ORTHODOX DIVINITY
Having been given the dubious title of “the most primitive, filthy black metal ever to grace these pages” back in Issue 10, I wondered whether Orthodox Divinity’s Regurgitator would want to emerge from his crypt to speak with us; fortunately he was able to read me well enough to understand that filthy and primitive ALWAYS mean brilliant in my nasty, blackened book, and was gracious enough to shed some light on his own high standards, the problems and promise of modern black metal, and the sources of inspiration for a musical form so corrosive, it’ll wilt your house plants.
Hierophant Nox: Hail Regurgitator, how are you doing?
Regurgitator: I’m alright, thanks.
HN: We were recently introduced to your project Orthodox Divinity, which you began this year – what were the inspirations behind its foundation? Have you been involved in other projects previously?
R: I’ve been involved in a few other projects previously, all of which have been disbanded for Orthodox Divinity, on the basis that I want to focus all my energy on one thing rather than six, which has sometimes been the case in the past. My main inspiration for creating Orthodox Divinity is that I have a strong passion for black metal, Most of my other projects centred around Grindcore, and they were all pretty ‘run of the mill’.
HN: You describe Orthodox Divinity as ‘orthodox black metal’; what does this particular tag mean to you?
R: This tag, to me, means black metal, which rather than being completely hateful and rage-fuelled, is more philosophical and ritualistic; however, Orthodox doesn’t necessarily follow this, I try to combine the religious elements of orthodox black metal with more ‘standard’ black metal, mainly because most black metal bands nowadays are just Burzum and Mayhem rip-offs. I want to combine the sound and lyrical themes of orthodox black metal and raw black metal, Just to be ‘different’ I suppose.
HN: What is it about the genre of black metal that most appealed to you originally? What does the style have the power to express that other approaches lack?
R: Like I said previously, most bedroom black metal bands are just Varg-loving, Burzum re-creators. Orthodox black metal’s religious and philosophical elements interest me more than the typical ‘forests of despair’ and “Freezing Moon” covers that are plaguing black metal.
HN: In April you unleashed your debut demo, “Thy Deity”. Are you pleased with the way this release turned out? Have you received positive responses to it?
R: Honestly, I’m not pleased, I’ve had a lot of feedback, all of which has been overall positive, however, the criticisms have been very accurate, I agree with most of the criticisms my demo has had. I feel I could have put a lot more work into it, which I would have, if time constraints were not an issue.
HN: What does “Thy Deity” represent in terms of your creative output so far? Is it the sum of your compositions, or a sample of what you have produced?
R: The demo represents very little of my creative output, I don’t personally feel that I put enough effort into the songs and compositions. I’ve taken all criticisms on board and intend on rectifying my mistakes.
HN: The anti-Christian element of your work is, of course, extremely strong. What are the key ideas that your material expresses, and what do your songs convey to the listener?
R: The key ideas that my material expresses, is as you said, partly Anti-Christian. However, I also plan on introducing an all over anti-religious aspect to the music, also I plan on incorporating some misanthropic and anti-humanitarian themes.
HN: Do you find it easy to find inspiration for your work? What are the main sources from which you draw?
R: I find it relatively easy to draw inspiration for my work. My anti-religious beliefs, and interest in religion, especially biblical tales, are very influential to me. Also, I draw some inspiration from my interest in history, recent and ancient; war particularly interests me.
HN: How does the song-writing process work with you? Do you work up from the idea of one riff, or do you have an idea of the whole ‘feel’ of a track before you begin?
R: I generally brainstorm how I want a track to sound before I do anything with it; I record the guitar parts, I program the drums to suit the guitars, which is not one of my strengths. As you will hear from the, frankly abysmally, composed drum tracks on the demo.
HN: The production on “Thy Deity” was exceptionally raw – was this a matter of necessity, the release being your first demo, or is the chaos of the sound an integral part of your musical philosophy?
R: Although raw music is not to everybody’s taste, I enjoy it a lot. Raw music has a mysterious and intense atmosphere to it, which adds to the enjoyment. So, the raw element of Orthodox Divinity is somewhat intentional, however, with such low-quality recording equipment, its unavoidable. Not a problem to tell the truth.
HN: Black metal, perhaps more than other genres, has to perform a fine balancing act in terms of credibility- it seems that its followers all too easily dismiss it for being on too large a label, for not being on a label at all, for being too backward-looking, for being too modern… is it difficult to operate separately from the expectations and judgements of such a back-biting audience and peers?
R: You either enjoy my music or you don’t, if you have a problem with the fact that I’m not signed to a label, or if I don’t look ‘trve’ enough, then you are missing the concept of music, it’s not what the band looks like or who they associate with, it is what they create. If you can’t see past that appearances or status, you should avoid metal music altogether and turn on your radio.
HN: Which artists do you yourself most respect? Which were the bands that had most impact on you when you were first discovering extreme metal?
R: When I was younger I grew up on a lot of my parent’s music, Such as 80’s ‘cheese’, and a lot of punk, new wave, hard rock and alternative. Now that I’m somewhat more ‘educated’ in music, I respect many bands, a lot of which do influence me heavily in creating music. Classic Bands such as Venom, Bathory, Hellhammer, Celtic Frost, Motorhead, Darkthrone and Black Sabbath. And more modern bands like Shining, Taake, Watain, Ofermod, Corpus Christii, Deathspell Omega – to name a few.
HN: You are part of a small but fierce cadre of UGBM artists from Scotland; is there any sense of a scene up there? Any fellow artists that you would recommend?
R: There is a small yet strong black metal scene up in Scotland. Some bands I would recommend looking out for are Deamonolith, Cnocantursa, Ainshival, Triskele… There are many I could rattle off, but I’ll leave it up to the reader to do some research.
HN: Is it a part of your plan to develop Orthodox Divinity into a full line-up, or will it always remains a one-man project?
R: Orthodox Divinity always was, and always will be a one-man project. I have no need for other members, as I have no intentions of playing live. I prefer my own company when I’m making music.
HN: Are you working on new material at the moment? Will a full-length release follow “Thy Deity”? What can we expect from your next venture?
R: I want to continue learning and improving my style and music before I attempt a full-length. However, I am planning two, possibly three, splits in the near future with some Scottish Black Metal Bands.
HN: Is it your aim to associate Orthodox Divinity with a label? If so, what kind of organisation are you looking to sign with?
R: Right now, I have no intention of signing to a label, I find it much easier to produce and distribute releases myself. Like I said previously, I’m a solitary worker.
HN: What are your ultimate goals for the project? Are there any milestones you have set for yourself?
R: None so far, right now I just want to make music and enjoy creating it.
HN: Thank you for taking the time to talk with us; if you have any further messages for the world, please go ahead:
R: Thanks for the interview and the interest in my project, and to anybody that has heard my music, thanks for the support.
Regurgitator.
