East Flanders is increasingly establishing itself as a breeding ground for remarkable and innovative bands. One of the most recent additions to this ever-growing list is Matavitatau. With their uncompromising, 1990s-inspired extreme sound and their striking use of Latin lyrics, the band has recently drawn attention with the release of their debut demo. The perfect moment, then, to sit down with this promising name from the underground and uncover what lies behind their dark and unrelenting sound.
(answers by Θ)
Recently, your demo Numen Nescio was released in a beautiful edition by Canti Eretici Productions. How did this collaboration come about, and what has the response been so far?
On Valentine’s Day we published our demo on Bandcamp, and three weeks later we got an e-mail from Max at Canti Eretici saying he liked it very much and he wanted to do a tape-release. Needless to say, we were thrilled at this prospect. Everything went very smoothly from there, the tape was released as part of the May batch alongside Wraithlord and some other bands. We are very happy with how it turned out – Max’s releases are always a joy to behold, he takes great pride in that – and it quickly garnered some very positive reviews. The tape is sold out from the label but we still have some copies.
As most people will know by now, all your lyrics are written in Latin. What led you to choose this classical language?
As a classics teacher for 20+ years, it seemed obvious to me to combine my passion for black metal with that for Latin. From the very beginning I envisioned a project where all lyrics would be simply fragments culled from the vast reservoir of Latin literature. There are so many passages that fit the genre to a T, there is no risk of me ever running out of material. I do notice in myself a growing urge to excise very small bits (a verse here, half a line there) and rearrange them into a new whole. This will be noticeable on our next release where you will find the song Favilla Mali, the lyrics to which are ransacked together from all over the work of the Augustan elegist Propertius. But I’m sure there will also still be cases where I lift an entire passage wholesale.
Thanks to your background, your lyrics are, of course, entirely correct. However, in the Black Metal scene, Latin is often used incorrectly. What is your view on such lyrics and titles?
I got into black metal one or two years after I started studying Latin as a young lad, and from the very beginning I was both enchanted by how well the two can work together and bummed out by how often bands make a complete mess of it. It pains me because black metal is important to me, and I don’t want outsiders to feel confirmed in their prejudice that it’s all bullshit (the outsiders in those days being of course family and teachers!). I swore that if I ever was going to be in a band, I would try to do it right. Little did I know this would ever be the case for real, there was nothing pointing in that direction at the time. Unfortunately I never learned to play an instrument, and it didn’t occur to me to try my hand at vocals. I also didn’t know the right people to get anything started. But to return to your question, I’m still pretty annoyed at all the crappy pseudo-Latin in the black metal scene, the tide continues unabated. I understand that you can be attracted to something you haven’t studied thoroughly, but surely it can’t be that hard to get something proofread real quick. Latinists are not that rare. I mean, it’s not Tocharian or Proto-Iroquoian.
I often ask bands that use a language other than ‘standard’ English how important language is to them, especially dialects that are slowly disappearing. So, the word is yours.
The language thing is essential to our band’s identity. If we were ever to use anything else but Latin, we would have to do it under another name. I would only make an exception for Ancient Greek, which I’ve studied alongside Latin for 30+ years.
I find it very satisfying to see how people in the black metal scene are willing and able to distinguish themselves and forge a very individual identity in part by using their own language, no matter how obscure. You don’t get that nearly as much in other types of metal. Of course it’s not a must and there are other ways to reach the same goal. I understand completely if some bands focus on other things. We do have to acknowledge the fact, unfortunately, that some – If not many – black metal lyrics are woefully bad, to the point of being absolutely ridiculous. Not that things are generally much better in other genres, I guess, but there’s a special kind of blowhard, tough-guy, occulter-than-thou vibe in extreme Metal a lot of the time which at times appeals to me and gets the job done, but at other times – probably more often… well, you get my meaning.
How does your writing process work? Is there a close collaboration when it comes to composing your songs?
Our guitarist Sparakter is the songwriter in the band. He presents us with riffs which we then build upon together in the rehearsal room. I always have a couple of ideas ready for lyrics I want to use at some point. I just let the sound and general feel of the song direct me towards a good fit. Loimos (drums) and Barathron (bass) also just listen to the riffs and intuitively work out their parts while we jam together. Of course it happens that we make suggestions to one another but usually it’s everyone for themselves and miraculously it doesn’t take long for a genuine song to emerge. I’ve never been in another band where things work differently, so it’s hard to gauge how common or special this is. Anyway, I’m happy with our process.
You recently made your live debut. How was the experience? Did everything go smoothly, or is performing live something you prefer to keep to a minimum?
We were scheduled to do our first gig on 22 July (incidentally my 45th birthday) at Kinky Star during the Gentse Feesten (Ghent Festivities). Due to unforeseen circumstances this actually turned out to be our second show as three weeks earlier we were at Pankraker Festival (also in Ghent) where it turned out all of a sudden that Chevallier Skrog wasn’t going to be able to make it, so we filled in for them at the last minute. Of course it was really satisfying for us to have our debut at such a highly esteemed event. We just had time for the four demo tracks. Given that it was our first show ever, we were quite satisfied with our performance. At Kinky Star we had a longer slot and we also played some new material, to generally favorable reviews. The freak-out section at the end of Favilla Mali raised some eyebrows though. Good!
We’re not going to take just any gig, but it’s not like we want to make a Matavitatau show a very rare and unique event either. In the meantime, we have some five concerts lined up for the next nine months, all of them in Belgium.
Now that the demo has been officially released and the world has been introduced to Matavitatau, what is the next step? Is there already interest from labels for a full album release?
We have a bunch of new songs, four of which we have selected for a new recording which will take place next month. Call it a second demo or an EP, it doesn’t matter. We hope to get these out by the end of this year, we’ll see if that’s feasible. We still have to work out if this will be possible with our current label, but we’re certainly open to that. Then by next year we hope to get to work on a full-length release, and for that we are certainly open to offers from labels – not because we want to get rid of Canti Eretici, but because we would like to release something on cd and/or vinyl. But for now our focus is fully on getting ready for the October recording which will be entitled Taeda Inversa. All the rest will have to wait until after that. Like I said, we do have several shows lined up, the earliest of which will be opening for Profanatica in Kortrijk on 10 November.
The Belgian Black Metal scene seems to have grown somewhat in recent years. How do you see Matavitatau’s role within this scene, and what are your relations like with other bands?
We aren’t actively seeking to be part of any scene or brotherhood or clique or whatever, so I’m not sure what our role can or should be. We just exist within this spectrum and a number of people seem to be quite happy with that, so that’s enough. We are pretty down-to-earth, easy-going people, so we do tend to get along fine with other bands we happen to get in contact with. Sparakter and I started this band when we were already in our forties, so I guess we bypassed that whole phase where you have to be all arrogant and peacocky and all that – a good thing, because frankly that role doesn’t suit me at all. It took me decades to find workarounds from my inherently introspective and socially awkward character, so the amount of social contact we have now is fine – no need to go overboard.
Any famous last words? Here is your chance….
Iam veniet tenebris Mors adoperta caput… But in the meantime, join our rites of loss and celebration. Watch out for our second offering at the end of this year – if all goes according to plan. The upcoming shows I’ve mentioned will be advertised in due time on our – shudder – ‘socials’.
Matavitatau:
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