Acheron

MM: I read you used a session guitarist for the making of this album. Please tell our readers about this member and if you plan to bring in full-time members?
VC: Well, Acheron has been myself, Kyle Severn and Max Otworth for some time now. When we play live, we like to have two guitarists. Ash Thomas from Estuary was helping us out with some shows we had planned in the United States and a few in Brazil. He ended up learning most of the new songs from “THE FINAL CONFLICT: Last Days of God”. So we asked him if he would be interested in recording the album with us as a second guitarist. He agreed and everything worked out great! Ash is a great person and easy to work with. Obviously, he already had his hands full with Estuary, so he really couldn’t dedicate the time to being in another band that lived a couple hours away, but we knew that from the beginning. We did end up enlisting a second full-time guitarist named Art Taylor, though, who was formerly from the band Wehrwolf. He’s been working out great and we plan to have him on the next Acheron album. He’s another talented guitar shredder, so I can’t wait!

MM: One of the standout tracks, in this humble writer’s opinion, is “Salvation Through Hatred.” Please tell our readers about writing the music and lyrics for this track.
VC: That song was something I really wanted to sound, “Old school death metal!” It has many catchy riffs that you can bang your fist to. The lyrics pretty much speak of a person who is rebelling against all the hypocrisy and bullshit of the world today. He is the new breed of a group of select people we call “The Heathens.”

MM: On the inside cover of “The Final conflict” you make a bold statement about how religion has always caused humanity strife. Would you cite this believe as one of the reasons for leaving The Church of Satan?
VC: Yes and no, when I joined the Church of Satan, it was more of a think tank for like-minded individuals. Anton LaVey was a mentor and inspiration to me, but sometime after he died, I noticed a new breed of Satanists emerging. It was the Cyber Satanists. Many members we only concerned about what rank they could get or how high they could climb the hierarchy ladder. Not everyone was like this, but I couldn’t represent an organization that was turning into what I was against….Organized Religion! I am not anti-COS; I just don’t feel the need for being a part of ANY group or organization anymore. I am fine on my own in my Church Of One!



MM: Did your last couple of albums show you switching from a satanic lyrical stance to one of anti-religious themes?
VC: First off, Satanism to me is not religious. It is a philosophy and lifestyle. So this new album is still very Satanic in my eyes. Acheron has always been very anti-religious. Herd mentality makes me sick! And yes, even some in the so-called Satan world can be black sheep too! I’ve done many bluntly satanic albums with Acheron as with straightforward themes, symbols and aesthetics. Now, I want to give the fans other dark topics to check out. Acheron will always be a satanic entity, but that doesn’t mean we have to say “Hail Satan” in every song. Satanic bands can evolve and experiment with new ideas—and we will!

MM: In addition to penning these heathen ideas, you also wrote a couple of tunes about the end of the world. Do you think the idea of the end times is possible or just another fear tactic taken by religious institutions?
VC: A beginning always has an end, so you just never know, but a fear of the obliteration of the planet helps to keep religious groups full of members. Many people like to cause drama in their life and live to be stressed out. The concept story of this album is that the world continues under a new way of life. A new age begins, as the old one is buried.

MM: The idea of no afterlife is scarier than hell to many people. Does this idea make for songs as dark as Satanic ones?
VC: Most Satanists (at least the LaVeyan types), don’t believe in an actual Hell or Satan. Sure people fear that when it all ends that is it! We are finished! I personally believe our life force and energy just continues in some other form of life. It may not be the personality or creature you are now, but the very essence of your being lives on. That is very scientific. Actually is proven to be true. Energy can never die, it just manifests into something else. I guess with the belief of a Heaven and Hell there is always a 50/50 chance they will live in paradise. (Ha, Ha) Fucking idiots!

MM: Acheron began its career in the late eighties, during death metal’s first wave. Since that time, death metal has gone through many transformations. What are your thoughts on death metal entering its fourth decade?
VC: Every generation has its own interpretation of what they think death metal is. That is fine. It is still an underground type of music, which is not for the masses. As long as the scene can stay open-minded and embrace the different forms of this dark art, the music will continue to thrive. Many said that this music was going to be dead after its 15 minutes of fame. Well, guess what? It Didn’t!

http://www.myspace.com/acheron

Article by Darren Cowan