Texas and Minnesota, U.S.A. based black metal warriors TERATISM have posted the below statement on the bands decision to cancel their appearance at STYGIAN RITES (FESTIVAL).
STYGIAN RITES FESTIVAL is set to take place 6/7th and 8th, 2019 @ KICKSTANDS CAMPGROUND STURGIS, SOUTH DAKOTA.
TERATISM unleashed "LA BAS" (EP), 2013 via NEGATIVITY RECORDS.
FROM TERATISM:
After lengthy discussions recently, we have decided to cancel our appearance at Stygian Rites. We were one of the first confirmed bands(to our knowledge) and didn’t expect to be playing a show that would involve bands that want to mock or take away from the Black Metal scene. We, along with many other great musical covens, are serious practitioners who have bled and suffered greatly for their art. We do not want to share the stage with bands who exist not for the music, but to make a political statement. This is not an attack on the promoters, and we are grateful that they wanted to involve us in what they intend to be a good show. As a whole, our efforts are better aimed where our focus can remain on what matters, real Black Metal....
Black metal, as we understand it, create it, and perform it, is the purest and most distilled manifestation of Satanism possible within the genre of metal music. This soul of black metal as a genre exists, however in a historical and musical context, lending its various iterations the tradition of a particular atmosphere and musical ethos. Therefore, in order to present a convincing performance when we play live, Teratism, and other sincere, practicing bands in this genre, must create an atmosphere of, if not *true believers*, then sympathetic participants in the audience. Through our history, we have tried whenever possible to book, and accept when invited, shows where the lineup consisted only of other sincere bands, preferably of the same rarefied genre, whose contribution to the music was being made seriously and in good faith.
In fact, we don’t even like booking shows with death metal bands, even though several members of Teratism, myself included, have been or are currently in bands of that genre. We’ve tried playing shows with eclectic lineups. They seldom pay off. A sympathetic audience is everything: it is the difference between experiencing a moment of profound and terrifying conviction of the presence of real diabolical power, and a bunch of drunk frat boys laughing at guys in Halloween costumes and raccoon makeup. We have had to endure fistfights over exactly this kind of difference while on the road during our storied history of touring as a battle-tested and serious black metal band, and we have quite literally bled and suffered for the luxury of taking ourselves seriously when we perform live.
So when I, who have been deactivated from social media for two months, do not book our shows, and do not follow our internet presence, was finally forwarded a flyer for the show, and saw bands from genres that aren’t even metal, and with names like “Neckbeard Deathcamp”, I was livid, and I lobbied to get us off this fucking bill. With a name like that there can be little possibility that they are anything other than a joke band with no loyalty to, investment in, or even understanding of black metal as it is defined and practiced by us.
I have no opinion for or against joke bands per se, but, as I have just elaborated, this kind of fast and loose mixing of incompatible subgenres on a lineup is antithetical to creating and sustaining the particular atmosphere we need to pull off a convincing live performance. Few people would try and invite a comedian to do a bunch of toilet jokes as the eulogy at a funeral; to expect us to attempt to ply our solemn craft following a satire band is equally unworkable.
If I had known that the lineup was going to be this across-the-board, let alone with bands from not only incompatible but outright hostile approaches, I would have never wanted to do the show in the first place. It’s nothing personal. We’ve tried it before. It’s not worth it for us. I built a recording studio that was a massive altar dedicated to Satan, not because I’m in it for the laughs but because, whether or not you think I am a fool for doing so, I take our art seriously. Perhaps we are just idiots that any of us believes any of this shit, but even if so, we still do not owe one minute of our time lending the legitimacy of this band to a lineup of bands that not only don’t take their own art seriously but make what we do ten times more difficult to pull off convincingly.
After fielding a phone call from our vocalist the next afternoon, he informed me that there was a hurricane of flying gorilla shit breaking out on the internet over all this. As a result, I feel the necessity to point you all to the real culprit here. I am your man. If you want someone to hate, blame me. I was the one who most colorfully and vociferously expressed doubts about doing yet another show with a bunch of unsympathetic bands from incompatible genres.
