The following interview features one of the most intriguing female-fronted projects from Norway: Aghast, and was done after the release of their debut album “Hexerei...” released through Cold Meat Industries, a small undergound Industrial / Ambient label from Sweden which attracted a lot of attention from the Metal scene after releasing the second Mortiis album.

I want to thank especially to Rüdiger Freund (for doing the interview)and Roger Karmanik (Cold Meat Industries) for allowing me to use it on my zine.

Psicoterror:   Aghast consists of two members (one German and one Norwegian). How did you become acquainted with each other and when came the idea to make music together?

Aghast: Mysterious circumstances and fate brought the two of us together. It would be too complicated to tell the whole story of us. I was living in England when I, about one and half year ago, became “coincidentally” involved in the Norwegian Black Metal scene. After a few months of strange happenings, which always led me towards the same (northern) direction, I came into correspondence with Nachthexe and we both knew already then, that fate appointed us so similar sounds to come together...for a gathering of dark souls...and the creation of Aghast.

Psicoterror: What is the intention behind the music and what do you want to express with your lyrics?

Aghast: We try to put our visions into music, visions of dark and foggy landscapes and worlds beyond this one. We see the past, the ancient times, where we feel we belong to, the time of wise witches and heroic warriors. We are also very inspired by our Nordic Mythology, its legends and their dark creatures. I feel especially fascinated by the plane of Nifelheim, the home of sorrow, death and passion, dweling in eternal fog...a place which fills ordinary mortals with horror...we love the images of ghastly horrors, ghosts and the macabre.

With Aghast we also express our dark emotions  and talk about our fantasies and only the darkest souls will feel with us. We want to create a sinister atmosphere, which will be pleasant for those who understand the night and terrifying for the ones unable to see in darkness. We further deal with insanity and dispair and other sides of the “human ugliness”. 

Psicoterror: Have you been making music individually before you formed Aghast?  Which kind of music?

Aghast: Nacht has been creating music before, a synth project called “Awe” and with it she tries to paint pictures with “tones” as she describes it. She is an artist and has been drawing covers for some black metal bands before. The project is very dark, lifeless, cold music with no voices, a different atnosphere to Aghast, Aghast being much more extreme and delirious. Awe is to be used as background music, like for rituals.

I’ve been doing some vocals for an English black metal band (Cradle of Filth) but apart from that I have not actually been doing music before, even though I’ve always had ideas for creating music, but I’ve been concentrating more on being a writer until now...I try to combine music and writing these days, but much later in my life I’ll be focusing on writing and poetry again.

Psicoterror: As far as I know you are connected to the black metal scene in Norway. Why don’t you play black metal with Aghast?

Aghast: We both preferred to make dark atmospheric  music as this style is most fascinating for our art. We surely would not mind to be involved with black metal music, I even thought of founding a BM band at a point, but for Aghast its existing style is exactly what we had in mind with it. With our second release we plan to produce a more harder sound to Aghast, but it will be as dark and unique. Nachthexe has been painting some record covers for Norwegian BM bandsand Nebelhexe has written poems / lyrics for Necromantia from Greece recently...

Psicoterror: Is it true that you’re only using the microphone which belonged to the former singer of Mayhem who committed suicide? Why?

Aghast: Nacht thought using a dead man’s microphone, of a special person, such as Dead was, would give our music a “nice” touch, so we continued using it.

Psicoterror: Are there connections between the music of Mayhem and your own music?

Aghast: Not for me, I know that Nachthexe knew Euronymous quite well, but still I don’t think there are any similarities between Mayhem and Aghast. The musical style of Aghast is more experimental.

Psicoterror: Are there any bands of the experimental/industrial scene that influence or impress you?

Aghast: The music of Aghast is influenced exclusively by our emotions, so we are not really influenced by other bands. I myself am very much drawn to the music of Coil, Death in June, Current 93 and other of their kind...yes I would say that these bands influenced me personally. Nachthexe enjoys and feels inspired by Jonathan Brileys work quite often.

Psicoterror:  Somebody told me that you know personally Ian Read who plays in Fire and Ice. Where did you meet him and do you like his kind of music?

Aghast: I have known Ian for the past four years or so, I was living in London for 6 years. He introduced me, among others, to the London magic scene and remained to me one of the most important persons around. I learned quite a few things from him about the runes and Norse magic. Yes, I like Ians music very much and I remember the time when Fire & Ice was created. Ian has a very nice voice.

Psicoterror: How did you get in touch with cold meat Industry? Do you know people of other CMI bands?

Aghast: Sammoth of Emperor suggested CMI to us, as he thought it was a very professional label dealing with a lot of Scandinavian bands. So we wrote to CMI and we found this label the most suitable for us. I have also heard a lot of the CMI bands, but only know Mortiis personally. Nacht might draw something for Mortiis book in the near future, as he asked her to.

