Without a doubt, the best album that has come out this year that I’ve had the pleasure of hearing is the latest record from the experimental black metal act from Australia, Arkheth’s “12 Winter Moons Comes the Witches Brew”. It has literally everything I’ve ever wanted and more from an album, and Arkheth simply hits the nail on the head at every fucking turn in these five tracks of ethereal deliciousness. I was lucky enough to throw some questions at the band’s mastermind, Tyrone ‘Tyraenos’, to glean some insight of the innerworkings and the background of Arkheth itself, and what I got was a fucking gold mine of information!

Thanks a million again for allowing me to do these questions. I’ve been very interested in Arkheth ever since the first song off the album, then titled “Your Swamp My Wretched Queen”, was released on the 2015 Transcending Obscurity Label Sampler. It’s been a hell of a ride and I’m so happy to be able to pick your brain.

1. Ever since the release of “12 Winter Moons Comes the Witches Brew”, many people who have heard the album including myself have hailed the highly experimental nature from the eerie melodies to the sexy sax. Was it always your intention for the album to sound that way or did it sort of just happen as it progressed?

      Tyraenos: I definitely had a clear vision of how I wanted each individual song to sound and each song is obviously very different from the next. I wanted them to have their own personality but at the same time to have a golden thread that connected them all so that they belonged to a whole. One of those elements was certainly the utilization of the saxophone. I had originally only planned for one or two songs to have saxophone parts but as we began to record I saw the enormous potential it had to enrich each of the songs. It just felt so natural. The saxophone is hardly new in metal but I felt that I could explore its potential the full effect on this album because I was completely removed from the scene or any outside opinions. I didn’t have anyone telling me that it would be ‘too weird’ or ‘not Black Metal enough’ so I was able to explore my ideas freely. It was a very liberating experience.

     2. Speaking of the sexy sax, what made you want to use such a distinct and unique instrument to metal? It’s used to phenomenal effect on the album and Glen Wholohan did a simply immaculate performance at literally every turn.

     Tyraenos (everything except the sax): When I was writing ‘A Place Under The Sun’ I could just hear sax in my head through the mid-section. It just made sense. After that, it just flowed from there although I was cautious not to be too contrived about its integration. It had to make sense otherwise it wasn’t going to be included.
The next step after working it out in my head was finding a willing and able sax player. At the time I simply assumed that I would have to find a professional jazz musician and pay them enough money to agree to play on this bizarre, psychedelic black metal album. Never in a million years would I have guessed that the first person that I would contact would be a brilliant saxophonist who also shared the same tastes in extreme music as I did. Even more unbelievable is that we both live in the same town which is completely void of any metal scene whatsoever. What are the fucking chances of that? Ever since then it has been a perfect partnership. Everything I explained to him he executed perfectly and I requested some pretty difficult things haha. His undeniable talent, eccentricities, and passion for the same ilk of music helped to complete my vision for this album perfectly.

    3. What was the core influence or ideal that powered “12 Winter Moons”? It’s such an enigmatic and all-encompassing album that it’s very hard to pin down from a third person point of view.

     T: Well, I guess the reviews pointed out something to me that makes perfect sense in retrospect and that was the amalgamation of different styles of Black Metal. From the very beginning I have always had the desire to make music that was the best of all worlds; I kind of perfect Frankenstein if you will haha. I actually find it very difficult to write basic structures with straightforward riffs. Every time I have tried to write something more traditional it always ends up some like some schizophrenic, bastard child of Black Metal or whatever type of music I am influenced by at the time. So the process is very natural for me to write music this way. At the end of the day, I am trying to create a story and a journey that you can follow and make sense of no matter how long, how many riff changes or how unconventional the structure. I believe as long as it flows and makes sense then it doesn’t really matter what instruments or types of riffs you use.

To be completely honest, I’ve always been incredibly jealous of Australia being from America, and we have this great fascination with the country for some reason from it’s legendary outback to the even more legendary big bugs to the beaches. For me, it’s the ridiculous metal scene. Obviously metal isn’t exactly the most popular thing there, but you’re in the company of many amazing bands including some label mates like Norse, Somnium Nox, Illimitable Dolor, and Depravity. What’s it like knowing you’re in the real thick of it?

      T: Well, it’s still extremely isolating no matter what we do. We are still located in a cold, rural part of Australia 3 hours away from Sydney. 99% of the attention that Arkheth has received has been spread out internationally. We are still almost completely unknown here apart from a small handful of people who remember us from 10-15 years ago. Having said that it is a very cool feeling to be mentioned in the same sentence as these bands and others but we are all so far apart that it might as well be the other side of the world. Being a hermit doesn’t help either haha.
It’s very hard for bands here to make a name for themselves outside of Australia because live shows are one of the most effective ways of getting your name out there. If we want to play in Europe or America that’s a 30-hour flight and quite a few thousand dollars so we have to rely on good PR from our labels. Even here the live scene has been on a steady decline for the last 15 years due to many venues closing down and poor ticket sales. There are plenty of bands but gigs are getting fewer and far between.
      5. From what I understand, Arkheth used to be a much different band than what it is now. How did that change occur over time, and are you satisfied with things have ultimately turned out for Arkheth?

