Sigurd – Guitars for Belphegor

1. Belphegor's music is a mix of both death and black metal's, and at first listen to the new album “ Pestapokalypse VI” I drew several comparisons to Behemoth. Is this something you also recognize in your music?

SIGURD: Really….no I really don't hear the Behemoth. Its been a trademark of ours for a long time since our first album “The Last Supper” from 1995 where we mix brutal death metal with the melodic elements of black metal. We were and are influenced by the Florida Death Metal like Morbid Angel and Deicide.

2. What other Death/Black Metal bands do you find yourselves similar to?

SIGURD: Well some of the authentic Black Metal from Sweden like Marduk and Dark Funeral who use classic melodies and as far as Death Metal Deicide and of course Nile is where you can hear their influence on the first track on the new album. It's a challenge to play that type of music and I think a band like Nile when they came on the scene were doing something different. We toured with Nile in 1998.

3. What does the name Belphegor mean?

SIGURD: It stems from the bible. Belphegor was fallen angel that became demonized in the middle ages. That's what happened to all angels in the middle ages. He was one of the first angels to be cast out of heaven with Satan.

4. What is the title “ Pestapokalypse VI” about?

SIGURD: It's a partial concept about the Devil, pestilence and the Apocalypse while also a lesson in infernology (the study of Hell). During the 14 through the 16 th century's black masses were celebrated because people lost their faith when the Black Plague hit Europe .

That's a fact. They lost faith in God and turned to Satan.

5. Can you tell us about the artwork which features robbed crow faced men, burning churches, and many severed human and pig heads with brand ed crosses?

SIGURD: It was done by Seth Siro Anton from Greece who did work for Paradise Lost, Decapitated and Vader. We gave him some song titles and lyrics and I think he captured the essence of the story very well, the colors are very good. The burning churches symbolize people losing their faith in church and God, the people with the mark of the cross on their foreheads means they turned to Satan. The four crow headed priests symbolizes the four horsemen of apocalypse and it also symbolizes the plague. I read some books on a lot of these topics and wanted to create something other than blasphemous topics.

6. Have you ever toured the States?

SIGURD: No not yet but there is one being planned for February 2007 with Unleashed and Krisium . We are the second band after the local acts. We are very excited about it.

7. Alot of negativity surrounds Black/Death Metal. What can you tell us positive that may shed some light our clear up some misconceptions about the satanic imagery and blasphemous lyrics.

SIGURD: I don't know what to say that's tough Huh. We attack Christianity for many reasons especially when living in Europe . I mean look at the cover for “Christ Illusion” from Slayer that says it all. Having a devoid catholic as their singer in front of thousands of people every night and screaming “Hail Satan”….I don't know what to say. The most important thing is the music even though a lot of negativity comes with it. I mean its not all about religious topics. Over here in Europe its a lot about political topics as well as organized religion and the right wing activists and their attack on Black Metal music. They claim the content of the lyrics are just about violence, sexuality and Satanism alone.

8. Plans to record a live DVD?

SIGURD: For next autumn 2007 when we shoot some stuff when we tour the U.S. and we already collected a lot from Brazil , Mexico and the European festivals. Some things are from our tour with Marduk and we have lots of material collected already.

Official website: www.belphegor.at