Tell me a little bit about your history.
Beltane began as a project that I decided to start in mid 1993, however I consider the official start in October ’94, when I recorded a song called ‘Into the Night’, playing all the instruments myself. From there, it developed into a three-piece band with Dyrkyn on drums and Thyiendalen on bass. Apart from a few glitches that lineup lasted from 1994 til 1999.
The next period from 2000-2003 was fairly dormant until I reactivated the project with Kvathairein on bass and using drumtracks instead of a drummer. On the (southern) Summer Solstice of 2004 we made a recording that became the first release of our Seasonal Release programme.
2006 saw Dyrkyn return to the band and also Noslohcin joined on guitar, so for that year we were a four-piece band. In late ’06 I met Baphgirl, and things started to change.
Early 2007 I left Nelson to relocate to the Manawatu area in the North Island, and Baphgirl, who had become my partner, took up the role of bassist and we returned to using drumtracks for live shows. Things have been much more successful since locating the band in the North Island – in ’07 and ’08 we played many more shows than Beltane has done in it’s entire history before then.
For the last half ov ’08 until now, we have been pretty much focusing on the recording side of Beltane, and recently also on the online presence which has been paying good dividends. We have also started working extensively with contributing artists; one ov these being Kvathairein, who has been making some great contributions.
As ov May this year we’ve started hitting the live scene again, which is really cool. For a more detailed history, have a look at the timeline on our Myspace page.
What did the material sound like when you first started out as a one-man band?
Well it had a really crusty black metal sound as it was recorded on fairly crude analogue equipment. There were only two songs done this way the one mentioned above, ‘Into The Night’ & another a wee bit later ‘Southern Pagans’.
Which bands got you inspired from the start?
The bands that made me want to begin with a BM project were: Beherit, Darkthrone, Mayhem, Burzum & to throw a cat amongst the pidgeons, Cradle of Filth. When I first heard this music, it was the ultimate for me, the kind ov thing I had been looking for in metal but never found until this point. This was all in the early & early/mid 90’s.
The fact that you are from New Zeeland is quite unique, also you’re an old band, formed in ’94, how was the metal scene back then in New Zeeland? Not many bands to talk about huh?
Yes, we’re without a doubt the oldest BM band from New Zealand that’s still running. Perhaps not quite the first, but probably a close second. There are those that might dispute this but they don’t have releases as ancient as ours to prove it!
The metal scene in the mid 90s was dying off at a fast rate, probably much the same as anywhere due to the arrival ov grunge & in New Zealand, dance music as well. Before that though it was quite good, there was a strong DM scene in Christchurch (an unfortunately named town) & plenty ov other DM bands all over. I was in a band myself called Daemon, which was the most well known band in the country, it had been on national TV & all that.
The first main BM scene ov New Zealand started in Nelson, in 1994. It was the strongest scene for a few years mainly because ov the very awesome & easily accessible cemetery there. Another thing that definitely helped that was the abundance ov L.S.D. around there at the time, which ov course was a spinoff from the dance music scene.
New Zeeland seems quite isolated, have you had any possibilities to play gigs outside of your home country?
We’ve had a tentative offer to play a show in Australia next year, we’ll see how that goes. We want to tour in Europe. That would require some strong interest in the band from someone over there that could help us in that way. It’s something we’re currently working on.
You have done many collaborations on your latest albums. Which collaborations and which kind of these can we expect from you in the future?
Yes, we’ve gotten into doing collaborations simply because we can! Heh. It’s a great way to make some awesome contacts & it is one way to help keep things interesting as we do far more studio work on than most bands.
Coming up on the CD we’re currently working on, Mark Dubanowski from Scotland is playing drums on all ov the tracks. He did really well as he only had the songs ten days before we needed them to record our parts on the (southern) Autumn Equinox this year. Also on this CD our old bassist Kvath plays rhythm guitar which he recorded simultaneously in Wellington while we were recording our parts in the Manawatu Gorge Cemetery, over 200km away, on the Equinox Eve. We’ve also got a cellist, Reverend C from Germany, appearing on one or two tracks.
