these songs but need to. Stahlhartes was an epic recording that drug out over a year for all kinds of reasons. More on that another time.

During this interim, I have been moving forward again individually. There exists some material from before the "full band" line up that has been waiting to come out for years and the result of that is "Malefeasance." So to answer your question, the nature of L'Acephale seems to be continuously shifting, but the essential core is my compulsions sonically. I hope to work more with a full band line up again, I deeply respect all the work and contributions that that process has to offer and all the work, time and devotion those members who have worked with L'Acephale have contributed. In short, in recent times, I work in "isolation" for reasons of circumstance.

LP: In a previous interview, in reference to BM elitism, you write: "I would say that I appreciate the "Art for the Intellectual Elite" sentiment, but not the racialist element". Can you further define this "intellectual elite" - does this refer to specific corners of extreme/metal / other musical fandom, or philosophy, or other?

Set: The context of the statement was in regards to the band Drudkh and Hate Forest. There is a Drudkh shirt which states "art for the white intellectual elite." Tony was asking me about a quote "associated" with Hate Forest which used to be posted on their Metal Archives website page which stated "any sub-human that buys a Hate Forest product buys a weapon against himself." Tony was asking me if I was picky about my fans, which I do not think the statement implied. There are a couple issues intertwined within your reference to an "Intellectual Elite", Tony's question about BM elitism and the source of the quotes to begin with. So pardon me if I pull various threads and make this more difficult than a simple answer. My devotion to the sound and music of both those bands mentioned above is without doubt, but I want to separate any ideas I have about an "Intellectual Elite" from those bands and any issues people might have with suspected politics of Roman, the main guy behind those bands.

The intellectual element associated with L'Acephale stems from my personal interests. I have worked in a very large bookstore for 10 years and have always been enthralled with various theories, ideas, art and literature. These interests drove me to work at this the largest bookstore in the US and also drew me to working in the philosophy and culture studies sections at that store. But I do have many other interests outside of these two specific topics. All of these interests surface in L'Acephale, but furthermore, in any project I work on. Lately I have been listening to the new Sonne Hagal cd "Jordanfrost" quite a bit. There is a lyric line on the song Hidden Flame that is something likeÉ "We carry the lamb of memory, not for those who look but those who see." And I suppose that the "Intellectual Elite" is vaguely similar, metaphorically. In the Sonne Hagal song, it certainly means something different, but the line "Not for those who look, but those who see" seems to ring true. Meaning that my interests intellectually and what I would constitute of as an "Intellectual Elite" would be those people engaged with a deeper level of life, those who see. And more so, those people who devote their lives to that pursuit. That does not need to be everyone who shares a specific interest but certainly, those that are engaged and pursuing a spiritual path. Not religious mind you but as in the George Bataille and original Acephale's concept of being "fiercely religious in a Nieztschean manner." Paradoxically, this might be a Christian pursuit or an Asatru pursuit, or it might be more vague and instinctual, or it could be more specifically intellectual in a Hard Science bent too. Using the borrowed term of "Intellectual Elite" and once again returning to the Black Metal Aesthete I would say BM Elitism is the path of the Individual; ClichŽ perhaps, but for me it is the individual on the spiritual path.

LP: 'Malefeasance' seems to differ greatly to its predecessor - everything is compressed down to four longer tracks [LP only had the advance promo - ed], the first two having little or no sonic relation to traditional BM; the latter two tracks, meanwhile, swap traditional BM drumming for militaristic snare rolls; the final track features pipes of some sort (although I can't identify what!). What other influences have fed into the album, and does such evolution happen instinctually, or to some specific design?

Set: Malefeasance is most certainly a departure in some ways. Or maybe it is elevation in the rough concepts of the predecessor MordÉ The first and last tracks on Malefeasance were recorded just after I felt Mord was done. Certainly I could not add more to that cd unless I wanted to put out a 2cd release. But it must be understood that I was not even sure I was going to release Mord in the first place. I wrote those songs for myself. I wrote that "record" and more so, I write all of my music to please my insatiable desire to create sound, which I have done since 1989. I have hours worth of music, which I have not released or released only through very limited tapes or obscure comps. Most of it though has never been released. For me, my songs and recordings are just a string of pieces made over time to satiate the unquenchable desire to write music or mash together interests sonically. In the case of L'Acephale, circumstances were such that I did self produce Mord; I sold it at Amoeba records in S.F. through knowing Ancalagon of Crebain and gave it out to friends. Later Aurora Borealis re-released it.

