"The Enemy Within" is not very fresh recording, therefore the
prognosticated question rises - do you have new songs ready and if yes, when will you release a new OCCULT CD?

- Yes, I agree that it has been a long time since "The Enemy Within" has been released. But we have this thing, that when we return from recording, we do not like any new stuff we write, we've become to demanding on ourselves so we can't get anything done. By now it has cooled down a bit and the writing for our third CD is nearing it's completion. The only question will be at which label we will release it, since we quit Foundation 2000 when we realized that he was a rip off (beware people!!).

Does Sephiroth still use makeup? If the answer is yes, then why don't you follow his suit? Isn't it a sort of MERCYFUL FATE's imitation?

- When we started OCCULT it was very clear that Sephiroth wanted it to be a black metal band.  However Erik (the drummer) and I weren't and still are not into black metal (the new black metal that is, while VENOM, MERCYFUL FATE, old SODOM and CELTIC FROST kick ass). Therefore we never wanted to wear paint, why fake it?? On the other hand, Sephiroth was and still is very deeply into black metal and satanism, so he used to wear paint. I said "he used to", because he got so fed up with black metal turning into a trend that he quit paint his face in 1994. For the same reason he also stopped calling himself as Sephiroth and returned to his original name (Maurice). He kept getting annoyed when people came up to him and said "hi, my name is Lucifer, Sephiroth sounds kindda evil, where did you find that name". He no longer wanted to be indentified with those nitwits, and therefore changed his name back. It was never meant as copying another band or style but when asked in interviews Maurice always asked why it HAD to be that everyone had to wear paint and always referred to MERCYFUL FATE.

You enlarged OCCULT's lineup after "Prepare..." release with Richard as second guitarist and Rachel as female singer... What roused you to this decision?

- I always felt some sort of emptiness on stage being the only guitarist and wanted some reinforcement, since you do need some sort of backing during solos. Besides with two guitars you can create a wider spectrum of sounds and you definately have a more powerful live sound. Maurice came up with Rachel as a backing in the vocals. She is definitely one of the most agressive female singers I have ever heard or seen. She is small and thin, but her voice is a death grunt that most death metal singers would love to have (very deep). By now she has become a full time singer next to Maurice in the band.

Please, compare "Prepare To Meet Thy Doom" and "The Enemy Within", both musically and lyrically...

- Musically; Maybe the most cliche answer a person could give, we have grown as musicians and I think it does come across in our music. But it's truth. About the style and / or sort of music, I think it will never change, just grow by trying out new ideas, but the style will probably always stay the same. (Aggressive, fast and thrashy).
Lyrically; All the lyrics on the first album were written by Maurice and are very black metal minded.  On the second album he wrote only some lyrics, which were less black metal minded and more about suicide ("Souls", "Through Dark And Light", etc). The other lyrics were written by me and Sjors, our bass player. I like to tell little stories, like about why a man slit his wrists ("One Way Out") or what would have happened if the inquisition was turned against people who DO believe in a god. Sjors likes to write about how the twisted mind of man likes to let other people suffer.

I noticed some keyboards perfectly fitting your music on first CD, however they are absent on "The Enemy Within", why?

- We decided that since we would be working with Harris Johns (producer of KREATOR - "Pleasure To Kill", PESTILENCE - "Consuming Impulse", VOIVOD - "Killing Technology" / "Dimension Hatross", SODOM) we wanted it to be as raw as possible like the original metal bands which we grew up with.  That meant no keyboards. None of us ever regretted that decision. I also do not expect keyboards on our third album, but time shall tell.

Would you like to comment rumours, concerning Sephiroth's participation on BETHLEHEM second CD?

- I've never heard that rumour before, but as far as I know it's not true.

I know that Sephiroth sang in BESTIAL SUMMONING before starting OCCULT... What is your opinion of his previous band? Euronymous once said the following: "Unfortunately, there're too many idiots who know nothing about what BM is meant for, people, who play just for fun, as well as bands, performing some kind of moronic noise. I hate those who can't understand the difference between MAYHEM and f.ex. BESTIAL SUMMONING. Luckily, they already split up..." Any comments, regarding this wimp's assertion?

- I think BESTIAL SUMMONING was a cool band in the way that they didn't care what other people thought of them, the album even sounds kinda o.k. if you realize that it all has been improvised.  Furthermore, I never have comment on what other people say, since I think that everybody is entitled to his / her own opinion and if I agree, it's O.K. and if I do not, that's my problem.

