Herr Chemosh - christcrusher productions (2002)

After having bought a of items couple from this label's distro and having bought a few copies of the extremely cool "gather against humanity" 4 band split for distribution in Denmark, my interest for the label was burning now. Some time has passed and Herr Chemosh is really getting things on a roll, so therefore he gets the honour of being featured her.e Check out this label and support it, it's the real thing


- Hails Herr Chemosh, how is the current state of the extreme metal scene in England?
Gegroet, it's getting there. there's bands popping all over the place who are playing raw black metal, and not shit either, people just have an aversion to the UK scene due to shit like CoF and hecate enthrond and the years of them persisting they're black metal. now everyone thinks that any band to
say they're bm from the UK will sound like them.

There's quite a few good acts now though like ODIUM, Eternity of Darkness, Ichneutic, Nigrescent to name a few. All playing raw black metal, which isnt a bad thing.

Although I have to say as my fatherland is Belgium my interest lies with that scene, Gotmoor, Worthless (now Paragon Impure), Grimfaug, lugubrum, YMI, enthroned, The
Beast, Axamenta, Avatar, Ecliptica and the likes.

- Will you tell a bit about yourself, why are you spending your time on metal and can you remember your first encounter with the blessed music?
Well there's always a pathway into black metal isn't there, mine started off with listening to KISS, was, twisted sister and manowar from a young age and then one day in october/november `95 wondering about in a store looking for kiss and accidentally coming accross king diamond. Downloaded that as soon as i got online round may `96 and went out to buy the spider's lullaby a few days after that. In august `96 i came accross immortal's BITN while looking for the king's cds, which didnt impres me much...September `96 saw me buying a terrorizer zine which had the king on the cover and within i learnt about bands such as mayhem, gehenna, satyricon and the likes.

We all know how being rebellious rules when we're young and after a violent encounter with my dad which ended up with me being kicked out of the house the record store was my first target and mayhem, carcass plus immolation
cds made it into my pocket, from there on there's been no turning back and black metal has become the world.

- When and how did Christcrusher Productions start?
Having lived in Hong Kong for most of my life made finding good black metal a chore, so in `99 i started using underground mail orders, buying demos and such, this led me to finding many gems, and i wondered why so many of
these great bands (Musta Surma, Warloghe, Tharaphita etc) were unsigned, so i decided there needed to be a label to cater for such great acts.

In september or october `01 i decided university wasnt my life, so i dropped out and started making plans of how i would support the music scene other than my page whichs located at http://melektaus.christcrusher.com and i
decided i should start up a label or distro. The first cds i distributed were the Melektaus mcd and the VladTepes mcd, I hated how a mainstream shit label was selling these great releases so i bought off there copies off the distro/label and christcrusher prod was born.


- What is the philosophy behind the label?
There isn't really any philosophy behind the label, other than not ripping off the black metal fans and offering the lowest possible prices!


- Why did you feel you had to start a label, what can you and your label offer compared to other underground labels?
Other than what I described before, I felt that too many labels and distros out there are fucking rip off, charging 12$for an MCD, and 15-20for CDs. this is fucking bullshit! I fucking hate that kind of shit which is why i strive to get low prices, this does mean i dont earn shit from the label and i dont get heaps of money to put back into the label. and so i get a limited catalogue list.


- How did you get inspired to start up a label?
The day I saw those Vlad Tepes and MelekTaus cds in the catalogue of that gay label i just emailed them and told them i wanted all their copies of these cds and a week later i was distributing. Then about a year onward came the 4way split cd


- What have you so far released and do you have any exciting things coming up?
So far there's been Kult ov Azazel/Obitus/Humanicide/Thy Lord - Gather Against Humanity CD

raw black metal - limited to 300 with the first 50 numbered in my blood

Toroidh - Europe is Dead 7" Pic disk VINYL
neo classical/folk/ambient - limited to 200

Gurthant - The Thrill of Live Magick TAPE
Death/black metal live tape - limited to 50 handnumbered copies

Darkest Hate/Black Winter Night - split demo
Raw black metal from brazil - limited to 333 handnumbered copies

Eternity of Darkness - Ship of Fools
Raw black metal - limited to 200 handnumbered copies

various goodies are coming up, but I'll address those later on.


