They Am the Black Wizards

Performing with Emperor was one of the most difficult feats in our decade of existence. We've played with many "big names" in the past and I've never felt intimidated in the least. Then again we've never played with one of the single most influential bands of a genre, never mind their high degree of musicianship. The situation was not helped when the entire show schedule was pushed back by an hour and a half which meant our stage time was 7:45 instead of 9pm, and we were notified of this mere minutes before the doors opened. The main problem in these situations is a question of mental preparedness; once we are aware of a timetable, we then slowly move towards the point when we stop being mortal individuals and become Averse Sefira as an entity unto itself. A sudden change in plans can be jarring and lead to distraction or anxiety. Despite these pitfalls we are, like any seasoned unit, adaptable and I do not think our performance suffered. Our intrepid French visualist Valnoir was on hand to take live photos (as shown here) as well as some compelling candid shots that will likely not surface until long after the band is dead and gone.

Back to the challenging nature of Emperor- in the last handful of years the band has cultivated a more discerning and often less metal fan base and with this in mind we were expecting an uphill battle and potentially a room full of crossed arms and furrowed brows while we performed. I am pleased to say that New York did not let us down and our reception was positive, though maybe not as manic as our last appearance. We were informed later that the last time Emperor played here the opening acts were all but booed off the stage, so it seems that we managed to hold our own against the Norwegian juggernaut. The band members themselves were cordial, and before long I found myself in a conversation with Ihsahn about our respective bands and our convergent histories. I respect Emperor greatly for their contributions and talent, but it was also interesting to see first-hand how divorced they are from the movement they helped to forge. These days, Ihsahn is a pure musician and not a Black Metal maven in the least. The band's performance underlined this reality in that it was note-perfect, laden with virtuosity, and not in the least bit dark or threatening. It was telling that one of the show's highlights was Ihsahn's singing at the end of the song "Thus Spake the Nightspirit". Again, there was immense talent on display, but only a small amount of Black Metal to be culled from the experience.

In any event, I am still impelled to finish this entry with the requisite humbleness by stating that it was a rare honor to meet and perform with Emperor. I doubt we (or any band, for that matter) will have another opportunity like this. Their legacy is the Black Wizards indeed.

P.S. This was Averse Sefira's last performance for the season, as we are now endeavoring to prepare the new album for recording in September. There will be related reports coming soon.

D'enouement - One last triumph

Albuquerque could not have been a better send-off. There were almost 200 in attendance, on a Monday night no less, and it was one of the best audiences of the tour. There is no greater sense of validation than to play your music and have an entire room headbanging in unison. The rest of the show was excellent as well, with each band garnering cheers and horns held high. Goatwhore laid down a massive set, which was punctuated by the requisite end of the tour prank. Blake, Sanguine, The Carcass, and I entombed Ben in silly string on Goatwhore's last song. The crowd loved it, and the ever-professional Ben didn't miss a beat and kept on screaming while looking like the bride of Swamp Thing (NOTE: if you were at this show and have pictures, please contact us). He is a wily bastard, though, and apparently got wind of our plot beforehand. After our set he managed to break into our van, thanks in part to us foolishly leaving a window cracked, and spent half an hour rifling through our gear looking for the string cans. When he could not find them, he took our guitars and hid them in his trailer instead. Sanguine and I realized this at the end of the night when we noticed the large unoccupied space in the back of our van. We didn't panic, but we walked in and out of the club for a few minutes in confusion while trying to locate the missing cases. Ben finally came laughing and admonishing us that we shouldn't leave our windows open. Lesson learned - Ben Goatwhore is not someone with whom to mess. It was worth it any case.

1349's set was the final, fatal blow that signalled the end of the tour like a massive black flag. They were clearly enjoying the response, as Ravn was more outgoing with the audience than usual and the entire unit played especially hard. They also made a good show of ignoring the gay beefcake photos that Chris taped to their monitors. Averse Sefira and Nachtmystium were out in force in the pit and occasionally on the heads and shoulders of the crowd. And then it was over. The Hellfire Revival Tour (as I've chosen to call it) is now at a close, and we are sad to see it go. We couldn't have asked for a better maiden voyage of the US - a proper Black Metal tour, and a successful one at that. Everyone involved agrees that we couldn't have had a better lineup in terms of bands and the people behind them. We will be fortunate to have a strong dynamic like this again, though we will make a point of playing with all three bands whenever a new opportunity arises.

So for now we bid farewell to the Numbers, the Whores, and the Mysties, and in the meantime we will be grateful for the experience and the new alliances. As for this blog, it will remain intact with new entries attached to events of interest surrounding Averse Sefira. Keep watching.

Thanks to everyone who attended the shows and made this tour such a triumph. We will meet again.

