MM answered an interview for some new webzine or other about a month ago, only to be told the editor has abandoned his project. Ironic after reading MM’s comments about zines in this very interview! The guy really could have asked better questions too if you ask me but anyway it’s interesting enough to post here instead!
To start with something different, what have you been listening to this week?
The Clemencic Consort version of Carmina Burana is usually in regular rotation. It’s my favourite version as it’s quite characterful and distinct. It’s got more energy than other versions.
Apart from that, Christian Death’s “Only Theatre of Pain”, even though I know it’s just Joy Division with theatrical gothic frills. That and Sepultura’s “Beneath the Remains”.
What’s happening with Hammemit these days? Isn’t there any chance of more noisier stuff in the Emit vein ever being recorded again?
I’m still working on the “Morthwork” LP. I’m also recording a cover/reworking of a Christos Beest track for a forthcoming official CD collection of his old musick.
I think I came to a dead end with the “noise” side of things so I doubt I’d ever do anything in that direction again. I know there are people who would like me to do that, but I think I can go further with my current style.
What’s the lineup for Hammemit now? In the past you used session musicians like the Ofermod guy Atum and you had four members on the Spires album?
It’s just me at the moment. The four members on “Spires…” were sort of an “inside-joke”. I’m not against collaborations with others but I don’t think there’s much need now. In the past it was mainly percussion that others helped with but I’m not using percussion anymore except as brief accentuations. Having said that, “Atum” as you call him once wrote an entire Emit track by himself for the unreleased “Mother of Blood” LP, but he’s a unique exception. I doubt anyone else would understand where I’m coming from.
What happened to Atum anyway? Did he convert to Christianity? Did that piss you off or come as a shock? What about the lost Ofermod album Pentagram?
Oh, the drama…! Emil/Atum/Adiatrikon/etc gave a long interview with a zine called Serpent Bearer some years ago about his conversion. He was baptised into the Catholic faith, yes and he’s still making music with Reverorum ib Malacht. He’s one of the strangest and most intense people I’ve met, a real manic enthusiast about anything that interested him. I wasn’t really surprised about his “change” and I’ve nothing against it either. We spent nearly two weeks visiting various churches and ruins, dragging our girlfriends around after us, haha.
The “lost” Ofermod album was called “Pentagrammaton” actually, but it’s not for me to talk about any of that. Michayah is the black metal Pete Doherty.
I’m a total Mayhem fanatik (up to 1993 anyway). I’m interested what you think of the recent Life Eternal CD with early mixes of tracks from DMDS?
It’s another useless cash-in. Out of idle curiosity I’ve just listened to the tracks a bit on youtube as I never bothered listening to them before now. There’s hardly any difference from the known versions and I know this album better than my own probably. Wow, there’s the 2 second “missing” drum intro from Funeral Fog! Attila ought to be raped in the face for “unearthing” this. At least Morgan from Marduk had the decency to just sell his (instrumental) rough mix of “De Mysteriis…” on ebay, haha.
You’re something of a Abruptum fanatic aren’t you? What’s the appeal to you? I always thought they kind of sucked?
I’m no “fanatic” I only really like their “In Umbra…” album. I’ve just written a piece about it for a book called Black Metal Revolution, so I’m not really interested in discussing it again so soon. Suffice to say that that specific album inspired me with its horrific atmosphere, initially for Emit, but I don’t think there’s anything recognisably Abruptum-like in Hammemit apart from in spirit maybe.
You used to put out a printed zine called Anti Art Manifesto. What’s the difference if any between printed zines and web based ones?
I think that before the internet, pretty much every fanmade zine out there was worth reading to a greater or lesser extent. It takes real effort, time and money to make a printed zine and that’s why so few of them made/make it past three issues or so. But that required level of dedication meant that there were hardly any zines out there edited by lazy retarded idiots with stupid opinions. Or you just didn’t buy them if there were.
Then in the early days of the (mainstream accessible) internet there were hardly any places for metal interviews and reviews etc. There was ANUS and some Swedish guy called Marcus or something and that’s all I remember. So those people were dedicated too, because putting websites up back then was hard work also.
And now… everything’s very easy. Every idiot has access to the internet and every one of these mundane idiots wants to make his “opinion” known to everyone else. Well, that’s the difference between “the old days” and now. Idiots had little or no voice because they were too lazy to do anything but now they’re all on the web shouting everyone else down and saying how their opinions are worth the same as anyone else’s.
Would Hammemit ever play live?
I suppose I’m not against it in principle but I find gigs a bit weird to be honest. I can’t see the point in them. I’ve been to a couple in the distant past to see what it was about but I never really got it. I have some live albums of course but that’s different. I listen to those for the same reason as I might listen to some rehearsal tape or whatever.
I sometimes play tracks from the “Spires…” album at home and obviously they sound a lot different from the recorded versions as they’re kind of improvised to start with, but it could be done. But I don’t see the point.
There’s always a lot of photographs in Hammemit releases. Do you take all these yourself? What significance do they have and so on? The inside photo to Nature mystic with the bird flying must have taken ages to capture!
Yes I take them all myself. I quite enjoy it and I have an excellently terrible digital camera with no zoom function whatsoever that gives the photos a strange quality sometimes. I really like the disc image photo to the “Spires…” album, I think that was taken at Salisbury cathedral.
The significance to some of the photos is entirely personal, there’s stuff just out of camera shot or event that has happened at that location. They all individually relate to the lyrics and concept obviously, not just because they look suitably “cool”, which is why with “Spires…” they’re attached to separate lyrics in the booklet.
The “Nature Mystic” photo was just luck actually. Spend enough time out in the wilderness and you’re more likely to witness interesting things.
Last words?
I always hate these last parts of interviews. Thanks anyway.