- What do a band have to offer, before you would sign it/release something with it?
All I really need is to be able to hear the band, i am not going to release something which i havent heard and also wont re-issue just any demo or what ever. when it comes to bands like Eternity of Darkness and ODIUM, these
items were limited to 20 and 40copies on CD-r so this warrants a re-issue. but a demo or what ever which has been properly released on cd or tape by a label will not be re-issued after being sold out.


- Have you limited the label to only concentrating on a few musical styles or are you open towards everything?
I love quite a lot of music ranging from industrial to ambient to death metal to black metal, but i wont release the kinds of music which you find everywhere. for example a dimmu clone wont be found amongst my releases!

But I prefer to just release raw black metal, but as the past has shown with the gurthang and toroidh releases i will release some other material as well, i think fans of the label into the raw black metal will be surprised by the Vehemence6.2 release especially. Even i am in the dark with how this will sound though. And i have spoken with Nordvargr about a possible future release of Toroidh or another side project of mz.412.

Also in the distro i have been known to distro none BM items like, penitent, veiled allusions, folkstorm, toroidh, sephiroth and the likes.


- What are your own favorite style within the dark world of metal?
Raw black metal, plain n simple.


- If you could choose 3 bands of your own choice (past and present) and release something with the band, who would you choose?
Musta Surma, Vlad Tepes, GGFH

These bands strike me as acts which didnt get enough attention. i was asked to release the Musta Surma album at one point but i told them all i could do was an album on vinyl and they never contacted me after that email to them.

- If you got the chance to release something with e.g. COF and you knew it would sell shitloads, would you take the offer or turn it down?
Turn it down, im not in this business to make money, if i was my prices would be higher and i'd be releasing shit. bands like that get too much attention any way, they dont need it from supporters of the underground as well.


- If you ever got the chance to turn Christcrusher into to a large label, would you do that or will you remain dedicated to the underground?
I would love to turn christcrusher into a large label, but in the sense of a label which is able to cop with a lot of releases, not a label which makes shitloads of money with fucking shit releases. But i will only release cds or vinyls for the underground bands and keep it all limited and i will never raise my prices to the ridiculous unless the mailing places force me to do so by raising their prices.


- How is the local metal scene, is there anything happening near your home?
I'm currently working on getting a new band started out of the ashes of my last one (Dawn of Apocalypse) which died when my fist and knee struck the other founding member's face.

Other than that there's one death metal act who arent bad, just have horse shit drum programmin rather than a real drummer which totally ruins their sound.

A lot of the people around here are full of shit, example someone shoves me from behind face first into a pillar at a metal/rock club's dance floor, i retaliate by grabbing who it is by the hair and slamming them into the pillar without looking. turns out it's a fucking bitch, so i get banned just because it's female. then a few days later i'm being told i've been punching this whore in the face for no apparent reason and kicking her while she's down. wow great metal scene. For a good local scene i'd better move back to Belgium. which i might do in a few years

although there's quite a few people into raw bm around here but no one has a band and there is no place to hang out or do anything interested, which is why i spend all my free time on my label or camping out in the mountains
and making visits to ancient neolithic burial chambers and making walks in the woods! which is why currenly i am trying to find a house in the woods on the mountains in the outskirts of this town to live in.

My dream would be to get a house in the outskirts of the town in the woods on the mountains witha decent garden, so i'd be able to bring down some underground bands and have a "mini festival" with people camping out and the bands playing out there.

- If I say black metal, what do you say?
Fuck Yeah!

That's all i can come up with now, as the love for this music is not something I can describe in words, i can only display it with my support for the scene through


- How long do you think Christcrusher will continue to spread the plague, have you ever thought of giving up?
Giving up? No. Taking a break? Yes. There have been quite a few times where i have had to live off other people as i havent been able to even buy my own food due to pumping so much of my own money into the label. when ever
I make money from work or what ever I tend to put it immediately towards the label and before i realise how low on money I am, I end up with an empty fridge and no food to eat. due to this i have thought about laying it to
rest for a few months and restarting it

- In ten years from now, what do you want people to think when the hear Christcrusher Productions?
I'd like people to think of x-crusher prod as a/the home for raw underground black metal. a place where one an go and get some cheap music.


- Both your releases and your distro items are very cheap, how do you manage to keep a healthy business going?
By eating very cheap food heh. i tend to work for it. a fuckload. the only reason to live is black metal, and so i work my job, most people go to work and do this to survive. i go to work and do this to sort my label out, i'll put my label and distro and music before my own health.


