Dark Forces was a Swedish fanzine written in Swedish. But here’s an interview translated to English for you.
PEST
DIMMU BORGIR sounds about as aggressive as BOOMFUNK MC, previously safe cards are turning to the more technically advanced and in my darkest dreams ALPHAVILLE has brought in Nocturno Culto on vocals. Then it's nice to have some honest, raw black metal in the facility. PEST from beautiful Blekinge delivers just that on their latest demo "Black Thorns", and it was to its tunes that I burned away the following interview with the band's guitarist and singer C. Eskilsson on a balmy July evening. The cult of true black metal will rise again!
So, has anything memorable happened in Jämshög (Small Swedish Town) today?
— No, everything is dead.
Please introduce PEST's two monstrosities to Dark Force readers, thank you. (Type age, shoe size, favorite color, favorite line before kicking a Bolivian hockey coach, favorite line after committing the crime, etc.)
— PEST was formed in late 1997 by the same members as the band today (C. Eskilsson, guitar/vocals and M. Sällström, guitar/bass). We recorded an unofficial demo in 1998 and have since released “In Eternity Skyless” and “Black Thorns”. PEST strives to bring back the real black metal scene that existed in the early 1990s. Both members are from Blekinge, but note that neither is from Jämshög.
Your second demo “Black Thorns” came out a while ago. Since I had no idea you existed before I got the demo and had read anything about you, we have to sort out some standard stuff first… How much has this wonder sold, how many copies were printed and how many have been sold to labels/labels?
— We've been bad at advertising ourselves, but that's also felt unimportant. We barely bothered to send out the first "official" demo, "In Eternity Skyless". It's only now, after "Black Thorns", that people know it exists. The demand for it has actually become quite high now. However, it's been out of print for a long time and there are no immediate plans to press more. "In Eternity Skyless" was probably printed in about 40-45 copies, "Black Thorns" has so far been printed in 50 copies and will soon be out of print too. If there's demand, we might do a new pressing of this one. I think about 20 "Black Thorns" have gone to zines/record labels.
You've made some really flashy CD labels with your logo on them for "Black Thorns", how much did you have to cough up for them?
— No idea, I don't remember.
Your music is more than legit similar to DARKTHRONE, I have to say it myself, you are the best DARKTHRONE-like group I have heard in a long time. Is that something that seems to be appreciated, or do people think you are too similar to them?
— It is a great honor to be compared to DARKTHRONE. People have compared us to MAYHEM, GORGOROTH, ISVIND, BURZUM and DARKTHRONE ever since “In Eternity Skyless”, but only in a positive way. It shows that there are still people who want real black metal. In the early 90s there was a black metal scene, now it is all about synths, female choirs, vampires and other shit. Money has become a destructive factor. It seems that record labels hardly dare to sign real black metal bands anymore. Synthpop brings more money, I guess.
On “Black Thorns” you used a session drummer. Is there a shortage of drummers in Jämshög, or how come you don't have a permanent one?
— Around here, there are few drummers who are both competent to play and share the same views and visions. This has never been a problem, though. When we rehearse with drums, I usually take care of it, but it feels better and will be better if a "real" drummer puts it on tape. On the next demo, there will probably be a new session drummer again, who I'm not going to reveal!
In Bestialiskt Mangel #3, Ahldrathan in ISHTAR said that he is also a member of PEST... Now the question is which of you two is also in ISHTAR, or is it even the case that Ahldrathan no longer plays with you?
— Hmm, he has never been in, if I remember correctly.
In the same newspaper, there was talk that Necroplis might be interested in signing you. How has that gone?
— Then they know more than I do. I haven't heard anything about that. (I feel like there's another PEST in southern Sweden. /ed)
Any other labels that have been around and sniffed around?
— No, not really, mostly a lot of offers to participate in compilation albums. We were supposed to participate in "Voices Of Death IV", among other things, but due to various problems it didn't happen.
On the cover of "Black Thorns" one of the members poses alone but proudly, something that doesn't make the connection to DARKTHRONE any less immediate. How did you choose such a cover? How did you decide who would be the model, did you draw lots or was it someone volunteering?
— On "Black Thorns" it's me on the cover. On "In Eternity Skyless" it was both of them.
Where do you get inspiration for writing lyrics, and what topics do the lyrics deal with?
— Personally, I get inspiration from my thoughts, values and visions. When the inspiration is really strong, that's when the lyrics are written. Hate rules everything actually.
What do you think about the church fire that took place in Jönköping this spring?
— Just great! It's always great. Christianity must be crushed!
There is also another band called PEST, namely a bunch of sneaky Finns who have come a bit further in their careers than you… Are there any plans to change their name, or are you trying to gradually overtake your competitors and thereby secure your place as the one and only PEST?
— We have no plans to change our name as things stand now, we'll see later, if the confusion becomes too much and people have difficulty telling us apart. Changing names also means that you have to "start over from scratch" again.
Since I'm terrified of getting beaten up by Lord Yggr because I don't know the southern Swedish black metal scene as well as he does, maybe you can help me by mentioning some cool bands "south from here"?
— I don't know… I have no idea, it's hard enough to mention any good bands at all these days.
Now my questions are running out, so now you can tell the readers exactly what you want, maybe something interesting about the future of PEST? Otherwise, I'm now completely satisfied with our little chat, thank you very much!
— A new demo was supposed to be recorded in May, but it was postponed due to various problems. The material is there, the only question is when we'll record. For info and news, visit our website. Hail!
PEST: director's cut – the questions that were too nasty to answer!
An interesting thing that can be seen on the back of the cover is an incredibly evil beech branch. Do you want to break the spruce trend, or what is the question?
Apparently, IMMORTAL used to go out into the forest and drink whiskey to gather inspiration. Does something similar happen in the PEST camp, like you go out into a rapeseed field and drink Skåne Akvavit?