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1. For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the musical project?
Cxaathesz: We are a two piece black metal abomination from Cork, Ireland. Our style is rooted in old school black metal, pursued through the teeth of the old gods of heavy metal. Thematically, we reside in the Dimension of Chains - a hellmouth of eldritch like gods and lucid magick and curses.
2. In February you have a new album coming out, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style that you went for on the recording?
C: We must focus on riffs. That is the essence of heavy metal. Of course there is a place for dissonance and chaos in the music, but it's important to stay grounded in the old ways. On “Unveiling the Brac’thal”, each song is quite different from the other. We want to consolidate these ideas into one sound as we go on. There is a strata of influences at hand. The music we like has plenty to gnaw at, which is another important factor. These four tracks may seem long, but we never felt the need to shorten them. Overall, we are satisfied with our first release. We fit a certain cohort of the Invictus Productions roster.
3. A lot of your lyrics are inspired by the writings of Lovecraft, Machen, Yeats and Lord Dunsany, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in their work?
C: From the beginning, the lyrical content was an original concept, written by myself. I began to write a fairly extensive document called “The Codex of the Silent Idols”, stylised as an archaic manuscript entry describing the creation myth of the Yith-Mellion plane. We incorporate the names, themes and ideas from this. The pedagogy of the “Codex..” is influenced by cosmicism, feudalism, gnosticism and insignificance of the flesh. As for those authors mentioned, Lovecraft is the obvious one, especially with his ideas of inter-dimensional deities and the horror of insignificance. Lord Dunsany wrote a book called "The Gods of Pegana", his own pantheon, which was the catalyst for the “Codex..”. "Unveiling the Brac'thal" was aptly named to unveil this mythos. Each song has reference to a wider, more fleshed out concept! We have an appeal for vaguely esoteric occultism by way of horror!
4. Most of your music is also very heavily rooted in the old school style, do you feel the modern era of black metal cannot match up to the earlier era of the genre?
C: The old ways are inherently rebellious and forward thinking. People these days think making reference to this lacks innovation. We couldn’t disagree more. We don't exactly want to sound exactly like a Venom or Bathory, rather we are not limited to one period. Most of the bands we like are inspired by older bands, thus the sound is fundamental. It is still important to carve out some sort of sound and to separate yourself.
5. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Hasturian Vigil'?
C: As mentioned before, thematically we are inspired by cosmic horror literature. Hastur, or the King in Yellow was a name used by Robert W. Chambers, and later HP Lovecraft. The word just reflects our interest in those concepts and a homage to that genre of literature, while not being too on the nose. The Satanic approach did not appeal to us.
6. Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?
C: The artwork was done by our great friend Canopic Ire. After seeing the cover for his band Unyielding Love's album "Flesh of the Furnace", we arranged for him to do a painting for us. It was important we went with someone who had a similar way of thinking and enjoyed similar concepts. After an hour long phone call and sending him text files and the music to help, we had an idea to create a scene within this world. Plenty images of body horror, unexplained divine intervention and curses were thought up. I think he did a great job to present the entity we call the 'Brac'thal', the unseen, that despises all of its creations. It resides in a place called ‘Yith-Melle’ (The Dimension of Chains), the idea being that an interdimensional 'crack' would have this entity to slowly infest a mortal realm. We have seen him, he is draped in jewels with a thousand eyes and teeth… The guy on the cover learnt the hard way.
7. Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you open to expanding the line up or do you prefer to remain a duo?
C: My preferred instrument is bass and it always will be. I wrote the songs on guitar with the intention of finding a permanent member, which never happened. We would rehearse as a two piece, using two amplifiers, so when the opportunity came to play live, I decided to just play the guitar parts myself and here we are. I don’t see myself as a proficient guitarist, but these are my riffs, so the way they are played is organic and not emulated. We have talked about adding other members, but the writing has worked out well as a two piece so far, so we are not in a rush to bring in another person just yet. We do however have great friends who play bass with us live, so our live shows have a full sound. I still use two amplifiers to create a bigger sound. We do like the live power trio, Motorhead tradition!
8. On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black metal?
C: Well, worldwide might be a bit of a stretch. We'll see once the album is released, however in Ireland, and what I see online, people enjoy our sound. The reception at live shows has been great also. We trust the Invictus Productions getting it into the right hands.
9. Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
C: The master(s) plan is to finish writing the next album. We are two thirds of the way there. We are trying to amalgamate everything we like, make weird riffs, paired with the attack of old school heavy metal. Building upon what we have with more layers of influence. All I know is, the album will have a loose concept. Think Conrad’s "Heart of Darkness" set in a strange dimension of lucid horrors and demi-god antics.
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?
C: We cite ZEMIAL, DARKTHRONE, CULTES DES GHOULES, MORTUARY DRAPE, ABSU, BOLZER, INCONCESSUS LUX LUCIS, HEXENBRETT, MALOKARPATAN, NEGATIVE PLANE, CEMETERY LIGHTS, SUFFERING HOUR, KRINGA, COSCRADH, GOSPEL OF THE HORNS, SPIRIT POSSESSION and beyond. We must also acknowledge the old gods THIN LIZZY, JUDAS PRIEST, DIO, BLUE OYSTER CULT, THE BEATLES, GENESIS, KING CRIMSON and SUMERLANDS. We’d also like to highlight the immense inspiration of TANGERINE DREAM, GOTHMOG, ROMAN MASTER, VANGELIS and FURSAXA.
11. How would you describe your views on occultism?
C: We weave chaos magick, gnosticism, John Dee, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, metaphysics of Cormac McCarthy Philip K. Dick into our music. Overally, I have a loose view. In a sense, the music we do has occult leanings that are not too far removed from esoteric teachings. It's hard to describe it plainly. Read Philip K. Dick's “Exegesis” (more spiritual) or Austin Osman Spare’s “Earth Inferno”, two recent ones for me.
12. Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
C: Thank you for the interview and interest. We have plans to march on foreign shores. The Zhaxassian Basilisk makes its stride this year.
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