Interview:

Music is a universal theme. Imagine a world without music! No intelligently constructed sound to please the ears. You would surely go raving mad after a while, begging for just a snippet of some ear-soothing sounds to please the nerves. We have, as a species made music or music-like sounds to suit our tribes, religions, and different social needs ever since we climbed down from the trees. I would be as blunt as to say that music is an inborn primeval need more than 99% of us have. Music has accompanied us through our wars and triumphs, from birth to funeral rites, and all through this we use music as a spiritual fuel. A lot of the “magic” would be lost if music was to be removed from all religions, from all parades, and from all gatherings. As far as I see it music is not only the soundtrack to our lives, but to the whole planet. Just imagine what music, sound, and rhythm does to people. Take the American forces in Iraq which at times get to hear their favorite music while thundering into combat. I know I would be an animal on the war-field if I where to listen to some of my favorites like Slayer, Bolt Thrower, or W.A.S.P, while plunging into such a raw and wicked situation. Hitler managed to build upon a mortar of speeches and parades accompanied by hypnotic drums and marches, which just made the people go, “Yes”, without blinking. Music can be manipulating and dangerous, soothing to the soul, and able to rise a riot-crowd on its feet in no time. With music you can control others feelings.

To draw from my own experiences, I must say that some of the things I have seen people do while I’ve been up on stage playing is just beyond insane. The burning light of pure energy and passion in their eyes while they lay low the ramparts of every human boundary they might have. It’s a magic which goes both ways, and when you get hit by this musical energy, it turns pure and spiritual, and beyond any drug known to man. Let me lay out two different musical experiences I have encountered. One was a person who totally hated music. To him music was just annoying white-noise who irritated him constantly through his life. He just could not see the point of it. So he is in the 1% bunch who are “immune” to music. The second is a person who came to a show in Holland some years ago. After a few songs into the set, we started to notice this guy in the crowd going ape, and really just slamming his whole self around, back and forth through the whole venue. After a closer look and some investigating we met up with him after the show, and he was blind, piss-drunk, and happy as a sun. Later it struck me what an incredible dedication and magical experience this guy had lay down. Imagine this: you are drunk, you see nothing, in a crowd of three-hundred jumping head-bangers, you hear this music you have never heard before, and you just start hurdling yourself around. That is just as spiritual as it gets in the extreme end of the scale, and for me a real thought-blower. I guess music is experienced differently by all of us. I am sure music is spiritual; a huge part of whom and what we are. So I say, enjoy the madness and let yourself be caught up in it.

“Music has accompanied us through our wars and triumphs, from birth to funeral rites, and all through this we use music as a spiritual fuel.”
– S. A. Destroyer, bassist and vocalist in Nocturnal Breed