You have been active as a writer in the extreme metal scene for decades. How and when did your career as a reviewer first begin?
First of all, Peter, thanks a lot for having me. My first reviews were written back in 2002, honestly I don’t recall exactly how things were aligned in time, but those first articles were published at Lords Of Metal webzine from The Netherlands, a platform that sold its souls for money and fame a good couple of years ago. But I was only the new kid on the block there, only getting shitty stuff to review. I applied for a position at Zware Metalen and Vampire-Magazine, the latter rejected me but I started writing for Zware Metalen which was much more fun because I could do the music I loved. But it only took like 30 reviews until Ricardo of Vampire-Magazine apparently changed his mind and asked me to join his team, which I did. My time with Vampire-Magazine turned out to be very important in both my personal life as well as in further developing my musical taste and overall view and vision on it. It appeared to have been a stepping stone to many of my “metal career” in working for several labels, managing bands, organising gigs, festivals and tours. Eventually that all lead to me boarding the staff of the Baroeg club in Rotterdam too.
Eventually I left Vampire-Magazine, feeling a bit disappointed by its team getting more international, whereas it only had Dutch and Belgian contributors at first, with the falling apart of the team spirit as a result. Besides that, Ricardo at some point stepped down and eventually disappeared completely, I had no desire to write/work for some other guy I had no feeling with. Then I joined another few webzines, but that was all rather short-lived and I more or less stopped writing completely around 2010. I picked that all up about a decade later, Ricardo, in the meantime, started VM-Underground, which I joined. I am still active as an almost daily contributor to VM-Underground, but I also have this own webzine/blog with VincentP (also involved with VM-Underground). In the early goings of 2024 I started WolfKult Religion fanzine, a paper fanzine. Let’s call that a kind of therapeutic expression of a midlife crisis, but I really enjoy editing it, something that I already attempted around 2008 under the name of Wielder Of Axes, a name inspired by the German heavy metal band Axewielder.
A few years ago, you launched your own website The Whispering Darkness. Was this a deliberate step to write more independently and autonomously?
Honestly, this was the result of some internal disputes at VM-Underground. I needed a platform for myself at which I could just publish what I wanted without having to adjust to someone else’s guidelines. I have a natural aversion to authority, and when I suddenly get fed up with something, I immediately slam the door shut and go my own way.
And although it didn’t take too long to return to the VM-Underground crew, I have known Ricardo for such a long time already, I am glad we started The Whispering Darkness. VM-Underground is purely focusing on black and death metal, with only very little space for anything else. I am also very fond of classic heavy metal for instance, plus I am keeping my interviews exclusively for The Whispering Darkness (and WolfKult Religion fanzine). I must also add that The Whispering Darkness is not my solo thing, it wouldn’t exist without my partner in crime for some 25 years, VincentP, who also happens to be part of the VM-Underground team by the way.
In 2023, the Into Darkness 7” marked the first release on your label WolfKult Religion. What was the decisive factor that made you take the step towards starting your own label?
Another thing that had a long time coming. I have started my first label in the early 00’s, but I was young and undisciplined and inexperienced. In other words: that didn’t last too long. I have tried to set up something a few more times, with varying degrees of success. When my last label died from natural causes, I abandoned the idea for a couple of years, but eventually I wanted to give it one last go. And the result is WolfKult Religion. So, to answer your question a bit more precisely, there was nothing that comes close to a decisive factor, I just wanted to give it one last go to see if it would work out better this time. My personal situation was changed drastically, so now I had more time and money to invest and this time I would do it all on my own, so I didn’t have to wait or to discuss anything with anybody. This obviously all turned out much better than any of my previous attempts.
How did the process of that first release unfold – from production to distribution – and what kind of feedback did you receive from the scene?
Previously I had already released a good couple of vinyl records and I have been buying, trading and selling records with many people all over the globe too. Plus, with all my previous activities in the scene I already had a rather solid network that I could more or less rely on. So with my first releases I turned to some of them and I am very happy that almost all of them offered me their help with trades and whatnot.
Shortly afterward came the EPs by Stormbreker and Gotthammer, two bands very different in style. What criteria do you apply when selecting artists and releases?
