– Okay, shit question to begin… As usual but can you begin by giving us a kind of Woods Of Belial history as your band is quite discrete in the scene since it's beginning…

 – I think it was in late 1995 when I and Blood finally decided to go for fulfilling our urge to create the most evil and oppressing music ever, and after a couple of months we recorded a rehearsal of ours and released it under the title of "Thy Unholy Pentagram". Then we started to get tempted to mix some industrial into our art, we asked Horned Black to join us, and in 1997 we recorded our first studio demo called "Baxabaxaxaxaxabaxaxaxaxa! 666 Yndstr Draconis". By the time also a fellow carrying the name Necrostorm joined our line-up. Since then we've only been planning our next release, "Deimos XIII", but numerous problems have prevented us from recording it until now. We still haven't scheduled anything, but it seems that the recording will eventually be released on vinyl by Impaler Of Trendies Productions... Whenever it turns reality, watch out for it!

 – You're from Finland and I think we can say you have this kind of Finnish sound: dark, obscure, cold, gloomy, tortured... Even your style is quite Finnish and sometimes reminds me bands like Thergothon, early Unholy, Skepticism etc... Just in a more Satanic and Infernal way...Do you think there's a Finnish sound and what's your opinion on the Finnish scene? Any bands you recommend?

 – Even though my part in composing the music of Woods Of Belial is minimal, I take a reference to Unholy as a compliment for sure. Still I don't think that there's anything strictly Finnish in our sound, actually I can't think of any category we would fit in perfectly. But the Finnish scene, well, it is okay. There are many good bands and many bad bands, as I think the case is in almost every other country. I like several Finnish bands, so to construct a map of my perverted musical taste, I could recommend bands like Viikate, Kharadrai, Unhola, Rapture, Itä-Saksa and Deep Red.

 – Only two tapes in 4 years – you're not really productive... Why? Are you involved in other bands too? Where do you find inspiration for such sick, tortured, oppressing and sorrowful music?

 – If forgetting the problems we have faced during the process of making "Deimos XIII", we have consciously limited our productiveness to maintain the value of Woods Of Belial's art. We definitely are not of those bands who release two demos or more per year. Naturally we all have our musical and non-musical projects, but they are less relevant when speaking of our release pace. Our sources of inspiration all derive deep from our twisted minds, and any unexpected situation can launch them to action.

 – Well, your style is quite unique, and you call your art: Industrialized Black/Doom… Quite right! I can feel the extreme doom, the darkness of black metal thru the voices and the hypnotising horrific industrial parts… Was it hard to mix those three styles at the band beginning? And why the idea of mixing those styles?

 – Actually Woods Of Belial started with the plain idea of bringing Black and Doom metal together, a concept that has been tried out many times before, and the industrializing came about later. I can't remember where the original idea of such a style came from, but our purpose in the blend is to make good music as cold and nihilistic as possible. We aim only as close to perfection as we can get, and so it is rather challenging to find the right arrangements.

 – I can feel some perversion, nihilism and sadism in your music too... Any favourite sexual perversion? Any pervert anecdote?

 – Although I am a twisted mind, a pervert, a nihilist and a sadist as you proposed, my perversions rather appear in other forms than in sexuality, a field which I treat with certain respect. The only perverted thing in my sexuality is that I myself often chain it. Nothing kinky.

 – Misanthropy! An other part of your music mood I think! How do you live it in your everyday life? Do you think it is possible to access to a real misanthropy?

 – My misanthropic nature mostly displays as introvert behaviour, meaning that I simply enjoy solitude. In public I get only depressed because of the controlled flock around me and so I usually just ignore that worthlessness or embitteredly show it my contempt. An utter misanthropy is very possible to achieve, but in today's world it would be somewhat unpractical as occasionally one needs to cope with other "human beings".

 – Personally I think such music as yours, or extreme doom, or occult metal bands or some black metal ones, can only be really enjoyed thru alcohol abuse, or drug abuse or sexual abuse or self mutilation... Do you think the same way? Do you think sick music can be enjoyed with a "normal" mood?

 – In achieving musical enjoyment the listener's state of mind is not a relevant aspect, so yes, sick music can also be enjoyed in a "normal" mood. But to reach the strong emotional side prevailing in such music, a somewhat negative feeling is required, be it depression, hate or general pissed-offness. And according to my personal experiences, alcohol or drug abuse and self mutilation are fine instruments in summoning a portal deeper into the music when the mood is right.

 – What about life in Finland? Enjoyable? What do you think of nationalism and what do you think of the growing "Europe"?

 – Life in Finland is as close to enjoyable as living can ever be, I think. There are not so many people around, and so vast areas of the most beautiful nature are left untouched. Moreover, most Finnish people are as introvert as I am, so I don't have to cope with them when I don't want to. Just the high price of everything (especially alcohol) pisses me off. I am not a nationalist and I do not recognize a "Finnish identity" in myself, but I object the growing Europe nevertheless. EU creates strict rules to oppress its members, seemingly with the intention to regress into a federal state – the United States of Europe. Nothing could be more senseless.

 – Your opinions about those words: fraternity, fucked up, time, Allah and weapons?

