“THEOTOXIN” INTERVIEW by Santtu “Rebel” Kaskela
Formed in 2016 by five Individuals amongst others Hollenthon, Zombie Inc., Dismal Lumentis and Raising the Veil members… Giving everyone some pure Black (and death) ever since… Their debut album ‘Atramentvm’ was just released a few weeks ago and it sure is… We’ll, find out Yourself. The time has come to learn a bit more about this band… Let’s go, Fabian Rauter and Flo Musil are waiting…
So honored to have this chance to have a moment with You guys. How are You doing ?
Fabian: Hi Santtu! Thanks for asking, I’m doing great…busy as hell but that’s good I suppose.
Flo: Hey man, I’m doing good! I hope everything going fine in the land of the thousand lakes.
Would You tell us a bit about the history of Your band ?
Flo: After i quit drumming for Zombie Inc. i decided to do my own thing and formed Theotoxin. Joachim and Max (former guitarist of Theotoxin), also members of Zombie inc. at this time, joined me for the new project. I drummed for many bands in the past but I was never truly satisfied with playing someone else’s music. I was always very passionate about Black and Death metal and had an exact vision about how Theotoxin should sound like.
Fabian: Mantus and I joined the band shortly after it has been founded, as they were still looking for a vocalist and a second guitarist. It turned out that we all form a very good team, so working on music was pretty efficient and straightforward. We spent the first months writing, rehearsing and recording our debut album ‘Atramentvm’, which laid down a solid foundation to go on with future releases.
In Finland black metal is almost like “mainstream” nowadays… What’s the deal in Austria, how hard is it to start a career and get some attention by “metalheads”, media, record labels, critics who seem to know everything etc ?
Flo: It’s very hard actually, cause the “underground” is growing and growing so it’s difficult to keep an eye on every band. Today almost everybody, with a little bit of knowledge, can record and produce their own band at home on their computer. Bands only exist for short amounts of time only to disappear again. But on the other hand there are also a lot of really good and talented bands here in Austria, but it’s hard to peak out of the mass. You have to push forward and be ambitious about the things you do. In the end tenacity will prevail, i think at least, so fuck the lazy ones…
Fabian: Most things are said already, but yeah, it’s always hard to attract an audience as a totally new band. Stuff like that happens over time, people notice when you invest huge amounts of work and really mean it.
Black metal has that specific reputation, mostly thanks to “second wave” coming mostly from Norway, a fan or a musician is always violent, sacrifices animals, burns different buildings, drinks blood, looks like psychotic raccoon holding different kind of weapons high, worships S… etc stupid stereotypes… How would You describe black metal and people who just love it?
Flo: Interesting question and a hard one at the same time. Describing Black Metal is almost impossible for me cause, at the risk of sounding cheesy, it’s an attitude, it’s something that follows me for almost 22 years now. Black metal (music generally) can calm me down or push me up, it depends on the mood, the situation I’m in. Music follows me the whole day, it is and will be always a part of my Life, but maybe I see this a bit different as a musician. But Black metal, in general, should be hateful, aggressive music and anti – everything. No fairytale bullshit or things like that.
Fabian: Apparently Flo has been listening to black metal back when I was still shitting in diapers. I’m a late starter actually and have been involved in music for about 10 years now. My genres of choice got heavier and darker down the road until I ended up here. Black metal is very fascinating to me, especially writing and playing it myself is a good form of outlet for steam and aggression. Overall, it’s a good form of therapy, doesn’t matter if I feel up or down. Black metal is seen as violent, weird and overly aggressive often times but I can only invite people to take a closer look at it!
Listening to Your music makes we wonder… Which bands/musicians have influenced You the most, since some death elements can also be heard ?
Flo: I´m a big fan of the early Belphegor stuff, especially the “Blutsabbath” release. This is one of the albums that delivers the almost perfect fusion between Black and Death metal. This record was definitely a big influence. Also, the mighty Arkhon Infaustus from France were a big part of my inspiration. But mostly I write what I feel and what I want…no boundaries.
Fabian: Musically, ‘Atramentvm’ has been written by Flo for the most part, So I’m just gonna talk about what inspires my overall playing and writing. When it comes to Black/Death metal I really love bands like Noctem, Negator, Fleshgod Apocalypse and so forth. Many Bands work with orchestration or synths and everyone has a different approach to it, so there’s always something new to learn or be inspired by. Also I’m obsessed with Finnish metal along the lines of Wintersun, Norther or Enthring, that stuff never gets boring.
