MSM: Helmuth excellent to talk to you again! So tell us how are things going with Belphegor?

Helmuth: Things are going infernally. BONDAGE GOAT ZOMBIE just crushed the German and Austrian top charts, I mean its not important to me, I don't give a shit u know, cause charts are for fashion, trendy assholes.

But hey, it ddefinitely is a breakthrough for extreme Metal in general, a triumph for the devil and a stigma for moralizers,.....an extra punch in their faces, especially in Germany, were we had so many troubles with censorship the last decade. har.

MSM: The new album Bondage Goat Zombie is great! What was the inspiration for the new album?

MSM: Tell us a little in your words what a Bondage Goat Zombie is and what does it represent to Belphegor?

Helmuth: Basically the lyrical concept of this album deals with the fascinating life of the Marquis De Sade, the topics are bite wounds, flagellation, all the cool fetish/nylon stuff and the devil. First u have to realize the word "sadism" comes from Marquis de Sade's name. 

I'm more than impressed since 1997 by De Sade as I get my hands on 120 Days Of Sodom, Justine or Juliette etc. I really recommend this scripts, his work was a battlefield full of perverted sex, violence, humiliation, but on the other hand his writing is pure poetry...its amazing man.

Also his live was very impressive, I used many of his original verses for the new album, he was a rebel and was in jail about 25 years for his art, ideals and even that long he took refuge, he always refused to kneel down, the fuck you attitude har har.

    The flagellation at the end of TER RUTENMARSCH is not fake and we used original verses from Donatien Marquis De Sade (1740-1814 ) and one very important sentence from F.W. Nietzsche ( 1844-1900 ). Lemme describe the album title:

 BONDAGE = The album deals with S/M you know and overall inspired by the themes in the work of Marquis   de Sade.

THE GOAT = our trademark since the end of the nineties. 

ZOMBIE =  This goes along with my opinion that there are people who are fucked up zombies who sleep-walk the earth, infesting it like a plague.

 

The message is clear, its about rebellion in man, free will and to take your own decision, walk your own path,....in my opinion freedom is the most important thing in life.

MSM: I find this album a lot darker then your last one (Pestapokalypse VI ) and when I thought no one could get darker then that you guys, you did, how did you do it?

Helmuth: There is no master plan man, sometimes I wish u know, but its like always, goddamn chaos and a challenge when we start to work on a new opus and be creative again, our philosophy is to develop the evil spirit, the morbidity u know, umm always want to offer ourselves the best, and also the people who buy our albums and who support us with that, they deserve the best, only the best. 

And yeah, our sound has never been so vital, dark and full of passion, this album gain a new dimension for the band. On BONDAGE GOAT ZOMBIE we tried a few new things, added some new elements, epic melodies here and there as we always do, trying to take our sound a bit further each time, and worked more than hard on us to try to raise intensity and dynamic. BONDAGE GOAT ZOMBIE is our most mature effort up to day.

MSM: How do you feel about the production on the new album compared to your previous album “Pestapokalypse VI?

Helmuth: The sound, the songs, everything is smashing, I think we have managed to melt ultra blast beats and heaviness to one union, it's not only our best sounding but also our strongest and most varied album to date, yeah the diversity is the highlight on BONDAGE GOAT ZOMBIE.

 We recorded almost five weeks, divided in three sessions in the Stage One Studios with producer Andy Classen. ( Nov. 2007 - Jan. 2008 ).
Andy made us again a brilliant sound wall and its always a great pleasure to work with him.
For BONDAGE GOAT ZOMBIE I went into the studio with much more experience. I take everything very seriously, a song only gets on the album
if we are content for hundred percent, no fillers man. BELPHEGOR are in the scene for a long time now and believe me, music wise we know what we do, , the nine sound collages reached a higher level of dynamics and structured brutality.

MSM: Who did you get to do the artwork for “Bondage Goat Zombie”, and how did the concept for the cover come about

Helmuth: Ralph Manfreda a great artist from Austria followed my suggestions and did an amazing job on the whole cover/ booklet art,

 it look goddamn sick, I dig it and it was a privilege to work with him again The lyrical content just has to always fit the cover-photo-booklet art and melt the whole into a cold unit, u know it give the mu-SICK kind of extra-super-power har har. 

            Think what you may, but at the very least, you can always count on BELPHEGOR when it came to that stuff, we aren't here to piss around,

            people get what they deserve, If it says BELPHEGOR on the outside, it's BELPHEGOR what you get.

MSM: How would you compare the evilness of this new album to that of the previous album?

Helmuth: Metal in general. I saw so many bands come and go the last 15 years, especially that shitty overnight-hype-sensations har har har. 

