1. Please tell the readers about the band. When it was formed, the line-up, releases and stuff like that.
Heilz Nocturnaz! OPEN GRAVE started in 2000 as a concept between myself, God Vomit (then of Oak Coffin), and Decephalic (of Nocturnal Decay). We are a US Black Metal band with no political leanings from NJ/AZ. As something I originally thought of as just some kind of fucking side project, OPEN GRAVE has turned into my main focus. We came together because both of us shared the same ideologies and musical visions -- No trends, No Female vocals, No keyboards, No gay fucking norwegian trend metal or fag-gothic! It took a while for the band to get off the ground and record, because we had some trouble finding a drummer and bass player. Luckily, Rosemary's Afterbirth and Deadson of Subterranean Studios decided to join the horde. In late Fall / Early Winter of 2000 we went into the studio and finished recording our debut mCD/demo entitled, The Heavens Cry Black Tears. I feel that it is the darkest thing to come out in a long fucking time and hopefully a decent label will pick ! us up for our upcoming full length.
2. How would you describe your music? What are your musical influences?
OPEN GRAVE is raw, depressive, mid-paced black metal. We don't claim to be something we are not! There are no keyboards in our songs, and we will always stay fucking true to the raw and minimalist black metal hordes. We have been compared to a mix between old Burzum and Bethlehem -- But strangely, those are not our biggest musical influences. I can only speak for myself, but the bands that influenced me the most are Profanatica/Havohej, Morbid Angel, Darkthrone, Possessed, Amebix, and many more.
3. What inspires you lyrically? What topics do the lyrics deal with?
Our lyrics have been mostly inspired by militant and terrorist activities against the Christians. Most of our songs deal with the execution of christian fellowships and preachers, as well as iconoclasm and desekration of churches. Here is an example, from our song 'Hellfucked': "Ak-47 Blasts, Tearng Divine Flesh, Blowing Through Skulls. Blood and Brains decorate the walls and pregnant women bleed. Bullets abort the scum inside." This lyric deals with a combatant fantasy to enter a church and kill the congregation. Other topics we dealt with on "The Heavens Cry Black Tears" were Satanic rituals and animal/human sacrifice, as well as Rape and Arson. In the future there will be a shift from the killing of religious people, towards the killing of all humanity. We are not war metal, but the lyrical approach to some of the upcoming songs deals with nuclear war and genocide. OPEN GRAVE feels that all of humanity should be destroyed.
4. What is the main purpose of your music? Any political/religious message?
Our music is our propaganda. There is NO political agenda, and quite frankly, I think Black Metal bands who have one should be executed. As for religious messages, I guess you could say we have an anti-religious agenda. We have at times been called a nazi band for our extensive usage of the Tötenkopf, but anyone that knows history know that the Tötenkopf symbol is Prussian, not nazi. It symbolizes to us, the true meaning of anti-humanity. We play our music, not only because raw black metal is our favorite style, but because it affords us a medium to get nihilst and misanthropic messages out to people.
5. What about live shows? Have you played any gigs lately? How often do you play live?
There is a great amount of distance between myself and the guitarist of OPEN GRAVE. Decephalic lives in Arizona (same as bands like Pantheon, and decephalic's other project, Fall of Empyrean), and I live in New Jersey -- it would be too hard to meet up and play shows, so we are strictly a recorded band for now. I have a raw and minimal black/crust project entitled Humanicide in which I am looking for a drummer for live shows in the New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York areas.
6. How is the metal scene in your area? Are you in contact with other bands?
The Eastern USA scene is very good and is growing quickly. There are some excellent bands I am in contact with in the area, such as Abazagorath, Havohej, Unhallowed, Line of Sight, Grand Belial's Key, Arghoslent, Mortician, Algol, Funebrarum, Blood Throne, etc.. However, most of the band contacts we have are with bands from farther away, such as Abyssic Hate, ThyLord, Akitsa, Ibex Throne, Sharund of Demon Realm, Axis of Advance, Amphiaraus, Arianrhod, Veneficum, Godless North, Maniac Butcher, etc... I could go on forever with all the amazing bands we have met or had contact with.
