The bond between Dysangelium and Hole In The Svn started in late 2017 as HITS organised their very first live ritual in February 2018, since then they offered their support for the band and now, upon the release of their latest opus “Death Leading”, they feel it is a good time to bring the northerns back to Kassel and spread the word of the void.”

HITS: Hi, please introduce yourselves.

Sektarist 0: Thank you HITS, what remains to be said really? We’re Dysangelium, hailing from Kiel in northern Germany. We play Black Metal. Our members consist of A.N.L, C.H., Cruor, Sektarist 0 and T. and we’re together like this for round about two and a half years now.

HITS: You started the band 11 years ago and to this day, you’ve had 5 releases, 2 demos, 2 full lengths and a split with Ain. In today’s world, where bands are releasing material every year, it seems like you are taking your time and not in a hurry to release music. What is the reason for it?

Sektarist 0: When the band first started, there was a lack of real direction, I think. Songs were written and some live shows were performed as well, but we felt no need to record an album of some sort. There have been at least some rehearsal recordings though, but those were never released to the public. After four years and some lineup changes, we released our first demo “Exordium” in 2013 and after that, everything went rather quick for us. Some more shows, the deal with World Terror Committee, first European tour with Ascension, Bölzer and Vassafor end of February 2014, the teaser demo “Leviaxxis” in August and the release of “Thánatos Áskēsis” that same year in December. Then it went more quiet yes, the split with Ain was also recorded but saw the light of day somewhere in 2015, but otherwise we played some shows here and there. If I remember correctly, 2017 was when we really focused back on writing music, some more lineup changes happened and we took some time to break in our new member and welcomed our bassist on the guitar. When we were done with recording, artwork and layout, it took a bit more time with releasing “Death Leading” than we’d thought, but that’s a whole different story, but all in all we took two years really writing music. And yes, of course we didn’t want to release something rushed and incomplete and the reviews of “Thánatos Áskēsis” were great, so we were kind of pressured to deliver with the next installment. And sure we did. We had time to dive deeper into what we want Dysangelium to be and what style we wanna play.

HITS: Dysangelium became quite the travelers with shows in Holland, Israel, Hungary and a future South American tour is in the works as well. Do you feel satisfied with the direction the band is taking?

Sektarist 0: Yes, I think it’s always great for an artist to see growth in his art. So far we’re very satisfied with how it turned out, I mean, if you would tell any of us we would be invited to Israel or Hungary to play a show back in 2010, we probably wouldn’t believe you. Mexico is the new thing that just came up recently, and we’re stoked about it. Now all we have to do, is not take another 5 years for a new album and see where we’re going next, musically and literally.

HITS: Your new album “Death Leading” is brilliant and completely different from your previous releases, the feeling I get when I listen to it is that you keep evolving with every release while not succumbing to musical trends and “whatever sells”, you just follow and push the borders of your creative musical imagination. What brought you to choose this concept for this album?

T: As cliché as it sounds, we never went for any trends when writing songs. We just wrote music the way we liked it. As every writing musician we’ve been inspired by music we’re listening to, events in our lives and so on. These outer influences are constantly changing, as the musical result does. Also, with growing experience and confidence, your own expectations towards quality are rising.

HITS: In the song “Homo Larvalis” there is quite a criticism about men who lost their old ways and the corruption of human kind and society. Please elaborate on that.

Sektarist 0: You’re right, it’s less of an occult song, as it is more about a disdain for people who don’t care about history, religion, philosophy or anything, really. Men who are caught in a materialistic world, where words mean nothing and the only things of importance are the next phone or what’s “in” right now, people who have no real identity besides ranking as an externally controlled sheep among peers.

HITS: Is every member of Dysangelium involved in the composition of your album and general artistic choices ? Can you tell us a bit more about your own creative process ?

T: At times some of us are more involved than others in these processes, but this changes from song to song. Some songs, from the very first riff to the last note, are written in the rehearsal room. In most cases some of the basic ideas for a song come up at home and are brought to the rehearsals, where the rest is written and arranged together. There are no musical or general artistic decisions that are made without everyone’s consent.

HITS: What is the spiritual ideology or philosophy that drives you both as individuals and as a band? Do you think it can become a limit to your creativity? 

Sektarist 0: I wouldn’t say we follow a specific ideology, we share more of a philosophical view about life and death and what it means or is its purpose to live and be truly alive. And no, I don’t think it could limit our creativity. Limitations are only set by yourself, if you can’t be creative in a certain topic anymore, go look for another. Make yourself familiar, read, think, draw connections. If you don’t do stuff like that, you’ll quickly run into an impasse.

HITS: How would you define your relationship to local promoters and, more widely, the German black metal scene in general ? What would you like to see emerging in this microcosm?

Sektarist 0 & T: We’re from northern Germany, so there is no relationship to local promoters. We have some friends in the deeper western and eastern parts of Germany who regularly put up shows and occasionally invite us to play. A call we always happily answer, and that’s it. Same with the German “scene”, we’re friends with some bands and people, but are mostly isolated due to our location, up here, there’s not much going on.

HITS: Dysangelium and Hole In The Svn goes back to the very first installment we ever put on. What were your impressions from that evening?

Sektarist 0: I think, we all have fond memories of that evening (or lack thereof). All bands kicked ass, the overall sound was great and the crowd was plenty and motivated. Everything was arranged properly, no delays, everything went smooth. All that are the reasons we return in April.

Dysangelium will co-headline Hole In The Svn: Transzendenz alongside Malakhim, Theotoxin and KVR. The interview was conducted by Hole In The Svn for undergrounded.de and Sektarist 0 and T. from Dysangelium