Interview with Hellcommander Vargblod (KHAOSPATH)

 

khaosritualSatania: Hello my Disciple brother and thanks for your time!

You’re from Malta. When and why did you decide to move to Sweden?

Hellcommander: I had been thinking of moving from Malta for a long time actually. Opportunity came in Autumn 2013 though to move, so as soon as I got a job and place to stay fixed, I moved along with my family! Basic motives for moving were lack of nature in Malta (forests, rivers, mountains etc..), lack of personal space, and the cold weather, or as I call it.. Black Metal Weather.

S.: Were the acclimatization and the cultural inclusion hard?

H.: Well I knew that Malta and Sweden are a totally different culture so to speak, but it did not take me long to adapt to Sweden’s way of life and not long after I was introduced to the Metal community of the area I live in and hence finding members for Khaospath. I was also lucky that one of my favourite Swedish bands Vintersorg reside in the same hometown!

S.: How was Khaospath born?

H.: Khaospath was actually born while still in Malta. I was writing music for my one man band Draugul and some of the material was coming out way too extreme to fit into Draugul so I decided to start another band. I was not taking it too seriously at first actually but the current record label I had at the time for Draugul heard the Khaospath material and wanted to release it as well! The first Khaospath album „Synagoga Obscura“ was in fact then released shortly after I moved to Sweden.

S. As much as I know in Malta there is a really active extreme scene (even one of the bands on ASOS is from there and you played in it), but you decided to do Swedish black metal in Sweden. How challenging was it to you?

H.: Well I was always into the Swedish Black Metal scene. My favourite black metal bands are mostly from Sweden (namely Bathory, Watain, Dissection, Dark Funeral, amongst others!). So I guess subconsciously the influence of playing Swedish Black Metal was already within me!
As you rightly said, yes one of the bands playing this year in ASOS is from Malta and whilst living in Malta I was also part of that same band! So it is going to be fun to meet the old guys again!

S.: What will be the feeling to be on one stage with your ex – bandmates?

H.: As previously said, I look forward to it and share the stage once again with them! We are still all very good friends! I did not leave the band in a fight or something.. so we remained really close!

S.: Do you think, that the messages and the influence of your music would be any different if Khaospath were a Maltese and not a Swedish band?

H.: I do not think so actually. As I mentioned previously, I was always into the Swedish Black Metal scene so the influences was already there. But of course living actually in Sweden influences the style a bit more, especially musically. Lyrical themes I cannot say they would have varied as I always stuck to write about my beliefs and points of view. Although our second album, one cannot say that it revolves around my beliefs per se, as it is a retelling in a Satanic way of one of Shakespeare’s most acclaimed plays – Macbeth!

kaospathband

S.: You’re a member of Watain Disciples. What does Erik’s art give you in personal and professional point of view?

H.: Yes I am Disciple #731. I always regarded Watain as the band that gave a rebirth to Black Metal.
For a time Black Metal seemed to take a toll „downhill“ so to speak and many bands began to lose the real „value“ of what black metal really means. The message behind Watain is a complex one and it certainly does not speak to everyone, which is a good thing. Black Metal should not be for everyone. It only speaks to those who REALLY understand its meaning and quoting Erik in one of his interviews: „Black Metal should be kept explosive, burning, toxic and dangerous! If you (not YOU as in the interviewer 😉 ..) do not like this… you may very well fuck off!“

S.: Have people reproached you, that Khaospath’s music has a huge Watain influence? Is that a compliment for you or not?

H.: We always strive to keep the style as our own. It is hard not to be influenced by certain bands but of course, one tries not to copy other band’s styles and up till now I think we managed to keep the Khaospath sound as one of our own. But if one reads the reviews we got for our latest album, there were a couple who mentioned that our material at times was reminding them of Watain in the Casus Luciferi era. At the end I choose to take it as a compliment as being compared to one of the biggest Black Metal entities of our age.

S.: For 4 years you’ve had 2 albums. Which are you going to focus on your set?

H.: For our ritual at ASOS, Khaospath shall have tracks from both albums and as well as completely new track we wrote recently and is going to be played live for the first time there in Sofia! So be prepared!

S.: Are you working on new matrerial or you’ve been dedicated on other activities at the moment?

H.: At the moment we are writing our third blasphemy, and is going to be entitled „Gospel of the Serpent Tongue“. It is not sure yet when it is going to be ready, but probaby some time late in 2018. We are not hurring with the new material. We want this album to explode in the faces of our fans. We want this third album to be a special one, so definately this is gonna take more time and dedication so as to achieve the final result that we have currently in mind!

S.: Where else out of Sweden have you played and what are you expectations from Bulgarian audience?

H.: Apart from Sweden, we have up till now played in Malta and Finland and we are looking forward to hit the stage in Bulgaria! We heard good things about the Bulgarian metalheads and we are expecting to see some brutality down at the moshpit!

S.: Final words to the fans.

H.: All at the Khaospath horde are looking forward to make our presence there! We are honoured to be part of the line up! We hope it is going to be a good turnout and to all those present at our ritual, you will not be disappointed! Prepare yourselves to witness Hell!!

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