Allerseelen Interview Unrestrained

Allerseelen Interview Unrestrained

Pedra was released alongside a concert Allerseelen performed in Sintra, Portugal, holding three songs inspired by the sacred stones of Sintra. A wonderful release, sound not too far removed from the material heard on Flamme, with “Krieger Aus Stein” boasting a wonderful orchestral sample that warmly reminded me of “Einstieg” off Neuschwabenland. Please comment further on this release, and how you came to release it on Terra Fria?

Yes, Pedra has some rough intensity and quality. Allerseelen were invited by the Portuguese label Terra Fria to perform in Sintra in November 2003. Our live performance took place in the archaeological museum of Odrinhas close to Sintra, a museum full of stones of prehistoric and historic time, from the Iberians, the Romans, the Templars.. The concept of the organizers who are setting up some live performances each year is to release with each concert a mcd of the bands on stage. The original mcd should contain songs by the beautiful and passionate folklore group Sangre Cavallum and Allerseelen. We wanted to concentrate all our songs to the theme Stone - Pedra in Portuguese - as both groups, Allerseelen and Sangre Cavallum, are fascinated by megalithic monuments, by menhirs, dolmens and also mountains. But then Sangre Cavallum decided not to participate in the live performance and the mcd release - thus the Pedra mcd contains only the three songs of Allerseelen. The weeks I spent in Portugal, especially the beautiful and wild landscapes of Alto Douro and Tras-os-Montes, were a great experience for me. I spent a lot of time on the countryside. I have strange and strong memories of visiting dolmens at midnight in heavy rain, of visiting subterranean sanctuaries at sunset, of castles in the moonshine, accompanied by the troubadours and warriors of the groups Sangre Cavallum and Wolfskin. Also the dark-grey granite which always contains a certain amount of radioactivity which dominates in Northern Portugal definitely influences in a psychoactive way the character of the people and their music..

Wir Rufen Deine Wölfe is an extraordinary release; it’s rare these days to see such purpose and inspiration in a compilation. Please discuss how this project came into being, and the personal meaning of Friedrich Hielscher and this poem to you. Is this release meant to be a unique experiment, or could another in this style (a number of bands writing the song based on the same poem) happen down the road?

I think that this cd compilation on Aorta and the double lp edition on the Austrian label Ahnstern (which releases all the Allerseelen vinyl editions) is unique and should be unique. I do not have an idea for another compilation in this strong and authoritarian way - as I asked the musicians not just to record some songs but already gave them the lyrics which they should use. It was and is a strange experience to have so many groups recording songs based on one single poem. In May 2004, Allerseelen performed in Venice together with the Austrian group Sturmpercht and the Hungarian group Cawatana - and all the groups had the song Wir rufen Deine Wölfe in their live programme.. Like all "divine" and "perfect" things it was very easy to give birth to this anthology - I sent the poem in various languages to befriended musicians, they recorded their versions and sent it to me. . I had read the poem around two years ago and fell in love with its power and passion. This was the divine spark or the demonic spark. These kind of sudden sparks have often changed my life. Friends of mine, Graumahd, also wanted to make music for this poem, so we first thought of a 7". Then Blood Axis were interested too. And I had the idea to ask some of my friends and comrades to record music for that. Friedrich Hielscher is a fascinating figure who was inspired a lot by Goethe and Hölderlin and Nietzsche - all these influences were important for his cosmology combining German and Greek mythology and also some positive Christian elements. The movement he founded in world war II was very small but it existed until his death in some remote parts of Germany. But I think that it will very soon have more and more followers. The poem Wir rufen Deine Wölfe was originally called by him Michelsgebet - Prayer for Michael. But obviously his poem - mentioning ravens and the spear - refers to the archetype of Odin. A good small biography on him can be found in the American publication Tyr II which came out some weeks ago by ´the publishing house Ultra in Atlanta, Georgia. The person who wrote this article, Peter Bahn, will release a book on him in German this year. Also the many letters between Ernst Jünger and Friedrich Hielscher - they were close friends - should be published in 2005. An essential year for this poet and philosopher.

