Sun Worship Hate Corpsepaint, Love Liturgy, and Believe That, in Black Metal, Less Is More

Photo courtesy of Translation Loss

Last year, Sun Worship’s Elder Giants album deservedly found its way onto a good number of best-of lists; the Berlin trio’s take on black metal skewed atmospheric and ominous, littered with pulsating rhythms and bolstered by a raw, stripped-down live show that left audiences at Roadburn breathless. One of those lucky Roadburn attendees happened to be Translation Loss label head Drew Juergens, and after seeing Sun Worship methodically and elegantly decimate the Green Room, he signed on to help bring their Second Wave-influenced ferocity to a broader audience across the sea.

Unlike so many of their black metal peers, Sun Worship shuns theatrics or pretension onstage as they hammer through their icy epics; bizarrely enough, they’ve been hit with labels like “hipster” or “false” as a result, which is pretty laughable after one actually sits down and listens to the music they make. As drummer Bastian told Noisey over email, “To suggest what music is influential and important to me, that would open a too wide field. I can say that I listen to Deerhoof, Moondog, Devo or The Prodigy as much as I listen to Sons of Northern Darkness or Nemesis Divina.”

And so it came to pass that Translation Loss re-released Elder Giants in North America on October 30 on CD (vinyl is available here). I fired off a few questions via email to Sun Worship drummer Bastian and guitarist/vocalist Lars ahead of the release, and they got back to me with a multitude of unfiltered opinions on everything from corpsepaint and Liturgy to gentrification in Berlin.

Noisey: One thing that a lot of people (writers included) tend to focus on is your stage presentation—or rather, your lack thereof. Why do you think fans are so attached to the imagery and theatricality of black metal? Lars Bastian

Was it a conscious choice to steer clear of theatrical imagery?
Bastian: Yes, we had discussions about what we want to do on stage. Honestly: corpsepaint was an absolute no-go from the very beginning. For me, it became a parody of itself at some point. It devaluates the quality of the genre. I guess on some point it had a progressive aspect connected to the musical context it was born out of, but that was a contemporary relation. In the moment, it became a necessity for the actors of the scene in order to be “true,” but it also became obsolete. Images whose purpose is to disturb never work long if you use the same images over and over again.
Lars: We considered playing guitar sitting down and having bright lights blinding the audience so that we would be hard to see, but that’s it. We’re just not interested in posing as something we aren’t. I agree that a certain degree of theatrics may create an atmosphere or mood in itself that can support your music, but with black metal things are so cliché-heavy to begin with—less is more, you know? This also relates to my personal vision of black metal. Also, I must really stress that it is not about wanting to be subversive for the sake of it at all, ever. We take what we do damn seriously, and it really upsets me if people think that we do what we do merely to pull their leg.

As often as you’re compared to more modern black metal bands, there is more history behind your songs than people may realize.Can you tell us a bit about the inspirations behind Elder Giants, and the bands who have influenced you most as musicians? Lars Total Death De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas Lost Wisdom Bastian Transylvanian Hunger Nattens Matrigal Justus Ex Fide Vivit Certain segments of the black metal community is its tendency to dismiss bands as “hipsters” or “false” based only on image or affiliation, and to try and keep the genre “pure”. What do you think these people are afraid of? Lars Bastian Berlin has a huge crust punk community and several legendary squat venues. What is the relationship like between the punks and the metalheads? Is there crossover, or is it more separated? Lars Bastian How has the music and arts community in Berlin been changing over the past few years? Gentrification and rising rent is a big issue, and I wonder if the influx of new people has helped or hurt the existing community. Lars Bastian Sun Worship has been a band for about five years now, and in those past five years black metal has gained more mainstream recognition than anyone could have predicted. Where do you see the genre progressing in the next five years? Lars Bastian How did you personally discover black metal? What drew you to it? Bastian Lars Panzerfaust What are you plans following this release? Can we expect to see you Stateside anytime soon? Lars Bastian

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