      T: There’s a very long and complex answer to that but I will do my best to condense it. In the beginning, there was Skolthorn and me. When we were 17 we had the exact same vision and we just wanted to write music that gave us the same feeling we got when we heard Into The Infinity of Thoughts etc. By the time it comes to recording the second album we had already begun to change vastly as people and my idea of composing music had become very ambitious (the 1st album was 3o mins, the 2nd album was 2 hrs). We were both moving further and further away musically and ideologically in every sense. After the second album was recorded in 2007 then released in 2010 we no longer wrote or played music together but have still remained friends. Musically I was already making gigantic leaps conceptually and sonically from the first album so I knew that the ‘12 Winter Moons…’ was going to be vastly different again. I put everything into every album so by the time I come to the next album I feel like writing something entirely different.
In short, the reason for such long spaces in between releases has nothing to do with songwriting and everything to do with life. Life hasn’t been great and unfortunately, the music suffered the most. I had spent a full 5 years prior to recording ‘12 Winter Moons…’ in almost complete isolation. I didn’t touch an instrument or write a note. It wasn’t a pleasant time and I honestly never thought anyone would ever hear the album once I finally decided to record it but here we are.

      6. Easily, my favorite track off “12 Winter Moons” has to be “Dark Energy Equilibrium” because it’s a such a complex track that shows off all the strengths in full force that the album has to offer from its off-putting psychedelia to its heavy melody. For you, what’s your favorite song from the record?

      T: My favorite goes back and forth between Dark Energy Equilibrium and Trismegistus. They were the first and last songs that I wrote for the album. Both of them perfectly reflect what I was trying to achieve at the time. I picture music in colours and I wanted those songs to be primarily dark and riddled with intense bursts of bright colour throughout. Most of all I wanted to create eclectic and epic journeys that flowed and made sense and I really feel I accomplished that with every song on the album.

   7. Scrolling through Facebook the other day, I saw that Arkheth had recently pulled off its first show since “12 Winter Moons”, and I was incredibly jealous of all who saw it live. Did everything go as you wanted, and do you plan on following on doing more shows or do you plan for Arkheth to be more of a studio band?

      T: It was an extremely difficult journey to pull off that first show in 10 years. We had to travel 3 hrs for every practice session and could only practice once a month. On top of that, the music is quite complex sometimes and introducing sax live brought its own challenges. Despite all this, it went really well and had a ball. It’s hard to say how many shows we may end up doing but it is more likely that it will be one every 6 months on average I’m guessing at best. It has always been extremely difficult for Arkheth to put together live shows but this is definitely the best line up we’ve ever had so hopefully we can pull off a few more. That gig would’ve been only our 12th show ever.Arkheth is primarily a studio band and I will always continue to record no matter what happens but I truly hope that we can continue to excel on the live scene from now on. This is a rebirth for us in every way.

      8. What are some big influences that have been a big part of what powers Arkheth? I couldn’t even begin to place an influencing band given how unique “12 Winter Moons” is in its entirety.

      T: I honestly can’t tell you a single song, album or band that directly influenced me on this album. There are the obvious Black Metal Influences but they were already well ingrained in my psyche for years. To be perfectly honest my inspiration was the sudden complete lack of boundaries that I felt. For the first time, I was on my own and able to express myself musically without any limitations or expectations. I didn’t expect that anyone would ever hear it so I was completely fearless in my approach to the compositions. On a conceptual level, the music a lyrics were very strongly inspired by Hermes Trismegistus and the Emerald Tablets. It would be far too difficult to summarise what that’s about but I would advise anyone interested in the occult and mysticism to look it up.As far as my original Black Metal influences I must mention Obtained Enslavement, Forlorn, Gehenna, Abigor, Summoning, Troll, Riger and of course Emperor.

      9. As someone that does the review crap, I’m always looking for something tasty out of the underground world of metal. What’s an act that you personally feel like deserves more attention, and what style do you typically lean towards whether its metal or rock or even fucking hip-hop?

      T: The act that I think undoubtedly deserves more attention is Obtained Enslavement from the 90’s. Their album Witchcraft is a masterpiece that I hold in the highest esteem along with Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk and Under the Sign of The Black Mark. Utterly flawless, pure genius and unmatched ever since. Unfortunately, I can’t give you a recommendation of any band today because I don’t really listen to much contemporary metal. As for other genres, I am an extremely open book but I tend to search out music on the fringes of what is considered accessible but it also has to have substance, not such strange for the sake of it. Jazz, classical, funk, 80’s electro-pop, psychedelic etc. I generally steer away from country, hip-hop or any kind of popular music released in the last 20 years. It’s disgusting.

      10. What are some future plans for Arkheth? Touring? Working on new material? I’d personally love to see a vinyl release of “12 Winter Moons” as I would buy that the fucking second it was available, but who knows!

      T: A vinyl is in the works and due out later this year which I am really excited about. As for new material well I’ve been writing consistently for the last year and a half and I’m really hoping to head into the studio to have something finished by the end of the year. I’ve taken the same fearless approach with this material but I still have the feeling that people will be shocked again haha. As for touring, there are no plans but I would definitely love to if we got the chance.

      11. Since before its release, “12 Winter Moons” has been hailed as a record that’s no less than fucking stupendous. With all the reviews and coverage for the album, is there something that you wish would be brought to light in regards to the release? Or something that you feel should be represented more in the coverage?

      T: Nothing comes to mind but I would just like to thank you sincerely for the opportunity to let me speak about my art and showing such amazing support for the album. Cheers. If you want to check out some crazy as fuck, psychedelic, jazz-fusion, atmospheric Black Metal you can go to my Bandcamp here.
Thanks again!!

Tyrone ‘Tyraenos’ Kostitch

Once again, thanks to an absolute million for agreeing to answer my questions and I can not wait to see what’s next for Arkheth!

Truly amazing to find out all that, and now I can’t prepare myself enough to pounce on that vinyl the second I see it! If you can’t tell already, I can’t help but whole-heartedly recommend “12 Winter Moons” in its entirety. It will undoubtedly be on my Tops List at the end of the year, and I truly hope to see others reciprocate.

LISTEN to “12 Winter Moons Comes the Witches Brew” on Bandcamp here.

LIKE Arkheth on Facebook here.