There is mention somewhere of an opus called “The Way of Barren Lyghts”. What happened to it?
K.: 'The Way Of Barren Lyghts' (the mispelling of the I as a Y is deliberate) was going to be the first release as Abyssidious. It started life as the final piece of music for a previous project but went down a much different route so it made sense to me to let this take on it's on life anew. However, over the course of time I was constantly working and working on this and, after I settled on the name ABYSSIDIOUS, where I wanted to take this adventure had shifted and I started work on the demo 'Murk & Malice', which I wrote, recorded and released in a short span of time. 'The Way Of Barren Lyghts' remains 90% finished, the material is much different to 'Murk & Malice' and to where I'm going now. It's much more mechanical, more industrialised and repetitive yet retaining the psychedelia and dissolution. There is one track available online somewhere as part of some compilation and some of that music has found it's way it some form or another onto 'Murk & Malice' and onto a new release that is now practically finished. I've actually revisited the material lately and it still means a great deal to me as working on it was a really important process for me, both personally and artistically. So, it may likely see the light of day at some point...
What is “Abyssidious”? “Abyss” and “insidious”, perhaps?
K.: That's essentially correct! I was brainstorming a suitable name and I came up 'Insidious Abyss' which I thought was kind of corny and way too on the nose but I liked what the name implied. So I played around with it and came up with ABYSSIDIOUS which still expressed the initial feeling I wanted to find but it also is very similar to the word 'assiduous' which means to persevere or take great care in something which was kinda profound to me. My take on what the name means is pretty much that the end is always waiting so you should persevere in whatever it is that you do - hence the similar spelling to assiduous. I also think that whilst it could be easily attached to a black/death metal band and certainly FEELS like it has that spirit, you could also attach that name to a band of other genres which is important to me. It also, very strangely, conjures up 'Creeping Death' by Metallica, hah! I also think band names should feel nice to say and it does, does it not??
It seems like there’s a deliberate attempt to remove yourself as a person from this project. Why?
K.: It wasn't really that deliberate in the beginning, I wasn't in any bands and was just doing everything by myself so I didn't really have a face for what I was doing. Plus I'm incredibly self conscious, don't like attention and I don't think that I'm a particularly interesting nor an important person. It became a slightly more deliberate attempt to hide myself after a while but I didn't keep up the small effort either way and also it stresses importance on your identity in the end, it's not like anybody cares either way and I'm pretty adept at avoiding people anyway hah. I think you can tell from the lack of social media promotion that I just kind of put my music out there and if you want it, you'll find it....
Is it something to do with ego-death, maybe? This seems to be a common theme in your comms.
K.: Perhaps, yes it was something to do with that. I was actually obsessed with the concept of ego-deathduring the time before starting work on the demo and for about six months after, as I was desperately trying to escape myself during this time (and honestly my entire life until recent times) so I likely took this yet another way of doing so (this isn't really what the ego-death actually entails though). I'm still very fascinated with the concept though, whilst I was certainly influenced by it's origins in mysticism I apply it to that kind of 'flow' you have when working on a piece of art. Where ultimately you surrender yourself entirely to the process and you become part of it.
You don’t publish lyrics anywhere, so far as I can tell. Another gesture towards ego-death?
K.: Well, I only released the one demo so far with Abyssidious! Plus, I did everything myself (I regret the art choice quite honestly) so I would have struggled to fit everything in that little tape space! This is likely nothing to do with ego-death, I don't really write lyrics coherently. It always begins with a deep emotional core but I write more in imagery rather than 'this song is about this and this is what I have to say about it' and I also push my vocals low in the mix, so it's not really sing along, pound your fist type of music so I guess I just don't deem it necessary to publish them. It would make more sense to accompany each song with an image, as that's kind of how I go about writing lyrics. I go with a certain feeling or image that the music gives me and I write in a kind of metaphorical way, trying to describe that feeling or place using words as a paintbrush. Ludicrous perhaps, but that's just the way I do business. I might publish in future though.
The few lyrics you have released are fairly obscure. I get the sense they are supposed to “do” something, rather than meaning anything in particular. Is it this intuition accurate?
K.: That's correct! The same with how I push my vocals down in the mix, I like the idea that they should kind of work their way into your head and make you see the images and places that I'm coming from and feel those feelings without me telling you directly how to feel them. I think that actually ties in with the band name also. The other thing that I am doing, is that I'm trying to create my own musical and artistic language, not like in a fantasy way it's something very real and very personal. But a way of expressing myself that's mine. For example the deliberate spelling of 'Light' as 'Lyght', it has a different meaning to me and also I phrase things kind of strangely on purpose, both in song titles and in the way I phrase my lyrics. I want to do the same thing with my imagery and artwork.