Nowadays Death/ Black Metal rules the world and is the strongest, the most archaic of all kinds, we always have to search for evolution and explore the music, and bring it a bit further each time. BELPHEGOR always try to bring something interesting to an already oversaturated, commercial Metal market, the most important thing, is that when you play a BELPHEGOR song/ album, you immediately recognize that it is BELPHEGOR.

 MSM: Were there any problems during the recording of this album, or did things run pretty smoothly?

 Helmuth: Absofukkinglutely no problems man, the demons was hovering above us, you can feel it, the vibe is pure evil.

 MSM: How has the media and fans reaction been towards “Bondage Goat Zombie”?

 Helmuth: Many reactions we got so far, are fuckin overwhelming, its cool u know, we got a lot of really euphoric responses all over the world.

 MSM: How was the experience touring the states this go around?

 Helmuth: Oh, it's been great!  Everything worked fine, it's something very special to tour as an European Band in the USA, it was again a special kind of experience. We truly love it to shred the USA, that's the reason why we return in Oct/ Nov to USA and Canada for 33 dates - tba. And I'm sure this whole run again exceed our expectations.

 For me, its the best to play live, u know, we are always exited, each show is beyond amazing for us and a huge challenge, we did so many brutal concerts the last decade, unforgettable good times, and met so many wonderful dedicated people worldwide. 

Hell yeah, nonstop touring is the master plan, you now, I think that we are a band that live definitely destroy and leave dust and ashes.  Preaching the blast-beat in a live situation is our mission man, we always concentrate on the high-speed tracks har har.

 MSM: Did you have any problems going through customs or did everything go without any discrepancies?

 Helmuth: Yeah, we often have problems at the check-in, because of our belts and gear, but what the fuck, I don't go on stage without my belt and my goddamn cross.

MSM: How many cities was your tour through the U.S.?

Helmuth: Arghhh man, don't ask me such things,  about 25/ 26 dates, u know we did three amazing USA tours in support of the PESTAPOKALYPSE VI album, and it was again beyond amazing for the band.

MSM: Did you get a chance to sight-see while on this tour?

Helmuth: We did a lot of sightseeing and could also watch some things we only knew from photos, movies and so on, as already said, these three USA tours have left hundreds of impressions and memories.

MSM: What were some of your favorite places you visited while touring the US?

Helmuth: Well, there was so many stuff, to visit Roswell and all the Alien shit for example was very impressive, its the same when u travel to Salzburg/ Austria our hometown and visit for example Mozart's birth-place-house-grave etc har har

 MSM: What city do you think had the best crowd reaction for this tour, after touring the States how would you compare the American crowds versus European crowds??

Helmuth: You know, it principally doesn't matter where we play, metal fans, are cool people worldwide, everywhere the demons are in a good mood, celebrate and
go crazy, scream, begin to bang, to have a good time is always great for the band and keeps you investing more and more on stage, to unchain more energy.

MSM: What is the most memorable moment throughout the tour?

Helmuth: here was thousands the last decade, so many sick moments har,  lots of thanks to all people we met on the road and making the last years a
killer for BELPHEGOR to remember and take to our graves, or what so ever har har.

      MSM: What were your likes and dislikes about touring through the US?

Helmuth: I really hate that lame visa shit, when you want to enter the USA, lots of time spending on bureaucracy and stuff...arghhh!

MSM: Was there any problems with the bands you were touring with or did everyone get along?

Helmuth: Everything was cool, you know the whole run was great,...I don't see touring as job man, I really dig it to travel around, visit places all over the earth, to be on the road, living in a fucking night liner and I also love it to sleep in the small bed when the bus is driving har har.

MSM: Lets talk about your line up last time we interviewed you, you were still looking for permanent members, did you by any chance find any or do you think you’ll be using session guys for awhile?

Helmuth: I don't repeat that over and over again, its lame, I promote a new strong album, that's the main thing. BELPHEGOR shred each year about +/- 100 shows, so its not a big deal, let the mu-sick do the talking, the core is solid an ready to kick some serious ass, that's all you need to know.

MSM: The video for Bondage Goat Zombie is awesome! Tell us a little about the production and making of it.

Helmuth: The clip shows the typical BELPHEGOR charm, there is the song, the dictator mask, the blastbeat, it takes everyone straight to hell.

MSM: Helmuth thank you for taking the time to letting us pick your brain again about Belphegor is there anything else you would like to add?

Helmuth: Well, thanks for the interesting interview and your truly support. Regards to your readership, check out our new album BONDAGE GOAT ZOMBIE.Throw thy horns, demons, BELPHEGOR are back to skull-fuck you.   www.BELPHEGOR.at