Humanitas Error Est Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you, can you tell us a little bit about the band?

Ahephaïm: You probably know this feeling when you are so disgusted by something, so pissed off by someone that you can't put a single word on it... Through the years, I learned to hate humans and their stupid behaviors and the only logical way for me to exteriorize this without becoming a mass murder was to transform this hatred in music. At this point, you need to find musicians who understand this and walk the same way. Not always easy, but we got it.  
Ghoul: We strictly follow our path, our understanding of music, our understanding of Black Metal.
S Caedes:Absolutely, no-holds-barred! It was important for Ahephaïmand myself to find musicians, who share the same point of view and are passionate about creating music, rather than those who don't take their profession seriously.And to add something special in the band I had the idea to have a male-vocalist besides me, to try something new, to have more vocal variations. So we decided just to do it. And with Ghoul, I guess we are a good team on the front.

2.How would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the album?

Ahephaïm:For me, the music we compose is brutal of course but also subtle in its obscurity. Behind the vehemence of the riffs, blast beats, … and the suitable dirty production, you can enter a world of very different extreme emotions. The compositions were pretty spontaneous and translate our real state of mind; a very direct and furious anger load accompanied by various other feelings you probably can detect if you care enough.
Ghoul:Yes, definitely! We represent very aggressive, straight and fast Black Metal. But in few songs we also includedatmospheric parts, which can be maybe interpreted by some peopleas depressive tendencies. Since we all have different influences, we try to combine all so that our music not becoming monotonous.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

S Caedes:We're writing about our view of humanity, religion, the abstruse way of life most humans choose to go. And since I'm a very sadistic person, my lyrics are often influenced by this topic. I like to write about torture, but when you read between the lines, you can always find my message related to the meaning of Humanitas Error Est.

Ghoul: The crucial point is the human being. Pertaining to mother earth, humanity is a virus, an all destroying species which is gorging till death. From my point of view this is the ultimate downfall of our world.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Humanitas Error Est'?

Ahephaïm:You maybe know the famous Latin expression “Errare Humanum Est” (to err is human). As we were searching for a suitable band name, fitting to our concept, I was thinking about this and just transformed it to perfectly represent what our message is: “Humanity is the error”.

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?

Ahephaïm: On stage, we can really let everything out, let the people feel what we mean directly and not through a record. We put a lot of energy to make every live apparition better than the previous one, intense and aggressive as possible. My best experiences till now with Humanitas Error Est were the In Flammen Festival in Torgau (D), the Night Of Blasphemy in Olten (CH) and the date with Nocturnal Depression in Erfurt (D).

S Caedes:Same for me. The In Flammen Festival – really great feeling to be part of such a known festival, specially under the aspect that we only published one demo-song at this time.And also the Night Of Blasphemy in Olten, Switzerland – the audience was just amazing! To describe our stage performance, well… I don't know, we just act like we feel on stage without planning this or that. We are not playing roles, we represent what we are, what we feel, what we want to express with our music.

Ghoul:My favorites are Club From Hell (Erfurt/Germany) and, like my bandmates, the Night Of Blasphemy. The audience was great, we really felt that they were there to enjoy a Black Metal gig. It was just an amazing atmosphere.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?

Ahephaïm:At the point we were about to get our albums pressed, we wanted to wait to have them in hands to make further shows and as it was pretty delayed, we had to postpone our live dates but it will come soon enough. We already have two festivals, which we can name officially: The Underground Remains Festival in Göttingen (D) and the Autumn Souls Of Sofia in Bulgaria. But of course we also have few other dates, which will be announced soon. We will definitely not hide behind the album. There will be enough gigs this year, where people have the chance to see us live on stage.

7.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black metal?

Ahephaïm: Since we put our first demo online, we get really a lot of encouraging feedback from everywhere and it's also the case with our album, even if it's still a bit early to say as the promo began only one or two month ago and that a lot of magazines need more time to get the material or having the time to review it. But for now, the feedback is really positive.

S Caedes: We have already fans from around the world, what is just amazing. I'm in contact with fans from South America, Portugal or also Bulgaria... they're fucking enthusiastic about our music and can't wait to receive our album or/and see us live. It's a great feeling, when you get such a support. Clearly there are also people, who don't like our music, but hey, I also don't like every band. This is normal, and its good, like it is. I guess I can speak for the whole band when I say, that we don't want to be loved by everyone.

Ghoul: Indeed. The feedback we get till now is really great, specially live, people like what we stand for, what we represent. But sure you can't suit everybody, but this is also not our intention.

8.What is going on with some of the bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?

