1. HOW AND WHEN DID AVERSE SEFIRA FORM? Sanguine: Wrath and I had been doing a highly successful underground metal radio show on a college station, and we had been avidly supporting a couple of notable local bands when we got the itch to begin a black metal project. At first we weren't intending it to be as serious as it has become, but it took off rather quickly. That was about the summer of 1997, although I have been observing the official advent as November 14th.
2. WERE THERE MANY DIFFICULTIES TRYING TO GET THE BAND FORMED? Wrath: No, not at all. The two of us quickly realized that we wanted the same things out of the music and the accompanying aesthetics and overall theme. Of course, it took time to develop what we're doing now, but it all came together in a satisfactory way.
3. WHY DOES A.S. CHOOSE TO CREATE BLACK METAL (WHAT DO YOU LIKE ABOUT THE MUSIC)? Sanguine: It's an evolution, really. We both cut our teeth on heavy metal bands like Iron Maiden, then Thrash and Speed Metal bands, we rode the Death Metal and Grindcore renaissance of the early nineties and then hit upon Black Metal at the beginning of the "second wave" circa 1992-93. In a sense we feel a calling to it; it's that sound that you have in your head that you hear all the time but could never put your finger on. The speed and ferocity of the music as well as the theatrics of the paint and spikes evokes what Metal music should be about.
4. HAVE YOU PLAYED IN MANY STATES BESIDES TEXAS? IF NOT, DO YOU PLAN ON IT? Wrath: So far it's only been Texas- Austin, San Antonio, and Fort Worth. Sometimes shows are hard to put together when the bands you play with all live in different cities. Certainly we would like to play elsewhere. Mexico has a voracious scene, and we'd like to play there or anywhere else that avails itself in the future.
5. IS IT EASY FINDING PLACES TO PLAY IN THE AREA YOU ARE IN? OR ARE MOST PEOPLE AGAINST THE WHOLE CONCEPT OF DEATH/BLACK METAL? Wrath: It depends. Some shows come easily, others are really frustrating. Austin isn't really a "metal town", and there's lots of apathy in the underground right now. There are plenty of clubs here, but it can be difficult to convince them to set us up.
6. WHAT DOES AVERSE SEFIRA MEAN? Sanguine: In rough translation, "Averse Sefira" means "opposing angel". The Sefiroth are angels out of the Q'aballah, with ten holy and ten unholy emanating out of the right and left hands of God, respectively. The Sefiroth hold sway over opposite sides of aspects of humanity such as victory, strength, beauty, foundation, kingdom, mercy, understanding and so on. An unholy sefira is the Averse Sefira to a holy sefira.
7. ARE YOU MAINLY INFLUENCED BY THE SAME CONCEPT OF MUSIC OR ARE THEIR OTHER INFLUENCES THAT HELP CREATE YOUR MUSIC? Wrath: Definitely. Our newer material is moving towards a larger concept, both lyrically and musically, and we really respond to other black metal bands who put that kind of effort and forethought into what they do. However, we draw influences from plenty of other places like goth or industrial, though stuff like that doesn't directly inspire us as much.
8. WHAT ARE YOUR LYRICS ABOUT AND WHAT IS THE MEANING BEHIND THEM? Sanguine: We are writing from an over-arcing story line with most of the songs dealing with the sefiroth themselves. We have extrapolated these angels from their concrete, black and white foundations into these twenty ancient extracelestial beings that have taken up residence in our celestial realm and participated to one degree or another in the various wars that rage unseen around us.
The material on "Blasphomet Sin Abset" is a story that takes place outside if our curent story arc. It concerns the unrequited love of a demon emperor, Blasphomet, for Abset, and empress of Hell. She is in love with a mortal, and he is railing against her. These characters have little to do with the songs contained on our planned full-length (entitled "Homecoming's March"), but they may reappear as events unfold around them.
9. DO YOU HAVE ANY FUTURE PLANS AS FAR AS NEW MERCHANDISE? Sanguine: Yes, we are working on new material in preparation and anticipation of the full-length release. We are agressively pushing the current demo and trying to get label attention, but in the event of no offers we will release the full-length anyway. We also have at least four T-shirt designs (short and longsleeve) in the works although we are shopping around to find a good deal on getting them printed.
10. ANY FINAL COMMENTS? Sanguine: For more information, check out our website at http://www.necronom.com/darkening/aversesefira Support underground Metal, and if you don't like what some band is doing, form your own and try to top them; that is the only way to keep things from stagnating.
Averse Sefira c/o Wrath; PO BOX 8166; Austin, TX 78713-8166 USA (stamps are appreciated)
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