Betelgeuse Interview

 

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

Greetings Occult Black Metal Zine, Betelgeuse born in 2018 between the lost forests of Los Ángeles and multiple experiences in the town of Collipulli, Chile  (Chili), the land of the end of the world as our indigenous ancestors named it. As a one-man black metal band founded by multi-instrumentalist Felipe Cadenas, inspired by nature, the mystical and our ancient Chilean history. By 2022, Betelgeuse released their first demo titled Opresor, edited by the label “Untrueness Prods” from Los Ángeles. That released demo tells stories about our native peoples and how their customs and traditions have been subjected to Christian thought. By then, the formation included Felipe Cadenas on vocals and main composition, in the company of the musicians of Blood Oath as live support. From that support Ignacio Riveros (also Antagonyze y Blood Oath) remains as the lead guitarist of the band. Later, in 2023, they began recording “Bajo el Amparo de la Putrefacta Cruz” with the collaboration of Benjamín Soto from Blood Oath on drums. That same year, the bassist Matías Astudillo, and the drummer Nicolás Cavada  and guitarist Álvaro Mora, the last two also from Antagonyze, were added to the formation; keeping Ignacio Riveros on guitar and in charge of mixing and mastering.

2.Recently you have released your first full length, musically how does it differ from your previous demo?

In this work we focused on achieving a more raw and violent sound in which our lyrics are in tune with the music. We tried to give it a more defined sound that would maintain a cold and cavernous atmosphere and reflect the essence of our land. Rhythmically the songs are faster, leaving aside the atmospheric nature of our demo, although we have songs that have long instrumental passages. We usually accompany these with chaotic reverberated voices and guitars to make more sense of the theme of the album. We consider this work an improvement in the sound quality, song writing and content compared to the first demo.

3.A lot of your lyrics cover Nature and Mysticism, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in these topics?

We live in a very large country, characterized by very varied landscapes and climates. We are from the southern area, surrounded by mountains and dense forests. Here, for thousands of years, our ancestors lived. Some of them are still among us...

Our music tries to reflect this culture that we consider an elemental part of our own being, and bring to know how the natives live in harmony with nature and their own beliefs.

4.Lyrically you also cover the ancient history of Chile, which historical events from your from country have you covered so far with the songwriting?

The most known history of our country is a violent and cruel one since the arrival of the christians conquerors and colonists, who came to "civilize" the tribes and teach them to be more "humans". Under this politics, the cristian massacred to the natives, raped the women and childreen, and detached them from their culture. This is reflected in the song "Genocidio" for example. In this song we relate the Selknam genocide, a tribe who lived in the extreme south of our country, also called the fire people, due to their capability to create fire in a hard and very cold climate. The christian colons, under the church and local government allowed the hunt of the natives, offering coins to the "human hunters" for each ear or tit from a dead Selknam. The survivors were thrown into rotten cells where they died of disease, or sold as slaves and taken to human museums in Europe for exhibition. Jemmy Button was one of them. Also we pay tribute to the Mapuche people who are the tribe that actually remain living in our zone. These natives fought around 500 years against the Spanish conquerors and have resisted the oppression since then.

5.You have also mentioned a hatred for Christianity, can you tell us a little bit more about your hatred for this religion?

This hatred or rather questioning that we have of this religion is born mainly because of what we live, living in a very Catholic country it is easy to see the fragility of this religion. It is not a secret that pedophile priests remain in total impunity only with a poor shame, if they have it. The more they try to teach you how to be a morally good person according to their dogmas, the more you realize that they only want to protect their interests and maintain their status of power over the people who choose to follow them on their religious path.

6.I know that the band was named after the red supergiant star, does the band also have a huge in science?

Since childhood, one begins to have curiosity about space, you know, you are in nature and you raise your head and you can appreciate the infinity of our sky in the tranquility of the night. We really like the knowledge that humanity can generate, whether scientific or humanistic, we believe that behind every man developing knowledge there are dreams that motivate him to achieve his goals, that manages to be inspiring when creating.

7.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?

The band's artwork is made by a great friend of the band called Matias Bruna (A.M.B.R.U.N.A). It represents a little of each of the 8 songs in the creation of the cover. We have the clergy that represents how Catholicism tries to judge, but we find priests that are simply demons, which is how we perceive them as agents of all evil. On their altar we have the figure of a goat dressed in the clothing of a priest, this one tries to represent a liberation from Christian thinking. This figure is spreading his word and those who listen to it are a couple of children. The message falls on them, they must choose who to follow. And on his cross a dying Jesus Christ as a corpse, which is the representation of the current church in decline.