Ha, yes. These are indeed as far away from each other as possible, both in music and in aesthetics. As a whole, I think the Stormbreker7” EP is definitely the odd one out in my entire back catalogue. There are no rules, I am just doing whatever tickles my fancy. I am releasing the music that I like. Yet, its obvious that the majority of my releases are to be found in black metal territories. But I have currently also releases scheduled from such acts as Living Evil, a Canadian true and evil heavy metal band and Dismorfia, a Peruvian death/grind/gore band that’s clearly inspired by early Carcass.
My musical taste is rather unlimited, even far beyond metal. Yet, I try to keep things a bit within a certain framework with my label’s releases. I personally care a lot about the old school scene aesthetics, regardless of niche or subgenre, I need to have the right feeling with the bands I am working with. I musically grew up in the late 90’s and early 00’s, so that is how I approach music. It is mostly just a gut feeling. I love bands that really belong on cassette tape or vinyl, or have clear roots in what I consider to be important musical and aesthetic values, harking back to the mentality of the 80s or 90s. At least, as far as my label’s vision and “policy” goes. On a personal level, I can appreciate lots of more music, also metal that doesn’t necessarily fall within such values, but for WolfKult Religion I aim for bands who share the same passion for old school metal fundamentals, regardless of style.
When you look at my back catalogue, you’ll find bands like Gotthammer, Vider and Bluthammer who share a take on the Blasphemy-styled black/death metal amalgam, but I also like bands such as Starcave Nebula, a band that is one of the leading acts in contemporary ultra-raw/lo-fi black metal. You’ll continue to find such wide variety of bands on my roster, yet, I am afraid that such a release as the Stormbreker 7” EP won’t ever find its way back to WolfKult Religion, for various reasons.
WolfKult Religion seems to carry a strong visual and ideological identity. How important are artwork, aesthetics, and conceptual coherence for you alongside the music itself?
As largely explained already in your previous questions I do care about certain values and aesthetics. With things like flyers I indeed try to keep things a bit recognizable, they all look alike as I use the same format for basically all of them. That house style, if you will, largely adds to the recognizability and the brand I am building. As for the individual layouts of the tapes and vinyl releases, the majority of them I am taking care of the design and layout myself. I might not be the most skilled graphic designer, but I am sure doing all that by myself also helps to recognize my releases; at least most of them are done in a similar fashion. The artwork itself is usually chosen by the artists/bands themselves. I cannot recall ever rejecting anything that was proposed in this regard.
Do you view WolfKult Religion primarily as an extension of your own taste, or do you also aim to actively provide a platform for new niches and sounds within the underground?
WolfKult Religion, both the label and the fanzine, are nothing but an extension of my personal taste in music and view on the metal genre. As already briefly touched upon earlier, I don’t really care for genres or subgenres, if the music is interesting to my ears, I am open to write a review or interview or even release it through my label. That also includes new bands or sounds and movements, but I do not see WolfKult Religion as a platform for inventiveness. Honestly, it might even be a bit more conservative. Not deliberately, but that is just where my personal taste primarily lies. Don’t get me wrong, I do like my fair share of experimenting or technical and adventurous music, but as a whole, I am mostly aiming on feeling and atmosphere – not to be confused with atmospheric music. As a whole, most of the music released on my label can be labelled as rather regressive instead of visionary. If you listen to Hexenshade or Oath Of Malginancy from my latest batch of tapes for instance, you’ll hear a very strong old Bathory-vibe in the first one and the second is all about early Impurity, Mystifier and Varathron – not exactly the latest hits in the underground.
How do you perceive today’s underground scene? Do you believe labels like yours still play a crucial role, now that so many artists can release their music digitally by themselves?
Tricky question. Although these thoughts crossed my mind when starting WolfKult Religion, I deliberately put them aside. There are countless of small labels and there is an obvious overkill in bands, exactly for the reason you just mentioned, but I also believe that with the right mindset, choices and dedication you can still make a change. I didn’t start my label with exactly that idea, I am modest and realistic enough to realise that I am still far away from really making a difference, but what I truly set out to do is to pick some good music and give it a release that I think it deserves.