 – Fraternity: Homi homini lupus est.
   Fucked up: This world and its decadent morals.
   Time: Time is an invention of foolish humans who don't understand the universe. It is meaningless to existence.
   Allah: The highest divine symbol of the most alertly growing culture of slavery, thus and for several other reasons being one of the primary targets of Woods Of Belial.
   Weapons: Modern weapons are dishonourable, killing with them doesn't ask for courage or skill. Ancient close-combat arms are the only weapons I respect and would accept to carry.

 – Please tell us more about your relation to occultism, Satanism, Kaos and such things… Do you see Kaos as something positive or negative? Are you involved in some organization?

 – I am highly interested in occult and satanic traditions because of my hunger for knowledge, however I have never felt being strictly an occultist or a satanist. My view of the world is such a complex issue that it is not to be separated here, let us just say that I do believe in the unconscious universe which can also be perceived as unpredictability or chaos. Chaos is beyond positive and negative, it is balance and therefore a necessity for everything to function. Lastly, I have a clear answer to the last part of the question: no, I'm not involved in any organizations. Organizations are merely for controlling people and I am not to be controlled by others than myself.

 – Do you personally encourage violence? Or do you only see something stupid in it?

 – I definitely don't encourage the use of violence. Violence is a highly primitive form of acting, and it usually leads to nothing more than increasing violence. I prefer intelligent behaviour above all; violence is to be used only when talking doesn't lead out of a situation.

 – Does the actual times fit to your personality or do you think your place could have been better some centuries ago? Which historical periods do you worship and why?

 – These fucked up times are just perfect for what my fucked up mentality is at current, and besides, now it's not the time for me to see other periods. I don't worship anything historical, and I'm more interested in the psychological consequences of a certain period than the period itself.

 – What are your favourite games with cuntz? Like fist fuckin' and stuffs like this? Like to drink menstrual blood? Your opinion about homosexuality too, please!

 – I might be boring, but I exclusively prefer "normal" heterosexual intercourse and the plays that it involves. I respect a female body and I'm not willing to desecrate it. And what comes to homosexuality, it isn't for me, but there certainly is nothing wrong with it.

 – Any books that you recommend? Any books that learn you a lot?

 – There are many books that are either educative or simply enjoyable. I would like to emphasize the meaning of religious literature here, especially that of the bible and the quran, as they have taught me a lot about my opposition. I am always open to read new religious literature, for example the flyers distributed by jehovah's witnesses are so silly that I always take one when I have the chance. Besides religious literature, I like to read many historical documents, occult books, science books, philosophical works and some good novels too. An example of a novel I like is "Something wicked this way comes" by Ray Bradbury that I finished just recently, and on the abovementioned non-fictional fields I read just about anything.

 – Some words about your lyrics please?

 – The lyrics of Woods Of Belial are very dark and profound. They have several obvious and hidden meanings in them, and if I was to explain what they mean to me, they could lose their meaning to other people. It is clear to everyone that satanic and occult themes prevail throughout the lyrical side of Woods Of Belial, but I never take any references straight from occult lectures. I write many subconscious messages (dreams etc.) between the lines, reaching for irrational complexity of dimensions.

 – Where do you see the limits of musical extremity?

 – Nowhere. The qualities of music can be limitlessly expanded to all directions as long as the minds of the artists are open. Woods Of Belial will always search for the extreme; we will always be darker, heavier, more oppressing and more sinister. I never see further development impossible.

 – Your opinion about music style like: grindcore, crust, or noise?

   Grindcore: Aggressive music, extreme in a different way than we. Musically speaking most of the grindcore bands are completely pointless, however some of them (earlier Brutal Truth for example) can be just great.
   Crust: A bastard child of grindcore and punk. Excellent bands like Rotten Sound somewhat save the reputation of crust which has almost become a synonyme for non-musical talentless crap.
   Noise: A very disturbed form of audial expression with an unbelievable large scale. Some do noise just because of the noise, whereas some artists have really found new dimensions from it. Noise can open your mind and destroy it permanently.

 – What's the best to do with the bible? Pissing on it? Clean our asses with its pages? Burning it? Beating a priest with it?

 – In my opinion, before completing any of the alternatives you suggested the bible should be read. It is a nice fairytale (although quite boring in places), not forgetting that it is a way to intrude the simplified minds of the christians. The bible holds numerous contradictions in its teachings, and referring to those contradictions builds an intellectual trap for the christians. I have never pissed on the bible, cleaned my ass with its pages nor beated a priest with it, so I guess the best choice is to burn it.

 – Do you like watching TV cartoons?

 – Occasionally, yes. Cartoons are very relaxing and they possess a perverted world completely of their own. They can be anything: sarcastic, macabre, psychedelic, educative or just funny. And the most important of all, they are unreal.

 – What's gonna be the near future of WOB? Already played live with WOB?

 – Near future? We never plan anything so far. From the beginning it was a mistake to promise Meat Hook Productions our "Deimos XIII" as it was over two years ago and we still haven't done it. Now, as I already mentioned, it seems that we will eventually be completing that work, however not for Meat Hook Productions after all. And guess what? After the release there are no events certified. Perhaps we'll withdraw from the underground completely... Woods Of Belial has never performed live, and no live performances are in sight either. If we played live, the show should be something extraordinary to stare and remember, and we do not possess the resources for that.

 – Okay, will be all for now my brother of doom! Something to add before the final assault?

 – Thank you.

CHAOSEMPIRE