“Every Sardonic Witchery album is a weapon from a different war“
Portuguese roots + Dallas, Texas, studios + mixing in Washington D.C. + release via underground labels around the globe… How important is the global underground network to your work, and could you survive if you had to stay purely local?
King Demogorgon: I’ve been part of the underground since the 90’s, first playing in local bands in Switzerland. Later, in Portugal, I built my own underground circle in the 2000s — creating a festival, organizing shows, publishing a zine, running a metal club, founding INFERNAL KINGDOM and later a label. When I relocated to Texas in 2012, I essentially had to start from zero again, but this time I already had strong international contacts. From there I became involved in new bands, connected with new people, began organizing concerts again, and eventually launched my label and SARDONIC WITCHERY.
The global underground network is essential to me — it’s the foundation that allows this kind of music to thrive. At the same time, I’ve always believed in building things locally, from the ground up. If you want to be heard, you can’t wait for things to happen; you have to put in the work. My life has always been tied to the underground extreme metal movement, and I couldn’t imagine it any other way.
You handle so many parts of the creative process yourself. Do you ever envy artists with big production teams, or do you think you’d just fire them all anyway?
King Demogorgon: Working alone was never the root plan. I’ve had many bands and worked with a lot of musicians, but I always wanted more than the rest, and too often I was left waiting on others to move forward. I tried more than once to build that real band of true friends, but nowadays that’s almost impossible. So I stopped wasting precious time with drama and bullshit. I kept pushing on alone—but always with valuable help from musicians for live shows, solos, and production.
On the last two albums I worked with two different producers, and for Barbaric Evil Power I brought in Gabriel Luis (G. Lucis Ruina). He handled mixing, mastering, and also recorded guitar solos in the studio. Since 2022 he’s also been playing live as my lead guitarist, and now he’s officially a member of Sardonic Witchery. We’re already recording the fifth album entirely together. I think I finally found the right person to strengthen and elevate the vision I’ve had for this project since 2012.
Sardonic Witchery has always maintained a fiercely underground identity. What was your original vision for the band, and how has it shifted as your discography expanded?
King Demogorgon: My vision has always stayed the same: to create music and make sure it gets out there physically CDs, cassettes, and vinyl, that’s what really interests me, create music and have someone behind it who can give it a proper distribution. In the early years, I was both the musician and the distributor, but over time the distribution side consumed too much of my day-to-day life. That’s when I began looking to underground labels to handle that side, so I could focus fully on the music.
Back then, one strong underground label was enough to move things worldwide. Today, with shipping costs and the decline of global trades, it’s much harder. I’ve tried working with several labels at once, one per continent, but in truth, Sardonic Witchery often had stronger distribution when I handled it myself than now with seven different labels involved. I’ve become more demanding over time, and for the next album I really want to partner with publishers who still know how to push trades and distribution the way it should be done in the underground.
Your name evokes both mockery (sardonic) and sorcery (witchery). How do those two concepts embody the spirit of your music?
King Demogorgon: My music has always been about confronting and defying, not following trends or pleasing anyone. The “Sardonic” part reflects the mockery, my disdain for false idols, empty norms, and superficiality. “Witchery”represents the raw, ritualistic, and transformative aspect of the music itself, creating a space where the dark, chaotic, and powerful forces of sound take form. Together, they embody a spirit that is both defiant and mystical, a personal underground world where nothing is sanitized or compromised.
Your records often balance raw, primitive energy with traditional heavy metal elements. When you compose, how do you decide whether a riff belongs in the savage, stripped-down tradition, or if it deserves a more “epic” treatment?
King Demogorgon: I never really think about how a riff will turn out in the end—it’s a completely spontaneous process. I sit in my studio and start creating infernal guitars, then move on to the drums—or sometimes I do it the other way around, recording drums first and guitars later. With the lyrics, everything naturally falls into place.
For this upcoming album, Hell’s Thorns Attack (2026), the process shifted slightly with the arrival of G. Lucis Ruina to the band. From the start, I knew I wanted to create a much more Thrash/Heavy Black Metal record. Those familiar with my work know that I never make commitments; everything always comes directly from the spirit I’m in at the time of composing. But this time, the vision was set from the beginning. The result will be an infernal concoction so intense, even the devil himself will feel its wrath.
On Barbaric Evil Power there’s a strong sense of spontaneity, almost as if the music was captured in one violent breath. Do you deliberately avoid overworking songs, or is that just how they erupt from you?
King Demogorgon: I never plan the music, it just explodes out of me. When I record, it’s all fire and violence, that first, raw breath of chaos. Overworking it would kill the soul, so I capture it unfiltered. But for this new record, it’s will be different. I have a killer guitarist now, and I’m letting him unleash his own fury alongside mine. Together, we forge something sharper, heavier, but it will still dripping with that primal, savage energy that defines Sardonic Witchery.
