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The following interview is done with Shane...


Let's begin by you enlightening us with a bit of a history, and please take us up to date with your current happenings.
This is one hated question, so please forgive the brief answer. The project begun in 1993. The releases are - Demo 94: "Cleansing of an ancient race" (100 copies), Promo 95: "Depression" (released only to friends), Promo 96: "Life is a pain in the neck (10 copies), Split CD 97: "United by Heathen Blood" with Det Hedenske Folk (re-mastered demo tracks), CD 98: "Eternal Damnation" (500 copies) & "Betrayed" track for No Colours Compilation Vol.2 CD. CD 99: "Suicidal Emotions" (still not released).

I understand you are now signed to release an album on Ancestral Research Records? Tell us about how this union came about and your plans with this label. Your thoughts also on the shifting of hands of Darker than Black and the situation of the raids and arrests in Germany accompanying it.
Actually that is incorrect. Although ARR and myself are close comrades, Abyssic Hate is actually signed to No Colours in Germany. I've always been in regular contact with the Germans (and Polish folk) who have been 110% supportive of extreme and underground black metal. DTB offered me a deal and released a MCD ("Eternal Damnation") and No Colours were keen to release the next few albums, which they will do eventually in time. The labels DTB & No Colours (as many know) were hit by severe raids a short while ago. Music, shirts, documents, computers and anything else that the PC police could get their grubby little hands on (all in the name of persecuting a threat to their peace-loving hippy society) was confiscated. This kind of behaviour is totally fucking irritating, although inspiring to pick up a grenade launcher and start killing our idiot politicians. The same clowns that yell for "freedom of speech" are the first one's to destroy and harm anything that they find threatening and outside of their politically correct ways. Many political systems such as democracy (democrazy) look good on paper, but fail miserably in practise. All it leads to is the promotion of physical and metal degeneration.

Do you also have plans to release further material on No Colours? On which label you've released 'Suicidal Emotions' EP and you've contributed a track to their comp. CD.
Yes, as mentioned before, they are my regular label and will be putting out any full-length Abyssic Hate albums in the next years. A split 7"ep is in the work with Gospel of the Horns, although this will be released by a small underground Australian label who are good friends to both bands. In typical Abyssic Hate style, the release will be very limited and probably delayed.

The concept of Abyssic Hate is described as Anti-human. A perception which seems to grow more and more common as the days go by. Tell us in your own experience the biggest faults of humankind. Our greatest errors and shortcomings. And lastly, how this philosophy fits in with you yourself being a human.
I suppose it's not uncommon to see bands proclaiming themselves as anti-human now, and I guess a lot of them are probably genuine. People become more stupid as they are more brainwashed by TV and other negative elements of society. My major personal disliking about humans is their sheep-like behaviour: whatever the TV, newspaper, radio, pop-singer, politician etc spits at them, they will blindly follow. These people are the shepherds of degeneracy! How does this philosophy fit within myself? Well, that I can't explain, it just does. There is an inherent nature to trust few people, and to be very wary of any activity that involves people. Humans are unreliable, indecisive and subsequently worthless in 99% of cases.

I found it rather interesting, your song 'Tarrasque,' which is based upon a Dungeons and Dragons Role Playing creature. Do tell us more about this songs conception and why this topic was chosen. I assume you at one time you were interested in D&D?
You are very perceptive ... the only person who has picked up on that fact. Yes, a Tarrasque is a D&D character (monster) and possibly the most vicious and destructive of all created in that world. The lyrics were written back in 1993 for that track, and basically it is a story of a re-awakened Tarrasque (which is basically portrayed as a giant, bloodthirsty T-Rex) destroying all living things in sight. Bliss! Indeed I was once an avid D&D player, mainly as it was one "game" which allowed you to imagine and become enveloped in a world where the weak are bound to perish. Unfortunately, things are not like that in 2000, and so its a wonderful escape if you have both the ability to think and have an imagination. Unfortunately, D&D has not been apart of my life for over 12 years ... most probably due to most people becoming married, having kids and being normal! That's always a good way to destroy your thought and mind.

