AOS - Hail Dan! How are you today? Are you listening to anything while typing your answers? Or are you doing this ‘raw’, with nothing but your own haunted thoughts to keep you company?
Dan – G’day AOS! yeah doing alright for a Sunday morning. Got my beer ready and the old Profanatica collection pic disc vinyl on the turntable... guess that counts as raw enough haha
AOS - Would it be fair to say you are the mastermind behind the band? What inspired you to begin this twisted journey of profane discovery when Vilifier formed?
Dan - Yeah, I’m the main lunatic behind Vilifier, basically it all started back in 2007 when myself and Helveticunt (Northern Shadows zine) were sitting around having a session listening to the Goat Molestor demo tape and being possessed by how putrid and dense the sound was, so we attempted to emulate that sound with our (then) lack of playing skills
AOS - The band originally formed in 2011, and after some activity, went dormant for a while (there is a 13 year gap from the 2013 EP until the 2026 release). What happened during that time period? Were you incarcerated for necrophilia or just a victim of life changes causing the band to lose momentum?
Dan - Yeah life got busy and keeping a lineup together really slowed progress down big time, during that period we focused mostly on live shows with varying results, a few were shockers due to inebriation.... (2 NZ shows, 2 Melbourne shows, evil invaders in Sydney, Wardemonic and Ulcerate shows in Brisbane and a few low key local shows) Also was busy playing in Lustration and doing live work for the band that shall not be named as that caused a bit of backlash towards gigs haha. We did record a split during that time with Sabattic Goat but it remains to be seen if those tracks will ever see the light of day.
AOS - The Skullthrone EP has just come out. To my ears, it’s cruel sounding, old school Death Metal. It’s not like the popular sounds of today, avoiding technical tropes. Instead, the recording relies on riff driven songs, reverberated production and obscure Underground atmosphere. What can you tell us about this EP? What bands and sounds inspired you to create this material? What other recordings do you feel impacted you to make the decisions around Skullthrone, which resulted in this type of output?
Dan - Cheers mate! pretty much that EP came together in the space of about 5 months as Masokist (Fornicatador) was available to jam again after his journeys to Melbourne and Darwin and we work well together so was a no brainer to get him back in after Padre Christurbator left the fold. A few of the riffs were intended for the 3rd Lustration album so had them lying around to get a head start, In our minds we were going for a Death Doom sound kind of influenced by the good Paradise Lost albums and early My Dying Bride.... Defs didnt work out that way sound wise haha so it ended up morphing into an early Bolt Thrower with a healthy dosage of Proto Death Metal from the mid 80s without ripping off anyone too much (well perhaps some autopsy more than others) We Recorded in our un insulated tin shed of a rehearsal space with perhaps half a clue about what we were doing and the nightmare that was with gear shitting itself and the temperature being mid 30s the entire time definitely added to the vibe and general attitude behind the recording.
AOS - ‘Trials of the Eternal Flame’ is the last track on the recording. It is much longer and more grandiose than the other songs, creating a dramatic and fitting end. What can you tell us about this track in particular?
Dan - That song was definitely something different and came together about a week before recording commenced, lyrically its about the protagonist reaching the heights of his physical and metaphorical journey to the skullthrone (birth - realisation of death - greater enlightenment) and passing through the flames to be reborn as a higher being (so from the album artwork its referring to the peak of the tower) so the outro with the cleanish vocals is a segment from Liber AL vel Legis (The Book Of The Law) and is echoing a version of Crowley’s vision of the spiritual evolution of man as spoken by the Goddess Nuit.
AOS - What do you think of today’s Death Metal scene? Can you name me three bands you’re currently enjoying? And can you name some bands you feel are overrated?
Dan - There is some good stuff out there but like everything there is ALOT of hyped up scenester shit and bands not understanding that death metal is the METAL OF DEATH! lately the 3 I’ve been spinning the most are the newish Teitanblood, Unholy Redeemer (is my cheque in the mail for promotion haha) and Abhorrot. Overrated.... let’s burn some bridges here hahaha, Malignant Aura just because. This whole wave of retro death metal that’s going on in Australia is very lacklustre and misses the entire point of playing this style and exists purely to pick flowers and drink craft beers in the safety of peace and mungbeans.
AOS - What inspires the lyrics of Vilifier? Do you find inspiration outside of the metal genre, such as literature, history, etc?
Dan - Lyrically i take alot of inspiration from esoteric literature, mainly Thelema and Chaos Magick related subjects but some of the newer material is influenced by Rosicrucean ideals. historical stuff has never really been too much of an influence but there’s something fascinating behind early middle eastern history so I guarantee ill touch upon that later down the track.
AOS - What is next for the band? And where do you hope the band is five years from now?
Dan - Currently in the Pipeline is a New EP entitled Impure Bural Rites that will be unleashed upon cassette and digital before the year is out, Skullthrone is being sent to press on Vinyl shortly once artworks been 100% completed and work has begun on a new ep. Perhaps a live show again next year once life slows down enough to get everything sorted.
AOS - I’ve seen some live photos of the band. I like how you guys prefer the more traditional aesthetics of the scene, bullet belts, leather and the occasional spiked armband. What punishment would you give any band member who wanted to play live on stage wearing shorts??
Dan - There is nothing worse than seeing a band who on album sound killer only to go see them live and they look like they just came from work or play in a hardcore band (nothing against HC as there is a lot of killer shit, just takes away from the METAL OF DEATH aesthetic) Punishment enough is playing in Vilifier haha!!
AOS - Where and how can people listen to your material?
Dan - We have a Bandcamp where one can hear the Skullthrone ep https://vilifier.bandcamp.com/album/skullthrone and for the older material I highly suggest asking your local tape trader if they can dub a copy, or download it. physical media side of things, we run a tape duplicator so will be updating cassettes for Skullthrone this week so they will be online to purchase at a fair price, Copies of Ritual Obscuration can still be purchased from Forgotten Wisdom Productions in France at a cheap price due to the labels impending closure. Anyone interested in releasing/stocking releases get in touch.
AOS - Any final words before this interview is killed and we say goodbye?
Dan - A bullet to the head is the only way to put down this putrid corpse! cheers for the interview mate! Hail Death Metal and Hail the Underground! contact RitualobscurationATgmailDOTcom Vilifier https://vilifier.bandcamp.com/album/skullthrone https://www.facebook.com/Vilifiercult?fref=ts
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