- "True-Metal.ru" web-zine welcomes you on this cold winter day. 

Greetings, Terry and all at True-Metal.com

- How did the idea of starting Cult of the Lizard God occurred to you? What year do you think the first developments started? May you can tell us some history?

I am a creature of the 1980s and in being so I was very much into the metal of that period.  I listened to bands like Venom, Bathory, Mercyful Fate, Celtic Frost, Onslaught, Exciter, etc.  While playing with Savior Sect in the mid 90s I came across a magazine called Petrified Zine.  Through reading it I discovered a whole new BM underground movement.  I wanted to be involved so I started contacting bands and collecting demos and in no time started my own one man project, Cult of the Lizard God. 

- Your involvement with COTLG seems very fruitful in 1995 and 1996, when you released a lot of material, but then it ended, why?

Yeah, in 1995 things were exciting for the BM scene.  The whole Norwegian scene was roaring and all the underground was listening.  There were so many bands with demo tapes and tons of them were being signed by way of homemade recordings.  I was scrambling for a great offering early on and was very inspired by the amazing energy of the scene.  In 1996, The Carrion joined on as drummer, so I was even further motivated to write songs.  The Carrion also played drums with Savior Sect, and we became entangled with the grand opus that was “Lis Ard” throughout 1997; COTLG was put on hold till ’98.  By 1999 the scene was cooling off and by 2000 it was dead in the water.  It may have revived lately, but in the early 2000s it was skin and bones.  COTLG went down with the ship.

- It seems that you never found a label to release your work. How come? Did you distribute a limited cassette edition among your friends or there was some other way you found listeners?

Yeah, no label interest at the time.  When I started the project, I wanted to do dark atmospheric music.  I guess the metal aspect was secondary early on.  The scene was great, but it was far from open minded.  Labels and distributors and zine editors were looking for the same kind of sound…popular.  The underground was a microcosm of the larger commercial scene.  It was not about the “true” bands and the “false” bands as history would have us believe; it was the same old story about the “popular” and the “less popular”.   Anyway, in order to gain acceptance and push my demos about, I tried to “metalize” my releases.  In other words, I was selling out my original concept.  By 1996 I realized that there was a superficial underground preoccupied with Norway and Sweden, and a deeper underground that saw beyond the whole façade.  COTLG found its home there, but there were no labels hanging around that deep.  I traded constantly and gained support from great deep underground rags like Goat of the Harvest and Corrosion Zine and many others, as well as other bands.

- Do you still have any of your recordings from that time? Have you ever considered rereleasing them? Right now there are a lot of people collecting rare demos and cassettes. It seems to me also that labels must be interested in digging out those 90s records that weren't recognized in the first place. What do you think?

Yes, I have posted the entire Cult of the Lizard God catalogue – with the exception of a few outtakes- on Youtube.  Everyone should go listen as a top priority (just kidding).  Yes, I have heard from several small labels over the years.  I have one interest in concern with my back catalogue of music and small labels - that is colored vinyl.  If colored vinyl is part of the deal, I’m willing to talk.  If not, I can promote myself as I always have.  Anyone can burn CDs, but colored vinyl…that’s just beautiful stuff!!!

- And why didn’t you release a full-length album instead of demos? Is there a special reason for that?

Demo tapes were a popular format back then.  They averaged 5 songs.  Creating separate concepts for each demo was cool; short releases meant you could move on to new ideas quickly.  It kept things fresh and at a rolling pace.  In the early 2000s, Savior Sect began working on full length CDs; I found that approach to be more tedious and somehow less inspiring.  I like the old vinyl e.p. records of the 80s as well; there is something powerful in short, concise releases.

- Do you have a work, hobby or education in general other that related to music?

Outside of creating music as a hobby, I brew beer professionally.  Other hobbies include making hot sauces and reading both fiction and non-fiction.  As far as the later is concerned, I read tons of pulp horror and sci-fi (fiction) as well as The Bible and other Christian literature (non-fiction).

- Did you ever performed live any of the COTLG material?

No, Cult of the Lizard God has always been a “sit down and record” type of project.  Most of the time the “band” consisted of me alone, but the last two releases featured The Carrion as well.  Live shows were not possible under our circumstances, and the general populace of musicians in any given town was unaware of BM music scene back then.

