25.05.2022

LORD BELIAL interview, Pepa: «I watch ‘The Walking Dead’ with my son and we discuss how we would handle the Apocalypse»

In a couple of days, on May 27th, after a huge pause (and another hiatus in the band’s history), new LORD BELIAL Rapture is going to be unleashed upon the world. I talked to the band’s guitar player Niclas ‘Pepa’ Green to find out how it is going in the LB headquarters.

First of all, my congratulations with (another) LORD BELIAL return and the new album! What part of this band and the scene did you miss most?

Thank you very much! I am humbled by your interest in the band and our latest album! I have never really gone away from the scene, we just have not released an album for quite some time.

Do you believe this reunion is gonna last for years?

Yes, this reunion will last forever.

All bands always say: «Oh, we’ve just made our best album!». Is this the case with Rapture for you? And if it is so — what does make it that special (to your opinion)?

We made a run for returning to the way of writing music that we did on Enter The Moonlight Gate, we all took part in the creation of the riffs and the drums, just as we did back when we wrote ETMG, even though we are only three members these days. We were hungry for blood, we were on the same page when we wrote Rapture, just as we were for ETMG.

Who is creating lyrics for the band? I mean, do you discuss/brainstorm the concepts, or someone just comes up with the blasphemous stuff?

Nowadays, we can do research in a less time-consuming way than we had to use to do, because of the internet — the possibility to buy books and do research online is so much easier than going to different libraries and borrowing books etc. We all do our share of writing the lyrics, but usually Thomas changes it a bit so that it fits the music better in terms of rythm and tempo.

I think all your kids are old enough to understand what their father’s band is signing about. Do you have religious talks with them, explain your philosophy, your hate towards christianity, etc? And… what if someone of your children chooses to get baptized into christianity?

Yes, I have brought up my children to have an open mind and to see the vast variety of religions there are/have been on the Earth, it is not very likely that they should want to become baptized into christianity.

In one of your recent interviews you said all the band members have tinnitus (not just Micke, whose ear issues are believed to be the reason of the band’s hiatus). How do you manage to live, to sleep with it?

I think Abaddon of VENOM is partly deaf so they had to play really loud, but we played loud just for the hell of it, and then it comes with a cost. I take sleeping pills every day, else it won’t work to sleep.

Is there a way for a metal musician to play/record for 30 years and avoid this issue?

I am sure kids these days have all sorts of dampening and protective gear, which will help them.

Why are you called «Pepa»? Where does it come from?

Back in high school, my friends said I was a demon called Apep, and they turned it around to make it even more evil!

As far as I know you are fond of fishing. What was your biggest trophy so far?

Micke is the most obsessed fisherman in LORD BELIAL, I just go out a few times per year, to get the mackerel.

I think LORD BELIAL has never been a band you can make a living of. So what do band members are doing, what are your everyday jobs?

I am a licensed teacher at upper secondary school (English and American literature, Swedish, and German) Thomas is a rock blaster and Micke is the admin for a rock blasting firm.

Do you plan any tours for the Rapture promotion? And if yes, how much and what kinds of alcohol do you have in your tour riders?

We have not decided anything yet, we will see! These days we very seldom drink alcohol, but if I do, it is always Irish whiskey!

Where there any new black metal bands or releases that did really impress you in the recent years? Something so cool that you could put into your all-time favorites list?

Of course, there have been a lot of new great bands, but unfortunately, nothing that sticks more than the old VENOM, BATHORY, SLAYER, DESTRUCTION, etc — I kind of always retract to that.

With a number of crazy and catastrophic events happening starting from 2020 (COVID first, now this terrible war in Eastern Europe), do you think the end of the world — in its biblical understanding — is coming? Are you personally ready for the Apocalypse, no matter in what form it may come?

There are changes coming, that is for sure. People will be forced to move for one reason or the other. I watch The Walking Dead with my son (we are on s08ep12 now) and we discuss how we would handle the apocalypse. We have some go-bags and have stockpiled some types of food and supplies, but I would not classify us as hard-core preppers.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given?

«Just go for it and never look back when it is getting critical!»

Your plans and wishes for this year, what would you like to happen in 2022?

We have seven new songs and an eighth in the making, so we are (probably) going to record the next album this year!

And… back to Rapture.

Yeah, here is a walkthrough song-by-song that I did for this album.