Be that as it may, let me probe you on certain points: who is it exactly that has a “chokehold on divinity”?
K.: It refers to taking down oppressive lies, illusions, deities and structures.
Who or what is “the All” and where can I find his/her feet?
K.: 'The All' is whatever it is that you surrender yourself to. Nature, Art, the Universe, Satan, God, utter liberation, life, death, sex, love... It's feet? You just have to look up, down and sideways all at once.
Is the Demiurge what the Gnostics told us it was? What does a Demiurge look like in 2024?
K.: As we all know, the demiurge is described typically by the Gnostics as a fake God, an oppressive force that shackles existence and that we have to connect to the real God to break our chains, in order to progress and see the truth. There's different versions of this but very typically I was very interested in the versions that the Luciferian currents portray, in that Yahweh/Jehovah (the Christian God) was the Oppressor and that Lucifer was the breaker of those chains. You can take this concept so personally though, I believe. I read something some years ago that every artist is their own demiurge that we have to break free from, to create something pure that is wholly of ourselves. And I would refer to that as the 'demiurgicidal-mania' that you've referenced, a flow-state of immersing yourself fully in your creation with no holding back, free from any and all personal shackles. But honestly.... I wrote that because I liked how it sounded, it's a rather malign and maddening turn of phrase, is it not?
When I asked you about this interview, you said you no longer felt precious about remaining anonymous. I can see from a quick internet search that you are involved in various other acts: ARCHVILE, DUNGEON SHAKER, TODESSCHOLSS, etcetera. Why the change of heart?
K.: Like I said there was no real effort or particular change of heart. I think I became less interested inhiding myself anyway in all aspects of my life, due to personal circumstances, so I just kind of didn't try to hide it or self-promote either like there's quite a bit of music out there somewhere that I've made that you would have trouble connecting me with. I just try to 'be'.
I'm neither somebody who desires attention and to be like a scene-celebrity living the heavy metal lifestyle nor am I a total reclusive hermetic pseudo-mystic living some kind of immersive and obscure existence. I'm just attempting to live my silly little life, creating and building things that mean something to me.
Will we get to see you in person with any of these acts?
K.: Most of those things aren't active any longer, though I played lived with Archvile recently. I'm more just a cog in the machine with that though!
Longtime KVNT enthusiasts (all 3 of them) will know about you from NO ABOVE NO BELOW, but I want to ask now about CLOAKOVHEX. Will we hear from this project again?
K.: Well, yes and no. I was actually planning on taking cloakovhex live, but then the pandemic hit and also I ended up being involved with another musical undertaking that I became a small part of temporarily which took a great deal of effort and time and any personal projects were put on the back burner for a year or so. I'm not sure whether I will ever use that name again as I just kind left it where it was, but I'm actually writing music in that vein somewhat again which I'm intending to release and perform under my own name. So something similar will be coming! But it's much more personal, visceral and confrontational.
In regards to No Above, No Below it WILL have a second release sometime if we get our act together (me mostly...).
Some text with your releases describes the music as psychedelic. What are your preferred methods for getting psychedelic? Meditation? Astral projection? Some form of magic? Chemical methods?
K.: That sounds like it should be a song right? 'Let's get psychedelic!'. All of the above, actually. The Occult used to play a much bigger part in my life insofar as daily ritual work, meditations, ceremonial magick ,invocations etc etc and my experiences during meditation and ritual certainly informed the early work I started with Abyssidious though whilst I initially found all of all this to be a mode of self-discovery and liberation I ultimately found it to be far too formulaic and dogmatic to continue in the way that I was, though meditation is still important and I interpret all of this in a much more personalised and simple context now though those experiences and lessons are still prevalent in my life. I'm not a particularly studious or academic type of person, more an in the moment but also dreaming, head in the clouds kind of person...
As far as chemically induced psychedelia well I'm 100% tee-total and sober these days, but yes I've had experiences with that also and that has found it's profound influence in my music also. Though, I would say these particular elements are more profoundly influenced by the dissociation and dissolution I've experienced in my everyday, waking life brought upon by my medical condition. The breaking apart of one's psyche and the desperate intent to claw your way back together again after initially surrendering to losing yourself and burying yourself entirely... though, I don't experience this nearly as often anymore, so it'll be interesting to see how this impacts my future work.
I ask everyone a similar question: what’s the point of explaining music/art? Aren’t we essentially explaining the punchline of a joke, here?
K.: Well, isn't the point of doing this just so musicians can self-aggrandise? I guess interviews are a medium for getting ya name out and informing the filthy public of tours, albums etc and to offer anecdotes! I agree, actually, partly why I've had zero intent in self-promotion or doing interviews for any musical project for over a decade now, I prefer things to just take on their own life rather than trying to explain why I did this or that, but that could also be from my previous desire and need to hide myself away... I've no low opinion at all towards doing interviews or self-promotion etc by the way nor do I think it's something that's below me, it's all a necessary part of all of this, it's just not something I'm naturally inclined to do.