To make matters even more absurd, I have since heard that this band are in fact Antifa trolls. I can’t speak to that rumor because I don’t know. What I do know is, whether they have a partisan agenda underlying their trolling or not, I was just not interested in flying halfway across the country, donning full ritual garb, lighting candles and incense and then attempting to convince an audience of strangers of the palpable presence of a terrifying spirit of cosmic evil indwelling the world, after waiting for the the fake-black-metal scene’s equivalent of Weird Al Yankovic to clear their rubber chickens off the stage.
For those looking to use us as pawns in some cynical power game you're playing because our decision is politically expedient to you, I’m afraid, sadly, you will have to go fuck yourself. This includes the white supremacists, who, I am informed, are currently on our Facebook page claiming that one cancellation is somehow a “victory for the white race.” It also includes the masked brick throwers among you who are using the same decision to hoist us on a petard as your Bugaboo du jour with accusations that we are fascist sympathizers because we’re not keen on being used as a prop in a stunt orchestrated by cynical actors with an agenda that has nothing to do with furthering the music itself.
Furthermore, if I understand Wrath correctly, a post made earlier by our drummer, Defiler, is largely what has caused this storm of controversy. I haven't read it, but I’ve been given the general details. From what it sounds like, he was probably being overzealous about our discussion to to keep our shows deeply and securely within the purview of legitimate black metal, as has been our policy since pretty much the beginning, whenever possible, and it sounds like he added his own opinions to it. He has a right to have opinions. While the rest of us think it was a pretty stupid post (sorry Man) and do not share many of those opinions, we will not be throwing him under a bus over one shitty post because a mob of repressed drama queens, none of whom have ever spent a dime supporting this band, are suddenly scandalized by the revelation that we would rather not play shows with comedy acts.
I have also just been made aware of the accusation that we withdrew from the show because we were bowing to pressure from right-wing bullies. This is a funny one. As far as I am concerned, we ARE the bullies. And within the band, *I* am the one who exerted the lion’s share of the pressure to get us off this bill, right or wrong, for reasons I’ve clearly enumerated. If cowardice is at the heart of this decision, would I be publicly taking responsibility for it? Think about it, Einstein, and then go fuck yourself.
However, I did not intend for my private reservations to be conveyed to the public so nakedly and artlessly. So I apologize for that embarrassment. To the degree that the band I named by name are not who I believe their name suggests they are, namely, a troll parody band that mocks the very genre it claims to be contributing to, they are welcome to contact me personally through Teratism’s Facebook page. If they can succinctly show me that I misjudged them, I will, representing myself alone, happily and succinctly retract the accusation. This whole thing has already been enough of a distraction, so, please, emphasis on the word ‘succinctly’.
As long as we’re not asked to attempt to pull off a legitimate black metal set on the same bill as these kinds of acts, I couldn’t care less what music they play, what they call themselves, or what illusions they cling to in the voting booth. They have the freedom to do what they want; we have the freedom to refuse to be a pawn in someone else’s.
To our tiny cabal of friends and supporters around the world who have a dog in this fight, who ordered an album of ours from a legitimate distributor or dropped a sawbuck catching us at a show or buying a tee shirt: I apologize TO YOU for the needless drama. I have to say that I *do* stand by my very vocal, colorful, and emphatic decision to lobby the rest of the guys to demur, but I should have done it earlier. I dropped the ball, spoke far too late, and one member's personal opinions, which developed in part as a reaction to my own hyperbole, were rushed to press. To everyone else: piss off. You’re only here because you‘re rubbernecking. You weren’t fans before and you won’t ever be. We owe you nothing.
Finally: we may be fools for taking our art seriously, but we are not your fools. We won’t be a prop in a political stunt, nor will we be a token of currency in somebody’s culture battles.