Some of your earlier releases intentionally reject polished production. Do you see rawness as a rebellion against modern metal’s overproduction, or is it a spiritual necessity for black metal to remain authentic?
King Demogorgon: Rawness is both a rebellion and a necessity. On one hand, it rejects modern metal’s overproduced, sterile sound, a refusal to let music become a polished commodity. On the other, it’s spiritual: black metal thrives on atmosphere, ritual, and intensity, and that can’t survive in a glossy form. Capturing that immediate energy is essential to keeping the music alive. Polished production may make it ‘easier to listen to,’ but it strips away the fire that gives black metal its power.
Now, with an extraordinary producer in the band (G. Lucis Ruina), I plan to take full advantage of it for the next attack. Nothing is forever, I want to create a heavy thrash-black metal assault. Don’t be surprised if our sound evolves: expect raw power, but with a sharper, more devastating edge.
Your lyrics dive into Satanism, war, blasphemy, and darkness. Are these purely artistic archetypes, or do they reflect deeper personal convictions?
King Demogorgon: They are both. These themes are archetypes, yes ancient symbols of rebellion, destruction, and transcendence, but they also echo my own convictions about freedom, power, and the rejection of hypocrisy. I don’t use Satanism, war or blasphemy just for shock; they’re languages of darkness that allow me to express truths that polite society prefers to hide. My music is an artistic ritual, but it’s born from real fire.
You’ve called upon imagery of chaos, barbarism, and ritual. How do you connect those ideas to the modern world, where evil often manifests more subtly through systems and power structures?
King Demogorgon: Evil doesn’t always wear the mask of a beast or a warlord it hides in institutions, in governments, in churches, in corporations. What I channel through chaos and barbarism is a symbolic confrontation with that hidden rot. The ritual and the primitive force in my music are ways of stripping away the illusions of “civilization” and exposing the violence and corruption beneath it. The modern world pretends to be clean and ordered, but it is ruled by the same brutality as in ancient times—only now it wears a suit and calls itself law, progress, or morality. My music brings that truth back into the light, raw and without disguise.
You’ve released music through splits, demos, and limited cassettes/vinyl runs—formats that thrive on scarcity. Is this primarily about cult authenticity, or does it also serve to test the dedication of your listeners?
King Demogorgon: It’s both. Underground metal has always lived in scarcity—those raw demos, the limited cassettes, the obscure vinyl pressings. That’s part of the cult identity, to keep it away from mass consumption and tied to the old ways. But at the same time, it’s a trial by fire. If someone is truly dedicated, they’ll search, they’ll trade, they’ll wait, they’ll pay. That process separates the casual listener from the one who bleeds for this music. The format itself becomes a weapon against convenience, keeping the circle small but stronger.
Do you believe black metal still has uncharted territory left, or has the genre reached a point where the truest expression is maintaining the tradition without compromise?
King Demogorgon: Black metal will always have uncharted territory, but only for those who dare to walk it without compromise. Too many bands today chase novelty for its own sake and end up sounding hollow, or worse like clones of each other. That’s why I don’t waste time trying to reinvent the wheel. My focus now is on creating a truly black album with pure hell power, forged in the spirit of old school heavy, thrash, and black metal. That’s where the real strength lives, in the primal fire that can’t be faked or polished away.
Sardonic Witchery has never been and will never be a copy of any band. What I create is mine alone, born from a lifetime of devotion to underground extreme metal. I’m not interested in playing safe or fitting into trends, I mix everything I love into one violent force, because that’s the only honest way to keep this flame alive. Black metal doesn’t need gimmicks or reinvention; it needs conviction, danger, and defiance. And that’s exactly what I bring.
Looking back at your body of work, which release do you feel best captures the soul of Sardonic Witchery, and why?
King Demogorgon: Every Sardonic Witchery album is a weapon from a different war, each carrying the essence of its time. None can be denied, none can be forgotten. But I am not chained to the past, I march forward with fire in hand. The upcoming album, Hell’s Thorns Attack, will be the ultimate strike: the venom of all four albums forged into one unstoppable blade. This is the purest expression of Sardonic Witchery’s philosophy, war, blasphemy, and devotion without compromise. Mid-2026, the true hell power will be unleashed. Be ready or be crushed.
The famous last words are yours….
King Demogorgon: Sardonic Witchery is currently seeking a label for the upcoming album, “Hell’s Thorns Attack” (2026). We are looking for a partner capable of releasing the album on CD, cassette, and vinyl with worldwide distribution appropriate for an underground metal release. Labels interested in discussing this opportunity are invited to contact us directly at: sardonicwitchery@hotmail.com.
We extend our gratitude to Peter from Merg and Been Records / Magazine for the opportunity & support.
“Enjoy the war because peace will be terrible.”
May Satan bless you!
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I really enjoyed reading Sardonic Witchery’s interview 🤘🏻