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So, the big news is that the next I Shalt Become album, "Poison" is slated for release in less than two weeks! I'm totally psyched about this, been loving the direction the band has been going musically since the return. It is much more focussed and composed than the early material, and the fuller instrumentation and smooth production is quite immersive. Not quite as angular and jarring as "Wanderings", but a great take on the classic style. Particularlly excited about the song "Leaving Watership Down", because it may be the first metal song ever writen about that masterpiece (even if it isn't, it's definitely the first black metal song ever writen about it), or who knows, it could allegorical-metaphorical as you may soon see.
Anyone else excited?
To celebrate Poison's imminent release, here is an interview of Holliman from 2009 that never got released. The interview was set up through great excertions on the part of my good pal GrevenMelkor (WebOfPiss).
Anyways, enjoy:
THE HOLY MAN
G = Greven
K = Kvisling
H = Holliman
G: Hail S. Holliman!
K: It's been claimed that ISB was a foundational band in the Pagan Front. How involved were you, if at all, in the formation of the Pagan Front and what is your current relation, if any, to that organization?
H: As far as I'm aware, I had no involvement in the foundation and have no any affiliation to it?
K: What was your relation, if any, to Ezunoth?
H: He was my best friend for a short while.
K: What occasioned your long absence from the music scene and what prompted you to, seemingly suddenly, return to releasing music?
H: There is no singular reason. However, it is not something I would discuss with random people.
K: Are your new albums long in the making, written and performed in part or entirely before reforming ISB or are they entirely recent works?
H: The new material was written and recorded over the past few years.
K: Many have complained that your new material is too much like your old (though not me!) and leveled the accusation your work hasn't progressed musically. How do you respond to that?
H: I don't agree or care.
K: To what extent do you write your music for yourself and to what degree for others? Is your music intended solely for your own gratification or to impart some message, idea, or feeling upon the listener?
H: Everything is done as an expression of myself. I release it in the hope that it inspires or affects someone else. It is art. People should take what they will from it.
K: Are you involved, at all, with the pagan movement or the occult or do you consider yourself a nihilist? Are there any other "fringe" or esoteric ideological groups to which you belong?
H: No. By lacking a factual basis or confirmation, belief systems are somewhat naieve. Furthermore, one's perspective should always be maturing.
K: There's no getting around the fact that your music is downright morbid! What moves (or perhaps compels?) you to create such bleak soundscapes and lyrics?
H: I think my music is perhaps more beautiful than morbid or bleak. I don't know how to explain it adequately for you. It is how I write and what I create.
K: Being so different from other black metal being produced at the time, how well was ISB received when it first came out? Was the black metal scene receptive or hostile towards such radically obscure music, even within the already obscure underground? How well have your creations been received since reforming?
H: The people I was in contact with were all extremely supportive. I declined a contract to pursue other endeavours.
K: Personally, I never thought Wanderings was particularly obscure. I do not really pay much attention to how it is received. Opinion is subjective. Good enough, I suppose.
K: The earlier lyrics of ISB seemed to be almost entirely personal, while some of new material seems to feature more historical themes. Is it a new interest in history that has brought about this change or is it simply another way of exploring your own thoughts?
H: A vast majority of the lyrics are personal. The only historical themes I've written about are Lucian Staniak and the Babysitter (the Oakland County, MI killer). I have not written about thermodynamics or Mary, Queen of Scots. They are references or complex metaphors rather than topics. It is another way of explaining myself. My knowledge and experience have developed of course.
K: The majority of your lyrics are rather cryptic, as well as relatively short. Is this because you feel that they convey all that you wish to convey or is the mystique and enigmatic nature of them merely a brushstroke in a painting, so to speak?
H: I've always thought people should find their own meaning in them. It's somewhat abstract poetry, no? They are always long enough to cover the topic at hand. I choose my words carefully. The lyrics are very important to me.
K: How do you feel about how the black metal world (and larger world of metal and underground music) has changed since your absence? Has the loss of secretiveness and exclusivity occasioned by the internet been counterbalanced by its bringing together previously disparate and scattered people in the underground?
H: Generally speaking, I'm of the opinion that exposure to more music is not a bad thing. There are positives and negatives to everything. This is no different.
K: Due to your general reclusiveness, rumors about your activities and connections abound. Are there any rumors in particular you'd like to dispel or any messages you'd like to make the general public?
H: Not really. Rumors aren't truth and so it doesn't affect me. I heard that I was dead a while back. I would suggest that people worry about the music and lyrics rather than peripheral nonsense.
K: Have you got anything in the works?
H: Yes. I have finished a new album entitled Poison. It should be out this summer on Moribund.
G: Thank you for the interview.
H: You're welcome.
_________________
The horrible answer is before you.
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