Hail Satan
Gilles de Rais
Bassist,
Teratism
In fact, we don’t even like booking shows with death metal bands, even though several members of Teratism, myself included, have been or are currently in bands of that genre. We’ve tried playing shows with eclectic lineups. They seldom pay off. A sympathetic audience is everything: it is the difference between experiencing a moment of profound and terrifying conviction of the presence of real diabolical power, and a bunch of drunk frat boys laughing at guys in Halloween costumes and raccoon makeup. We have had to endure fistfights over exactly this kind of difference while on the road during our storied history of touring as a battle-tested and serious black metal band, and we have quite literally bled and suffered for the luxury of taking ourselves seriously when we perform live.
So when I, who have been deactivated from social media for two months, do not book our shows, and do not follow our internet presence, was finally forwarded a flyer for the show, and saw bands from genres that aren’t even metal, and with names like “Neckbeard Deathcamp”, I was livid, and I lobbied to get us off this fucking bill. With a name like that there can be little possibility that they are anything other than a joke band with no loyalty to, investment in, or even understanding of black metal as it is defined and practiced by us.
I have no opinion for or against joke bands per se, but, as I have just elaborated, this kind of fast and loose mixing of incompatible subgenres on a lineup is antithetical to creating and sustaining the particular atmosphere we need to pull off a convincing live performance. Few people would try and invite a comedian to do a bunch of toilet jokes as the eulogy at a funeral; to expect us to attempt to ply our solemn craft following a satire band is equally unworkable.
If I had known that the lineup was going to be this across-the-board, let alone with bands from not only incompatible but outright hostile approaches, I would have never wanted to do the show in the first place. It’s nothing personal. We’ve tried it before. It’s not worth it for us. I built a recording studio that was a massive altar dedicated to Satan, not because I’m in it for the laughs but because, whether or not you think I am a fool for doing so, I take our art seriously. Perhaps we are just idiots that any of us believes any of this shit, but even if so, we still do not owe one minute of our time lending the legitimacy of this band to a lineup of bands that not only don’t take their own art seriously but make what we do ten times more difficult to pull off convincingly.
After fielding a phone call from our vocalist the next afternoon, he informed me that there was a hurricane of flying gorilla shit breaking out on the internet over all this. As a result, I feel the necessity to point you all to the real culprit here. I am your man. If you want someone to hate, blame me. I was the one who most colorfully and vociferously expressed doubts about doing yet another show with a bunch of unsympathetic bands from incompatible genres.
To make matters even more absurd, I have since heard that this band are in fact Antifa trolls. I can’t speak to that rumor because I don’t know. What I do know is, whether they have a partisan agenda underlying their trolling or not, I was just not interested in flying halfway across the country, donning full ritual garb, lighting candles and incense and then attempting to convince an audience of strangers of the palpable presence of a terrifying spirit of cosmic evil indwelling the world, after waiting for the the fake-black-metal scene’s equivalent of Weird Al Yankovic to clear their rubber chickens off the stage.
For those looking to use us as pawns in some cynical power game you're playing because our decision is politically expedient to you, I’m afraid, sadly, you will have to go fuck yourself. This includes the white supremacists, who, I am informed, are currently on our Facebook page claiming that one cancellation is somehow a “victory for the white race.” It also includes the masked brick throwers among you who are using the same decision to hoist us on a petard as your Bugaboo du jour with accusations that we are fascist sympathizers because we’re not keen on being used as a prop in a stunt orchestrated by cynical actors with an agenda that has nothing to do with furthering the music itself.
Furthermore, if I understand Wrath correctly, a post made earlier by our drummer, Defiler, is largely what has caused this storm of controversy. I haven't read it, but I’ve been given the general details. From what it sounds like, he was probably being overzealous about our discussion to to keep our shows deeply and securely within the purview of legitimate black metal, as has been our policy since pretty much the beginning, whenever possible, and it sounds like he added his own opinions to it. He has a right to have opinions. While the rest of us think it was a pretty stupid post (sorry Man) and do not share many of those opinions, we will not be throwing him under a bus over one shitty post because a mob of repressed drama queens, none of whom have ever spent a dime supporting this band, are suddenly scandalized by the revelation that we would rather not play shows with comedy acts.