Archaische Arbeiten has been re-released as a 2LP, holding early Allerseelen cassette releases dating from 1989. Please offer a personal description of this material, and how you reflect back on the tapes that comprise this release?

Archaische Arbeiten represents a very ritual aspect of my work. I recorded these soundtracks at a time when I was a lot in contact with the Austrian ritual music group Zero Kama. I still like some of these dark and strange and intense recordings which were based basically on the use of kettle-drums, of violins and bass guitar and the sounds of dozens of ravens, without human voice. These recordings were originally published on various cassettes. I got to know with these releases various people all over the world - and some of them are still close friends. These recordings were like doors of perception that opened a new world for me. Some of the cassettes are still circulating. All of them contain some good and recordings but for the double lp Archaische Arbeiten and the forthcoming double lp Heimliche Welt we used just a selection of the very best tracks. We do not intend at the moment to release these archaic recordings on cd - vinyl is the perfect medium for these almost prehistoric recordings. I love vinyl - its crackling is so close to fire. I also dedicated a song named Knistern (Crackling) to this sound which you find in the vinyl, in the fire and which you also can listen in spring in the young branches and leaves of the trees.

Flamme is an especially enjoyable listen, it resonating within me moreso than Abenteuerliches Herz. Flamme seemingly bridges Allerseelen’s older and newer sounds into an invigorated amalgamation of hypnotizing vibes and varied moods (not to mention that fantastic distorted bass!). In fact Flamme bridges Allerseelen works quite literally, with remixes of “Tanzt die Orange” and “Bist du die Nacht” from Venezia and a sampling from “Cordon Dorado” off Neuschwabenland, to name but three. Could it be said that there’s an element to rediscovery or revisiting past sounds in Flamme? Is it fair to say the word “flame” is a concept on Flamme, a common thread throughout these songs? How would you compare Flamme to its predecessor?

The double lp Flamme which is now also available also as cd turned again out quite melodic, it has again a certain Spanish as well as mediterranean touch. Flamme means flame - and fire is the golden thread that combines most of the songs on the album which are inspired by the fire of love, of passion, the sunlight. My work is a search of the golden thread, in the present times, in the past and in the future, in ancient and recent art and poetry, in archaic landscapes, the cordon dorado how the Chilenean poet Miguel Serrano names it in his language. Good examples of this sun and fire mysticism are the two songs which I recorded with the great singer Josef K of Von Thronstahl. These two songs with him are basically flamencos. This passion for music styles like Argentine Tango and Andalucian Flamenco is another golden thread in my work, I already used some Tango sounds many years ago on some early cassettes. I also intend to combine in the near future elements of Flamenco with more guitar and maybe also metal guitars. I do not really want to compare Flamme to its predecessor Abenteuerliches Herz (Adventurous Heart). Allerseelen is always a work in progress, it is a diary or a collection of divine sparks, of stills that turn into songs. I do not listen often to my old recordings - but in my archive of sounds I often come across sounds which I recorded two or six or eight years ago, which I never used or which I already used in a certain context. Some of the songs come into existence very spontaneously, sometimes really fast, within a few days. And sometimes it happens that I think that I could record this or that song again in another way, adding additional lines or using a new text, adding new instruments.. At the moment I am thinking of recording the song Ob auch mein Herz so funkelt on Flamme with female voices in Italian, Portuguese and German. This of course could be a great conception for an album like Wir rufen Deine Wölfe which would be partly Allerseelen and partly a compilation - but at the moment I do not intend to release all these songs on one cd or LP.

As we’ve discussed in the past, your travels have had a profound influence on your work in Allerseelen—for time in Venice influencing Venezia, and your travels to Spain influencing Abenteuerliches Herz—so has any recent travel had any influence on your current, or future work?

