Photo courtesy of Pneuma HagionI came across Pneuma Hagion the same way I discover a good chunk of the music I end up liking the most—someone with good taste sent me a link to a demo. In this instance, the person behind the project itself was kind enough to share the fruits of his labor with me, titling his email "Pneuma Hagion (Beherit meets Teitanblood)." How could anyone resist a desciptor like that? To my delight, it was more than apt (with some vintage Incantation thrown in), and I was blown away from the first note.It's difficult to imbue this kind of insanely murky, crawling black/death metal with any kind of unique character, but Pneuma Hagion succeeds where so many other fail. It's no wonder that scene leaders Nuclear War Now! Productions have already snapped up the rights to release the band's first demo, Trinity I, on cassette. I think it's safe to say that we'll be hearing quite a lot more from R. in the coming months.Listen to Trinity I for yourself:One of the most interesting aspects of the band lies not in its corrupted riffs, but in its message. Noisey conducted a short but intense interview with Pneuma Hagion's R. and quickly discovered just how much thought has been put into this seemingly "primal" band.Noisey: You just confirmed a tape release for your new 'Trinity' demo via NWN. How did that come about?
R.: It was a shot in the dark and a stroke of good fortune, I believe. NWN is a legendary label, especially in terms of this particular style of music, and I simply contacted them and pitched the demo. I heard back fairly quickly, and needless to say I was a bit shocked. I've been recording and putting out albums for about 15 years now, and I've never really been able to get the attention of the labels I was interested in. So this was very unexpected. I'm quite pleased; NWN is a perfect fit and I can't wait to see the "Trinity I" tape released.It's amazing to see a new underground band get snatched right up by one of the biggest names in the genre on the strength of a Bandcamp demo. What would you say the pros and cons are of music's immediate accessibility? Obviously it worked out for you, but would you say that there's now more pressure for bands to perfect their output, given that now you never know who might be watching?
I find the Bandcamp model to be truly refreshing, to be honest. This is primarily because of my interest in recording music and then immediately publishing it for other people's consumption. The "album cycle" seems to be an outdated mode (e.g. the belief that the album is the only legitimate form which music should take) but there's something more personal to it for me: namely, the fact that I write and record music at an alarming rate. Throughout my life I have always been somewhat of a recluse, spending almost all of my free time in my cloister, so to speak, writing and recording. Being able to immediately get a reaction to the music is a great thing. And to your point, if Bandcamp and Soundcloud encourage a higher level of artistry, I can't see any downside to that.Tell me about the idea of Pneuma Hagion. As Lovecraftian as the project's title sounds, I read that it's actually Greek for "holy spirit." Clearly there's a perversion going on here. Your lyrics aren't posted, so could you give me some insight into what message and ideas you're trying to convey?
The perversion idea is pretty spot on: this is a Gnostic band, and one of the most well-known strategies of Gnostic exegesis is the inversion of canonical scripture. Specifically, Pneuma Hagion represents several things to me, but I use it primarily as a symbol of the "divine spark" celebrated in Gnostic mysticism. I tend to subscribe to the pseudo-dualism of flesh versus spirit which is so common to biblical demiurgical traditions (pseudo-dualist because this dualism is actually played out against a monistic backdrop).The Greek connection deepens with a song like "Caverns"— I immediately thought of Plato's Allegory of the Cave.
And here is where you truly are spot on; this observation is incredibly accurate. "Caverns" absolutely draws on the Allegory of the Cave, and I definitely see Pneuma Hagion as a vehicle of Light and Wisdom. To expand (briefly) on the general themes at work in Pneuma Hagion, I can summarize it this way: the true Self of any person is their divine Spirit, which is at once of the same substance as, yet separated from, God. I speak here of something similar to Tillich's "God Above God"; this is NOT the god of scripture or of any mainstream religion, past or present: this is a God removed from, yet intimately connected with, our sensible world. So in effect, the idea is to remember our origins, to see the truth, and to escape this cave. I take a very, very negative view of this universe and of life in general, which is typically Gnostic, but this is attenuated somewhat by my belief in many Neoplatonic ideas.The Teitanblood vs. Beherit descriptor you gave me really was perfect; in a way, Pneuma Hagion could be construed as part of a third, post-Teitanblood wave of bestial black/death chaos. What drew you to this particular sound, given the quite different nature of your other bands?
What draws me to this style is the intensity, as well as the freedom, of it. I mean freedom in the sense of being free from typical constraints associated with songwriting (formula, technical prowess, etc.). To me, this style is all about atmosphere. And atmosphere is central to my sonic worldview (evidenced, differently, by my work in The Howling Void and Intestinal Disgorge). Technical prowess means nothing to me. Difficulty means nothing to me. It's all about atmosphere. And I don't think there is a more atmospheric, more genuine style than this particular genre. In fact, just as an example, Revenge could write an entire album utilizing one single string, with absolutely no note changes whatsoever, and still the intensity and the atmosphere would move me. If that seems a bit exaggerated… try me.What are your plans for the rest of this year?