Psicoterror: You are both witches. When did you first become interested in magic/witchcraft and the Occult?

Aghast: We were born into it. Both of us had occult experiences since early childhood and were very fascinated by vampires, ghosts and other aspects of the dark, ghastly side of life. It has always been there. True dark souls are born into it. When I was young I imagine myself as a vampire and I got into the spirit of being a wolf, a raven or any other animal. I had very often out of body experiences and I was working magic all the time, even though I was not aware of it at the time. I did not have a normal childhood and other children behave horribly towards me because I wasn’t one of them. While they played their stupid games I sat alone, thinking about the meaning of life. Nachthexe had similar experiences when she was young. She said that both of us had a hard time with others because we were so special and the ordinary people from the sheeperd don’t accept people like us. A lot of my todays philosophies evolved from that time on, the basics of my thoughts have always been there in my mind. Nachthexes best memories of childhood were walking around in the forest surrounded by the natural forces. Her parents are fundamental, biblical christians, so she had a hard time with them when she was small as they told her all these lies about “demons”, “devils” and all that is “evil”...

Psicoterror:  Do you make a difference between “black magic” and “white magic”?

Aghast: I have discussed this issue widely in my Horde of Hagalaz booklet N. 1...I think or I actually know that so called “white” magic is no magic. Firstly a true magician is a master over his own life and his own shadowside, the dark side present in all. The side, people don’t understand and because of that, they fear it. A black magician works with that shadowside and conquers it. People believe in the Christian lie that a black magician is an “evil” magician, who serves the “devil”, while a good magician works with “good” spirits...this is ridiculous and far from the truth. There is no good and evil. What may be good to one person can be evil to another and vice versa. The heathen people knew that it is necessary to have a balance between positive and negative energies but the true essence of magic has always been sinister. A “white” magician, raid of magic or maybe afraid of being called and “evil” magician, so he excuses himself: “I am a good magician”...but a magician who denies his shadowside just like all the ignorant ordinary people these days...is he a magician at all? Would one consider, for example a person, who calls himself a “liontamer”, but who always walks around the lioncage and never dares to go into the cage containing the beasts, really a “liontamer”? Hardly! We work magic because it is natural for us, we are not concerned if our work looks “evil” to others...

Psicoterror:  Nebelhexe is member of several magical organizations, including a satanic one. Where do you see the connection of witchcraft and satanism?

Aghast: I see witchcraft as an ancient feminine art, based on natural wisdom and energies. Achieving magical results via methods of sorcery, releasing of strong energies and emotions, out of body experiences, astral traveling, lycanthropy, etc. This is how I work my magic. Satanism involves much more concentration on ones own dark side and animal instincts. Further, a Satanist works on himself, his personality, his self control abilities. He tries to improve himself and live life to the fullest, as the figure of Satan represents earthly pleasures, sensuality and the need to release animal instincts.

Satanic rites are often in the vein of ordered ceremonial magic but satanism does not necessarily includes magic. A lot of times Satanism has been used to rebell against the morals of Christianity (which is understandable) and traditional satanists have been performing blasphemous rites to show their disrespect, even I have taken part in these kind of performances...However, to me, true Satanism and ancient witchcraft are both dealing with secrets of nature, man’s natural instincts, the natural order and the desire to live ones own life to the fullest.

Psicoterror:  Nebelhexe also founded an own magical organisation called Horde of Hagalaz. Please explain what this organisation is all about?

Aghast: Its is not exactly an organisation, as I have no “official” members. It is more a foundation representing magic, northern mythology, wisdom and understanding of the dark side of human behaviour. Horde of Hagalaz is also concerned with the revival of ancient heathen values, destroyed largely by christianity, and to tell the story of all heathen folk, like how they really became converted to the christian faith, how “good” this religion really is, what did this to women who possessed wisdom, etc. Many people in our side of the world would not care at all, as they are not religious, but even those living by the unnatural morals of this religion or another monoteistic one, which enslaves us all.

Psicoterror: Do you feel your music to be a kind of magic ritual?

Aghast: Definitedly. We made our music as a part of a ritual. All songs were created at nightime or on foggy, rainy days in a private studio and we prepared ourselves with candles and incense to enter the desired state of mind to concieve our visions and emotions...

Psicoterror:  What are your next plans after the release of your first cd?

Aghast: Our plans are to record our second cd during this year, maybe performing live and we have been discussing to do a video., but this is unclear at this early stage, and we are very busy people outside of Aghast. In the next recording we want to describe the atmosphere of insanity, murderour women. As I mentioned before, we really get into the state of mind of our vision and what we’re singing about, and I feel already sorry for the studio engineer who will have the “pleasure” of working with us...

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