S Caedes: Beside Humanitas Error Est I'm doing the vocals in Lebenssucht. Its more depressive Black Metal with a deeper morbidity (but no suicidial affects - I love my life with all its negativity, no interest to kill myself). We are working on our first album and have already few gigs fixed for this year. First time we will be on stage in beginning of July in Belgium. In addition I will also do guest vocals in Withering Night (Black Metal, United States) and Absolutus (Black Metal, Belgium).
Ahephaïm:I have many projects beside Humanitas Error Est, like Arnwald which is my ambient-industrial solo project but also Rogash (death metal with Rogan, our bassist), Lebenssucht, a black metal band with S Caedes and Déhà (the guy who made the mix and mastering of our album). With this guy, I also have several projects like Yhdarl, Vaer, Merda Mundi, … I also play in different other non-metal projects because I think diversity is important: Grausame Töchter (SM electro punk) and Die Wanderratten (medieval rock). It's not really everything, but the rest still has to be announced...
Ghoul: I'm vocalist in Goatfuck, a black/trash band also from Leipzig, Germany. It's a bit more oldschool, more ugly than Humanitas Error Est. We restructured the band for a new path with me as vocalist, also changed the name (before it was Slaughtered Existence), cause with me the band will be a bit more black, than trash. Few new songs are already finished and for now we are searching for a label.

9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

Ahephaïm: I can't answer you precisely because it depends on a lot of factors. We don't want to follow borders and we'll just make the music which express the most our thoughts. Anyway, I guess I'm not wrong when I tell you that you can still expect some dirty brutality. The new songs composed after the album already show a threatening sky...

10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

S Caedes: Since we all have our own musical influences, for me its really exciting to make music with all these individual characters. But it was clear from minute one, that we want to create something brutal, something nasty, a spit in the face against humanity and religion. Tsar is absolutely fan of Dark Funeral and Setherial, very harsh and very fast Black Metal. The roots of our bassist Rogan are based in Death Metal. Void114 and me, we are more into DSBM. For example I'm a big fan of Lifelover, Shining, Taiga, Silencer. On the other side I'm also a big fan of kickass bands like Anaal Nathrakh, Dyscarnate, Endstille, Marduk etc – and for me the main point was to be able to express my inner aggression with Humanitas Error Est, unleash a brutal assault against humanity
.Ghoul:We are often compared with Dark Funeral and Marduk, because of our aggressive and fast playing. On the face of it I can agree, but I want to underline, that we are not interested in being a clone of another band. We absolutely do our own thing, following our instincts in composing songs. For me, I can say that I'm a big fan of Oldschool Black like Taake, Nattefrost, Carpathian Forest but also Marduk and Watain, for example, I really like a lot.
Ahephaïm:Everyone in the band has a really personal musical background and in this wide spectrum of sounds emerge some common bands or musical intensity. Influences are not always logical regarding what we are doing but I can name, for me, Urfaust, Anaal Nathrakh, Cattle Decapitation, Strapping Young Lad, Absu, … only to give you a few.

11.How would you describe your views on Satanism?

S Caedes: When I was fifteen I began to read a lot about Satanism, black magic, also Nietzsche, LaVey, Crowley… I was obsessed by these occult themes. From all influences I created my own view about life, about religion, about Satanism. I'm strictly against every religion. For me, there is no almighty God, so there can also be no Satan – who is waiting the bad people in hell. But I absolutely do believe in evil, the sadism in every human being. Satanism also means the freedom to decide what you want to do in your life and take on responsibility for it – it is the acceptance that there is no god.Everyone has to decide which way to go. Following the weak ones in believing there is someone more worth than you, following stupid rules, just because god tells you what is wrong, what is right – this is definitely not my way. Never was and never will be. I can't have respect for people, who blame Satan for all dire events in their life/on earth and telling such a shit like god will lead them to the light, when you follow his rules.
Ghoul:Satanism is the human being itself, the human nature, physically and mentally free and independent. Everyone is his own god, responsible for what he is doing, for the choices he made. For me, religion invented Satan to put humans and behaviors in stereotypes. The result is that religion controls, wields power. But the truth is, that what is good is always in the eye of the beholder.

Ahephaïm: As for any spirituality paths, it's a very personal thing which everyone see differently. I'm not sure that I could explain my vision precisely enough to don't deform it. And I'm not sure that I also want to do it. I'm trying to find my own divinity outside established patterns. I learned a lot about satanism and other branches of the black art and it's a really fascinating world where you can experience a lot but also loose yourself if you don't take good care. One of the lesson you should remember from any spiritual apprenticeship is to keep discretion about it. What I find ridiculous is that many bands are using this satanic imagery and concept to be like “evil” and have no knowledge about it. Through these people, the satanism in music looses its meaning and essence, sometimes becomes even a mainstream “must have” to belong to the scene, far away from a spiritual way to be. Empty vessels make the most noise. In contrary, you also have some bands who express subtly their satanic beliefs without trying to impress anyone but more by including them parsimoniously in their art. This is, for me, the most interesting means when you feel like combining satanic faith and music.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

S Caedes: Well, thank you for the interview, for your interest in Humanitas Error Est.
 Ghoul: And for the people out there: be free, follow yourself!

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