Band: MEGALITH
Country of origin: Germany
Style: death / thrash / black metal
Questions by: Emilio J. Moreno Atienza
Answers supplied by: Widukind

I guess one is definitely wrong considering "The Law Of Life" a new offering. I mean, it's been recorded a long time ago, like the year of 1999... Do you think these songs still represent what MEGALITH is all about?

- No, actually I don't. "The Law Of Life" shows how much we have advanced since our debut, and it shows where we are heading, but it does not show where we have arrived today. Our future releases will sound very different. Especially the song structure and the keyboards have changed since that demo. Today, we would not record a 10-minute song without a very good reason. In addition we have advanced technologically since then, so our sound is not the same anymore. But still, I think that "The Law Of Life" is a good demo. People who prefer the style we played back then will maybe like "The Law Of Life" much more than our next releases.

Ok, would you speak about "The Law Of Life" for a while? If I'm not mistaken, it's your second demo but the first one under the banner of "Megalith".

- Yes, you are right. Our first demo was released under the band-name "Stonehenge", and after this debut we changed our name to "Megalith" and recorded "The Law Of Life". There are only three songs on "The Law Of Life", but still the total playing time of that demo is around 25 minutes. It was recorded in 1999 and released in 2001.

Why did you change the bandname?

- The main reason was simply that we heard of other bands with the name "Stonehenge". But anyhow, since many thought that the name "Stonehenge" doesn't quite fit because we are not a viking / folk metal band, and since our line-up and music had changed as well, it seemed to be a good time and idea to change the name to something more neutral.

You obviously love ancient Europe; why? Do you think our forefathers had a better life, if compared to modern society?

- I believe that a lot of things have improved during the last centuries, but of course many other things changed to the worse. What most people in the metal- or neo-folk-scene believe to be old Europe is a very romanticised and mystified version of what this time really was like. But I think that some of the ancient values are urgently needed in our time, and some of the romanticised beliefs are very useful as well. It does not matter if young people today worship the old gods in the same way as our forefathers did or if they worship gods that merely are modern imitations. In fact, modern imitations are maybe even the better solution. I don't think that the old gods will ever come back to life, but I think that they can teach us some lessons about what was better in their times, and I think that we should integrate some ancient values into our modern value system. Besides, without knowing where we come from we will have a hard time determining where to go.

Do you take part in any of the pagan organizations? What's your opinion on Heathen Front?

- Most pagan organisations go at least two steps further than I do. Besides, I am politically active and would not have the time to take part in pagan organisations as well. But I follow their argumentations with interest and consider myself to be maybe not a brother, but at least friend in spirit. I have informed myself about organisations like the German "Artgemeinschaft", but I must admit that I don't know anything about the Heathen Front.

Germany suffers a lot from the presence of a Church. What's your view on the way christianity affects Germany, politically and socially...?

- The German church is a joke, and not even a funny one. They should have no influence at all, no matter if that might be in politics, education or anyplace else. They are as mainstream as an organisation can be, they do nothing at all that would benefit the country or the people, they behave in an extremely arrogant and sometimes even unlawful manner, they are and they bring nothing but decay. Fortunately, the church in Germany is dying quite rapidly. They count less members every day, and with a little help from our side, they will be history in a few decades.

Some, amongst those taking part in NS parties, consider christianity to be a main reference in case with European culture. Like, judeo-christianity 'built' Europe. That's disgusting!! To me, judeo-christianity always was (and still is) the worst enemy Europe ever had...

- Well, of course christianity also built something new after destroying the old, so in a way one can say that they built Europe. But the question is whether they replaced something good with something bad or vice versa. It is always hard to tell for sure, since no one can know how history would have developed if christianity had not been victorious. I tend to see it similar to you. If the Germanic, the Celtic or the Greek would never have been destroyed, then history also would not have been a beautiful and everlasting summer, but it certainly also would not have been worse. We would probably have a lot more diversity, pride and respect for nature today. So all in all, like you, I am quite certain that Europe would be a better place to live if christianity had never won over the ancient cultures.

Discussing christianity as well as broaching politics seems to be quite dangerous in Germany, as it looks like you're being censored all the time...

- I'm not very happy about it. Especially concerning the political themes you are absolutely right. Concerning christianity it isn't so bad in Germany. One can say quite a lot against christianity without getting into trouble. But one should not dare to say anything about the "Zentralrat der Juden" (which is the central organisation of the Jews in Germany) or anyone related to them. If you criticise the wrong people and if you do not support immigration, then the guardians of Political Correctness inform the Thought Police and see that you get in trouble. It's quite paradox, especially since I am far from having an anti-Semitic attitude or anything alike. I just would like to criticise the influence certain people are taking on German politics now and then, but I have to choose my words very carefully, otherwise I can get into big trouble.