The music of Abyssic Hate is very raw and dark sounding. One can definitely hear the Burzum and Darkthrone influences as you have stated inspired you. There are indeed some great bands today who capture the raw, cold feeling of how black metal was perhaps intended. What are your thoughts on the many off-shoots of this genre? Like additions of clean male and female vocals, keyboard enriched sounds, etc..?
Black metal has quite rapidly become a sick joke. Gone are the glory days of 1991-1994. Most bands (especially on "bigger" labels) prostitute their sound and go for sales (with a little urging & convincing from the capitalists who release their crap). Gothic influences in black metal do not belong. Who the fuck ever though of mixing black metal with a pro-homo/bi-sexual, disease-carrying genre of filth called 'gothic'? All these fucking stupid irritating female vocals … bah! Women have nice voices, and black metal is not supposed to be nice! Techno … all those Norwegian commercial clown bands who have started to frequent night-clubs and subsequently add disco elements to their sound are causing harm. So many bands have broken the un-written laws of black metal, which is why some elite bands are totally distancing themselves from the commercial sector and going deep underground.

Tell us a bit about the topics and themes involved in your lyrics. Is there a point you try to convey to the listener? A feeling?
The lyrics evolve around suicide – the pains of life, depression and all thoughts leading up to suicide. There are reasons for this … for one, the music is very depressing and emotional, and it's natural to sing about depressing theme's to fit hand-in-hand with the music. Depression can be an amazing feeling and is one of the most powerful emotional states to encounter, albeit not a particularly great feeling to have all the time. So that said, I want people who are depressed to listen to the music and read the lyrics, which tempt the listener into death. Most people commit suicide over stupid and ridiculous reasons (lost finances, severed relationships etc.) and I want these people to be entranced by the sounds they hear, and blow their head off with a shotgun. Another weak human gone! However, a strong person who has the ability to take charge over their situation will find some solace in the sounds. They are too strong to sit in a depressed state and thus they will rise above once again, and take charge! I like to think the music and lyrics combined are in some way a cleansing of the undesirable element of the human race (in our black metal community).

It's been said, that Black Metal not expressing an ideology has no purpose, and is not BM. What are your thoughts? What is your ideology?
You're right about lack of ideology and purpose, if we are talking about the mainstream black metal scene. The ideology extends to the limits of "how many groupies will I get if we play on the Wacken stage?" and their purpose usually leads to the question, "when is my next royalty check due I wonder?" As mentioned a couple of times through the course of this interview, there is still a healthy number of black metal bands that embrace the music as a lifestyle.

You've released a number of tapes in extremely limited quantities, some as low as ten. It's an admirable stance, to only share your work with very few who you trust. But as humans, I think all of us wish a certain degree of appreciation from our fellow man. And certainly that can be a negative thing in music, but without this desire to share, we would also be void of much art and music of the past. But where does one draw a line is more of the key point. Can a musician remain true to himself, and still sell a million copies of his work? It's an interesting question, and perhaps an even more interesting answer. Personally, I don't really think so. Money and 'fame' corrupt. Maybe some more than others, but the fact still remains. Your thoughts please?
I believe that to sell a million records does not been you are being a fraud or untrue to yourself. It's not an artist's fault they are producing music that is popular (except in the case of those scum-sucking pig gothic type bands as mentioned before). A good example of this is Immortal. Maybe people can dislike them for being so over-the-top, but that's what this music is supposed to be, extreme! Immortal have never changed their style, and by that I mean no keyboards, no female vocals, no acoustic … its just pure fucking black metal, but good – and thus naturally, it sells a hell of a lot. They are one band that has not let money corrupt them. Mayhem are a sick example that are in the opposite boat. $50000 payment from Seasons of Mist, and look what they have become? Music without emotion: music to appeal to the brainless masses. Mayhem can go fuck Marilyn Manson up the arse, hopefully catching AIDS in the process. So many of these over-ground clowns are drooling over their new found wealth, and they want to keep it, like the good little capitalists they are. Violence is the last thing on their minds … it's the first thing on ours! They'll get theirs, all in good time, if we get our way!!!

You've expressed you are a supporter of the Pagan Front. From your perspective, tell us about this and why you support it. What goals do you see this reaching?
Absolutely! The Pagan Front is one of the only organisations in modern black metal who are striving to keep the underground spirit alive, and keep people focused on an ideology ... unlike your traditional devil worshippers who have basically adopted a Christian's view on the whole scenario. Anyone with Internet access (who has not already done so) is urged to visit the Pagan Front web site at http://paganfront.cjb.net and re-discover what ideological black metal is all about. The goals of the Pagan Front are long-term ultimately: a change to this disease-ridden society (on a global scale) is much more preferable than to simply educate a bunch of metal heads, but goals like this take time to accomplish. For a relatively new organisation, the Pagan Front has had remarkable success in the education of the underground metal community that initially lacked direction.

