As you all know, I am a rabid fan of all things metal. Just take one look at me, and what do you see…A rabid death metal fan, right? So you can imagine how elated I was when Autarch, lead singer of the amazingly-talented, blacker-than-black Los Angeles death metal band Lightning Swords of Death agreed to an interview!
I remember the first time he and I met — no, wait, I don’t. I was really drunk at a bar called 3 Of Clubs. Phoebe was standing outside having a cigarette and chatting with a guy and a girl. I stumbled into the conversation, and Phoebe mentioned the guy’s band. Once he said the name, Lightning Swords Of Death, I blurted out that I thought they were great and enjoyed their set at Relax Pub in support of Wolves In The Throne Room. The dude (whose human name is not to be spoken) was quite convivial and thankful. A few minutes later, the bottle of Knob Creek I was keeping in Phoebe’s car came-a-callin’, and I’m pretty sure I just stopped speaking to everyone at the bar after that.
Upon witnessing the Lightning Swords Of Death live spectacle for the second time, I made it my business to seek out an interview with the band. I used the story about our meeting at 3 Of Clubs to approach the singer, who goes by the name Autarch. What follows is a fascinating account of our dialog. As always, I attempt to combine serious interview questions with completely absurd, uncomfortable ones (you know, like an interview from “The Chris Farley Show”?). In order to best understand the tone of the interview, I suggest you read Autarch’s responses with your best death metal voice. You know, the really deep, breathy, gravelly, evil speaking voice that all death metal singers possess? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, think of a much more sinister Macho Man Randy Savage.
Evan: Do you remember meeting me that one time when I was really drunk? I was at 3 of Clubs with my friend Phoebe, who knows you in a round-about way. I only ask because I’m so used to making awful first impressions I actually feel compelled to ask people later if they remember meeting me, in the hopes that no one will ever recall what an ass I am.
Autarch: I recall, but the memory is blurry due to my own rabid abuse of substances.
Evan: Are you actively attempting to asphyxiate crowds with your liberal use of fog machines? Is this an attempt to bring the audience to a higher state of consciousness before you begin your set?
Autarch: Yes, the smoke machines are there for the purpose of creating a state of disorientation in the audience. Robbing the group mind of oxygen is a primitive technique, but until we have the means to oxygenize a violent hallucinogen, this will have to do.
Evan: Where did the name Lightning Swords Of Death come from? Isn’t that the sequel to Shogun Assassin? I love that movie (well, the first one)! Did you (or whoever named the band) know at the time that it would make the most amazing band name ever? Because it is. I’ve seen a ton of bands in my life, and read about five-times as many more — nothing compares to Lightning Swords Of Death, not even Dick Lipstick And The Faggots, or The Gerogerigegege! Do you think the humanized version of your band name could literally kill (and eviscerate) “The Shins” or “Deerhunter” or any of that wussy indie shit?
Autarch: The film title inspired the phrasing of a concept that is actually in reference to an occult paradigm, the Qlipothic path of the Lightning Sword. We were indeed aware of the powers that the name embodied, and did not use it until the work we were producing had earned the mantle. The name is in fact manifested in the flesh, and the foul spirits that inhabit that flesh exist to destroy and pummel the apathetics who you have mentioned.
Evan: Are you influenced by any USBM acts or international black metal acts? I can only name five or ten black metal bands, so if the answer is yes please include some band names that I might casually drop in conversation and sound hip.
Autarch: We raise the chalice with respect to Bathory, Venom, Destruction, Voivod, Hellhammer/Celtic Frost, Beherit, Revenge, Nifelheim, Watain and Dissection. In the United States there is a problem with fan worship, a phenomenon that gives birth to many bands that exist only to emulate that which has come before. As we know, within all art forms there are strong works that rise above the dung pile of mediocrity; Weakling, Von, Leviathan, Lurker of Chalice, Valdur, Endless Blizzard, and Harassor come to mind.
Evan: Are there other black metal bands in LA? I have no idea what the “scene” is like. Since Lightning Swords Of Death is the best metal band I’ve seen in LA, does that automatically make all others number two or lower?
Autarch: Yes.
Evan: If I wanted to sing just like you, how would I do it? Can a guy like me, with a relatively normal speaking voice hone his shrieking-growling metal singing voice? How much practice does it take? Do you have any pre-show rituals for warming up your voice? Is there blood involved?
Autarch: Harbor contempt for man and all his works. Practice ritual magik without banishing . Achieve symbiosis with the being that now inhabits you. That or swallow a hand full of broken glass.