I'm currently enjoying a wealth of inspiration, which is rare, so I'm hard at work writing more Pneuma Hagion material. I hope to put together a full length, hopefully during the first half of this year, and see about unleashing that on the world. I also have a stable of fantastic musicians and friends who can turn Pneuma Hagion into a viable live outfit, so I'm exploring those possibilities too. I'm getting older and more tired all the time, and I think it's time for me to attempt to take my music to the next level, whatever the hell that may mean.Kim Kelly would like you to send her more war metal on Twitter.
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R.: It was a shot in the dark and a stroke of good fortune, I believe. NWN is a legendary label, especially in terms of this particular style of music, and I simply contacted them and pitched the demo. I heard back fairly quickly, and needless to say I was a bit shocked. I've been recording and putting out albums for about 15 years now, and I've never really been able to get the attention of the labels I was interested in. So this was very unexpected. I'm quite pleased; NWN is a perfect fit and I can't wait to see the "Trinity I" tape released.It's amazing to see a new underground band get snatched right up by one of the biggest names in the genre on the strength of a Bandcamp demo. What would you say the pros and cons are of music's immediate accessibility? Obviously it worked out for you, but would you say that there's now more pressure for bands to perfect their output, given that now you never know who might be watching?
I find the Bandcamp model to be truly refreshing, to be honest. This is primarily because of my interest in recording music and then immediately publishing it for other people's consumption. The "album cycle" seems to be an outdated mode (e.g. the belief that the album is the only legitimate form which music should take) but there's something more personal to it for me: namely, the fact that I write and record music at an alarming rate. Throughout my life I have always been somewhat of a recluse, spending almost all of my free time in my cloister, so to speak, writing and recording. Being able to immediately get a reaction to the music is a great thing. And to your point, if Bandcamp and Soundcloud encourage a higher level of artistry, I can't see any downside to that.
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The perversion idea is pretty spot on: this is a Gnostic band, and one of the most well-known strategies of Gnostic exegesis is the inversion of canonical scripture. Specifically, Pneuma Hagion represents several things to me, but I use it primarily as a symbol of the "divine spark" celebrated in Gnostic mysticism. I tend to subscribe to the pseudo-dualism of flesh versus spirit which is so common to biblical demiurgical traditions (pseudo-dualist because this dualism is actually played out against a monistic backdrop).The Greek connection deepens with a song like "Caverns"— I immediately thought of Plato's Allegory of the Cave.
And here is where you truly are spot on; this observation is incredibly accurate. "Caverns" absolutely draws on the Allegory of the Cave, and I definitely see Pneuma Hagion as a vehicle of Light and Wisdom. To expand (briefly) on the general themes at work in Pneuma Hagion, I can summarize it this way: the true Self of any person is their divine Spirit, which is at once of the same substance as, yet separated from, God. I speak here of something similar to Tillich's "God Above God"; this is NOT the god of scripture or of any mainstream religion, past or present: this is a God removed from, yet intimately connected with, our sensible world. So in effect, the idea is to remember our origins, to see the truth, and to escape this cave. I take a very, very negative view of this universe and of life in general, which is typically Gnostic, but this is attenuated somewhat by my belief in many Neoplatonic ideas.The Teitanblood vs. Beherit descriptor you gave me really was perfect; in a way, Pneuma Hagion could be construed as part of a third, post-Teitanblood wave of bestial black/death chaos. What drew you to this particular sound, given the quite different nature of your other bands?
What draws me to this style is the intensity, as well as the freedom, of it. I mean freedom in the sense of being free from typical constraints associated with songwriting (formula, technical prowess, etc.). To me, this style is all about atmosphere. And atmosphere is central to my sonic worldview (evidenced, differently, by my work in The Howling Void and Intestinal Disgorge). Technical prowess means nothing to me. Difficulty means nothing to me. It's all about atmosphere. And I don't think there is a more atmospheric, more genuine style than this particular genre. In fact, just as an example, Revenge could write an entire album utilizing one single string, with absolutely no note changes whatsoever, and still the intensity and the atmosphere would move me. If that seems a bit exaggerated… try me.What are your plans for the rest of this year?
I'm currently enjoying a wealth of inspiration, which is rare, so I'm hard at work writing more Pneuma Hagion material. I hope to put together a full length, hopefully during the first half of this year, and see about unleashing that on the world. I also have a stable of fantastic musicians and friends who can turn Pneuma Hagion into a viable live outfit, so I'm exploring those possibilities too. I'm getting older and more tired all the time, and I think it's time for me to attempt to take my music to the next level, whatever the hell that may mean.Kim Kelly would like you to send her more war metal on Twitter.