Personally I don’t believe in digital music. I am not interested in digital files alone, that is also why I am not offering them in any way – you’ll never find a download-card in any of my releases, I never used one in my entire life either. If bands want to do that and if there are people willing to pay for digital files they can go and do that, but I don’t care about that at all. Call me old fashioned, but if I want to read a book I am not reading it from the internet or an e-reader: I am going to buy a book. And if I want to listen to music, I also prefer to put on a record. I don’t deny the convenience of streaming services, that I frequently use myself for reviewing for instance, but I am emotionally invested in the physical formats of art.
That is why I am solely offering music on physical formats through WolfKult Religion and I also distribute things like fanzines. That is how I see WolfKult Religion as a label, I like to see myself as picking the cherries from the ongoing and never-ending stream of music that rocks our shores; the same thing that I think we are doing with The Whispering Darkness, we are picking the best releases from what the underground movement has to offer – at least, we like to think so.
It is the same with fanzine, small labels like mine are just links in a long chain, together forming the entire underground scene. Maybe insignificant on its own, but together we are definitely playing a crucial role. We’re not only offering some great bands their well-deserved platform and a possible stepping stone to gain a wider recognition, but this whole genre was built on this vital principle of DIY. From the early goings of the NWOBHM-scene at the very end of the 70’s and early 80’s to the rise of the extreme metal genres around the 90’s: it all began with people distributing demo tapes, flyers, fanzines etc. I strongly believe that this is a fundamental part of what we all enjoy today.
You’ve also been very active in the Doom and Grind scene in the early 2000’s, has still stillhave a place in your heart and can we expect something like that from your label?
When I got heavily invested in extreme metal, I was very much attracted to anything that was either wild or dark – or both. So, Grindcore appealed to me for their sheer sonic violence. I have loved that genre ever since I stumbled upon it, not sure anymore how that happened. But in those years I basically ate everything that was extreme and of course I wanted to be a part of that. Like a lot of things that happened in my musical “career”, it started with reviewing all those releases from such labels as Obscene Productions, Bizarre Leprous Records, American Line Records, Last House On The Right (led by Bill Yurkiewicz, who founded Relapse Records about a decade or so earlier). Through these reviews I got in contact with lots of bands and labels and started communicating with them on a daily basis, which eventually led me to start working for several of such labels such as No Escape Records, SelfMadeGod Records and the aforementioned Obscene Productions. The first gig I organised outside of my little hometown was a show at the Baroeg club in Rotterdam, where I would eventually end up working full-time at some point. That was a sold out show with Blood Duster, Rompeprop, Bile, Cliteater, Blood I Bleed and some others. I picked up (co-)organising the Grind Over Rotterdam shows/festivals. I am not following that scene anymore that much, but every now and then I am still buying some of the records that helped shape my taste in extreme music. I was very happy to finally add those recent F.O.A.D. Records vinyl reissues of such classics as the Regurgitate albums and the Hemdale discography record, that must be one of the best and most overlooked bands in the whole Grindcore scene.
As for Doom Metal, that is mostly the same. I always liked it, but it was a friend of mine who introduced me into the super extreme territories of Doom Metal. He was the singer/bassist in a progressive Doom band called In Age And Sadness at the time and let me listen to all sorts of Doom bands, including the extreme stuff like Khanate and Sunn o))). And as usual, I took it much further. When I start with something, there is no end in sight, ever. So, I started booking his band around Europe and start relationships with Doom labels and bands, booking shows and tours. That way I brought bands like Isole, Burning Saviours, The Prophecy, Jack Frost, Evoken and so many more to The Netherlands and Europe. I also (co-)organised the annual Dutch Doom Days festival for a couple of years, alongside Pim of Officium Triste and Leon the main promotor of the Baroeg club. I have many great memories of booking and working with such bands as Forgotten Tomb, Worship (the absolute pinnacle of Funeral Doom), Reverend Bizarre, The River, The Lamp Of Thoth, Procession, Pagan Altar, Hooded Menace, Mournful Congregation, Swallow The Sun and countless others.
To this day, I still maintain contacts that I made during that time. Many of such bands stayed at my place and we hung around here in my little home town. Those contacts and memories I still cherish, whether it were the Evoken, Brutal Truth, Blood Duster, The Prophecy, Saturnus or Swallow The Sun guys crashing at my house: I will never forget those great moments.