For the future, we already have lined up another guitarist from New Zealand, a female guitarist from Mexico, several drummers and a girl from the UK who does industrial music to contribute on later CDs.
You have recorded only 3 full-lenghts during your long career, but many more EPs, why EPs?
This is a really good question because it allows us to get to the guts ov what Beltane’s releases are all about.
Prior to the (southern) Summer Solstice ov December 2004, Beltane had only put out two releases: “Rehearsal April 5th 1995” & “MCMXCIX” mini CD. On this Summer Solstice, things changed. That night we recorded live what was to become the first release ov our Seasonal Release Programme. We have recorded on every Equinox and Solstice since then.
For the first two years each recording came out as an EP length CD because that’s what they were. It’s only realistic to record 3-4 songs each time when you do it four times a year. To cut a long story short, at the start ov Year III we decided we wanted to do a full-length album, so we did this by simply combining two seasons’ recordings. The next release ov Year III was also a full-length album. So now although we always make four recordings every year, the number ov releases can vary between two and four, depending on the combination ov albums and EPs.
Your latest full-lenght was kind of interesting, some songs were industrial (Call the Ships to Port etc.), some were blackish (Winter Forest...) and also a bit of folky songs like Eilean Mor. How do you think this album was received?
The people that have bought this album and most ‘industry type’ people who have received it for free have returned very positive comments which reflects our own opinion that it’s a fine piece ov work. This isn’t an arrogant opinion, rather a realistic one because we are quite critical on ourselves and try and judge the releases as objectively as possible. But we feel that this release exceeded the previous standards and it will probably take quite a bit ov work to move from this standard up to the next.
The variance ov styles is simply a reflection ov us and what we do. We feel that they in no way break the bounds ov our prescribed genres on this CD – Gothic Industrial Black Metal – though there is one or even two songs on our latest release “Summer ov Skoth” that do perhaps.
Eilean Mor is a song we do like a lot. It had an interesting construction. Its main guitar line was recorded inside a lighthouse in Nelson and the drums were created to fit that. The additional guitars and bass were recorded on the (southern) Winter Solstice ov 2008. The lyrics were written by Baphgirl, based on a fictional tale ov Eilean Mor, which is obviously set in a lighthouse, but this itself is based on a true event which happened to some lightkeepers at the Flannan Isles in Scotland. It really brings to bear the dark elements involved with lighthouses.
You have reused your old song North Sun for the new album, how do you felt that this song fitted on this album?
We feel it fits on the album as well as any song, really. There’s several reasons why we choose to rerecord songs. The one in this case was because we felt we could really make a better version ov it as we’ve been playing it live for quite a few years now, and the original version was pretty rough. It is also a song indeed about a Winter Solstice, although it’s about a Wolf Moon Solstice, and the Solstice it was recorded on was ov the Oak Moon variety. The well seasoned vocals & Baphgirl’s keyboards make it quite different from the old version on “WSOV”
When are your next album coming out? Have you got any ideas for it yet?
Our next EP will be out in June, which will be our 15th Seasonal Release. It’s actually a very special one because it’s the 10th year anniversary ov the “MCMXCIX” mini CD. So it is indeed all rerecords ov the songs on that original release.
After this, the next release will be another full-length album. The ideas are pretty open at present, but we’re strongly considering half the album will be black metal and half will be industrial, but possibly with the songs quite strictly defined to one genre or the other. But ov course, we’ll see how it all turns out. It could end up completely different!
Do you have any philosophy behind your music?
The philosophy behind Beltane is to create a powerful and unique artform which harnesses the power ov the Sat-Tan and the Seasonal Energies.
It is also to promote all the aspects ov True Satanism and produce something which we can look back on in years to come with pride and fond remembrance. There is also a small ‘museum’ aspect to Beltane in that the atmosphere ov the heyday (the cemetery days) ov the Nelsonian Black Metal scene during the mid-90’s lives on in some ov the songs and sounds.