7. Is anybody in your band involved in other projects? If yes, who and which?
Yes! Rosemary's Afterbirth and Deadson are both involved with their studio, Subterranean Studios, in New York. They put lots of time into that. As for Decephalic, when he is not doing OPEN GRAVE stuff, he is working on new material for his depressive death/doom band, Fall of Empyrean. Fall of Empyrean sounds somewhat like older Agalloch and Katatonia, but in my opinion is much better. As I have mentioned earlier, I am working on a minimalist black/crust project called Humanicide, in which I am trying to pay my respects to such fucking amazing bands as Hellbastard, Amebix, and even Discharge. The demise of Black/Crust crossover bands is a fucking shame, as these bands were very militant and raw -- a driving force in extreme music. My Oak Coffin project is currently frozen and I have no immediate plans to do anything at all with it in the future.
8. What is the best cd / demo you have heard in the last month?
The best things I have heard in the last month have been older releases and classics. Some of my current favorite albums/demos include "Arghoslent - Troops of Unfeigned Might", "Godless North - Summon The Age of Supremacy", "Bolt Thrower - Realm of Chaos", "Order From Chaos - An Ending In Fire", and "Disgust - Brutality of War". I have also heard some random songs from ThyLord of France, Akitsa of Quebec, Demon Realm of Denmark, and Amphiaraus of Spain that were very impressive.
9. What was the last concert you went to? What was the best concert you have been at?
I am not as active in the New Jersey blackmetal scene as I would like to be, but the last show I was at was "Black Xmas" in late December of this year. It featured some amazing bands and some terrible bands, but it was fucking good either way. Some of the bands who played were Abazagorath, Grand Belial's Key, Unhallowed, Head Trauma, Algol, and more. Funeral Eve sucked, while Perverseraph and Blood Storm cancelled.
10. What kind of beverage is your favourite? Any special brands? Do you do any drugs?
I personally do not drink, smoke, or do drugs of any kind. I feel they are weak and anyone who needs or wants a chemical additive to have a good time cannot do things on their own. If you reject the chemicals of modern society, you reject that society itself. Alcohol is not that big of a deal, but drugs are only good when the morons are using them. While they are "high" I will be one of the elite people controlling their lives in the future. Stand strong and put your middle finger in the fucking air when someone does that shit around you. I support natural selection of the morons who do it and in fact, I wish there were more hard drugs on the streets.
11. What can really piss you off?
Politics really piss me off. Most of these NSBM people have no idea what NS really is. They think being pro-white makes them NS. Bullshit! They're too dumb to realize that a majoritarian political ideology cannot logically work in a minoritarian sect of society, such as black metal. Besides, preservation of a race is more aligned with pagan life metal, than black metal. I must also clear up the fact that I like and listen to many black metal bands, as I feel the message is counterpoint to the music, which is forefront in my opinion. If you are playing music that is aesthetically what black metal should be, then you are doing the right thing no matter what. Other people that can fuck off are politicians, class war denialists, christians, jews, muslims, goth fags, mall metallers, and CoF fans.
12. What are you plans for the future? Gigs, releases and so on.
We have a very active future planned. I've recently sent out a shitload of promo packages to labels in hopes for some kind of a deal (we don't have the monetary funds to release something ourselves). Assuming we get an offer, preferably from a quality label, we can finish up work on our full length. I would also like to see our mCD-r/demo released by a label first. In upcoming news, OPEN GRAVE will be featured on the black metal compilation "Desekration of the Human Race" on Black Vault Rekordz of Francs. There are some fucking good true blackmetal bands that will be appearing on this compilation including your band, Demon Realm, and we are proud to be a part of it.
13. That´s it for now. Thank you for the interview. If you would like to insult and/or offend someone, please do it here. If you have a closing remark/statement, this is also the place.
My eternal Heilz to you Nocturnaz, for contacting us about an interview and we hope to have more contact with you in the future. Please help support the true US black metal underground and kontakt myself, God Vomit, at oakcoffin@totaldeath.com for more information. Any labels with an interest in OPEN GRAVE should also kontakt us, as we are very active and willing to put out more songs. Until next time, War & Hate Under the Flag of Tötenkopf, God Vomit & Open Grave.
