Feather and Bone…
CVLT Nation Interviews
ALTAR OF PLAGUES

This is a beyond awesome interview that has us extra excited at CVLT Nation, because we got the opportunity to have an in-depth discussion with Altar of Plagues. I will say that from the first time I heard this band, I knew that I was taking in something very killer. You really don’t have to take my word for it, just listen to their last album, Mammal, then you will get where I’m coming from! Now it’s time to allow one of our favorite bands to speak for themselves. So after the jump, read what Altar of Plagues have to say!

How are things in the Altar of Plagues universe?

Everything is good, thanks. We have just returned from the first of an upcoming run of Autumn/Winter shows. We were in Bucharest, Romania. It was our first show in almost 14 months and our first time performing material from “Mammal”, so we were quite excited about the event. Fortunately it went very well. It felt good to finally perform that material live.

The first thing that strikes me about your music is the songwriting – the way you layer different depths of emotional tones on top of each other that creates sonic caves filled with tension…can you explain your songwriting process?

It may sound a bit odd but I tend to compose in my head rather than actually “hands on” with instruments. I write ideas, I draw graphs/charts, I piece things together in the manner which is appropriate for the song. Each track is viewed either as its own entity, or as a part of a larger work (as is the case with album writing). This allows me to envision the purpose of the track and it’s direction, or in other words, where I want it to ‘go’. This establishes the purpose of the music for me and I find this aids the song-writing process. The musical notes are just small details. It is about the song, not the ‘riffs’. When creating I place strong focus on
the purpose of what I/we create. If I was interested in creating music for the sake of entertainment it would certainly not sound like this.

Regarding emotional tones, I think that it’s harder to pinpoint as that comes from a subconscious part of my person. Ultimately, it comes from how I see and interpret things. Altar of Plagues is very much a place in which I can express the more contemplative side of my personality. Inspiration for the band comes from time alone, and time in which I can truly think and reflect, be it in the form of reading a book or time spent traveling alone. Such inspiration finds its way into the
song writing process.

Again, I think this relates overall to how I interpret what it is that becomes a part of the music. I don’t have any set definitions of what this should or should not be. “White Tomb” shared my views on the growing disconnection between civilization and the natural world. This is a consequence of my work in the field of ecology, something I have been involved in before Altar of Plagues existed. People tagged us as ‘Eco-black metal’ but I feel that is entirely incorrect. Each work simply expresses whatever it is that compels me at that point in time. “Mammal” very simply relates to death, my death, the death of those important to me, and whether or not it bares any significance. While the concept came from my person, the manner in which the lyrics were written was very much inspired by female artists. I find that within ‘metal’, people often shy away from intimate and personal lyrics, use
of the word “I” for example. I think this became more obvious to me when paying attention to artists such as Bats for Lashes. Warning’s “Watching from a Distance” was also inspirational in that regard. I could have had easily shyed away and written the lyrics as a narrative, but for me that would entirely defeat the purpose of the exercise. The creative process is very much a “living in the moment” type thing for me. Songs and albums are snap shots of a point in time. How I felt, what inspired me. Its always changes.

The chanting is so epic on “When the Sun Drowns in the Ocean”! What was the creative process for this song?

“When the Sun Drowns in the Ocean” began as a concept to be
constructed around a keen. Keening (derived from the Irish word
caoineadh / to cry) is a vocal lament that was traditionally practiced over the body of the dead. The track is intended to be meditative, cyclical, and then it intentionally disintegrates. It is strongly related to the albums concept of death. We were very fortunate in that we were able to obtain very old and original recording of two of these acts. The title of the track is a reference to the ancient Irish belief that the the setting of the sun is symbolic of our transition from this world into the next. It was believed that the sun entered another world via the ocean. The rise of the sun was seen as birth and the renewal of an eternal cycle.

What is your earliest memory of you wanting to make music?

I have always been quite musical. I got my first guitar when I was about 7, inspired by the grunge music my older cousins exposed me to. I also remember the older brother of a childhood friend exposing me to The Prodigy’s “Music for the Jilted Generation”. These experiences were when I first felt a notably strong connection with music. Soon after a guitar, I paid a menial fee to buy a shoddy drum-kit that was on route to the landfill..A little later I got a bass guitar. Somewhere
in there I studied piano for three years. I grew up in the country so the only time I really got out of the house was for school. I was never particularly into sports so music came very naturally to me. I began making music in my bedroom. I would record drums with my tape deck, then play the drums through a stereo and play guitar along to this, recording it on a second tape deck…Not much has changed today to be honest, with the exception of the near obsolete tape deck..

What role does visual art play in Altar Of Plagues? As an outsider looking in, it seems that you have a very keen eye for design.