- Which of your releases are you most proud of and which one rips the most?
that's very hard to say, i am proud of all of them, the main thing is that i have to say is that having a release out and getting interest for them is like getting your own music recorded and you listen to your demo tape and you think "fuck, i did that!" and this is how i have felt about all of my releases to be honest.

- Wouldn't "Gather Against Humanity" look fucking great on a picture disc, have you ever thought about releasing a full length vinyl?
This is true, or perhaps on a gatefold vinyl, but i have never really discussed it with the bands, and as i dont talk to ThyLord or Humanicide anymore so i doubt this will happen, I thought about it before but i just dont think it will be a possibility.


- Are you into vinyl yourself, what do you like/dislike about the format? Do you have some gems in your collection?
I adore vinyl, i love the way the format is, the way it feels to be holding a cd is nothing compared to a vinyl in your hands, i just like how the artwork looks so much more majestic and impressive, the sound is in my opinion a lot better too, cant describe it, but only another vinyl fanatic would understand how the vinyl pops are so great.

some gems?

MayheM - de mysteriis dom sathanas
morbid - live pic disk 7" tribute to DEAD
Devil Doll - dies irae
Devil Doll - The Girl who was Death
Devil Doll - Sacrilegium
All bathory albums
All Darkthrone albums
3 macabre vinyls
moribund 7"
sarcofago - INRI
Mutiilation - vampires of black imperial blood double gatefold LP (this vinyl would sell for up to 600$us)

there's too many to really list, also have various thrash items.

- Do you have any bands in mind for future releases?
I was discussing with a few bands... ThyLord (estonia) and vinterriket's album on tape. although confirmed releases i will list with the next question...


- How will the future be for Christcrusher, what can we expect from your side?
As for the future there's quite a lot planned for christcrusher prod. In the coming month there will be a re-issue of the ODIUM first demo which was put out on CD-r and was limited to 20copies, i'll be releasing that on tape limited to 100copies. This is great underproduced raw buzzy minimalistic black metal which reminds of ildjarn.

Botulistum LP. this vinyl will contain all the tracks they ever recorded during their 3 or 4 year history plus some live tracks and unreleased tracks. limited to 200copies in perhaps a gatefold sleave (unsure) it will be hand numbered and come with a poster. a number will also be numbered or smeared in blood, whether i am willing to take the blade to myself for getting enough blood to do this will be discovered in the future.. RAW underproduced black metal from Holland

4 or so Vinterriket posters will see the day of light in September.

Vehemence6.2 power Noise/industrial music from USA. this has been delayed for a few month already, it was ment to be out in June, a tape version of the CD-r which the band has ben spreading, but with about 60-70mins of extra music.

There will also be a great mayhem tribute to the old and only true mayhem with only tracks being covered from the demos, deathcrush and de mysteriis recordings. This has been delayed by almost a year and fuck knows when it
will be out.

And the last item which is at the moment confirmed for the future will be a Botulistum/Lugubrum split 7" with both bands recording new material for it.

Info on all this can be found at christcrusher.com though

- Will you share your 3 all time fave albums with us?
Very difficult question...

Shellyz Raven - Desolation, this cd makes me feel like there is more to discover in the world of depression, perhaps not black metal but fuck it.

Gehenna - 2nd spell. This is what opened up my eyes to black metal, i had discovered the music already for a few months, but this cd just made it all much more impressive.

Don't know what I would pick as a third, perhaps vlad tepes/belketre split, or long voyage back's first album, or something by nine inch nails, not black metal, but a great band none the less, it was my favourite band before
i discovered black metal and will probably always be.


- Thanks a lot for answering my questions! If you have something to add, please feel free to do it now!
No Problem, thanks for your support and i hope you enjoy the promotional
material i sent your way~

christcrusher.com

Arneriach - Gurthang (23 November 2003)

gurthang is a band which rises from the Antwerp scene in Belgium, playing an original style of melodic metal. This interview was conducted on 23rd November 2003.

1.) gegroet arneriach, give us a quick history of gurthang for us!
Well, Gurthang got forged back in March 2001, when we kicked our bassplayer out of Ecliptica... Since then a lot of things changed. We recorded a 3track promo 'The Avenger' that got good critics almost everywhere so we set ourselves at work to record a full-cd. During the recordingz some things went wrong and we lost half of the band (they all ended in Axamenta, a fantasy blackmetal band). We decided to continue and found some new members. since then (Spring 2002) we are back to track, however with a slightly altered sound and mood. We nowadays make music mostly because we like each others company and of course because we like to play musick...


