Thursday, July 14, 2016

Impure Ziggurat Interview


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

In a nutshell : Impure Ziggurat is a french bestial Black/Death Metal, founded in 2012 by 4 members. We released a first demo tape in 2015, « Raping the quantum womb of the macrocosm » and we will release in 2016 a 7''EP untitled « Serenades of astral malevolence ».


2.So far you have released a demo and an ep, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on both of the recordings and also how do they differ from each other?

Both of them delivers the same bestial Black/Death with a bit of emphasis.

The main difference is the production : we recorded the demo « Raping the quantum womb of the macrocosm » in a shitty underground parking lot, with derisory gear : broken microphones, tired amps, old track recorder and only one single day to do it. Believe it or not : some homeless people were living in the storage next to ours. No mix, no mastering, it's nearly a rehearsal when you think about it, but it does not sound that bad when I listen to it.

For the 7''EP « Serenades of astral malevolence », we bought our own recording gear, so the sound is far better but still cryptic (our « studio » is still a moisted underground parking lot).

And the infamous Cam Sinclair well known for his involvement in bands such as Diocletian, Witchrist or Heresiarch brought us some help by doing the mixing and mastering job.


3.Your lyrics cover Lost Civilizations and Occult Astrostophy, and are also influenced by the writings of Graham Hancock and Immanuel Velikovsky, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in these topics?

I could add the works of Charles Berlitz, Robert Bauval, David Childress and Charles Hapgood, as their writings had a lot of impact on Impure Ziggurat and on my life.

Their thesis is that it existed a global primordial civilization that flourished until -11 000 BC and which had its own mysticism, astronomical occult rites and it's own evolved technology. It vanished into oblivion when occurred a world disaster when a comet smashed earth's face, causing the end of the Pleistocene ice age, massive tidal waves and a shift of the continents.

The earth population was decimated, the primordial civilization was definitely doomed, but few ones escaped and roamed around the desolate landscapes, trying to bring their knowledge to the dazed survivors (in the ancient Andes they used to call them « The Viracochas »). They also left some evidences of the tragedy that hit the planet, as a warning for our own future. As ancient considers everything, including the time, as a cyclic thing, not a linear thing, they were (and we are) convinced that this disaster will happen again.

The evidences still exists if you know where to look and how to look...

From the devastated lands of Harappa's and Mohenjo-Daro to the submerged temples of Yonaguni. From the mathematical riddles crypted in the Gizeh's pyramids to the megalithics stones of Gobekli Tepe. From Tiahuanaco to Carnac, from Teotihuacan to Stonehenge...

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Impure Ziggurat'?

We have a big interest into the sumerian civilization and into the writings of Zecharia Sitchin of it's origins, even if I don't agree with all of his thesis. During the genesis of the band we were pleased to imagine the occult and impious astronomical ceremonies that occurred into the ancient ziggurats. Then comes the name of Impure Ziggurat.

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

We never played live yet.


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

No and as the band members are scattered around France and even one of us is living now in USA, making a show or even rehearsing is always something complicated. That's why everything in the band take a lot of time.

We received interesting offers last year to play with Hetroertzen or the brazilian gods Vulcano but we could not make it, because of that.

Can't tell you what will happen in the future but playing on stage is not a priority for us.

7.Currently the band is signed to 'Magister Dixit', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

The two guys behind Magister Dixit are long time friends, their label is very small but 100% dedicated to the underground, they don't care about money, business, to be a part of the Internet fame or anything. They made a good work, that's why our next 7''EP will be also released by Magister Dixit.

It will probably be their final release, as they have to concentrate on other activities (one of them is involved into a well-known band from Belgium).


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

Even if there was no promotion made at all around the demo tape at the time of the release in 2015, the feedback was quite good, and we sold most of the 250 copies made in two months only. Another proof that the true underground will never die.


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

Necroblood will release their first full-length during winter 2016/2017, beleive me, you can expect a lethal dose of Black/Death hatred in the vein of Conqueror, Archgoat, Axis of Advance, Morbosidad,...

Svart Crown are finishing the recording of their fourth album, have only heard few samples of it, so can't tell you much more about it. They're a pretty huge band now, touring around the world with famous headliners... They follow their own path but it's obvious that becoming a big band is definitely not an aim for Impure Ziggurat. We like to dwell in the shadows.

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

I don't think that we will evolve anymore. We have our sound, we have out style : archaic black metal of death. And it will remain so until the end of the band.

11.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 ?

I would say that old US Black Metal and early Black/Death bands from Finland had an influence on me during the composition process. Listened to a lot of old Krieg, Demoncy, Von and Beherit, Archgoat, Black Crucifixion and Belial, amongst many others.

Nowadays I spin a lot of classic thrash metal on my turntable, such as Sadus « Illusions », Whiplash « Power and pain » and Sepultura « Bestial Devastation ». I listened also to some recent bestial Black/Death acts such as the Caveman Cult demo, the Abysmal Lord LP and the Lihhamon first CD. The new Affliction Gate MCD is also a huge slap of old school death metal !

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

Fukk off « post-black metal » hipster shit.


Cdrk

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