How would you describe your music? I once read an interview with Sephiroth where he refused to label OCCULT as a BM band - do you share his point of view? Or was it an interviewer who garbled his words?

- How to describe our music? Well, Maurice was the only black metal factor but now he keeps that to himself because of all the trends. And if there is one thing we hate, it's doing stuff because other people do it. Come on, everybody is capable to think for themselves (I hope). We have been called a BM band a lot, we also have been called a thrash metal band. I do not think that we would 'fit' the description on modern time black metal, nor modern thrash metal. I think it is best described by comparing it to the metal from ten years ('86 - '90) ago. But let's just let the majority of the ones who have our albums decide, I guess they know best.

I like the following Dutch bands very much; therefore can you comment
their music, attitude and activities?

DEINONYCHUS:
I used to know the guy, but have never seen him since his demos. He's
kinda cool, though I cannot say anything about his music, since I only heard it once or twice and really do not remember a lot of it. I have no idea what he's up to now.
GODDESS OF DESIRE:
We played some shows together, including the Dynamo Open Air festival. I guess they're O.K. it's just that they think a lot of themselves, which in my opinion is a bit misplaced.
LIAR OF GOLGOTHA:
Played with them once or twice. They are still around today. I don't know them personally, nor am I familiar with their music.
FUNERAL WINDS:
Aren't they now LIAR OF GOLGOTHA??
BIFROST:
No friends of mine, think very much of themselves but I consider them to be a joke. I thought they quit a long time ago.
COUNTESS:
Played some gigs, but don't know them personal. They also stopped with paint.
ENGRAVED:
Don't know them.
By the way you might wanna check out GOD DETHRONED with "The Grand Grimoire" on Metal Blade. Now this is a new Dutch black / death metal band which I consider very promising.

Does christianity mean anything to you? I guess, you are not the one who follows christian rules of life? Is there any way to erase this religion in the near future?

- I think any religion is dumb. Why turn to someone else for answers?? Religion has always been something for weak people, for the ones who don't understand something and had the need for an explanation. For example lightning as being "the wrath of god", or there had to be "a god of thunder".  Nowadays we know that it's just an electric reaction between the neutral earth and Ionised gas.  Besides, religion is nothing more than a base for conflict and wars (Middle-East, Northern Ireland, former Yugoslavia, etc.) But then again, who am I to say what other people have to think...

What is your definition for the perfect personality?

- Reasonable, Logic and Honest.

Total war and destruction or peace and harmony... What appeals to you more and why?

- Total war and destruction, because you can better start allover than try to fix the mess the world is in today (hhmmm, would you say the same after all people whom you love and respect, will be called in regular war?? - ED).

What will happen to you, when you die? Have you ever thought about death and the other side, awaiting us after this sad event will occur?

- When you die you will seize to exist. If someone thinks more of it, he's probably just afraid of dying and trying to talk himself that it's not the end. Why should our souls continue to live or be reincarnated, it doesn't make any sense, it's just a form of selfishness.

Some people (such as Greg from ESOTERIC) talk about reaching "the higher levels of subconscious" by using drugs... Aren't they just promoting them (drugs)? It is very dangerous, because a lot of young individuals, after reading the interviews, featuring such statements, could think of drugs as cool thing which you must use to increase your mind's abilities... They don't think of dangers, waiting them on this path, they trust people, involved in bands whose music they adore...  and the outcome is quite sad, I must say.

- Using drugs is nothing more than a stupidity - you're just taking pure poison. It will not enhance your capabilities in any ways, and if you say that in your case it will, you're probably too far gone to realise anything else. This is not from someone who just doesn't want you taking it, this is a fact. But if someone wants to use it, I'm not gonna stop them - it's their own body which they're destroying, and everybody should be free to do with his / her body what they want.

What about Howard Lovecraft? Do you enjoy reading his literary works? Do you believe in his interpretation of "Necronomicon"? Have you ever read this book? What do you think of it?

- Never read it, as I said I'm not into BM and satanism. I would have to ask Maurice who is very into these sort of things and knows a great deal about it, however, he's not doing this interview.

Such terms as "sunset" and "dawn" are quite often used in mythological and occult literature as metaphors. What do they represent for you?

- The beginning and the end of the day. Nothing more, nothing less.

Your e-mail address includes 'stud.' abbreviation, so you appear as a
student, right? Do you consider higher education as an important thing for modern man?