Visuals are such an immensely important part of what we create. I think that without visuals music is two dimensional. Artworks related to music makes an important impression. When one sees an album cover, that cover will remain associated with the music when the person listens thereafter. Bands have the ability to control this impression, giving creative control beyond simply the music. This is something that really is being lost as a consequence of the digitalization of music. I’m not particularly good at design myself, but I certainly
know what I like and do not like. Dave (bass/vocals) is an extremely talented artist so often I will literally describe something that I envision and he will design it. Sometimes we collaborate, and other times he will present something. We shared a kindred understanding of what the band is and we are very fortunate in that our different skill sets allow us to keep the band entirely self-contained if we so wish to do so.

“Mammal” was the first time that we worked with an outsider for
artwork relating to the music. We are very fortunate in that Timo Ketola was happy to work closely with us and bounce ideas.

On part two of your Sonic Cathedrals mixtape, I can see that you listen to way more than just black metal. What impact do you think this has on what how you create your music?

I have always had a very diverse taste. Referring back to my early musical experience that you asked about, the first tapes I owned were Metallica’s “Black Album” and The Prodigy’ “Music for a Jilted Generation”. I was told at school that I had to be one or the other, a ‘rocker’ or a ‘raver’. I don’t regard music in terms of genres or style. For me it is entirely about mood, atmosphere, and emotions. I see little difference between the hypnotic intensity of Paysage d’Hiver and Berlin techno. Steve Reich can be often more intense than Pig Destroyer’s “Prowler in the Yard”. The way in which this has impacted the music I create is that I think it perhaps gives me
access to a wider sonic palette. I don’t simply paint with one colour, so to speak. I’m certainly not exceptional in that regard, but perhaps my tastes are more polar than most. For example, on route to the show in Bucharest last weekend listened to Impetuous Ritual and R. Kelly consecutively. The other guys found this hilarious, but its quite normal to me. My musical tastes do not represent my identity or person. It is the music that I create, distilled through all of the
music I enjoy, that represents me.


When listening to your album Mammal, I find that many of the songs have a balance between harmonic sounds & blackened sounds. Is it important for Altar Of Plagues to compose your songs in this way?

I personally would rather that Altar of Plagues incorporate as many musical shades as possible. I think anything else would restrict what it is that we express via the music. I really enjoy music that is relentless, be it metal or otherwise, but for me that sort of relentless intensity is not what Altar of Plagues is about. I find that the impact of intensity can often erode when it is relentless. When interviewed we are often asked questions similar to this and honestly, I think that it is something I really struggle to articulate. While I can explain some of the more clinical aspects of our compositional process, I cannot explain why the song becomes
whatever the finished pieces turns out to be. Often the work is simply compelled from within us in a subconscious manner.

What is your outlook on these four things & what impact do they have on what you create? Drone, ancient spirits, atmosphere & nature?

Drone -the audible counterpart to a trance, or the hypnotic. It
facilitates disconnection by means of audio within which one can engage. A hugely important part of the music we make…it facilitates disengagement, enabling us to become engrossed in the music.

Ancient Spirits- within us, around us. Nowhere. Real and unreal. I cannot say that Altar of Plagues is spiritual as such, but the ancient most certainly influences us in some capacity.

Atmosphere- something that the importance of which is all too often overlooked, be it in a general setting or in a live music environment. We give great consideration to atmosphere, be it on recording or in the live environment. It is important that we feel this is “correct”, and if we don’t, then I don’t expect an audience to think so either.

Nature- something once natural that is more often a form of escape for others. Confined to parks, enclosed in fences. I am extremely interested in wilderness and it is in wilderness that I truly feel engaged with nature and the natural world. Nature is there for a lot of people but it is being lost. It represents so much more than a trip to the woods. It should challenge people to engage with some of the more fundamentally important things that make us humans in the wild, not people in the park with our iphones. Nature is the only thing that serves to remind us of where we came from. That and space.

What’s the greatest joy you get from being in Altar Of Plagues?

The opportunity to perform to people who appreciate what we create, to see new places and meet wonderful new people. Overall, it is very humbling and satisfying to know that people care about what we do. It’s important that we take something positive from this act, as despite the fact that it is quite ‘dark’ music, we do all get a great amount of pleasure in writing and performing. We never expected to share this with anyone beyond ourselves and are glad to have the opportunity to do so.

When you guys are performing live, can you describe the feelings that come over you? How do you convey this to your audience?

As I mentioned, last weekend was our first performance in quite a while and it also served to remind me of what it is that I feel when we perform. I think that the most dominant feeling is a physical engagement with the performance. My mind drains completely of thought and the music guides me. As we are so familiar with what we perform there is no need for concern with structure or such things. It feels as if we have now reached a new level in our live performance, as we have begun to implement much of what we developed throughout the creation of “Mammal”, such as our home instruments and also a stronger focus on the emotional aspects of our music. It feels as if we are now much stronger and focused in the live environment and we are looking forward to sharing our upcoming performances.