- Do you pay attention to the new developments in black metal or it's just goth and post-punk that interests you now?

I am no longer a standing member in the black metal scene and have not followed it since the 90s. That being said, since I’ve posted the nostalgia music channel on Youtube, I’ve heard from several “youngsters” who are curious about the old days.  So, while I am not an active participant, I do find myself still talking about the scene and still sending out an occasional CD of my material.
 
- Can you name a couple of bands that interest you or used to interest you in black metal?

Wow, that is a loaded question.  I was particular to certain bands in those days.   Gehenna, Dissection, Nastrond, Crimson Evenfall, Thornium, Vornat, Sorhin, Creepfog, Kadath, Algazanth,  Flauros, and tons and tons of others, both famous and not so famous.

- Was there a philosophical religious or ideological component to the Cult of the Lizard God?

No, Cult of the Lizard God told fantasy and horror stories.  I have long had an interest in these two genres.  I guess the band was supposed to be scary and horrifying, but since all my peers in the scene were doing the same thing, that angle became somewhat redundant. 

- What was your worldview at the time? Have you considered yourself a satanisnt? And how about now?

Atheism and depression were my major setbacks in those days.  The 90s were troubled times for me on an emotional level.  I remember loneliness and godlessness and a need to vent that frustration through music.  I was never a satanist, nor did I partake in any ritual behaviors.  I think the music was an outlet for my negativity and the result was no doubt satanic in nature.  In 2005, I became a born again Christian and in turn was able to throw all that depression into the garbage.  Now I no longer whine and mope about, I just make music with friends.

- Black metal and even goth-rock took anti-Christian approach in their image and views and they still continue to nowadays. So it seems that Christianity lost its aggressiveness completely compared to what it was. Do you think other religions must be repressed by popular culture and music like Christianity was repressed? (Especially bearing in mind Islamic fundamentalism)

Yes, Christianity will continue to lose its hold as the world slides closer to end times.  The Bible says as much.  That has nothing to do with the “power” of mankind, but everything to do with the will of God.  This planet will be close to lawlessness in those days.  The anti-christ will be promoting worship of himself, so all other religions will fall to the wayside as well, but there is no loss in false teachings.  Popular culture is also meaningless as humans have no power over anything that God ordains.

- Do you feel nostalgia for 1980s and 1990s? I think a lot of people experience this these days. What do you do to deal with it? Do you think the revival of these times could ever happen? Do you think that recent developments in goth scene and/or black metal scene are at all that important?

Yes, I am very nostalgic of those times.  I like the unity that existed in the scene.  Nothing like that will ever exist again.  It was a special time of worldwide tape trading and underground hard copy zines…many homemade.  Non-musicians were picking up instruments and making demos just to be part of action.  The only stain on the whole affair was that it was in the name of negativity…but it was certainly a time of great creativity and rebellion.  It is hot and cold for me in that I have fond memories, but at the same time I can no longer stand for the values that were prevailing…only in terms of the fiction…the horror and the fantasy.  I’ve dealt with my nostalgic feelings by recently reuniting Savior Sect with Anastasia and Omen (from Apostle Void/Roses for Isabella).  We are currently working on a new record.  I have not worked with Anastasia since very early in 1999!!!  So, in essence, I am re-living a bit of that time period right now.

- Why did you turn to black metal in the first place? How exactly did it happen? Did your friends pointed to these developments in late eighties or you heard about it in the news? Perhaps you attended a metal concert?

I can’t blame anyone but myself for my black metal excursions.  It seemed to have gone from The Misfits to Venom very quickly and than to every other dark BM band of the 80s.  I think that I was looking for more and more aggression.  At the time, I did not like much of the oncoming thrash scene of the late eighties and early nineties (because I was a fan of vocal melodies/catchiness) and became disenchanted with metal for several years.  I returned to the scene only after I discovered that a new BM scene was emerging, a stronger one in terms of numbers. I was still more partial to the 80’s bands and I think that shows to some extent in COTLG.  “Throne of Heads” was a nod to Bathory’s first album…I wanted to capture that same feeling.  Looking back, some old thrash seems “sing song” compared to 90’s black metal!!!