I liked a lot the landscapes of Oregon and California and was fascinated by the lighthouses close to the wild ocean - they could be a perfect thing for another concept album for Allerseelen. One song for each lighthouse.. Let´s see. During the last few years, the mountains of Austria and South Tyrol and Slovenia have been quite important for me. My current favourite flower is the Schopfige Teufelskralle or Devil´s Claw, Physoplexis comosum - maybe I will record a song for this strange flower which only grows in the Dolomiti and Julian Alps. And I already recorded a song for the Edelweiss for the Infernal Proteus compilation by Ajna in Oregon. Mountains inspired various songs I recorded during the last months. I recorded a song on mountains and love named Salz (Salt) for the Russian compilation Heilige Feuer IV that should be released this fall. The Allerseelen cd Venezia was published some years ago, but in the last six months Allerseelen performed twice in Venice, so these two live performances and all the days I spent in this magnificent place inspired me again to record some other songs. These songs will be published on the vinyl double lp version of Venezia which we will publish on Ahnstern later this year. One of the songs is the Nietzsche poem Venedig which I recorded as a completely new song with the erotic voice of the Italian artist Gaya Donadio. She is also the girl that will speak the Italian lyrics of Ob auch mein Herz so funkelt.

You performed last year with Allerseelen on the Pacific West Coast, in Portland, Seattle and San Francisco - how was your impression of the country and the people, feedback etc?

Of course I got to know only the very best parts of Oregon and California, great conversations with my friends of Ajna and Blood Axis and other people I got to know on the Pacific West Coast. I loved the magnificent volcanic landscapes, sacred mountains (Glass Mountain, Lassen Peak, Mount Shasta), crater lakes, orange poppy and poison oak, searching for cougars and lynxes. I have some great impressions from my journeys in June 2003 in Oregon and California. In Seattle, Portland and San Francisco the Allerseelen Mannschaft on stage was different from the European shows, I was on stage with two and sometimes three members of Blood Axis - Aaron contributed passionate and apocalyptic bass lines and soundscapes, Markus played his powerful pagan Schlagwerk, and Michael contributed his unique Irish bodhran drum. In Europe Allerseelen has usually on stage the great drummers of the German group Hekate and for the next live performances I will collaborate with the passionate percussionists from the Hungarian group Cawatana. I remember a fascinating summer solstice night in the desert of Northern California close to a cave with ancient rock carvings. Some hours later we were climbing on the Lassen Peak in the Lassen Volcanic National Park, again some hours later we were on stage in San Francisco in the small club Edinburgh Castle, at the beginning of the Allerseelen concert passing around the horn with mead from the organic farm of Ajna which we also had used for the solstice. We are thinking of further concerts in the United States next year - I would like to have Allerseelen combined with Blood Axis, but let´s see if this will come into existence as it won´t be too easy for the Blood Axis members to be on tour with their wolves and wolf-dogs.

And news of a 10 2LP wooden box release of all previous Allerseelen records, along with a bonus LP of unreleased material, sounds like an ambitious project. Please take us behind the scenes and explain how this idea came to being for what sounds like an Allerseelen fan’s dream!

It was an idea that M. Presch, founder of the Austrian label Ahnstern and also a musician of te rustical Austrian folklore project Sturmpercht had last winter when we met in Wien. Being a passionate lover of vinyl, he suggested to release limited double lp editions with beautiful fold-out covers of everything by Allerseelen. We then had the idea to present an even more limited edition of just 100 copies in a beautiful mahagonny red wooden box which is now almost sold out. So far two of the double lps have been released, the other ones are in preparation. We are working on a very beautiful de luxe artwork, and I am also concentrating on recording some additional songs for the forthcoming double lp editions - both efforts to make the vinyl also interesting for those who already have the cds. It is some work but I love it, it is my passion, and I have enough lust and discipline and patience to concentrate on that. The double lp Archaische Arbeiten contains photos of martial menhirs which I photographed on the magical island Corsica who in the fairy tales are ancient warriors that turned to stone. The next double lp Heimliche Welt will show photos of the Cathars´ castle Lastours in South France where the crusaders killed dozens of heretics. I will dedicate it to the victims of the crusades.

I’ve read that you view your art as magic—magic being the triumph of the spirit over matter and thus over stagnation. Could you further expound on this sentiment? Taking it a step further, is there a ritual element to the music of Allerseelen?