- What you do is a definition of what you are. Also, you have to
understand things to be able to explain them or talk about them. The
dumbest feature of man is to talk about things of which they know nothing but are so sure that what they say is true, that they are willing to die for it. I'm in the final stage of my Chemical Engineering study, but then again, I have a lot of friends who never attended any university, but do know what life is all about. On the other hand, I know people who have a college degree but are too dumb to grow up. There is more to life than just memorizing books and a lot of formulas, but it can give you the edge you need.

Many BM bands seem to be interested very much in their own country's
history... Do you think, this interest is sincere and comes straight from their hearts or they are just following the trend? (A little note: if some persons from the "viking metal" band would find themselves in the past, among the real Vikings, would their lives last more than for two days...?)

- It's my opinion that what happened in the past is something that I had nothing to do with; I wasn't born yet. However this doesn't mean that you may not be proud of your heritage, and therefore pay homage to it. Since I do not follow BM I wouldn't know in how far this is a trend or not.

What is the perfect lineup for a perfect black metal band? (By the way, is humanity able to create anything "perfect"?)

- In my eyes it would be Cronos (VENOM), bass guitar / vocals. Abaddon (VENOM), drums. Mantas (VENOM), guitar. This was (why "was"? VENOM are still alive... - ED) the best and most convincing black metal band I've ever seen (also the first, and the inventors of the term BM).

How is the relationship between members of OCCULT?

- We're all just one big happy family, there never any real fights, but the ones there are, are usually resolved within a week. Maybe it's because our friendship is bigger than our pride, we are one of the few bands that can say that we've been around over seven years without a real significant fight.

I guess, you are familiar with a lot of people from Dutch BM scene... Can you name some worth personalities among them?

- I actually know no BM people outside bands except for RIMMON and MELEK TAUS in a town called Assen. These are some of the coolest and most twisted people I know. Then again, I am no BM follower or fan so I don't know a lot of BM people outside the band circuit.

What do you think about Tolkien? He seems to be the person, whose works inspire a lot of black metal bands today; they use themes from his books, name their bands after creatures, created by this writer - take for example, SUMMONING...

- Same answer as before, I'm not into BM and / or Satanism, so I really wouldn't know (if you enjoy reading Tolkien, it doesn't mean that you're satanist... - ED).

What about black metal imaginary: corpse-paint, spikes, leather, inverted crosses and pentagrams on the neck, black clothes and such... I believe, that persons using all these attributes try to achieve more frightening and "evil" impressions of their look, but sometimes it turns out quite the contrary, i.e. funny...

- It can look pretty evil, but only on those who already have this look naturally, otherwise it is very silly. People who like this a lot, I advise to take a look at the VENOM's video ("Seven Dates Of Hell", "Bloodlust") to see some of the best performances where this is used just right.

When I'm doing the interview, I always ask this question - what do you know about Russia? What do you think of us, Russians? Do you consider us as primitives, as some foreign (non-Russian) people do?

- I think Russia has made a turn in the right direction some years ago and is now struggeling with the problems leftover from the communist regime. What I think of them is not important, how they deal with these problems will define who they are, and how people should look at them. The research project I'm now involved in is headed by a Russian Doctor in Chemistry who came over here long time ago. So I definately do not consider Russians as being primitive.

Does OCCULT perform live shows? Do you use any special effects to make your concerts more atmospheric? Would you agree, if someone will offer you to play in the big stadium, with famous, non-extreme bands, such as e.g. HELLOWEEN?

- We do play live as often as we can, for this is the sole reason for
being in a band, when you can share your aggression with the crowd. Our live shows are as raw as can be. Pure Aggression. We usually use a smoke machine for atmosphere and have our own light and soundengineer. Since we played the Dynamo Open Air I'd have to answer your last question with yes. But if we had one single show on an evening, say OCCULT with BIOHAZARD, we would never agree.

Thanks for your answers, would you like to tell anything to your Russian fans?

- Thanks to you for the interview, cheers!. And to all Russian fans and all other people who might be reading this: never listen to music because other people do. Listen to it because YOU like it. Never feel ashamed to tell other people that you like music that they might not. If they have a problem with it, TOUGH LUCK!!

OCCULT
M. Swinkels
Wielewaal 105
5667 AC Geldrop
The Netherlands
Phone/Fax: +31-(0)40-2861371

Email (Leon):
L.H.F.Pennings@stud.tue.nl