- Did your interest and involvement in goth and post-punk influenced your take on COTLG?

Yes, I was listening to UK Subs, The Damned,  Black Flag, The Descendents, Circle Jerks, Misfits, Exploited, etc.  When “Earth AD/Wolfsblood” came out I was blown away.  That album was so heavy in its day; at least so heavy for the punk crowd.  I would go shopping for vinyl in the import section and there I met Venom and the rest was history.  The whole goth thing was earlier and running parallel to the metal and punk.  Sisters of Mercy, Fields of the Nephelim, The Mission UK, Bauhaus, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Joy Division were essential bands. I listened heavily to all three genres, but have always preferred playing goth music because it is what flows most naturally from me.  As mentioned above, COTLG was not meant to be straight metal, but only became such by default.

- So, as I understand you are a live witness of the 90s and birth of black metal. Can you describe what it was like for you? Were you living in the US at that time?

Yeah, I can say the whole thing started when I was visiting Omen (of Apostle Void) in Florida in 1994.  While he was working, I drove to a metal record store in Tampa looking for vinyl.  That is where I found the copy of Petrified Zine and it opened the door to the underground; it was the key to what would become my dealings throughout the 90s for both Cult of the Lizard God and Savior Sect and my other projects.  It was really great to see the scene grow huge and peak in 1998; I was receiving tons of mail and had hundreds of demo tapes from the world over.  I even released five issues of my own magazine called “Last Writes”.  As great as the rise was, it fell quickly. By 2000, the mail dropped to nothing, nobody would trade with the advent of CDs and websites, and there was emptiness…it was the day the music died all over again…the fall of the empire.  I closed out my PO Box because of lack of mail.  The show was over.  It is strange, but I remember the decline well.  I carried on with a new line-up of Savior Sect as a loose gothic underground was hanging around Europe at the time.

- Why did you leave black metal? Did you just grow away from it or may be it was hard to go along with the controversy of true / false black metal?

No, I actually rode the scene to its apparent demise at the end of the 90s.  Several factors affected my departure.  Anastasia and I split and Savior Sect disbanded; The Carrion quit drumming shortly afterwards to concentrate on other things.  In 1999, I was solo after years of working with others; at the time I didn’t want to go back to a drum machine for the metal stuff.  To be honest, I was directionless and depressed.  I started working with more conventional song structures that year with a very low key personal project called Darling Lemuria.  I met Phaedra in the Summer of ‘99 and regrouped Savior Sect with Sean S. on drums.  COTLG got buried in the rough start of a new decade; one without strong underground support.

- Do you think there is a connection between black metal and the whole post-punk and goth rock subculture and music?

I think themes of darkness and rebellion link these musical styles, but at that time they all seemed very separate.  Savior Sect was sort of a “fish out water” in the BM scene of the day, yet I constantly pushed and promoted the band against the going grain.  I think Savior Sect was as common a name in the underground of the day as ever Cult of the Lizard God.  There was this “air” about the whole scene that goth wasn’t all that cool.  Put Savior Sect on the Metal Archives blackball list!!!  There was hatred when bands like Cradle of Filth started moving towards a goth feel; they were “false”.  Gothic music somehow equaled “false”.  I can’t complain; however, as SS did rather well in the day.  Like many deep underground bands of that time, Savior Sect and Cult of the Lizard God have been largely forgotten.

- What’s your opinion on illegal downloading of music from the internet?

If it is illegal, it should be stopped.

- Do you think that the world and humanity approaching its cultural crisis? Can there be some solution to this problem?

Humanity is already on a predestined path.  Popular culture is leaning towards the far left.  Many believe that because sin is being readily accepted that they are becoming more “free”.  The truth is that they are strapping themselves tighter the conveyor belt that is leading towards end times.  As mentioned above, what is popular among human beings at any given time is trivial in God’s grand scheme of things.

- Feel free to say anything you would like in closing. I really appreciate for you taking this interview, thank you. I hope it will help spread the word and shed some light into forgotten treasures of the Cult of the Lizard God!

Thanks a million for the interview, Phil!!!  Yes, I hope this sheds some light.