2.) A lot of the members came from the now defunct Ecliptica, there's a huge spawning of the antwerp metal scene from that one project, tell us some more?
When we fired our bassplayer, we lost the last original member of Ecliptica and decided to change our name... also because some 16! musicians had been a part of Ecliptica for some time and we wanted to have a fresh start. Most of these ex-Ecliptians are even today still active in the Antwerp metal-scene. The first spin-off was Sfagnum (RIP, black metal), other know acts as Battalion (death metal) and Bütcher (speed metal) got raised by our (ex-)bandmates. Interested in more? check out the huge Ecliptica special on www.deathmetal.be!!


3.) The gurthang logo has a dragon in it, does that have anything to do with the meaning of the word gurthang? or is it to do with the topic gurthang deals with? if so, what topics are those?
Well, Gurthang means Iron of Death in Elfish (Tolkien) and it was the name of a black sword. With this sword the mother of al dragons (Glaurung) got killed... But besides this, we haven't used any other Tolkien-based story or idea.


4.) Leading on from the topic question, your upcoming album is going to be a concept album, could you tell us about the story and what it might be about? what will the title be?
Yeah, now you're talking about 'The Irony of Death (Chronicles of a Magical Vengeance and an Inevitable Death)'. Our since long planned debut-cd. Oh well, the story is about a young man in a mythical world long gone, that comes home from some job and finds his village, which is in fact his entire world, in ashes, every inhabitant killed. He cries for vengeance and is led to a place where he gets immortal powers and stuff... So he's now ready for his hunt on the killers of his family. In fact he has become a killing machine as well, destroying in his quest many families... so the circle of violence continues, until at the end he finds the killer, who is actually an immortal avenger like him, finds a way to finnish his job and decides to stop his life as killing machine (his quest was over)...


5.) The album we just mentioned has been in the making for a long time, how come it has been delayed so long?
All music is been written now for more than two years, drums are recorded as wel as most guitars, however the line-up from those days doesn't exist anymore, we all felt the need to finnish this job, so our new members aren't involved in this! Unfortunately we have had almost every delay possible, but we still hope that some wonder will eventually lead to the completion of the recordings. Stay tuned...


6.) Gurthang has a sound unlike any other band i have heard, where do you draw your musical influences from?
We all have other sources of inspiration, which make this strange eclectic and original sound we have. We never tried to follow other bands paths or anything like that. I think that explains a lot.


7.) Gurthang seems to have a strange place within the belgian scene. How do you view the belgian scene which is so different from you?
Hmm, a strange question... But in fact there are more than one scene in Belgium. And we don't fit in any of those local scenes. Also because of the fact we make music that is not easy to categorise, people have difficulties with placing us or even getting into our sound and music. Maybe this explains you views. Another thing is that we are not really actively busy with our image or whatsoever, it's the music that counts and our bond as bandmates and friends outside the band that keeps us goning, nothing more I guess...


8.) You're also involved with the band Herfst which just released a demo, would you want to shed some light upon that?
Certainly. Besides the wide spectrum of black metal, I have always been a huge fan of the so called NWOSDM (or Gotenburg metal) and when in the beginning of 2003 Gurthang was on a low note, 'cause of some external things, I had some time left and by accident I found this very talented band that was looking for a vocalist. since they play the style I loved for years, however with a personal touch (no copycats!), I auditioned. They really liked my blackish vokills on their raging melodic deathy metal. so after some months of rehersing, doing some great gigs and progressing, we decided it was time for a first recording (Herfst exists already since 1999!). I am really pleased with the result, certainly when you know it was for all members, except me, the first studio-encounter.


9.) Herfst is melodic death metal isnt it? how do you feel about the swedish scene which is where i believe melodic death metal originated, and i also believe t died out in the mid 90s, when every single band from up there started to sound the same...
You got a point there. Nowadays I really don't follow those bands so closely anymore. They made their best recordings long time ago, like you stated. But anyway, I still like this kind of music and I am very eager for the much anticipated return of Dissection, a band related to this melodic death metal.


