Interview with guitarist T. Persecutor of Hell Militia

French all-star horde Hell Militia (featuring members of Mütiilation, Arkhon Infaustus, Secrets Of The Moon, Vorkreist a.o.) has just released the long-awaited second masterpiece “Last Station On The Road To Death” through Debemur Morti Productions, a raw piece of dirty, pissed-off and monotonous Black Metal, and the band was lately on tour with their French colleagues Aosoth and Blacklodge. These were just two reasons to speak with mainman T. Persecutor.

How does one have to understand the title “Last Station On The Road To Death”?

It's already been a crazy life so far, and we're all still alive. Each day could be the last one, and it seems we are not that far from the end.

Where have you taken the sample “Always The Same” from, which is the perfect introduction for the album?

It's an old American government video against drugs that I mixed with sounds. We sometimes also use some parts of that video on stage. It represents the weak hand in hand with drugs. But that feeling of days being mixed also occurs for the majority of people accepting a stupid way of life and forced to live every day the same thing. 

Who is responsible for what in Hell Militia concerning the songwriting?

I write the music, then we work on it in rehearsal. We have to like it 100%, or it will be discarded. Quite a couple of songs have been deleted, not because they were bad, but because they didn't fit exactly what we wanted to play. Hell Militia stands for music that goes along ideas and Faith. It's not just a hobby or a job. It's what we want to play and say.

The sound of Hell Militia is dirty, harsh, bad-mooded and contains kind of a Fuck Off-attitude. Is this a natural result of the feelings inside the band's members?

Yes, I think that when you get the album, what you will hear, see or read, is really us. When we record, we have to find the engineer that again would accept to do it our way. We record from 10 pm till day rises again. We have to be fucked and in the right mood to put our music down. I just can't play Hell Militia in a clean studio with the daylight and just be concentrated. It needs to be fucked up, and it's not a big deal if things get fucked.

Who created the artwork of “Last Station On The Road To Death”?

I did. Just like with Arkhon Infaustus for example, I rarely ask other people. I want it to be a direct image from us. So I use some of my non musical works and we took 8 or 9 artworks. There are numerous meanings throughout the pages, and it would take a long time to put them down. It's work based on ideas before image, just like the music. 

“Burning Human Pigs”, “Blood From The Pig” and now “The Pig That Became a God”: You seem to have a faible for the expression “pig”…

Yes, it's my metaphor for the weak part of humans. It's both a religious and down to earth image. Pigs, wolves and sheeps. Those who make this stupid world and its religions and laws, those who just eat the shit they are served and never ask, and the others... TV is the easiest way to hear the pig.

While a lot of nowadays Black Metal-bands have a religious, spiritual attitude concerning satanism and devil worship, Hell Militia seems to have a more down-to-earth approach and seems to deal also with life's topics. Right/wrong interpretation?

It's true. Our music is religious of course as we are believers. But we have also piss taste of life. I think that Black Metal is a religious music done by religious people, but that Black Metal is not there to teach. Either you see, either you never do. Some are blind and some will see the light that stands in darkness.

What's the reason, in your opinion, that there is such a fanatic cult about Hell Militia? What differs you from other Black Metal-bands?

I don't think there is a cult behind us, but you know, what people who are supporting and following us find in Hell Militia: the old way. First time we have toured with Metal Kommand, he told us it reminds him of the old days. We still have the flame since the first demos we have made. And there is no fake in Hell Militia, we have nothing to prove and nothing to obey. No label that could ask a change in our sound or composition. And in the same idea, that might be what people like when we play live. For 8 years now, we have been using video on stage, we see gigs as a full piece of black arts.

Each member of Hell Militia has several activities, bands and projects besides. Which priority nit has Hell Militia for you personally?

Now that Arkhon Infaustus and Mütiilation are in the abyss, both of us have all our energy and time for Hell Militia. That's why I had so long to bring that album, because I didn't want to rush Hell Militia. It's our personal band, so we have waited for that time to come, and the time for Hell Militia is now. I already have some new songs that we really like playing...

You recently toured with Aosoth and Blacklodge through Europe. How was the experience of touring and the relationship between the three French hordes? Can you name a few high- and lowlights of the tour? MkM of Antaues for example was - according to his MySpace-blog – very pissed off about the circumstances on the road.

MkM is always pretty pessimistic, and even if I chose these two bands to tour with us, there had to be an opening band. You know MkM has been playing a long fucking time dedicated music, and even though Aosoth were excellent on the tour, as openers, people are not always there and in the mood already. These bands were like a tour with only comrades. Hard to tell some pieces of the tour without comrades being endangered by it. But believe me, it was the first tour of the bass player from Aosoth and he has learned it really hard and old school... Also, the tour manager couldn't refrain in a very small fight with St Vincent... Who had to finish the tour with two bones broken, and sing on a chair on the last dates...

Whose (great!) idea was it to cover GG Allin for the new album and why did you choose him?

It was Meyhnach's, and we all agreed instantly. It is an exercise we like very much. As we both listen to a lot of old punk bands, it is pretty obvious that we have a couple of punk songs that we want to cover, and GG Allin was the closest song that we wanted to play, and the lyrics are totally fitting to Hell Militia. It's a cover both musically and literally. We might do a Split limited LP with Blacklodge, both bands only do selected covers...

What about Meyhnach's often discussed drug consume? Is this his personal issue or just part of the Hell Militia madness?

A life in excess is a candle burnt by both sides, and we are all attracted to go into that light like a moth, until we burn and fall down. We don't plan to get old...

France seems to have the most inspired, extreme, innovative and devoted Black Metal-underground worldwide with a large number of high-class bands. Would you agree with that or is this just the distorted view of an outsider? And which hordes from France do you respect & appreciate most?

I really enjoy the French black metal scene, I believe there are really dedicated people. It was really hard in the past to export French extreme music except from Massacra for example. Now these bands are given an ear. Of course I speak about Blacklodge, Aosoth, Deathspell Omega, and I recently saw a great gig from Ritualization, Diapsiquir is releasing a new album and I am pretty impatient to hear it.

Last words belong to you. Thanks a lot for the conversation!

It is made of faith and doubt.

Thanx for your support.

www.myspace.com/hell_militia