I would struggle to identify any specific “influence” in your music, though we’ve spoken about post-punk before. What do you listen to? Or do you avoid other people’s music when composing?
There's certainly a lot of obvious influence I think but I'll let others decide what they think! I never avoid influence or listening to other music, I think that you can't be helped by influences creeping in and it isn't always a bad thing so I don't really care if some punk music, weird synth music or electropop I'm listening to somehow influences some death metal stuff I'm working on.The predominant influence is 80s/90's black/death metal and also VOIVOD!! alongside the Orthodox black metal movement of the late 90s/early 2000s which had an enormous effect on me, as well as more contemporary artists like Dead Congregation, Portal, Leviathan.... but also a lot of post-punk, industrial music, 60's psychedelia and film scores find itself way in here. Images and artwork are also massively influential and inspiring to me also, my friend Fleshflies (or as I call her Anne...) is an amazing collage artist whose work inspires me. As far as lyrics and subject matter go though, I'm trying to eschew any outside influence now and only be mostly influenced by the thoughts, feelings and images that come from myself.
As far as listening habits go well right this moment the records I picked out to listen to whilst I type out all of this is a mix of Mortuary Drape, Cenotaph, Chelsea Wolfe, Tiamat, Trepaneringsritualen, Zola Jesus, Siouxie & the Banshees, Taphos and Reveal! I've also been playing the last releases by Uboa, Reversed, Inconcessus Lux Lucis, Arizmenda, Ari Mason, Profane Order and Bluu Anxiiety alot lately.
We’ve all heard of the Somerset Gimp, and then the Essex Gimp. Apparently there is now (at the time of writing - spring 2024) a Suffolk Gimp haunting the streets of Bungay. What are your thoughts on the matter? Could the gimp-scourge already have spread across the border into your territory?
K.: Woah, I just had to google all of this as I had never heard of it! Well, I certainly hope no gimp suited miscreants jump out at me at night! There's enough idiots making life difficult for everyone else as it is. I'm sure there are some Norfolk Gimps and they're likely just keeping to themselves, doing their gimpish activities with their gimpish accomplices.
East Anglia is an uneasily flat part of the UK. Are you given to lurking around in certain places there? There is a lot of wild flora in your promotional photography. Also: any places of occult interest?
K.: Flat? We seem to have some hills haha! There's a lot of places here and there you can find me lurking about, several of the wooded areas, the rivers, streams, the two main cemeteries we have here as well as dingy industrial/goth clubs, warehouse parties and concerts and festivals when I'm not working on music, toiling away at my day job or simply just shutting the world out.
Places of Occult interest? Absolutely! It has a rich history of hereditary and traditional witchcraft for certain. But I also have a personal connection to some of those listed places for those samesuch reasons, other than I just enjoy them... yes, there's an abundance of flora in both imagery and words in my work with ABYSSIDIOUS. one, it's just personal to me and also that juxtaposition of beauty and ugliness is kind of my sweet spot in art/music, where something is so ugly that it's beautiful or so beautiful that it becomes ugly... I use flora and blooms a lot in my words, often alongside more violent and menacing expressions.
What are your thoughts on the concept of influence? Should we care the Euronymous liked TANGERINE DREAM, for instance?
K.: I think influence is impossible to avoid as I stated above so I just don't avoid it. We're all influenced by our peers, forebears and personal inspirations in some small or greater fashion. It doesn't mean aping others but I'm happy to admit when something else has given me an idea or inspired me. I wouldn't play guitar in the way that I do if it wasn't for Snorre Ruch, Trey Azagthoth, Jef Whitehead, Euronymous, Antti Boman, Justin Broadrick, Gazelle Amber Valentine, Dana Duffey, Sharon Bascovsky, Rikk Agnew, Stevie Floyd, Piggy D'Amour and (more recently) Linnea Olsson, I just do it in my own inept, congealed way! I see influence as being a cyclical thing and often as a way of letting traditions and methods live on by others interpreting them in their own way and trying to create new ones.
I don't know why I'm answering a question about Euronymous in 2024 haha! But hey, I'll playball. I do think we should care because Tangerine Dream is amazing. I also think that you can tell when a metal band is only influenced by other metal bands and only listens to other metal, which can either result in a very good thing or a very, very bad thing!
Any final thoughts or recommendations?
K:. I recommend people just mind their own business more often and live their own life.
Abyssidious' music can be found here: https://abyssidious.bandcamp.com/album/murk-and-malice
Interview by Irredeemable/O.G., 2024.