10.) A big thanks for taking the time out to answer these questions, i'll leave this space for you to tell us about the future moves of gurthang and advertise any gurthang contact details. Have your say!
Well thanks for your interest in Gurthang and thanks to Herr Chemosh for the release of our live-tape!

Right now we are as a band still a bit searching for our style and place in the whole metal-movement. We attracted a new keyboardplayer to cheer thing up a little with strange sounds. We try to play live from time to time and normally we will recorded some of our latest tunes next year in Summer!

check our website @ http://users.pandora.be/gurthang or email us @ gurthang@pandora.be

Hailz en Maniacal Greetz, Arne, on behalf of Gurthang, Belgian Eclectic Black/Death Metal!

Clauwaert - Gotmoor (May 2001)

Gotmoor is most likely one of Belgium's best known black metal bands alongside Lugubrum. This interview was conducted with Clauwaert. in May 2001


1.) Firstly Would You Tell us who you are and give us a short history of your Band for the people out there who haven't heard of you before.
Well, the Gotmoor Cult was born back in the year of 1996. In April of 1997 we recorded our first demo entitled 'Dicht Bi Den Heerd'. After that we had a line-up change. In October of 1998 we recorded our second demo 'Uit Den Donkeren Grond Gerezen'. And now at last we have a steady line-up consisting out of: Storm on the war bongos, Norgaath using and abusing the battle axe, Vakhnavall (the artist formerly known as Dodeweert) on the five stringed low-toned skull-crusher, and last but definitely not least, me, Mister Fist-Her (the artist formerly known as Clauwaert) screaming my lungs out.


2.) What does the Name Gotmoor Mean?
Gotmoor is the black smelly slime that you can find at the bottom of brooks.


3.) What does the music you record represent?
Our music represents a sheer full forced fist up the arse.


4.) what do you use as inspiration and influences while writing the music?
Gotmoor Plays fast black metal, so I guess we are influenced by all those other fast black bands that went before us, such as Marduk, Dark Funeral, Setherial, In Battle, Battlelust, Immortal, Zyklon B,.


5.) The first Demo was written in "ancient Flemish" was there any specific reason for this? Are Gotmoor ancient warriors?
Well Flemish is our native language and it suited with our medieval image at that time. Nowadays I use English lyrics because I find it easier to express myself in En,glish and I would like it for the main public to understand the message of hate that I try to spread. According to me life on this shit-hole planet is an everyday battle, so doesn't that make us all warriors?


6.) The Belgian scene has a very strong Black Metsal underground, why do you think it never has taken off outside the country?
Well because it sucks! The trend in the Belgian black metal scene of today is to jump on the bandwagon of the new wave of melodic black metal bands. This kind of music isn't even worthy to be called black metal, to me it's just pop music. But don't get me wrong, Belgium has some superb bands: Lugubrum, Natrach, Suhrim, Festering Christcunt,. and I sincerely hope they will make it and rise above the crap.


7.) what prompted you to re-release your demos as a CD?
The money and the free publicity, what else? We didn't have to pay a dime and our music is spread all over the globe. You must be a real dumb arse fister te refuse an offer like this.


8.)You are currently recording new music for an upcoming album, how does the new music compare to the recordings released on the demos?
The music we play nowadays is still the kind of music we played for example 3 years ago, namely fast and furious black metal. Although there are some differences: we don't use keyboards anymore, the lyrics are in English, the music is faster and more aggressive. As one could call it 'structured chaos'.


9.) Do Gotmoor play a lot of gigs? do you think gotmoor will ever gig outside of belgium?
We don't play a lot of gigs. We always have problems when we play live: a bad p.a., a shitty sound,. And by the way, we would like it for Gotmoor to remain a cult band. A recent problem we have to deal with is that Storm has to work at weekends, and it is difficult for us to find gigs on weekdays. We once played at the Crushing The Cradle (Of Filth) festival in Holland, that's outside Belgium I think, or isn't it?


10.) And finally what are the plans for the future of Gotmoor?
This summer we are going to record a full cd. The latest news is that we might get a record deal with a major label. But I can't tell you anything more about it, because it isn't certain at this moment.


11.) Thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule, Any final words you'd like to send out to the readers?
Well thank you for the interview and to our fans out there. Thanks for the support, we might have lost a battle but we will win the war! Vengeance will be ours!!!

e-mail: gotmoor1@hotmail.com

snail:

Gotmoor c/o Storm
Pelkemstraat 86
9250 Waasmunster
Belgium