Interview with Aetherius Obscuritas

Hi Viktor! Can you tell us about the meaning behind the album title, A Sors Szurke Pora?
It translates as ’The grey dust of predestination’, and it well embraces the whole album, the lyrics are – no surprise – about destiny and human nature. ’The grey dust of predestination’ is about both, and even beyound. ’Dust’ here is ambiguous, on one hand it is the common, basic material we are made of, on the other hand this grey dust is all our instinct-driven actions that dirts the white clean sheet of our present and future. Altering the future through the curtains of the past.

Your music often features atmospheric elements. Can you tell us about the importance of creating an atmosphere in your music?
It became more and more important throughout the years… it is a kind of evolution for me, and recognizing the importance of the atmosphere. I used to strongly believe that music will create an atmosphere one way or the other, but lately I rather like to pay more attention on depth and duration. Without both in place, the impression is gone. I try to get to the right balance, without making a theme boring, like the neverending songs on Mayhem’s De Misteriis. Sometimes these themes are going on and on, for no reason, and it becomes annoying after a point, as the theme already had the effect, and it continues but there aren’t any ’shots’ left. Satyricon’s Supersonic Journey on the other hand has its balances, and works for me, because it gets me into the mood but I do not get musically bored. To each his own.

How do you balance between harsh and clean vocals in your music?
Well, reviews read that AO operates with clean vocals… well, it does, but I use it only to create an atmosphere. For example, you hear 2 lines of clean vocals on the whole new album. On the previous one, it may be 4 lines. I guess these are rather memorable eventually. Actually, I do not even think of adding clean vocals, there is no such recipe or anything like this. It is usually spontaneous, and made up when I match the lyrics with the music.

Your music often deals with dark and occult themes. How does this influence your songwriting and creative process?
There are only a few songs about something ’dark’ or ’occult’. These few are rather about death or afterlife – regular, average topics that interests everyone who once was born. It is the music that gets me into the mood, the first few chords predefines the next four minutes in my case.

Aetherius Obscuritas music has been described as “unique” and “expanding” on traditional black metal elements. Can you tell us about the importance of creating a distinct sound within the genre?
I do believe that musically a record must hit a standard, otherwise it gets closer to noise than music. I know the term ’listenable’ may be on a large scale. I do not think there is a signature black metal sound, though. There are thousands and thousands of great sounds, from raw to polished, still all in the listenable spectrum. However, I believe that cca 80% of what people call black metal is closer to noise. It’s just crap in all senses, musically not digestible, which includes the fact that it is indeed not pleasant to listen to, not only because of the composition. I have always been looking for the other 20%, luckily, there are plenty. And I have always been endeavouring to make music which hits this standard. Content-wise, people are having a hard time to compare AO to other black metal bands, which is a good sign, I think. And I am really happy to read about comparisons, concrete band names, because I usually get to know about bands new to me, and I usually like those. Even though I do not always find those common points they refer to, but music is being interpreted in a million ways, who am I to question that…

The guitar work and melodies in your music are often complex and intricate. Can you tell us about the process of writing and arranging these parts?
Oftentimes I just grab my classical guitar – those songs usually end up musically more mature and more complex in composition. These are 99% ready for recording as-is, and there’s not much to add at a later point, during the recording. While there are other songs, inspired by a single harmony and mood, when I play on my Marshall. … and there are mixtures, of course. Even the bass may change a harmony – I make up the bass only during the recording, but then I would spend sometimes days or weeks to make it perfect, and I even change the guitars for the favor of something new and different made up on the bass. So I guess there isn’t a straight process.

Can you tell us about the artwork for A Sors Szurke Pora, and how it ties into the themes of the album?
The circle motive and the universe join, which represents a complex meaning: Our personal point of view, we inhabit a cosmos made real in part by our own observations. And it also represents the ’grey dust’: we are made of stars, made of the same cosmic materials, borrowed to form an unrepeatable tiny yet complex unit.

What about the role of lyrics in your music, and how does it relate to the music itself?
I always try to be true to myself, and honest to the audience. These lyrics are made up from everyday life, observations that anyone can make, wrapped in a bit more artistic form, trying to avoid cliches. Absolutely no full moon winter forest, fire and brimstone, satanic slaughter.

Can you tell us about the reception of your music in different parts of the world, and how it differs from your home country of Hungary?
A definite downside of not playing alive is this. I do not get immediate, honest reactions, extasy or hatred, everything is filtered through the virtual world. I would like to believe that my music finds its way to the few people who are in search of this very kind of music, not more and not less. I get a lot of messages from Japan, people from the surrounding countries, sometimes from the US. I think it is hard to compare the reception, because Hungary is a small country, and I know those handful of people with whom I share the scene, and the few online groups, where Hungarian black metal fans share ideas. I have no insights of the same elsewhere…

How does Aetherius Obscuritas distinguish itself within the black metal genre?
As I mentioned to your earlier point, I believe that 80% of what people call black metal is simply not music but noise. The one and only distinction I ever wanted is to be apart from this 80%. That is rather a parody. I started to label the band as ’elite black metal’ since the album ’Víziók’, but actually not because I thought my music is superior to others or it is completely unique and unrepeatable. I used this label merely to signal that your speakers won’t crack if you listen to it, and your eardrums may also survive. It may sound very basic to produce a record that has certain standards (and not everything needs to be a million-dollar record), and it is indeed basic in many genres, merely because of the method of production and the kind of instruments, but black metal is a victim, and it the perfect victim of uneducated, untalented masses who built a culture out of this nihil, and not because of musical reasons but of the strong need to belong and to stand out. This is a society that feeds and maintains itself… and I am not going into the sociology and psychology of it any deeper here, let’s just conclude I am to belong to that 20% which makes music, and does not have a compulsive desire to fit in.

How has the Hungarian metal scene influenced your music and career as a band?
I was very much influenced before- and at the beginning of AO, that influence remains in the unconscious. Beyond music, I am inspired by the people who are in the scene for decades, and producing their own music, and rehearse relentlessly, no matter the circumstances and roadblocks.

Can you tell us about your plans for the future of Aetherius Obscuritas, both in terms of music and live performances? Thank you!
I have lived enough to state that nothing is set in stone, and bold statements may not influence getting the results. After the previous full-lenght ’Mártír’, I thought that another 5-6 years will be gone before the next album would form a shape. But here we are, 3 years were spent, on paper, and actually there was only 6 months between the release date of ’Mártír’ and making the core of ’A sors szürke pora’. I have a few notes of new ideas, and I was playing a new song-skeleton even today… these are all promising signs for whoever is looking forward to get more! As for live performance, covid blew away everything, we were a minute close to be on stage, and now I do not have the line-up to make it, again. One thing is sure, AO will be back on stage, full torque, and will rip your face off each time! Today or tomorrow, that day will come!