At the time I was finishing Mord I was still wanting to fuse Neofolk elements with Black Metal elements and felt that I still had not meshed them enough. But I also imagine each piece that I work on has its' own life, like a golem, and though I draw together the main elements, I listen to the piece itself and let the process take over. So, though still working to mesh the twin and in my mind very similar aesthetes (Black Metal and Neofolk), VŠinŠmšinen Nacht and From a Miserable Abode where the next pieces that came out of the continuous process of melding the two sonic aesthetes in my own way. "From a Miserable Abode" was an exercise in tonal threshold. I am very fond of Tibetan Ritual and folk music. I have quite a lot of it; Markus Wolff and I are devotees. Carl Annala and I used some recordings of Tibetan Monks on a couple of Hail tracks. I wanted to fuse the cyclical breathing reed drones along with the guitar drones which I love. I think they are very similar. I love the harsh sounding reed instruments of Tibet. I am also a huge fan of the Master Musicians of Jajouka and other similar middle eastern music. But for Abode I sampled some Tibetan Reed horns. The lyrics are based on a Corrupted song 'Mi Pueblo' from their split with the Grief. The lyrics speak to the great nausea of modern ennui. I took the concept and re wrote it in my style of language. So the song is fairly simple drone guitars, crazed vocals, Echoplex madness, and Tibetan ritual music samples. All set to be as cathartic as possible and push the limits towards harsh noise as well.

The two middle songs on Malefeasance were projects I was working on while the full band was recording Stahlhartes in the studio. My personal studio is too small for what was needed to record Stahlhartes. Hitori Bon Odori was to be part of a tribute to Kazuki Tomokawa the Japanese death folk artist. He is known as the "screaming philosopher." It turns out that the song I worked on for that failed tribute is quite atmospheric compared to his work. AlasÉ

In combining Neofolk with Black Metal I wanted to utilize more militaristic drumming. I am long time fan of the work of Markus Wolff, Waldteufel and Crash Worship, but also I love the drumming of certain Test Department releases and mid era Neurosis. I was also a big fan of the band Slug from L.A. a noise rock band that had twin basses, twin guitars, a drummer and a percussionist using weird metal and other elements. I love percussion and so when Markus turned Carl and I onto the obscure French metal band Sadastor, then called A.A.A. I loved the song "Burned Village" which fused militaristic drumming with Black Metal. When considering putting Malefeasance together as a release for Aurora Borealis I pulled together the cover of the song and increased the martial drumming element. I am thrilled that TavarnKeben and FaunaSabbatha are due to re-issue Sadastor's "Herald of Confusion" demo sometime soon. It is outstanding and so far ahead of it's time in "Outsider Black Metal" regards. FaunaSabbatha is also going to issue the lost Hail demo "Crimson Madrigals" which Carl and I did as well which is quite exciting.

There will also be two other bonus tracks on the vinyl edition of Malefeasance, if all goes well; a cover of Current 93's Sleep has his House that I did during the time I was working in Hail before I started recording "L'Acephale" as a Black Metal entity. I first used the Acephale moniker for some dronescapes that I was interested in doing. 1998 Michael Gira released the Body Lovers cd; already being a huge fan of the Swans especially certain tracks off Soundtracks for the Blind, I was very excited about the psycho-ambient soundscapes they were doing. Slug had the long song Swingers which was 15 minutes of mostly one chord/note being repeated So all of this propelled me to do some delay pedal drones with the bass and guitar building a wave of sound from nothing to a wall of feedback noise and then onto other things. I did one performance as Acephale doing this style of sound. In 2000, I heard Current 93's "Sleep has his House" with the harmonium drones and I thought it would be great to do a cover but do cover the song all only using feedback and distorted drones instead. I don't think I had heard Sunn O))) around this time. I forget when their first show was in Portland but I had heard them by then and was a fan of them and Thorr's Hammer. The first show was great. My friend Tim recorded in and the Runhild Gammelsaeter intro from this show was later used on the White lp. Regardless of what came when and what I was specifically listening to at the time I thought that one of the first Acephale recordings that I did would be a nice additional bonus track.