8.Originally the band started out as a solo project, what was the decision behind expanding into a full line up?

The answer is simple, the passion to make the project grow and to form it with friends who share the same interests and support us when composing our music. We want people to see our shows as a cohesive band and to be able to transmit the energy and feeling firsthand live. Here in Los Angeles we have created a nice circle of comrades who love extreme metal, and the collaboration and support between us will always be. We take the opportunity to share our support for local bands such as Necrobastard, Rotten Malefice, Invasión Eterna, Antagonyze, Blood Oath, Feretro, so forth.

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

We recently played a show at Eternal Pain lll on Saturday, August 17, 2024, in the city of Los Angeles. We prepared a repertoire in which we played almost all of our LP plus songs from our demo. For this show we wanted to personify each of our songs in a different way. For example, in the song impunity that talks about child abuse by priests, our vocalist sang that song in a priest's suit, or in the song genocide he dressed in a cloak that represents the indigenous cultures of our land. For each song and live performance we used some visual reinforcement that is in accordance with our lyrics, in addition to using original instruments in songs from our demo such as Trutruca or Pitrifilca.

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

We are currently promoting our latest work in a series of dates. We are in talks for upcoming shows in more cities in our country and in this way promote our show and our album.

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

By now, 08-27-24, the album is few days away from being officially released by Adirondack Black Mass. Within the current diffusion we have been able to appreciate good comments about our music, through the platforms on which it has been released. In addition, we have received a lot of support and good reviews from the Chilean scene in general.

12. What is going on with 'Blood Oath' these days which also shares a couple of the same members?

We are very good and close friends. Although we share some members, we also have some family ties. Blood Oath are currently working on a new project that will be officially announced shortly, and it is a collaboration with other Chilean bands. It is also worth mentioning that we have members of bands such as Antagonyze who released their full length at the beginning of the year through Chaos Records (MEX); Invasion Eterna who released their debut EP last year and are currently releasing a promo; Caos Bell which is another project from the area that is taking shape. Betelgeuse includes members of these bands and we are a circle of friends who are in constant support and commitment to grow our projects and deliver good music for our listeners. It is worth mentioning that Blood Oath, Antagonyze and Invasión Eterna have recorded their releases at Estudio Chains, a recording studio created and personally equipped by Felipe Cadenas.

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

Speaking about the future, we are already thinking about what our next compositions will be for 2025, which will tell another aspect of Chilean history. We like to have motivation and clear ideas when creating something new and we want our next works to be better and better for our listeners. As for our shows, we are looking for new ideas to add and keep our show fresh.

14.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?

There is a lot of South American music with a folkloric character that we like. In terms of rhythm, melody and harmonics, they are very complex and quite exciting, especially in the way they write their lyrics. This can be connected in a certain way with black metal when telling stories, although they are totally opposite genres, we can find similarities. I think Betelgeuse is that, from bands at the beginning of black metal which defined a raw, atmospheric, cold sound with folkloric sounds from their own lands.

Personally, while I was answering these questions, songs from bands like Rotten Malefice, Nigromancia, Antagonyze, Blood Oath, Invasion Eterna, Violeta Parra, Inti-illimani, Victor Jara were played.

I'm currently listening to old albums like HammerHeart by Bathory, Battles in the North by Immortal, Soulside Journey by Darkthrone, Hvis Lyset Tar Oss by Burzum, Hoagascht by Lunar Aurora, 1184 by Windir, among others that have been heard these days. On behalf of our members, in conversations or meetings names like Ulcerate, Storm Keep, Bolzer, Mgła, etc. come up.

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

For those who listen to Bajo el Amparo de la Putrefacta Cruz, they question Christianity not as a way of mockery but because it is a cancer to human thinking. The meaning of Betelgeuse is attributed to the red supergiant in the constellation of Orion. According to its characteristics, it can be believed that the star exploded, will explode at this moment or within the next few years and, such an event will be visible from Earth. In the same way that this star presents us with 3 possible events, Christianity that spreads throughout the world will be extinguished by us in our present or future generations will do so; just as the star released a hellish fire, Christianity would embrace its own doom in a blanket of flames from which it will not be able to escape.

Greetings and hold fast the black flame!

https://www.instagram.com/betelgeuse.blackmetal/

https://adirondackblackmass.bandcamp.com/album/bajo-el-amparo-de-la-putrefacta-cruz

https://betelgeuse.ffm.to/bajoelamparodelaputrefactacruz