HELLSAW

Satan is inside of us

At the end of March Austrian black metallers HELLSAW released their third full length effort “Cold”. Its refreshing simplicity combined with brutal riffs, rapid rhythms and straightforward Satanic attitude should immediately draw attention of black metal freaks. The following interview with band's vocalist Aries might help them understand the nature of HELLSAW's dark and violent art.

-This is the first interview with HELLSAW for Metal Portal so please, forgive me some clichee questions. What are the origins of the band? How did you come up with the idea to form a black metal band, bow your head for Satan and worship him through your art?
Hellsaw was started in 2002 by Svart and myself so that we could play our own style of Black Metal rather than somebody else’s. When we reached the point in 2007 where we wanted to play live we recruited Isiul and Malthus on guitars, and Desderoth on bass. That’s the Hellsaw you see today. There was never any question of bowing our heads or worshipping any deity through our art. Satan is inside each of us and is a part of us, but it is not a religion for us as such.

-Do you feel that your personal beliefs bear any lasting importance in your creative process?
Yes of course. Personal beliefs always affect what we write, but they are personal beliefs in a wider context than simply “satanic”. They are our personal beliefs about many things.

-If someone asked you to describe your band, your music style, what points of reference would you use?
Hellsaw is Hellsaw. We play Black Metal, sometimes with melodic overtones, sometimes raw and hate filled. But it’s our own style.

-In your music can be heard a lot of influences coming from GORGOROTH, MAYHEM, early IMMORTAL and some other acts. When you started out back in 2002, did you have an idea for the sound you were aiming to create? Do you think the influence of the aforementioned European black metal acts helped to shape your style?
I wasn’t actually aware that those influences existed in our music. Other people have said they can hear a little of other bands but I can’t say that we were influenced by anyone in particular and certainly not consciously. We always knew the sound we wanted to create and just went ahead and did it.

-You come from Austria which makes me think of some other black metal bands from your country. The most famous one is without a doubt BELPHEGOR. There's also another well-known band I'm sure you're familiar with, I mean ABIGOR. What do you think of those bands, I would call them: ambassadors of Austrian black metal?
Undoubtedly, together with Summoning, they are amongst best known of Austrian bands, but I think it’s wrong to put so much emphasis on the country of origin. The music should speak for a band, not where they come from.

-What particular artists outside of music scene provide the real inspiration for HELLSAW, I mean especially this dark, satanic atmosphere that permeates your songs? Are you inspired by any writers, directors, painters, maybe occultists, satanists, magicians etc?
We are inspired by what is inside of us, what we see happening around us, and how our day-to-day existence affects us. It is important to us that our music is honest, and honesty can only come from within us, not from the art and thoughts of others.

-What does the title of your new album stand for? Could you also say some words about the artwork and that winter nocturnal scenery presented on the picture?
As the title implies, it’s all about “Cold”. But “Cold” in it’s many different manifestations. The physical coldness. The coldness that we feel inside due to anger, or loss or hate. The coldness that men show to each other. And the cold beauty and cruelty of nature that will eventually right the wrongs done to it by humanity. The artwork, is a physical representation of the physical sensation of cold. The colours and the scenery were specifically chosen to illustrate this.

-How would you describe the lyrics featured on “Cold” album? Actually, I'm particularly interested in such songs as “A Suicide Journey”, “Psycho Pastor” and very enigmatic “1°F”...
Like many artists we don’t think that it’s necessary to explain our lyrics. It is too restrictive. We prefer the listeners to draw their own conclusions. Each person will understand them in the light of their own experiences and emotions, and that is as it should be. As artists we should not dictate; everyone should be allowed the freedom to hear what they want to hear, and understand what they want to understand.

-“Cold” is your third full-length album. Its predecessors, I mean “Spiritual Twilight” and “Phantasm” were released through some small, underground record labels. Since I haven't had a chance to listen to your first two albums (except for some selected songs streamed on band's MySpace), would you mind telling me a few words about each of them? How has your art evolved over the years, musically, lyrically?
The first two albums were written in the same way that all our albums are written, from a very personal perspective. The difference is that since then we have all grown both as musicians and people, and this has allowed us to experience more in life, and to better express our thoughts and feelings musically. Now of course Isiul, Malthus and myself do the writing, so we come at it from different perspectives too. Sometimes we will write together, sometimes alone. The important thing for us is that we never sit back and think that we have gone as far as we can go. We will always continue to grow and improve on our work.

-Some time ago you signed a new deal. How did that deal with Napalm Records come about and what is your relationship with Black Attakk and Folter Records these days?
Napalm heard our music and offered us a contract. Our relationship with our former labels has always been good, and will always be good. We are grateful to them for giving us a chance at the start of our career, and for the amount of time and effort they put into their work with us.

-Let's talk about the new monster. As I already said, “Cold” is actually my first opportunity to listen to your music. I must say the album contains a solid pack of black metal hits that should satisfy everyone who's into black metal at its purest form. What's the response for your third effort been so far? Are you completely satisfied with the feedback for “Cold”?
The response has been very good both from fans and from critics. We are very satisfied with what we have been hearing.

-By the way- are journalists' and regular fans' opinions important for you guys? Do you care of them?
It’s nice to be praised, but if people don’t like what we do it’s not anything we worry about. Taste is a personal thing anyway, so what one person likes, another doesn’t. But if a band worries about pleasing everyone, all they will do is end up producing artificial music for the masses. That has never been something that interests us. The important thing is that we are satisfied with what we produce.

-Listening to your music I have a feeling that writing darkest, most brutal songs is the main key for HELLSAW. Are there any specific things that you're doing to push your music and lyrics to the limits of pure extremity?
No. We write what we feel and what we believe. We don’t need to do anything other than listen to what is inside of us.

-What is the songwriting process like in HELLSAW? Spontaneous and intense, or maybe more calculated?
That really depends on the circumstances and who is writing. Sometimes it comes from something we are going through personally. Sometimes it will be something one of us wants to write about that interests us. Sometimes it will be extremely intense and spontaneous, like “Wounds” for example, that was created there and then out of the energy that we were feeling during rehearsals. I would not say that it is ever calculated though. Feelings and emotions are never calculated.