In some way all art is a kind of magic as it starts always from an immaterial point and becomes reality. It is a rainbow, a bridge leading from pure spirit to matter - and hopefully still containing in its manifestation some of the original divine sparks. Music can be like a soundtrack for ritual, but it can also be a ritual itself. The music of Allerseelen on the double lps Archaische Arbeiten und Heimliche Welt and also on the cd Cruor was definitely occult music. I was studying a lot the magical writings of Austin Osman Spare at that time. These recordings were for long trance-inducing soundtracks, very archaic, very dark - occult in the original sense of the word. Several people told me that they used or use Allerseelen music for magical works. My music then was a hidden, a clandestine world without words, without electronic beats. Now the music is different, the songs have more melody, they have lyrics. But music is always magical with all its power of seduction. It is always a field of force, a kind of applied mythology, applied symbolism. I like a lot the quotation by Aleister Crowley in the Book of the Law: "Success is thy proof: argue not: convert not: talk not overmuch."

You’ve declared that you dislike the idea of democratic decisions concerning art. Would this explain the solo-artist status of Allerseelen, and that collaborations with other artists are merely to fill roles (on stage or in the studio) rather than contribute writing-wise?

Art has always something of a monarchy. But I will try to avoid all political conceptions.. There are various reasons why I usually create all the music myself in a very autocratic and also egocentric way - it is much more spontaneous, and I am also able to work much faster. On one hand, I am able to work with much patience but on the other hand I often also feel the urge to finish a song within one, two days. As my music is like a diary, I of course have to write it myself. I have never written songs together with other persons. I grew up with small keyboards and the writings of Aleister Crowley, and his philosophy and cosmology of Thelema, his "Do what thou wilt" was probably more important for me than everything else I read in my whole life. Probably I have a very thelemitic point of view, and as "Every man and every woman is a star" I am glad that in Allerseelen I am able to collaborate with the drummers of Hekate and Cawatana and the great bassist of the Austrian group Graumahd. But the participants are not actors in a play named Allerseelen, they are thelemitic activists too. The easiest way for me was and is not to tell my musicians what to do on stage but just let them express themselves in the way they feel most appropriate. And the result was always perfect, some kind of a thelemitic symphony, a microcosm in which each woman, each man behaves like a star with its own orbit. Hermann Hesse has expressed in various of his books quite similar thoughts on art and life.

I’m curious to know your situation regarding the recording of your music—do you have a home studio? Do you record in spurts or do you wait to have a certain amount of material?

I am recording everything at home. I have been in a studio only once but never with Allerseelen. My archive of sounds is growing almost daily, the sounds are like the raw materials and essences an alchemist has in his collection. I am not only working but also sleeping in my archive, close to my beloved sounds which very often no one else has ever heard - I have some favourite sounds that I have never used in my life for any public recordings and maybe will never use. My archive is my dark room, and it appears to me like the interior of a mountain with many caves and mines. It is like the hall of the mountain king Sometimes I am not some melodies or rhythms for years, they remain latent - until there is this divine spark appearing at a sudden like a messenger telling me to use it in a synthesis with appropriate lyrics or another sound. With this magical moment that is known to many artists lasting less then one second it is often very easy to record a song within a few days. This is magic. My archive is a strange mixture of chaos and order, it is on one hand very chaotic which means it is forcing the hand of chance: Many things are coming into existence by chance. Very often I am discovering, re-discovering a certain sound which is perfect while actually had searched for something completely different.

Any future projects you can reveal details on, or a future glimpse into the next Allerseelen recording(s)?

Currently I am recording various songs for the forthcoming double lps which are available in the US and Canada via Ajna. This work will keep me busy for the next months. Some weeks ago I was in Budapest in the Labyrintus, a labyrinth of caves under the castle, and took a kind of oath in front of the sleeping king in the mountain, symbolized by a huge crowned head made from stone. His ear had a diameter of one meter. My oath was to record music for him. The sleeping king has been for a long time a very beautiful symbol for me. So this is one of my tasks, one of my missions for the forthcoming months and years..

Gerhard

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