Metal Psalter Semen Datura Interview

Kesh: Where did the name Semen Datura come from?

Conrath: The name is Latin and our personal metaphor for “origin of the night”. We wanted a name a bit different from the traditional metal names like Destruction or a name from Tolkien. We searched for something more mysterious and interpretable. The word “semen” means the seed you put into the earth, and that stands for the will to create. “Datura” are nightshades, also known as the plant of the witches. The whole name underlines our affinity for darkness and night.

Kesh: Who are the members of Semen Datura?

Conrath: The new album Einsamkeit is performed by Nakhar (founding member), who plays bass guitar; drummer Axt, who joined the band 2005 and left at the end of 2008; and me, Conrath (also founding member), responsible for guitars, vocals and compositions.

Kesh: Have you found a permanent drummer? If no, have you at least narrowed the prospective candidates?

Conrath: We work with a session drummer, Christoph Weilbach (from the German project Within Dreams Realm). I have known him for a long time and he's definitely a very outstanding musician. I would really like to have him as permanent drummer but he has a lot of projects and his studies too. Furthermore we made some announcements concerning a new drummer in our region last year but the response was virtually disillusioning.

Kesh: How did you get into black metal? What attracted you to the genre?

Conrath: We started playing in a band as teenagers. Distorted guitars, simple fast beats and lyrics about our daily life, social criticism, and so on. Soon we discovered our first real metal acts like Benediction, Iron Maiden, Morbid Angel etc. So we came into the metal scene. Then we visited concerts in our region with bands like Immortal, Dissection, Gorgoroth or Satyricon. It was like a great light that opens your eyes. The energy, the darkness, the mysticism...it was amazing. But not for all of our friends. Many people were not able to accept our fascination for this black form of music. So the old band split and we decided to start with a new name in 1997. This was the foundation of Semen Datura.

Kesh: Can you give a brief history of the band?

Conrath: To keep it simple, we released on tape MXVII (1997), one EP Black Wings (1999), the first full-length This Love Is Dead (2001), second long-player Vineta Pt.I (2005) and the new and third album Einsamkeit (2009). Each one is a bit different from the others because of our personal development during the years and also because of many line-up problems in the past. All releases have a spiritual affinity:he will to create something outstanding and power to push boundaries.

Kesh: The band started out in 1997, and you have been playing music for over ten years. Do you feel it is different now then it was then? Do you feel you’ve grown as musicians in that time?

Conrath: Yes, I think we have grown as musicians in different ways. Today we feel much more sovereignty to do what we want to do. Today I know what I'm doing. We know our way and our expression better than any A&R, journalist or organizer. We are colder and harder to the outside and more fiery and focused on the inside. We've lost a lot of illusions. Nevertheless, we love to make music. The difference between today and the time ten years ago? In my opinion the biggest difference is that the Internet has killed a lot. There is more quantity but not more quality. It's my personal viewpoint. I like analogue recordings and I like to own a good release (sometimes vinyl) with a great artwork and high-fidelity sound.

Kesh: How do you feel black metal has changed over the years? How do you feel it has changed in Germany versus the rest of the world?

Conrath: In the nineties black metal was more mysterious and new. There was not so much information, no websites, no videos, very rarely interviews. I remember the day I got my first Immortal album. I was alone in a house in the woods. I drank a lot of beer and listened to the album the whole night. I feared to dim the light because of demons from the astral sphere. The weeks before we had experimented a lot to evoke dark forces and studied books about occultism. It was a strange atmosphere. We felt really separated from the normal world.

To answer the last part of your question; I think there is no difference between the development in Germany and the rest of the world. In my opinion the origins of true black metal came from Norway...no discussion. Maybe some bands from Germany, France, Italy etc. have meanwhile found a way to step out of this big shadow, with their own musical interpretations of dark metallic music, with their own identities and new aplomb.

Kesh: Unlike many black metal bands, Semen Datura seems to avoid the “traditional” themes of devil worship and other apocalyptic themes in favor of a more nihilistic point of view. Does this reflect your and the band’s personal views of the world, or is there more to it than that? Would you say that solitude is the overall theme of the album, or would you say there are more underlying themes?

Conrath: Yes, parts of nihilism reflect our personal view. Maybe nihilism is the next step after the knowledge that the devil has forgotten us. I know there are different interpretations of Satanism and different positions concerning nihilism. I'm interested in such themes and like to read about stuff like this. But we are not in the position to work with totalitary answers. Our lyrics are reflections and questions. Of course there is not just solitude. There are different situations and emotions that result because of solitude. Or the solitude is a result of other situations. Solitude is a mighty word. It means also a kind of retreat, contemplation and time for thoughts.

Kesh: What was the thinking behind the personalized signature on Einsamkeit? Who came up with the idea?

Conrath: Albums with a personalized signature (e.g. my Storm Of The Light’s Bane with an autograph of Jon Nödtveidt) are special to me. It's more than an album you bought in an anonymous shop or at worst you've downloaded. In a world full of anonymity a personal signature means something. It's an attitude, a statement against increasing isolation of the modern world. Of course it was our own idea.

Kesh: Unlike many of your peers in the scene, who sing either partially or entirely in English, your album is entirely in German save for the track “Mental Outlaw.” What was your reasoning for this? Did it just happen or was there a plan to make the album the way it is?

Conrath: We felt it's necessary to have no wall between the thoughts and the voice. We dream in German, we think in German and so we sang in German. In the past we also wrote lyrics in English and sometimes after a long period we asked “What the hell is the exact meaning of this lyric?” It's more pure to articulate in your own language. The intonation is more honest, I think. But after answering so many interviews in English maybe we can sometimes continue with some English lyrics. Time will show.

Kesh: You seem to be very intimately involved with the public image of the band; is this something you feel is conscious, or is that just how it seems to happen for you?

Conrath: I hope I understand your question in the right way. Do you mean me as a person, as opposed to the other bandmates that never do anything public? Or do you mean the band in general as an intimately expression? My bandmates are just interested in jamming, playing their instruments and spending a good time in the rehearsal room. They would never write lyrics, record albums, answer interviews, make band pictures, promote anything, etc. They are very down-to-earth. I'm sometimes the opposite. Maybe I need it to feed my ego with songs, recordings, lyrics, etc. to feel that I'm alive. I'm not really a social person and so my instruments spoke to me and they told me “Record us! Give your existence a little bit of sense and record us!”

Kesh: Are there any plans of touring America in 2010? Do you have any details for a tour if you are, or do we have to wait till later in the year for details?

Conrath: Do you invite us? I think it's more realistic for a band like us to talk about some live appearance in Europe. We have no hard working booking agency so far. So we have to do everything alone. Most organizers are always stressed and they work just with really big names or with bands that pay for play. But this is not our way, and furthermore it's not possible for me. If anybody is interested to see us live, he should contact us. We will do a lot to make some special events happen.

Kesh: Is there anything that you would like to add before we end the interview?

Conrath: I just want say thank you for the interesting questions and best regards to you and your readers. Gute Nacht!