I have also just been made aware of the accusation that we withdrew from the show because we were bowing to pressure from right-wing bullies. This is a funny one. As far as I am concerned, we ARE the bullies. And within the band, *I* am the one who exerted the lion’s share of the pressure to get us off this bill, right or wrong, for reasons I’ve clearly enumerated. If cowardice is at the heart of this decision, would I be publicly taking responsibility for it? Think about it, Einstein, and then go fuck yourself.
However, I did not intend for my private reservations to be conveyed to the public so nakedly and artlessly. So I apologize for that embarrassment. To the degree that the band I named by name are not who I believe their name suggests they are, namely, a troll parody band that mocks the very genre it claims to be contributing to, they are welcome to contact me personally through Teratism’s Facebook page. If they can succinctly show me that I misjudged them, I will, representing myself alone, happily and succinctly retract the accusation. This whole thing has already been enough of a distraction, so, please, emphasis on the word ‘succinctly’.
As long as we’re not asked to attempt to pull off a legitimate black metal set on the same bill as these kinds of acts, I couldn’t care less what music they play, what they call themselves, or what illusions they cling to in the voting booth. They have the freedom to do what they want; we have the freedom to refuse to be a pawn in someone else’s.
To our tiny cabal of friends and supporters around the world who have a dog in this fight, who ordered an album of ours from a legitimate distributor or dropped a sawbuck catching us at a show or buying a tee shirt: I apologize TO YOU for the needless drama. I have to say that I *do* stand by my very vocal, colorful, and emphatic decision to lobby the rest of the guys to demur, but I should have done it earlier. I dropped the ball, spoke far too late, and one member's personal opinions, which developed in part as a reaction to my own hyperbole, were rushed to press. To everyone else: piss off. You’re only here because you‘re rubbernecking. You weren’t fans before and you won’t ever be. We owe you nothing.
Finally: we may be fools for taking our art seriously, but we are not your fools. We won’t be a prop in a political stunt, nor will we be a token of currency in somebody’s culture battles.
Hail Satan
Gilles de Rais
Bassist,
Teratism
FROM STYGIAN RITES FESTIVAL 2019:
The fifth annual Stygian Rites festival will be held June 7th and 8th in the ancient mountain range Ȟe Sápa - the sacred Black Hills - the centre of the universe and the birthplace of Lakota culture. This year, we gather at Kickstands Campground near Sturgis, SD. Bring your bike, your RV, or just a tent, and experience two days of drinking, excellent food, and 26 of the best acts the underground North American metal scene has to offer. Behold: Stygian Rites V...
Featuring:
MORBID SAINT - Thrash metal from Wisconsin
KULT OV AZAZEL - Black metal from Florida
WORMREICH - Black metal from Alabama
WEAPÖNIZER - Black/thrash metal from Colorado
MAIESTAS - Black metal from Texas
BARGHEST - Black/death metal from Louisiana
THE BLACK MORIAH - Black/thrash metal from Texas
NEKROFILTH - Death/thrash metal from Colorado
THEORIES - Grindcore from Washington
VÖLUR - Doom metal from Ontario, CA
EKELHAFT - Black metal from Colorado
SAEVA - Black metal from Colorado
NECKBEARD DEATHCAMP - Black metal from Illinois
NEKROI THEOI - Death metal from Florida
WYRM CHASM - Black metal from Texas
AETRANOK - Black metal from New Mexico
GRAVESPAWN - Black metal from California
ABJURE - Black/death metal from Missouri
SCEPTRE OF ELIGOS - Doom metal from Colorado
APRILMIST - Black metal from Missouri
DEMIFIEND - Black metal from North Dakota
GREEN ALTAR - Black sludge from South Dakota
GALLOW CULT - Death/black metal from South Dakota
GIARDIA - Jazz/noise/grind from Colorado
VULGARIAN - Black sludge from Colorado
Thanks-Stay Metal, Stay Brutal-\m/ -l-
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