belphegor totenritual
Sep
18
5.00pm

HARD NOISE: BELPHEGOR // The Freedom Of Ritual


It would require many hours in a bar and several drinks to truly appreciate the unique philosophies and interests of Helmuth Lehner, but mere minutes is all that’s available when the extraordinary frontman of Austria’s malevolent metal masters Belphegor sits down to talk.

A seemingly nonchalant night owl mutters a standard greeting in a mocking tone, already revealing an extreme individuality – Helmuth Lehner doesn’t give a shit. “It’s always good to have people who are interesting,” he says of the few who follow his ways, “Not like these fucking sheep, all these millions of people who don’t say anything, learn anything, it’s boring. It’s good to meet people who are the opposite.”

Helmuth is a complex character, albeit in a positive sense, an intriguing person whose interests are far from the norm, making him more fascinating than intimidating. His non-conformist philosophies have allowed him to shape a unique space career in music. New album Totenritual blankets evil, black metal, religious institution, ancient cultures and the occult, brought together to encapsulate modern society. It results in yet another work of art to follow in Belphegor’s merciless wake. “As a band, our philosophies do touch on what is wrong nowadays in my opinion,” says Helmuth. “All this shit, it pisses me off. I think at the end, for me freedom is the most important thing, freedom to walk my own path, stay in my circle.

“I [haven’t] watched T.V. for over ten years, I try and stay away from newspapers – all this brainwashing and propaganda shit, I try to be as much alone as possible, live in my own world and make my own decisions. I don’t need anyone.”

Doesn’t matter if you play in front of 100 or 10,000 people, hearing them cheer as one, it’s a ritual.
[HELMUTH]

That’s an important word for someone like Helmuth – freedom. “Freedom is the most important word for anyone,” Helmuth exclaims, “It has nothing to do with the band or any individual, many people don’t know it.” But for the sake of conversation, we apply “freedom” to Belphegor. You simply cannot label their music, it is what it is. Assuming that the band in their 24 year existence would have had people who don’t understand the exercise of freedom in their sound, Helmuth would have experienced a certain amount of backlash – but Helmuth, he just don’t care. “We do our own stuff, we’re against everything,” he says, “We don’t want to try and change things, we’re about doing our own stuff, individualist – some people like it and we appreciate that and it’s why we’re still here, always at maximum strength because of them.



“Some people are the opposite, they’re afraid – I don’t give a shit, you know? Their love is not my love and I don’t care if they don’t like me. They are small minded creatures.”

Broadening his scope to all things to do with the occult, Totenritual brings together global rituals, both ancient and modern, in a very lyrical and thematic setup. With poignant words lacing destructive sounds, how does Helmuth give such ancient concepts a modern soundtrack? “The title says it all,” he says bluntly, “It’s ritual. Doesn’t matter if it’s from a serial killer, a ritual from a Satanist or from a priest, it doesn’t matter. Human beings have rituals, they don’t know it sometimes.”

These are Helmuth’s observations, detailed and honest, and yet, he won’t reveal any of his own true rituals, instead, shielding himself, choosing privacy, putting a placeholder on rituals within Belphegor instead. “I do a lot of stuff – I don’t want to talk about it too much, I get misinterpreted all the time – but a ritual for me could be like, before a show, everything is real.

“I please myself, I’m not gonna start playing around like other bands – there are a lot of weak people in the metal scene – but I don’t care. Ritual nowadays, it’s great to play music for two three hours, we do our best and that’s always the exciting thing. Doesn’t matter if you play in front of 100 or 10,000 people, hearing them cheer as one, it’s a ritual.”


Totenritual is out now via Nuclear Blast. Read our review!



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