Conversation with Ezezu on behalf of the American Black Metal bands ABSU and Panzram.

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

For Panzram, I want the spirit of proper black metal to continue without ripping off the specifics of any band before me. The attitude of nihilism and the worship of death is all consuming and ever present for us. We bask in insanity and push our lives , minds, and bodies to the depths of ruin to create this music. If anyone appreciates it makes no difference, the pulse will continue regardless. I and my brethren shall grind the weak into the dirt no matter what they attempt. And as they writhe they will only find their situation under our treads worsen and our laughter increase. No mercy. No escape.

With regards to ABSU, I was alwasy drawn to the bands inherit chaos and rage. It had an energy unlike any other band and I have wanted to maintain that when I compose anything for the band . I try to get in touch first with a pure and instictual form of insanity, and as the music forms from that I sort of fiter it through what I consider to be the ABSU sound. And I think it's been successful thus far. What we have done together does not sound like the old days of the band but I think it retains the core of what made it great and adds something new. To try and rewrite or imitate exactly their older material would be a waste of time and just very pathetic, and we are all aware of that and always have been.

You joined Absu in 2008. This year Absu finished it’s activity officially, but you guys follow up under a bit modified name. Do you consider it as a totally different band or as a continuation of Absu?

I definitely consider it to be a continuation of ABSU. Out of respect for Proscriptor I will hold my tongue further. I will always have the blood of Cythraul in me and everyone out there should follow "Proscriptor McGovern's APSU" as they do ABSU and understand that it is essentially just semantics. Full support to Proscriptor.

A new album will be out this year under the new name ProscriptorMcGovern's Apsû. What can you tell us about it?

The record is a long time coming. I believe 7 of the songs were composed by myself ( with drums, lyrics etc .done by Proscriptor of course ) and another 6 or 7 were done by Proscriptor and Vagreaz. People should know that the songs involved immense sacrifice and passion by everyone. Musically and conceptually It is all in tune with the proper ethereal fury. It's tighter, faster, more insane, more complex, catchier, darker, and there is more music there. Anyone who liked ABZU will recognise this as the superior record by far.

You have your own project called Panzram, please present it to the readers of Corrupt Selection.

Well I have to say, and I'm sure you don't mean it negatively so nothing against you personally, I abhor the term ' Project" or "side project" . Panzram is a band through and through . I happen to do a great deal of the work for the band simply because I feel suicidal and useless if I am not creating something.
The band formed when I was 17 in 2001 under the name Arkadia. In late 2004 it was changed to Panzram and we released our debut album. When I joined ABSU in 2008 the group went on ice until 2015 when I found ABSU's schedule and my own allowed me to fire it up again. Panzram is a pure black metal band to me but due to the inclusion of Death rock and '80s Industrial influences some other people may classify it differently. We stay very productive and it is essential that one full length album is released every year as well as music videos. The new record, "Black Hearted Battery" will be out in October and I encourage everyone into dark music to check it out.

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

For as long as I can remember I have wanted to make music. It seems to be my calling. I would, even before I could play an instrument, attempt to write music just by humming it and make strange notations only I could make sense of. I love being in a band and all the minutia of the lifestyle but the real passion is to create music. I have to do it and I have to believe that what I am doing is unique. I go to great lengths to do so. I don't entertain any other option and nothing will ever stand in my way.

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

No. I have ended up a nihilist of sorts. I have no respect for humanity, the planet, values, ethics, codes of conduct, politics, my own health, movements etc. I have a soft spot for the people in my personal life I care for and for them I feel great loyalty towards, as well as a soft spot for animals. Besides those things I want everything and everyone to burn.

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

That's hard to say because I feel I am part of the old guard that wants to keep the attitudes of the past. So I consider my definitions of black metal and the lifestyle to be correct and whatever these whiny little bitch's of todays age think can go fuck themselves.

Black metal is a musical style of course but it also represents a complete hatred of society, life, the status quo, and the vapid and materialistic goals of the average humanoid who we should understand is, though greater in number, definitely inferior. We should take pride in our small number because for it to be any other way would mean that the weak are being tolerated or the music has become accessible. Life should be abhorred, disrespected, and all the trappings of happiness and everything that comes with it should be disregarded or burned. This does NOT mean that we should fight for gay marriage or stop bullying or something like that.

If you are obsessed with death and feel so different from your fellow man that you want to represent that in your lifestyle, manner of dress, and even the music you listen to . I think you will eventually find that the real black metal speaks to you.

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

There is none. I am the local black metal community and always have been . I live in the middle of nowhere in Texas. I was inspired by no one and have never had to suck up to some limp dick scene lord. This has been a tremendous boon to me in striving to create a unique identity that still maintains the spirit of black metal.

What do you know about Hungary? Have you ever been here, what kind of experiences you gained here during your visit. What do you know about theHungarian Black Metal underground?

Hungary is fantastic. I can't count how many times I have been but I do know I have played Dürer Kert at least 2 or 3 times in my years. Typically my time on tour is spent getting drunk backstage, on stage, and then on a bus but I have actually walked around Budapest and It really is an architectural beauty.

I hear you have a Manowar bar there which I would love to have seen. Quite pissed at myself for not doing that. Anyone that wants to talk shit on Manowar needs to listen to their 80s material, if at that point they still have something negative to say, then please say it to my face. The band had more 'FUCK OFF" in their music then 90 percent of the bullshit, rip off's of this age.

Hungary is a great place though and I look forward to returning . I especially loved Dürer Kert and the staff actually , who after 9 years still remembered us all. I want to add also, that I had a drinking contest in 2009 there between myself , our merch guy Nick, and Matt from D666. It was by far the drunkest I have ever been in my life. Matt hit me with an entire cake in the face at some point and I passed out in the fetal position under a table. When I woke up alone there in the middle of the night , I thought I was at my apartment and I ended up shitting on the bus, which is a giant 'NO" , then ( while still the drunkest i have ever been ) I began trying to clean out the toilet by hand so I wouldn't be found out ( ?? ) . This process caused me to vomit on top of the shit and piss which was by this point all over the floor and my arm. The bus driver, who was a frightening short man who liked to spend his off hours practicing outside the bus with nunchucks, found me in the bathroom. I remember thinking he was going to curb stomp me when he saw me there but he actually was very helpful and kept the incident a secret ! For the rest of the tour I acted completely ignorant to what had caused our bus to now smell like a freshly made mass grave. So I hope people find this anecdote as amusing as I do, because anytime I think of Budapest or Hungary this comes to mind.