«Legion». This song is about the frustration of being shackled in chains, be they mental or physical, still the same feeling. To not be able to do what you want because someone else says so — be it a dogma of religion or politics. It is about Legion from history as well, when a demon who is possessed by a multitude of demons is given the collective name of «Legion». It is a very fast and aggressive song, it is quite intense as well, you will probably feel that you need to breathe after it because you have held your breath while listening to it(!). Some short intense guitar leads drive the song forward, and then in the end it goes faster and faster, ending with a break and some feedback from a guitar and then the rhythm guitars + bass drums in unison, the end.

«On A Throne Of Souls». It is about the destruction of the world as we know it, «Kill The King» (RAINBOW) sort of theme — join the dark side, plunge yourself into the everlasting fire, join the hordes of darkness against the light. This song has a chorus that appears twice, the first time with the chorus riff and Thomas’ vocals, the second time with a Pepa-choir and Micke’s screams. There is a mid-part where a second chorus is played that goes «They shall cover the world in flames, The higher the flames, the greater the shadows, They shall bring me the heads of fallen kings, The higher the flames, the greater the shadows» where all three of us scream in the background, we call it “the choir of mental illness”!

«Rapture Of Belial». A hymn to Belial, finally the time for the antichrist to be unleashed, the entity is in ecstasy about it: «Ecstasy and morbid lust, feel the Rapture of Belial». The song begins with drums of doom and heavy slow-paced guitars that then continue to rise in intensity, along with double bass drums, and then it intensifies further with a harmony lead and blast beats + a disharmonic solo + even more drums of doom, then the drums and rhythm guitars follow tightly, moving into a death-metal sort of riff with darker vocals and then some twisted disharmonic chords, moving into a tempo-slow-down, and then back to the blast beats.

«Destruction». This is a more old-school black metal song. The drums follow the guitars, it is a rather fast and aggressive song, but not blast-beat-fast. There is a chorus that goes «Life is torment, Death is liberation, Destruction is all» this song was originally more than 7 minutes long! We shortened it in the mix to 3:48. It ends with a chaos-solo.

«Belie All Gods». A clean guitar plays the harmony, backed by massive rhythm guitars and heavy-paced drums, a Georgian choir sings in the background. This is the most «progressive» song on the album, the chorus has some clean singing by Pepa and Micke in the background on the second and third time: «The unholy trinity, slayer of gods, Faceless, fearless, dark shapes of perdition, Dressed in cloaks of burnt angel wings, We come to cleanse the earth».

«Evil Incarnate». «In the deep murky chasm only darkness dwells». If you don’t bang your head to this one, you need more beer. This is pure black metal, mid-paced yet forward-going. Towards the end, there is a slower part with an extinguished solo, then back to the chorus, and out.

«Lux Luciferi». Explodes with energy and Thomas’ fantastic voice tells us about a salutation to Lucifer — the fallen angel of enlightenment. This is a very dynamic song, one minute in — there is the chorus. Super heavy, with Thomas’ scorching vocals «Let shine thine luminous light from within the realm of the dead, The radiant light of the son of the dawn, Hail to, the fallen one, hail to the flame, The radiant light of the son of the dawn» backed by Pepa and Micke on “Hail to the Flame”. Background choirs and piano. Then the song explodes forward again, followed by a super-heavy riff that will put your speakers to the test. Then, a second chorus «Tu verus mundi lucifer». The song ends with heavy drums, a harmonic lead, massive guitars, Thomas vocals, choirs in the background, this is a really massive song.

«Infinite Darkness And Death». This song begins with clean guitars followed by massive rhythm guitars and heavy drums, soon it explodes into blast beats, quickly followed by the chorus «The one we call our dark lord drains your temple of breath, Legions of war burning those of the light» that makes your hair stand up on your arms. It is followed by a speech by Thomas, exhorting us to crush all and kill all. The song ends with massive rhythm guitars, topped by clean guitars, and blast beats!

«Alpha And Omega». This is a sort of reversed salutation to the most common religions of our time, «I deny your beliefs
I deny your gods and prophets». It explodes with double bass drums, massive rhythm guitars, topped by a clean guitar, into a really cool downward going marking, into a pre-chorus with mid-tempo drums, and then by the markings with the clean guitars, Mr. Andy La Roque makes a guest appearance. In the end, we talked about fading it, but we just cut it and it became really cool.

«Lamentations». This song begins with strings and clean guitar, then comes the rhythm guitars and drums, as it continues more and more guitars are added. It is a very beautiful song, with lots of emotions, a perfect way to end the album. In the middle, Thomas says: «I called upon thy name, O Dark Lord, out of the lowest of dungeons, Thou have heard my voice; hide not thine ears at my breathing, my lamentations». Then, as it goes on, there is a choir and then a beautiful solo.