Interview by: Nox
REAVER: Kyle Severn of INCANTATION has been in & out of ACHERON for several years now & is a permanent member of both bands. I wonder, with that bands hectic recording & touring schedule, whether he has ever considered leaving INCANTATION & joining ACHERON & WOLFEN SOCIETY permanently. Having him play in both bands must be something of a strain, no?
VINCENT: Actually, INCANTATION is Kyle's main band. We had that agreement when he joined ACHERON. He's been with INCANTATION for years & they are much more busy than us. They tour all the time, while ACHERON only does select shows. So we all work around each other's schedules. And if Kyle can't do a show with us, he is very cool about us getting a "fill in" drummer to replace him for the gig(s).
REAVER: The band LETHAL PRAYER is Pittsburgh based & I have on several occasions had the oppertunity to hang out & talk with Bill Koblak (aka Belial) the lead guitarist of LETHAL PRAYER. I was wondering if as an ex-member of ACHERON, whether he was ever approached to fill the shoes of the now sadly departed Michael Estes? I have a great deal of LETHAL PRAYER's work including "Spiritual Decay" & it has much in common musically & lyrically with your band.
VINCENT: No, Belial is dedicated to LETHAL PRAYER. I wouldn't ask him to do both bands. Not to mention he was planning to move to Florida anyway, but LETHAL PRAYER is a killer band & they are satanic metal brothers of ours.
REAVER: Through the years, ACHERON has recorded for many small labels, but has never gone on to achieve major independent label status. ACHERON has always been respected & popular in the underground, so I'm sure you've been approached at one point to sign with a larger scale label, so has the decision to record for smaller labels like Black Lotus always been intentional?
VINCENT: We just go with the flow. You never know what deal is going to be good or bad, so you work out a deal with the one who seems most dedicated to promote your band. But we all know most record labels suck cock!
REAVER: I have seen the infamous ACHERON video produced by Natas Productions. I do enjoy showing it to people & watching the expressions of horror, disgust & fear across their faces. The juxtaposition of graphic sex, degredation & violence is very risible & in the extreme. I even had one viewer turn pale in shock & demand the tv be turned off. He the fled the room! Why has this amazing visual abomination never been officially released by the band?
VINCENT: It isn't our video. That video was meant to be an underground release. It is indeed a collector's item. But, I have seen it on E-bay for sale by bootleggers.
REAVER: I was a huge fan of your ex-girlfriend Synn's magazine Satan's
Sweet Slavery. There are so few magazines available for the true
Satanists. I enjoyed your articles & the rituals that you wrote & she included.
Are you ever planning on putting out your own magazine or releasing your
own teachings in book form? I'm sure many would love to read them.
VINCENT: I'd really enjoy doing something like that, but I just don't have
the time. I used to publish a magazine called "Wearwolf-age", & I even
played with the idea of doing it again. But I will have to wait until I get
some spare time.
REAVER: You lead one of the worlds greatest black metal bands & I am truely a fan, still I have over the years found it hard to classify ACHERON's music as black metal in sound. ACHERON has always deliberately strayed from the path lyrically & musically, & even though I love the new CD I was somewhat saddened when you chose to return to the sound of your early work. Will you ever explore the extraordinary style of the "For those who have risen" CD again, or will the new approach be permanent?
VINCENT: I like the direction we are taking now. Who knows what the future holds? But each album is its own entity. What they will sound like all depends on what we feel in the studio at the time of recording.
REAVER: Several years ago, I came across an extraordinary tome of Satanic thought called "An age for Lucifer". A truly mind bending & thought provoking book. Christopher Hyatt's "Psycopath's Bible" was hyped by many as the next Satanic bible. Though I prefer an age both were well done. Many are obviously searching for a new Satanic bible to replace LaVeey's or to build a new path, & I was wondering with your decision to leave the Church of Satan, do you feel there is such a thing as one true Satanic bible, one book that can truly illuminate one philosophically, magically & spiritually or do you believe all Satanists should follow their own individual path to enlightenment & create their own?
