Conversation with Harald Mentor on behalf of the Finnish band Ride For Revenge.

How would you like to influence your audience through your music, what kind of impact you'd like to give?

Any emotion is welcome. Or maybe a nightmare trip. Ride For Revenge does not aim to please or do anything thinking about feedback or reception, we just do what has to be done. Our discography is pretty vast with some of it being very experimental and disorienting, so it's surprising to see so many being into all of it. It was never in our agenda.

What is your personal credo? Do you follow a religious, moral or theoretical code?

I set my own pace and don't follow any dogmatic religion, moral code or political movement exclusively, even though I'm surely influenced by some. I still tend to call myself Satanic/satanist, as someone who's not afraid to rise above the approved moral standards with dualist world views or whatever. I'm probably a demon. All the members of the band follow their own call their own way.

What is the main motivation that drives you to create music?

Demonic possession, a call. Can't pinpoint it, it has to be done even if it's not always enjoyable. Something impossible to suppress or escape.

What are the answers that only black metal can provide to the recent life we live in?

I don't know if it's an answer really, but it's a great key to search the truth from the shadows, to see the beauty in ugliness, not to look the other way when coming across something unpleasant and not to turn the other cheek. To be able to search that answer from where no other culture is willing to go. Technically speaking, it's the most valuable genre of metal in terms of not following modern recording techniques nor any pre-set standards of playing/sound, but going atmosphere first.

What is the recent status of your local black metal community?

I'd like to see more bands to break out from this sub-sub-subgenre herd mentality and let the real dark art do the talking. Black metal should be about leading and not following, but then of course you will have the followers too, like a side product, haha. The quality of the best Finnish black metal bands is of course outstanding, so there ain't much to complain about, only that there hasn't been many new bands with new people to raise the standards for quite a while. But there are a few and that's actually a lot in the universal scale.

As we are Hungarian crew, we'd like to ask that what do you know about Hungary? Have you ever been here, what kind of experiences you gain here during your visit? What do you know about the Hungarian Black Metal underground?

No I haven't been in Hungary, the closest I've been is eastern Czech Republic. I love original Eastern Bloc black/thrash, so I know Tormentor, Fantom, Angel Reaper, Detonator etc. + newer bands like Vorkuta and Frost. All those rule!