Being from Australia, does this sort of music/ideology have strong support there?
The attitude of bands varies from state to state, rather than affect the country as a whole. Speaking personally of my beloved Melbourne, I can say we have undoubtedly the most loyal, extreme and worthy scene of the whole of this country. Sure we have a few shitty bands, that's unavoidable … however, bands such as Destroyer 666 & Gospel of the Horns, amongst others, are dedicated to ideology rather than being simple musicians

It would also be interesting to know what you find are the good and bad points about your country?
Australia is a great place to live generally speaking. Pro's: hot weather, good food, decent beer, healthy metal scene. Cons: Location, high prices, Aborigines, Americanisation, drug problem. Of course I could go into every little element of our land and comment whether it is good or bad, but I'd only end up succeeding in boring the living shit out of you all.

What are your thoughts on religion, such as Christianity and its impact on the cultures of the world?
Christianity has been a curse on this world, I guess it is pointless to tell your readers such information as they already came to this conclusion themselves many years ago. The church has always welcomed within its ranks those who are weak of mind or body, and cultivated the belief that we as humans are fragile and need help. They have been taught to blindly accept any concept put to them and so the disease of Christianity continues to spread at an alarming rate. Even though many people have abandoned the regular Sunday visit to church, they will adhere to the concepts that they teach. It has always been a pioneer for humanity, yet has succeeded in killing more people than all World Wars combined. So who is the real human devil then? Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin – or Jesus Christ?

In your view, what lies in the future of the human race? Will things grow worse before better?
For sure things will get a lot worse before they get better. The government gets more oppressive, the people slowly get more agitated by the oppression. However, the humans continue to be good little boys and girls so they can receive their daily bread. With such stupidity being displayed by the population, how can the capitalists and corrupt politicians not take advantage of the situation? The whole affair will one day come to exploding point and we will have total war.

How do you view paganism? Do you hold any beliefs that could be classified as 'superstition'?
I'm not a big fan of all these classifications – pagan, heathen, etc.! Everyone has the same destination, although each person treads a different path to get there. We all share a similar thought process, so 'comrade' is a much better term in my eyes. Superstition? Nah! We are our own Gods, and only we are answerable to our own actions. Superstition comes as a result from lack of simple thinking and analysis, passing each and every occurrence off as 'weird'.

If you could know the answer to any one question, what would your question be?
"How much longer will the human race survive?" – my prediction is about 2300, I'd like to see how close I am to the answer.

What do you envision the last words on your lips to be, as you lay dying?
"Finally", ha, ha, ha! Honestly speaking, death will come quick and premature, without doubt. The concept of being a tired, decrepit old man/woman should not excite anyone, and suicide is an honourable exit from planet earth once you have accomplished and achieved all that you need to do on this God-damned earth.

It is said, that everything worth living for is also worth dying for. Do you believe this?
Cryptic statement! Never thought about it, but I would have to disagree. At the moment I am looking forward greatly to getting some new CD's in the mail (certainly a reason to live), however, one can't really say that they would like to die for these CD's. Of course, another reason to live is to promote ideology. It certainly would be pleasurable see things cleaned up a bit, and see the System lose its grip on us – a reason which I do believe is worth dying for. So I guess that your question can be answered by saying 'depending on the reason'.

Give us a last glimpse into the future of Abyssic Hate and what lies ahead? Long term plans?
There are no long-term plans for the band, as it's just an extension of myself. Personally I have long term goals and ambitions, and to keep Abyssic Hate going as long as I am alive is one of them (for my own selfish satisfaction). I guess this means the future of Abyssic Hate will always look promising, although how many people actually gain access to the music is another story. To plan too far ahead leaves you susceptible to failure, although to not plan ahead at all shows a lack of direction and motivation. It's a fine line between success and failure!

Lastly, your words of wisdom, and comments to your comrades and enemies world-wide?
To all members of the Front's (both Pagan and Heathen), keep up the fight and never give the enemy a chance to get into your head. They are powerful and ruthless, yet their days are numbered so long as we all stand tall, shoulder to shoulder. Salutes to all the people I know and are in contact with – your dedication continues to be an inspiration. To the enemies, look out!!! We know who you are and there will be no mercy when the final day comes. Thanks for the interview … Hail the new dawn!

Abyssic Hate
G.P.O Box 118A
Melbourne, Victoria
Australia, 3001

E-mail:
AbyssicHate@hotmail.com


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