Evan: What’s the best way you’ve found to convert the non-believers into die-hard black metal addicts? Is it drugs? I hear drugging people does wonders for imparting suggestive behaviors or ideas…
Autarch: The “non-believers” as you describe them can fuck off. We shall continue to unleash HELL ON EARTH. If baring witness to this spectacle awakens something interesting inside them or compels them to destroy themselves than so be it.
Evan: Are you a fan of NSBM? Does Lightning Swords of Death ever get involved with murder, hate speech or church burnings? Or are you guys more like first-wave black metal bands?
Autarch: The majority of those bands hold no meaning for us. Religion, political agendas, bloodlines, ancestors, tradition, and culture, it is all psychic poison. We seek to obliterate these things, for they are the true fulcrum of human frailty, inhibiting potential, while robbing you of free will. The only truth is death. Power violence hasnothing to do with national socialism or any of this. The style was invented in Valencia California by bands like Neanderthal, Man is The Bastard, and Infest. It was prevalent in the 90s and died when those bands became inactive.
Evan: Is metal better louder or faster?
Autarch: Louder
Evan: What are some of your favorite metal albums? Can you enjoy music that is not death-centric? If so, what other bands do you enjoy?
Autarch: We are all quite fond of Iron Maiden. However, there is probably debate as to which record is the best, I favor Piece of Mind. Voivod’s Killing Technology should also be mentioned as one of our favorite metal records. Our tastes do expand beyond the genre, everyone in this band has eclectic musical tastes spanning from Thin Lizzy to soundtrack composers like Ennio Marricone and Akira Ikufube.
Evan: The weirdest place you’ve ever performed…Or the most evil, where was it? Do you sometimes dream of performing in a sterile white room with painted unicorns on the wall for a rabid crowd of schoolchildren?
Autarch: The strangest was Stonewall Andrew Jackson’s childhood home. The most evil? I am not going to divulge, it was a private event in a location most clandestine.
Evan: What inspires you?
Autarch: Folklore, the occult sciences, Carl Jung, post humanism, Nietzsche, the comic medium, H.P. Lovecraft, Michael Morcock, Gene Wolfe, Robert E. Howard, Peter J. Caroll, Robert Anton Wilson, Grant Morrison, Alan Moore, Goya, Hermonious Bosch, apocryphal writings, Klaus Kinski, and Alejandro Jodoroski.
Evan: Please tell me briefly about the history of the band. How long have you been together? How many shows have you played? Who are your peers?
Autarch: The current incarnation of this band has been in operation for about seven years. I have no idea how many shows we have performed. Our comrades in the infernal would be Valdur, The Cauterized, Harassor, Horn of Dagoth, Nachtmystium, Weverin, Sxap, Lord Blasphemer, Blasphemous Creation, and Endless Blizzard.
Evan: Walk me through a typical LSoD practice/rehearsal. Is there an invocation ritual? What does your rehearsal space look like?
Autarch: We broadcast to the ears of our patron demons from an altar of disease and perversion. It renders the place befouled with devilry, the air is poisoned and nothing will grow. That is all I can say, our rites and rituals must remain concealed.
Evan: When will the world end? How?
Autarch: Very soon by a black hole. She is pulled in chains towards the Earth and drawing nearer every day.
Evan: What are the band members’ favorite foods.
Autarch: The blood of martyrs, the entrails of the weak and the souls of our enemies. (Garage Pizza is good too.)
Evan: Who writes the songs? Do they arise organically or does someone come to the group with an idea or song already written?
Autarch: In the winter Roskva goes to a cabin north of here to perform dangerous blizzard magik experiments in complete solitude. Once the whispers of the undead are cyphered and transcribed he returns with a cassette that contains material we all contribute to.
Evan: What books are you currently reading?
Autarch: Menno reads mostly history books, while Roskva is reading about Adolph Hitler’s obsession with the Occult. I am currently reading “Etidorpha or The End of the Earth” by John Uri Lloyd. It is a strange book written in 1895 by a Freemason. The protagonist, also a Freemason, who’s name translates to “I am the man” abandons the world above and is guided to the hollow earth by a featureless humanoid through a system of caves in Kentucky. I am also reading Alan Moore’s run on “Swamp Thing” and “The Origin of Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind” by Julian Jaynes.
Evan: How would you like LSoD to be remembered?
Autarch: As the assassinators of the gods.
Evan: When can we expect new tunes/album/shows?
Autarch: There will be another full length released in May and a tour in the summer time. All of our attention falls upon the new work at this time so I would not expect any live performances until March when we will begin performing the songs locally in preparation for recording. There is always the chance that something will inspire to play live between now and than, but for now we are in the lab so to speak.
MP3s:
• Invoke The Desolate One
• Broken Blades