VINCENT: The Satanic Bible is a great tool, but those who only use one tool limit themselves. I am all for new thoughts of Satanic & occultic ideas. I don't limit myself to just one idea. I'm influenced by many.
REAVER: Your decision to change your distinct & ground breaking musical style caused the inevitable dismissal of Peter Gilmore. I have listened to his solo CD "The Threnody of Humanity" & I found it evocative & entertaining. Another C.O.S. classical artist LeRue DeLashey has released several brilliant CDs, most of which grace my ritual chambers frequently, I was curious as to what you thought of Mr. DeLashey's work. Considering that he is a C.O.S. priest I assume you've met & listened to it?
VINCENT: I don't think ACHERON changed our sound much at all. When you hear the new album many people know it's ACHERON. No, I have no idea who LeRue DeLashey is or what his work sounds like. Nor have I heard Peter's newer work. I haven't been interactive with the C.O.S. for several years, so I have no idea what kind of projects are going on over at their camp.
REAVER: I've always noticed that ACHERON has a distinct sound that frequently reminds me of Chuck Schuldiner's band DEATH. I've also felt this about LETHAL PRAYERs music as well. It's so sad Chuck has passed.
VINCENT: I was of course a big fan of DEATH in the early days. We actually played with them many times when I was playing guitar for NOCTURNUS in 1987. Indeed a talent that will be missed.
REAVER: Recently an article in the online magazine put out by the bullshit organization, The Southern Poverty Law Center called The Intelligence Report claimed one Bruce Alan Breeding, a former session drummer for ACHERON, was one of America's leading Neo-Nazis. It also claimed he was a member of The National Alliance & ran an online porn site. Several white power sites have reported Craig Pillard, ex-member of INCANTATION, has spent the last few years attempting to put together a white power death metal band. Has this expose on Bruce, true or false, had any negative effect on ACHERON at all? ACHERON has never been a Nazi band, but you have been attacked as right wing before, especially recently.
VINCENT: All statements made about Mr. Breeding & Pillard were indeed true. But that is their business. To each their own. ACHERON is always getting slack about these things. But this was way before Mr. Breeding got linked to Neo-Nazi groups. I could care less. ACHERON is a Satanic band. If you call it anything else, it is all just words.
REAVER: I often wonder about Satanic bands & why so many suffer accusations of racism. You certainly courted controversy with the Wolfen Society CD & your decision to use the symbol of the German flag with a pentagram instead of the traditional swastika in the middle on your site. Still, I've never understood why so many try to link Satanism with Nazism. Perhaps it's the militance of anti-Christianity. Years ago, Boyd Rice donned a military uniform & adopted the wolfshook symbol getting a rather intense reaction from the traditional industrial audience. To this day the imagry of the Third Reich holds incredible power to shock & offend, so does Satanism & it's pentagrams & inverted crosses. Perhaps are simply too shockable or thin skinned. I practice Dark Germanic Heathenism so I understand the power of such symbols as the hook cross. Would you ever use such symbolism again & if so, what purpose or meaning does it have for you?
VINCENT: Let's face it. The Third Reich used some powerful imagery. Strip away the political agenda & you still have a very powerful asthetic. ACHERON & WOLFEN SOCIETY both use Facist looking symbols. So what? People should learn the true meanings behind the symbols they condemn. Just because Hitler used certain symbols doesn't mean others shouldn't. Hell, the "cross" was waived before many murders, yet it still is placed in front of churches everywhere. I hate the politically correct scum.
REAVER: And finally... I wonder, with the band lyrically being largely based around a LaVeyan style philosophy, why ACHERON has always chosen to use more horror orientated imagry. Case in point, the cover of your latest record. It's very stylish & dare I say provocative, but still it is somewhat over the top. More Dennis Wheatley than Anton LaVey. Was it a deliberate decision to seperate yourself from your old image, or just a very cool idea for an album cover?
VINCENT: I don't try & paint us into a corner. We just use all sorts of imagry. The new cover is very symbolic to the band. It's so much more than an extreme work of art. My lyrics may be very LaVeyan, but the topics range from real ideas to dark stories of the "Devil Days". What ever feels good at the time.