Finale- the pain of disengagement

Tempe was a good show. There were plenty of people, as well as friends with exciting names like Jenocide, Nuclear Blaash, and The Fatherland Almighty. We sounded and played much better than the previous couple of nights thanks in part to an intelligible stage sound, and I've decided that Californians are the only ones who don't understand that concept. We spent time afterwards with aforementioned comrades, as well as many gracious attendees who offered praise and congratulations. Tempe seems to be a friendly place, and we look forward to returning again.

The pangs of the impending end of the tour seem to be setting in amongst us all, as there was even more camaraderie between the bands than usual (or "bro-mance" as Nathan Goatwhore puts it). There will be madness tonight for certain, regardless of how the show itself goes. We had just enough time to forge bonds and friendships, and it makes our separation more poignant. Fortunately, we are assured to see 1349 again as we are label mates and very interested in further outings together, and Nachtmystium and Goatwhore are active as well so I do not doubt that our paths will cross again. Come to think of it, I don't think we could avoid playing more shows with Goatwhore if we tried. They are literally on every tour there is at the moment.

More on Tempe- it was another night that belonged to Goatwhore. Ben and Sammy were in rare form, and they admonished the crowd with vitriolic statements about the old ways of metal and the failings of the new bands and their fans. Damn right. They pummelled the crowd with their onslaught and left everyone breathless and tired. The downside was that 1349's subsequent performance hemorhaged attendees until a rather sparse group of fans remained. It was no fault of the band, and being that it was a Sunday night people likely needed to get home for work the next day, but how often does a town get a show from a good Norwegian Black Metal band? Please refer to my previous entry about Americans being slaves for more on this topic.

We are still a few hours away from Albuquerque. I expect there will be much to report tomorrow. The claws of the dreaded "Road AIDS" are digging into me rather hard at the moment. I would very much like to stop coughing up radioactive green phlegm.

The meditation of water

My divinations regarding Corona served me well, as it was indeed a better night for us than L.A. The sound on stage was still lousy, and we could not hear our vocals at all. What does a sound man think it means when we say, "More vocals in the monitor," three times? In any case, the audience was great; it is always a good sign when people call out song titles they want to hear. Afterwards, we were met by our friends Nadja and Heather who had recently defected from Texas to California. It had been a while, and we ended up spending the rest of the show talking outside, though a persistent and growing smell of death in the parking lot forced us to relocate to the confines of our van. It was a nice change of pace, however, with friendly and relaxed conversation replacing a noisy and crowded room.

This morning- we awoke in Palm Springs after fleeing the exterior of the LA sprawl and went to a truck stop to clean up. Showers actually hold a great deal of ritual significance for me, as they are meditative and allow me to readily acheive the alpha state. The hot water rushing over the top of my head creates a sense of doors opening in my mind, and my creative thinking is often at its peak in these moments. Many elements featured in our music and visuals were born in this sanctum, the place of white noise and warmth. The reason I discuss this here is because many have asked us what methods or rituals we use in the creation of our music. There are many, of course, but I find this to be the most direct and immediate method, one that anyone can easily engage. It is surprisingly easy to begin, and even small measures may yield large results. Find something that allows you to roam and banish the left side of your mind for a moment, something that distracts just enough that you unwittingly find yourself keenly focused. You may be surprised at the results.

Two shows left and we are not anxious to see it end. It feels like we needed more, perhaps an additional week or so. Then again, if all goes according to plan we may find ourselves on the road far more than we ever expected or even wanted. Bring forth that day, we are ready.

Hollywood Babylon

Los Angeles comes at you fast. It is ground zero for the industry side of American heavy metal, and it is also a place of insular, self congratulating pretentiousness mixed with an utter lack of shame and a desperate craving for debauchery. Even if you are not using drugs, the sheer volume of people and excess will make it seem so. Motley Crue were not exaggerating.

We started the day early, having driven through eye-wreckingly bright Las Vegas and the subsequent wastes of Death Valley the night before. Manson country. Cool. Earlier, we stopped about 45 miles before Las Vegas in the blackness of the unlit interstate and marvelled at the stars covering the vault of the sky. Then Sanguine pointed southward towards the orange glow on the horizon and referred to it as the Mordor-like lights of Vegas. It was fitting indeed. Once we reunited with Goatwhore in Barstow, we then followed them out through Pasadena to visit the Moser Custom Shop. Neal Moser and his wife Earleen cordially received us, and Neal showed us around his workshop and let us ogle the several body blanks he had prepared for production. It wasn't too long before we found ourselves sitting down with Earleen to set up an endorsement for new guitars. We were excited as we had been interested in Mosers for some time and it is also our first proper endorsement ever. Sanguine left with a vicious-looking red and black Bastard V, and I put in an order for an Arachnid bass that will arrive at month's end. L.A. proved to be the land of milk and honey for 1349 and Goatwhore as well, as Sammy Goatwhore came to the evening's show with sharp looking new Coffin Cases and some Framus amplifiers. Archaeon of 1349 went out to the Jackson custom shop and came back with a very nice Jackson V via his artist's discount, and we all stood around congratulating each other and celebrating our spoils of the day.