Your first demo was set to a novel by Hermann Hesse, whilst the second one is set to Jack London's history. Are you fond of spending your time with literature? Who're your favourite authors?

- Literature means a lot to me, and it means even more to other band-members. Together with politics, it is the main source of influence for MEGALITH. It is hard to give a list of favourite authors, since there are so many excellent writers. But just to name a few: Aldous Huxley, George Orwell, Ernst Junger, Erich Maria ReMarque, Oskar Wilde, Stefan Zweig, Heinrich von Kleist, and of course Hermann Hesse and Jack London.

Jack London was quite an interesting person... criticizing capitalistic society, was something all of his works are well-known for... as well as great love to Nature...

- Jack London was a socialist, and I certainly am nothing of that kind. Of course, I agree that capitalism has a lot of negative aspects, but I think that there is no alternative and that capitalist societies can function quite well if they are governed wisely. But there are other things in Jack London's books that I absolutely agree with. London is the greatest Darwinist that ever crossed my way, and I agree with his darwinist beliefs. I also find it very positive that his works show a great love to nature without idealising it. His stories are naturalistic, but still they are written with a lot of emotion. Just like you, I think that he was a very interesting person. I can find a lot of wisdom and beauty in his books, even if I do not share all of his opinions.

Didn't you ever think that human kind should live the way wolves live? These creatures are noble and loyal to their clan, loyal to their family, preferring death over sacrificing freedom. Don't you think, wolf is quite an anti-christian role model? Many heathens even worshipped 'em because of the qualities wolves possess(ed)...

- Yes, humans should indeed adhere to the values that you describe, and I would agree that some of these values can be seen in wolves quite well. In that sense, the wolf is also an anti-christian figure, since modern christians have none of these values anymore. Modern christians are rather sheep than wolves. Besides, wolves simply are beautiful animals.

Back to music. In my view, you play melodic death metal with some touches of thrash as well as heavy metal; do you agree? How would you describe MEGALITH's music yourself?

- I think that you described it quite well. Our music is influenced by death-, thrash- and heavy-metal bands, and to some extent also by black-metal, especially concerning the vocals. On our next release, the heavy-metal influences will dominate, and, since the keyboards will play a much larger role, some gothic- and neo-classical influences will also enter our music. I think that "The Law Of Life" is a very progressive demo. In future, we will aim for song-structures that are less complicated. Since we also like to listen to songwriters as for example Leonard Cohen, some songs in that style will also be present on our next release. In general, we want to use the acoustic guitar and clean guitar-sounds more often in future.

Some metal bands tend to forget that metal must to be sort of aggressive, violent... but in a positive, controlled sense. Hence what's your attitude to grindcore? Do you think that grind is a musical style or rather worthless noise?

- It depends on how it is done. Some bands are very noisy, but if you listen carefully, you can hear that they know what they are doing, and sometimes one can even hear appealing harmonies behind this wall of noise. Others really produce nothing but noise, and I must say, that I don't think very much of that. I am aiming for clarity in everything I am doing. It is not easy to sound aggressive and powerful while staying clear, technical and precise, but it is definitely something I try to accomplish.

Metal's obviously keeps on exploring new horizons all the time... Now the time has come for a mixture of metal, and classical / traditional music. Do you appreciate what all these neo-pagan bands do?

- I really love some of them. We have some very good German bands of that kind, as for example SUBWAY TO SALLY. But I also like this kind of music when it is done without any influences from metal. I would give my life for recording just one song with Loreena McKannit. Her voice is just tremendous, and I like her soft, quiet and soothing way of arranging traditional Celtic folk music just as much as I like the Metal-Bands doing a similar thing.

How do major magazines value MEGALITH? Like "crappy right-wing act", or on the contrary?

- So far, it is rather mixed. Our lyrics are appreciated by many, but some also believe us to be a crap right-wing band and recommend to boycott us. Actually, that is what I always wanted. Megalith will always be a "love it or hate it" Band. Of course, I hope that the ones who love it will be in the majority, but we will always have a strong opposition, of this I am quite sure. But who cares about mainstream magazines? As long as magazines like Tierra de Lobos and Vae Solis exist, I can do without them!