As for having them on my label, I already explained that the label is very much a reflection of my personal musical taste. That means, in theory, everything is possible. Yet, for now I aim to the same sort of music that is more or less easy tie within a certain philosophy and overall aesthetic values. But, with Dismorfia from Peru I am releasing something that comes really close to early Carcass and stuff like Phlegm, Impetigo or Bloood, so, I guess everything is possible. I was also very enamoured with Kathryne Danielle’s first doom demo, she is also the singer and guitarist of Living Evil who is already on the WolfKult Religion roster, so… You never know!
Are there labels from the past or present that inspired you in shaping the way you run WolfKult Religion?
Oh, for sure. Back in 2008 when I was preparing my never-published Wielder Of Axes fanzine, I was heavily into labels like Iron Bonehead, Hells Headbangers, Blood Harvest, Nuclear War Now!, Iron Pegasus, Nuclear Winter, they all shared a certain vision on black, death, thrash and heavy metal that I felt very connected to. Not only on a musical level, but also they way they designed their stuff and ran their business. There are obvious differences between them, but the “feeling” is what bound them. Later on there was also Detest Records from Belgium and Me Saco Un Ojo from the UK. While the first folded rather quickly and the latter turned much less interesting after 2012, more or less. They all played a significant role in what I wanted to do with the things I did over the last fifteen years and also with how I am shaping WolfKult Religion.
And, honestly, I am taking advantage to learn from the successes and mistakes from all those labels that went before me. It truly pays dividends being rather closely involved into the underground metal scene for well over two decades, I have seen labels come and go and I have also made my own mistakes in the past, all of that is a vital part of how I run WolfKult Religion today.
I am keeping good relations with a lot of other labels, both big and small. I do see that interconnecting as a vital part of the underground metal scene, it doesn’t only help my label in more than one way, it also feeds the underground scene as a whole. I still admire and support a lot of such labels, I am still a regular customer of labels such as Hells Headbangers, Osmose Productions, Iron Bonehead, Nuclear War Now!. But there’s also a whole newer generation of different labels that are worth praising, like my fellow Dutch allies of Heidens Hart and New Era Productions or the German-based Destruktion Records and Dying Victims Records, the Portuguese Altare Productions and so many more. All of them are different and offer different kinds of music, but we are all part of the same family.
What can we expect from WolfKult Religion in the near future? Are there any new releases or plans you can already share?
Of course there is new stuff coming up. Actually my current release schedule is loaded to such an extent that it is taking me lots of time to get everything done, so hopefully there’s a slightly quieter period coming soon. Anyway, I am currently occupied with the following releases that are already announced:
These are currently in various stages of production:
• Goat Semen / Bestial Rites – “Sacrificial Rites” Split 7″ EP
• Nekromanteion – “The Sinister Flame” 7″ EP
• Witchcraft / Blackstream – “House Of Sacrilege” Split LP
• Bluthammer / Vider – “Wolfprotocol” Split LP
• Sathanas / Nunslaughter – “Torn Apart” Split 7″ EP
• Gotthammer / Goatcorpse – Split 7” EP
• Dismorfia – “Sexual Mutilations And Paralytic Sorrows” MC
• Fulgorious – “Total Black Metal Cult” MC
• Pillagery / Goatscrote – Split MC
• Living Evil – “Curse The Cross” MC
• Wampyric Rites – “Night Winds Of The Tempest” 7″ EP
Besides those I am currently working on the release of these:
• Wampyric Rites / Oath Of Malignancy – Split 7″ EP
• As Sahar / Paganfire – Split 7″ EP
• Onheilsprofeet – “Slotakkoord Van De Dood” MC
• Acheron – “Alla Xul” Picture 7″ EP
• Likno – “Summit & Trench” MC / CD
• Countess / Wrok – Split 7″ EP
• LouCyfer – Compilation CD / LP
• Severe Torture – “Baptized…” CD / LP
• Suicidal Winds – “In The Fire 666” CD
• Blótskål – Debut EP MC
• Sammath – “Amongst The Dead In The Darkness” 7″ EP
• Salacious Gods – “Jacht In Twaeduuster” 12” / CD
And, there’s more where all that came from. I am also working on the sixth issue of WolfKult Religion and even a book is in the works, but no details on that is to be revealed. So, keep your eyes peeled. No lack of inspiration from my side…
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