There was an air of high energy surrounding the show. The Knitting Factory was one block away from Grauman's Chinese Theater and there were throngs of people on the streets. The Carcass and I walked over to look at the theater and I got mistaken for Alexi Laiho (as usual). By the time we had finished milling around there was a long line of black tshirts snaking around the side of the mall. Dozens of people were waiting to see the show, and the word later was that the show had in fact sold out. All the bands were excited at the prospect of a packed house, but Friday the 13th apparently did not wish to let us pass unhindered. When Averse Sefira hit the stage there were several techincal problems including a failure with our intro music, a hideous stage sound, and random things like the stage curtain accidentally being lowered in the middle of a song. By all accounts we did well and the response from the crowd was good, but distractions like that make a set into work and we felt like we could have done much better. It was also maddening to think that Topeka, Kansas, had a superior monitoring system than one at a high-end Los Angeles venue. Past that, the rest of the show was fun, wild and nearly overwhelming in places. There were industry people all over the backstage along with many random and sometimes irritating hangers-on, and we talked to those of interest to us and ignored the rest. Akhenaten of Judas Iscariot made a surprise appearance, and we were glad to see him again. We met a porn starlet named Tera Wray who was eagerly flashing her breasts at everyone and in the interim stopped to tell me that she liked my eyes. Oases of niceties in a desert of iniquity, I suppose. In the meantime Jasmin St. Clair (of Coffin Cases and also of the infamy of having fucked 400 guys in one day on film) got into some kind of altercation with Nathan Goatwhore and ended up slapping him. Things were about to boil over between Goatwhore and the LA contingents but clearer heads finally prevailed, though the twitching in Ben's neck afterwards pointed towards the subverting of considerable anger.


1349 destroyed tonight. They had the audience whipped into a frenzy throughout, and the final bringdown was when they played an encore in true LA fashion. The truth is that they actually forgot to play one song so returned to the stage to peform it, because in point of fact they have been militant about not doing encores. Regardless, it was fitting for the occasion and even I could not resist rushing across the stage and leaping into the crowd to bathe in the chaos.

Three more shows to go. We are in Corona now, I think this one will be a better one for us. I do not know why it seems so, but I have long given up on questioning such things.

Long live the Pandemonium Empire

Denver was not particularly good for us. We were very distracted due to the fact that our roadie left the tour abruptly and without warning. His only explanation was that he "wasn't having any fun". Touring is not a vacation, and I am endlessly confounded by the indolence I see in some people on the road. We certainly are not the first band to have a crew member abandon a tour, but this is a lesson to us. We will not count on anyone offering to go with us as a favor. From here on, it will be all business wherein we will pay someone for the work and hopefully have less worries. As it stands this is but a small impediment. We will not be stopped. The agenda is all, this is not about fun, and anyone who cannot understand that should get out of our way. A better turn of events came when we ended up staying in 1349's motel room and talking about the nature of Black Metal until 4am. I hate to overstate it, but getting to know this band has been immensely rewarding for us. I think in the end the biggest allure of touring for us is meeting other bands and forging new alliances. We are very fortunate indeed.

Now- heading towards Las Vegas to catch up with Goatwhore. We have an audience with Neal Moser in California tomorrow, so we cannot tarry. The drive through Colorado and Utah was a feast for the eyes, with the snowcapped mountains and painted canyons. Sanguine put it best when he said that America is a pretty country, it is just the people who ruin it.

Need I remind you who the headliner is?

We have grown considerably in the course of this tour. 1349 and Goatwhore in particular have been good teachers and we in turn have been willing students. It is rarely a question of being sat down and told how to do something, but rather a holistic exchange of ideas and methods. There are already plans in our cabal to upgrade equipment now that we will have a touring schedule that demands it and the means to acquire the ordinance, and I am particularly pleased with Stormbringer's new tone which I have dubbed the "Seidemann sound" after the man himself. It served me well last night; we sound far more massive than ever before. None of this means we could not fend for ourselves before. On the contrary, we've done just that for a solid decade with notable success. But we would be foolish to ignore the chance to expand on our approach and become more competetive in the process. Also, this tour has given us much to consider in terms of where we are and what we wish to make of ourselves as we go forward. Watching 1349's masterful performance every night is definitely food for thought. Their presence on stage is practiced and effective, as well as convincingly grim (there's that word again, and yes it is appropriate). With just a week left on the road, I am already not looking forward to saying goodbye.