Whorethorn Interview

Reviewing Whorethorn’s 2009 Split was a new experience for me. It left questions floating around in my mind and the urge to find out more  about the ideas behind the music. We invoked the creator of this harshness and within seconds the disturbingly scornful and articulate Malphas materialised at the furnace core and  spoke.

What’s the meaning in the name Whorethorn? Is it a simple description of your music and its philosophy or a statement hinting at subject matter or something else entirely?

I received the name in an astral experience a few years ago. The word was in my head for a while, so when I decided to start the band, it was a fitting name. So to answer your question, I don’t actually know the meaning behind it.

As your music represents, in your own words, the contempt you have for, among other things the “ensnaring confines of this world”. Can we interpret this as loathing towards the bonds that most people in our society are bound by and a yearning for the release which death must surely bring? Or the desire to see the unaware hoarding masses stripped of their treasure and driven down to base level?

When I wrote that, I was referring to the confines of this causal, physical world in which we have been trapped in. However, your interpretations are somewhat correct, as I have nothing but hatred for all but a few humans on this planet.

When describing Whorethorn on Myspace you wrote a paragraph about the music followed by: “To the illuminated ones, I salute you. To the rest of you. Remember deeply that you are worthless”. That made me smirk as I imagined the words as an ad campaign in the national press, not to garner interest for the music but as a denunciation for the general populace and their lack of substance. Would you ever consider that if it was financially viable or deem it a futile waste of time and resources?

Heh, now that’s a good question. I would like to think that it would ruin a lot of people’s day, perhaps even drive some helpless fools over the edge to suicide. But unfortunately, people believe what they want to believe, mentally “illuminating” whatever part of their pointless lives they most admire, reassuring themselves of their worth.

Also, for the price of taking out an ad in a paper that the masses would read, I could set up a profitable drug trafficking ring. Now that would be much more effective in smashing people’s fragile souls, and pissing on their stagnant set of moral values.

I’ve been puzzled by the your song ‘The Awakening of Vulfarru’ since getting the Split 2009. Who or what is Vulfarru? Is it some being or entity created by yourself or some obscure character from a forgotten theology?

It would be unwise to reveal too much about Vulfarru and his purpose. You are correct in saying that he’s an entity created by me. He is dualistic in nature, existing within me and outside of me as an independent being. Every time he is thought about, talked about, or sung about, power is channelled to him, giving him strength (that is the most basic way of describing this process.) The forthcoming Whorethorn album will be dedicated to Vulfarru and his purpose.

I find the new material is deeper, more complex and nastier. Is it fair to say that you’re trying more proficient things in your music and developing the sound in accordance with your hateful emotion? Also do you know in your head how the next installment will progress the music?

Yes, as my ideologies and beliefs became more complex it was natural for the music to follow suit. And also, as my music is meant to dig its claws in and attach itself to the listener’s sub-conscious, it would be redundant playing generic, unmemorable, basic black metal.

I already have the majority of the new album written and recorded in rough, so yes I have a pretty good idea how the music will progress! Probably to some people’s surprise, I am incorporating some old fashioned death metal into the new material, not the vocal style just some more complex riffs. The next album will, without a doubt, be my greatest work to date.

The production and style of the 2009 Split with Wojna really impressed me and it’s obvious a lot of effort went into crafting the songs. Although there are thousands of bands playing raw BM Whorethorn sounds unlike any other I have heard. Do you employ any unusual practices or recording techniques, spend hours getting everything prefect or simply smash out the tracks in a limited time and go with whatever the end result is?

Thank you. My method for creating that distinct sound is to record using the shoddiest equipment there is, and when mixing, spending lots of time to make it sound as good as possible, i.e. making sure that all the instruments can be heard and that nothing is drowned out by the harshness.

Do you plan to ever include lyrics on any future issues or are they something you consider too deeply personal to share with listeners?

I have no plans to publish the lyrics, although I will divulge necessary information to do with the new material when it is released.

The Split came out on Grim Being Records a label which you began in 2008. Did you feel the need to strike out by yourself in this direction as a result of your dealings with other labels in the past or was it simply to have greater control over your releases. Or both?

Both, but primarily to be able to release my music exactly how I envision it.

Are there any impending releases, newly signed bands or future plans from GBR that we should know about?

Which trait do you most admire in your fellow human?

Tenacity.

Are there any persons or figures from past or present, fictional or not, from whom you draw inspiration?

The stale, dogmatic moral compass that most people live by.

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