The other song, "Nothing is True, Everything is Permitted" is something that I recorded in 2007 as another experiment in sonic abandon. There was a band Maybe Mental from Phoenix, Arizona, which had a song on one of the Dry Lungs compilations. A song entitled "Will" which I have always been fascinated with. The song is mostly operatic female vocals and harsh white noise, but it is very beautiful. I do not know how many tape comps I have put that song on. But I wanted to do a similar high-pitched abrasive soundscape type song. I am pleased with how it turned out. I used some samples from Krzysztof Pendrecki and then heavily processed them along with some other elements.

LP: Who, or what are the singing voices the start of 'Vainamoinen Nacht'? There's several distinct songs overlaid, the first just a single voice, the second a full male choir. Did you record these yourself, or source them?

Set: The basis for 'Vainamoinen Nacht' was an exploration into the Kalevala, the Finnish rune song Epic. Carl from Hail introduced me to a recording by an Estonian composer Veljo Tormis. Both of Carl's parents were music professors at universities. He grew up exposed to many interesting classic and modern composers. He got an lp from his dad which was a rendition of a selection of the Kalevala that Tormis did in the 70's. The first movement of which comprises a large selection of 'Vainamoinen Nacht.' We used this same selection in a Hail track that has yet to surface called 'Kalevala Rune.' Tormis' piece is outstanding. Obviously it has made a large enough impression on me to utilize it twice. For the track on Malefeasance, I also added a field recording of another selection of the Kalevala from a Finnish heritage cd. There are many other elements as well, other samples and some keyboard arrangements I did. This selection of Musique Concrete was a direct sonic reference to artists like Les Joyaux De La Princesse, Toroidh, Blood Axis and Death In June that would utilize various sources within and as a basis for compositions, but instead of using something from the WWII era, I used the Rune song as the basis.

LP: Black metal seems to spread virally, finding homes in the most unlikely places. is there such thing as 'true' black metal anymore, or has the genre/sound so widely disseminated it's lost all meaning? Is this a good thing, or a bad thing?

Set: I think music is a viral infection. Someone runs across certain influences and those influences are interacted with by their other influences, which in turn might stumble across someone else and influence certain interests in them. I think that what people respond to with Black Metal is specifically the mystique of the "true" classic black metal, which certainly has its allure. I think that there are many different reasons why people get attracted to Black Metal. Some people are always shopping around for the next "big thing," while others found Black Metal as a rebellion against the "P.C. fascists" while others strictly enjoy the cathartic nature of the musical style which does not fall as much into the complete machismo of most Death Metal. For each person they have their "in" and that is where you find the viral element and why it crops up in unlikely places. In opposition to your question and idea/concept is that I have found that I have always felt in some ways not truly part of any scene. I have always just sought out the music I like, the books I like, the art I like and what have you. Often times, for people of what ever "in scene" that also shared some similar interests as myself they always thought me a strange mix of various things. But then I meet people who have had the same experience as I or are also interested in similar seemingly wildly divergent arenas that end up sharing most of the same interests as I and I think the reason is that below the surface there are similar threads that interweave all these divergent interests. I think this comes back to your question about the "Intellectual Elite" There are ideas, philosophies and aesthetics that underlie that if people look for (or 'see' given my quote above) they find. If they pursue these interests further they are likely to find kindred spirits as well, sometimes in unlikely places.

Has "True Black Metal" lost all meaning? I think that certain terms get bastardized. As far as I am concerned only Mayhem is entitled to use "True" in that context. None of the other bands of first generation Norwegian Black Metal used that term that come to my mind right now. Similarly, lots of bands throw around the term Orthodox Black Metal, mostly French bands but some others from around the world, most notable is Deathspell Omega which I think is outstanding and I hail their intents behind the usage of the terms, but words are words and often using a term, or selection of words is nothing more than posturing. There have always been Black Metal bands or bands influenced by Black Metal that I have and have not liked. What does it matter? Calling yourself True Black Metal or what ever means shit. If someone thinks they can claim some sort of authenticity by using the conjoining of those three words then fuck them. Really it does not matter, what matters is their intention and what music they make and the weight they bring with their actions. If people think L'Acephale is not Black Metal, or "True" or whatever, I do not care either, all the releases thus far have not been on "Black Metal" labels and I could care less about being KVLT. I follow my own path.