Is Your band a “team” with the same visions, ideals, goals or are You at each other’s throats all the time ?
Flo: We are working perfectly as a band. We share the same vision and everyone has his task. I´m very glad to work with such talented and professional musicians. Nothing more to say…
Fabian: Yes true, we all have similar ideas and everyone is pulling in the same direction. Really good team to work with!
Sometimes I just get fed up with metal music, take a break and listen to some old rock n roll for days… Are You married with metal or do You have some other favorite “genres” of music You listen to maybe just to calm down a bit ?
Flo: I’m very open minded when it comes to music…back in the days it was all about Metal, but that changed at the latest when i started my studies. I had to deal with a lot of music which i didn’t like at that time, but it has grown on me and it opened my horizon. I’m also into some electronic music and older jazz tunes, whatever sounds good to me…
Fabian: I’m not blasting metal 24/7, there are many other styles I enjoy listening to. There’s awesome music everywhere, no matter which genre you’re going for. It’s refreshing for me to step away from metal regularly and try new things…Rock bands, also Pop, Jazz or even HipHop, anything with great musicianship basically!
Your debut album just came out a couple of weeks ago and I have to say I just love it, pure anger, darkness with about nothing too fancy… Are You 100% happy with the result, how has the reception been and what kind of comments have You got ?
Flo: I´m glad to hear that you enjoy it! There won’t be 100% satisfaction ever and that’s why we keep doing this, cause we wanna reach it but never will. But I’m very proud of the debut record and my bandmates. Lots of hard work went into the album and it sets high standards for upcoming releases. The comments on ATRAMENTVM were totally positive and we are already working on new stuff…
Fabian: Writing and recording the debut album was new territory for me and it took me awhile to get used to the music. I’m very satisfied with how the record turned out though, but there are always things to improve. Thankfully the album received lots of great feedback, that really motivates us to keep the bar high in the future.
Tell us a little about Your songwriting process, what inspires You and where do You get all the ideas and lyrical themes ?
Flo: I write most of the music on my own…riffs, drum arrangements, lyrics etc. We record demos at Fabian’s place so the whole band can check out the new material. While everyone learns their parts on bass and guitar, Mantus records a vocal demo. We practice new songs at our rehearsal place and rearrange drum parts and riffs, tweak vocal lines etc. together until we are satisfied. That turned out to be a good process for us, I’m really lucky that I’m working which such talented musicians. About the lyrical themes…What can i say…take a look around and what the human race does to itself over money, politics or other shit. You will find plenty of inspiration out there. Our lyrical themes contain the fall of humanity caused by religious insanity and bigotry and how faith is going to drive people insane. It’s almost like a Toxin….
Fabian: Often times, the demo songs are very close to what the final song will sound like. Although most of the music is written by Flo, everyone can contribute with his own material. Also, we sometimes start with pseudo-melodies and work something out over time, or we rewrite whole parts etc. This way of working has proven to be really easy, simple and efficient for us!
What can we expect in the near future (hopefully coming to Finland), maybe some secrets You haven’t told so many people yet ?
Flo: Hopefully a bunch of concerts and a bit of touring! We all love playing live and we are looking forward to shove blast beats and hateful music down people’s ears, haha. Secrets are secrets for a reason…
Fabian: Although we are already working on new material and content, our current main focus is to play live shows. Theotoxin is a new and unknown band, so gaining a fanbase and getting the music heard is important at the moment!
Any last words (not literally) to the Family of MHF, Your fans and Your soon to be fans ?
We appreciate the support, it´s really precious to get some nowadays. Give ‘ATRAMENTVM’ a listen if you like extreme music and support the underground!
THEOTOXIN band members:
Mantus – Vocals
Flo Musil – Drums
Fabian Rauter – Guitars
Martin Frick – Guitars
Joachim Tischler – Bass
FB Page
https://www.facebook.com/TheotoxinOfficial
Debut Album ‘ATRAMENTVM’
https://open.spotify.com/album/6xsDFfTvNt9aK2WGlwEjN0
Thank You so much
Santtu “Rebel” Kaskela/MHF Magazine
