TERRORIZER PRESENTS: THE DEVIL’S MUSIC INTERVIEW

By Kim Kelly

*Original, uncut, & unpublished interview taken from the pages of Terrorizer Presents: The Devil’s Music (May 2013). Original published interview excerpts taken from special's feature “Black Metal: In League with Satan”

Black Metal: In League with Satan

With Chronos firmly representing the “Satan is a metaphor” camp, we then turn to consult another seminal force in black metal’s cursed evolution: VON mastermind VENIEN. As the progenitor of one of North America’s most influential and evil minded extreme music hallmarks, his insights were illuminating, to say the least.

“The roots of my evil ignorance and selfishness had evoked Satan and other dark things into my young psyche at one time or the other,” he began. “Ultimately, it became a dominant presence and an essential step in my evolution, but in the end dictates nothing. The evolved path of curiosity of a dark nirvana became an obsession of mine and it reflects itself within the writings and music in the grand scheme of that chapter in VON. In my experience through the years, the hidden and obscure worlds under the layers of modern society are real and for the most part secret to most. My path is to expose and transmit rage, dread, savagery, cold truths, and evil and darkness within us all and some specific scenarios that some act out in the bowels of the shadows.”

*Uncut Extended Interview (unpublished)

Kim Kelly:
We’re doing a special issue on the occult and its impact on extreme metal, so of course my first thought was: VON! After all, who else has made a fraction of the impact that VON can claim? Would you say that you were one of the first bands to really embrace the evil Satanic element that has become so important to black metal?

VENIEN:
Sabbath, Venom, Slayer, Sodom, and many others before my life in music, they were around infecting minds long before VON. Those before me were bands that embraced the elements of darkness and the heart of blackened metal, which to me is the true form of black metal.

Kim Kelly:
The concept of Satan was intrinsic to many of your earlier songs; how have things changed since then? Are you still a Satanist, or have your beliefs evolved?

VENIEN:
The roots of my evil ignorance and selfishness had evoked Satan and other dark things into my young psyche at one time or the other in the context of your question. Ultimately, inside the act of Satanic Blood and other writings I had done in the past, a significant part of the world I live in, it became a dominant presence and an essential step in my evolution, but in the end dictates nothing. The evolved path of curiosity of a dark nirvana became an obsession of mine and it reflects itself within the writings and music in the grand scheme of that chapter of VON and those to follow now within Dark Gods.

Kim Kelly:
The lyrics to “MONSTER!” give some clues to where you stand on religion at least – “I reject all religions, I defy your gods, I dictate my existence, I resist enslavement.” Were you raised religious? How did you come to embrace this total hatred and rejection for organized religion?

VENIEN:
MONSTER! and other songs within the Dark Gods albums exposes the taboo and dark shadows of our species, society, and our fragile minds. VON is but a means of displaying these writings and music. Most human beings need many things to root themselves and to avoid tapping into the savage twisted genes within, those dark strands of code that seems to want to stretch its wings within our DNA. MONSTER! is an analysis of some of those in a position of trust within a holy or unholy doctrine and seem to have an obsessive manipulative nature to prey on the innocent and weak. My path is to expose and transmit rage, dread, savagery, cold truths, and evil and darkness within us all and some specific scenarios that some act out in the bowels of the shadows.

Kim Kelly:
You always present yourself as a fiercely individualistic person, with no pretense or bullshit. How did you come to this attitude? Did you ever get into any Nietzsche, Machiavelli, or other philosophers who supported the ideas of autonomy and supremacy?

VENIEN:
Realization, clarity, and acceptance of the final outcome that our species will ultimately succumb to their tribal and savage nature on a massive scale at some point and time, that is a hard pill to swallow for most, but I took it many years ago. But I don’t dwell in others opinions, philosophies, or direction. I reject all equally holy or unholy, but I still put my pants on the same way you do, one leg at a time. The act of being evasive, manipulative, and politically correct serves no one nothing but a false truth for the weak minded slave to society itself. There will be many that despise me and those that will REVOLT! and take control of their lives, I only concern myself with myself in the end, I dictate my own existence.

Kim Kelly:
What are your thoughts on the occult? Are you interested, are you a student of occult and magickal theories, or does it not really interest you?

VENIEN:
In my experience through the years, the hidden and obscure worlds under the layers of modern society is real and for the most part secret to most. I am not a student of any of the organized ways or aspects from the secret worlds of the occult. To do so would be contradictory to my path.

Kim Kelly:
Your lyrics mention the “Dark Gods” – who are they? What is their significance?

VENIEN:
Look around, look within, they stand besides us, behind us, inside us. The words and music took many fragments from my life experiences and knowledge I have come to realize and they were put to music to tell my story through my own MONSTER! I call VON. There are many things to say and it became more than just one album worth. Each album has its own unique footprint but has many of the same elements, but all under one agenda, one story. Satanic Blood, Dark Gods, and Black Coming of VENIEN, are all part of that larger story that will be told and will come to an end like many stories before it.

Kim Kelly:
Where do you think you’ll end up when you die?

VENIEN:
In a box

(Source: Terrorizer Presents The Devil’s Music) *magazine defunct