Underground for the Masses II starts in just a few days, hence an interview with Archgoat, one of the headliners, has been long overdue. Here’s what Ritual Butcherer had to say about the their journey so far!
DinIntunerec: Hello, first of all thank you for getting on board with this interview. What has been going on in your dark pits recently?
Ritual Butcherer: Well, thank for the interview firstly. Playing shows and composing the new album are the main activities of ours for 2025. We just returned from Latin American tour few weeks ago which was something very nice to do after being off from the continent since 2016 and play roughly few shows a month before starting our Asian tour in October. Timewise the main activity right now is the composition of our 6th album which keeps us busy till the recordings start, next year. In the meanwhile, also the plans of the 2026 album supporting tour is on works now.
DinIntunerec: Archgoat is one of the bands that in no uncertain terms helped lay the foundation stones for black metal as we know it today. How did it all start and how did you come up with the name?
Ritual Butcherer: To put it poetically, we where the three different souls in the South Finland’s music scene who didn’t fit in the “normal stream of extreme metal” and wanted to push everything further than everybody else. This included also the philosophical aspects that we had found out through the lyrics of Venom, Bathory and Celtic Frost. The name Archgoat came after a long and thorough thinking process, and it represents the opposite of the Archangels – the angels being replaced by the symbol of all sins man must carry – the symbol of Devil.
DinIntunerec: Archgoat has been around for more than three decades. There has been a hiatus, but still, you’ve started a long time ago. In your opinion, how much has changed in the black metal world since 1989?
Ritual Butcherer: To put it shortly basically everything apart from few bands. The main idea of the wave on late 80’s when we started was very much individual interpretation of the musicians of each band. There were no boundaries other than putting the Devil in your music philosophy wise and for the musical aspects as well the same “fire free – be an individual” mentality was strong. When looking at today’s scene and bands younger than few decades there are really few who had have the same drive and passion to find their own way and this has resulted that 99% of the bands are carbon copies of some old late 80’s started bands – “just like but not quite” generation.
A big difference is also the amount of money in the scene making it possible for the bands to play abroad and the openness of the scene. In the beginning, the scene was really difficult to find – basically you and your likeminded people around – when today you can see even Archgoat or Satanic Warmaster on the Finland’s national music chart on top
spots.
DinIntunerec: What does Satanism mean to you and how did it influence your creation?
Ritual Butcherer: To put it shortly it is my way of life and the philosophy that has guided me on my journey, basically on all the major crossroads.
DinIntunerec: About that ( more than) ten years absence, a lot has changed in the musical world during that time. Have any of the changes influenced the way you perceive music or your creation process at that point?
Ritual Butcherer: Not at all – I think this absence quite clearly underlines that we are a band not tight on the trends there has been on this genre. As we have stated on a few of our releases: “Black metal changed, Archgoat didn’t”. Since day one, we have had a clear picture of how this band needs to be and what we want to represent. Naturally, there has been an over three-decade maturation, but not rounding of the edges or similar softening/weakening as on the scene in general. We influence rather than are being influenced.
DinIntunerec: People and ideas as well as ideologies change over the years. What is the message behind your music and lyrics? Did the message and ideology change with time?
Ritual Butcherer: If you read the lyrics you’ll get a clear idea what message we carry with us – that’s why the lyrics are always included to the releases.
DinIntunerec: Could you explain how all the elements in the music help to build the atmosphere? Also, what does a good atmosphere mean to you?
Ritual Butcherer: The beauty of art is always to leave room for interpretation to the listener or to the audience. From my composing of music point I have always wanted to include polarities in our music – fast and slow together, where the previous fast part make the following slow part sound even more heavier and then the following fast to even more ferocious. Draw power from the opposites in a way. For me, the good atmosphere means that I stop following the individual instruments – what I do a lot – and start to listen all the instruments as “one instrument”. Also here getting back to the interpretation topic, it means that I am thinking, that I have found the red line of the composer of the song and can connect with his idea.
DinIntunerec: What were the key moments or the turning points which shaped Archgoat into what it is today?
Ritual Butcherer: To start with, one key moment was, after a long work, when we got our first song Black Messiah completed in 1990… It was a defining moment that lay out the foundation to which our music is still today heavily leaning upon. This also stands for getting the lyrical concept inside the “tolerances”.
DinIntunerec: Tell us about the creative process… Is it a joint effort or do you write separately? Does everybody get involved? Do you start writing with lyrics first or does it start with the music?
Ritual Butcherer: In a timeframe of 36 years, we have experienced it all from all members being included on rehearsal place in traditional songwriting to todays where I – due to living in Germany for over 6 years – compose the materials alone. But also, on this format, for me it is extremely important to include the guys into the process and combine the best ideas. I have always started with the music and after a song is complete, I start to include the lyrics to it and if necessary, update the structure with the amount of riff repetitions or even re-arranging the riffs. As for now, for the new album, today I have
completed seven songs, but lyrically wise maybe 1% is complete.
DinIntunerec: What has been your best and your worst experience as a musician?
Ritual Butcherer: My best experience is that I have been able to put my passion and philosophy into something that has carried on for so may years and the possibilities it has offered to me. As for the worst, I would say that, as I have a limited number of hours, the passion to develop my musical abilities has been neglected quite a lot when being focused on creating music. For me, it’s always one or the other, but to do these two things in parallel I haven’t been able yet. My arpeggio training stopped like crashing against the wall, as in December last year I started to write music.
DinIntunerec: What are you more passionate about, creating new music or playing live? What’s the best thing for you about performing live?
Ritual Butcherer: For me it’s always being on the stage which overrides everything else we do. I have a deep passion and a need inside me to create music, but composing music without being able to play live would kill the other. Best thing for me while standing on the stage, playing our music is the moment when the balance of the two energies – of what black energy
we give to the audience through our music and the audience returning it back to us and so on and on amplifying it stronger and purer. It is a sacred moment for me when the audience is so deeply involved and understanding that in the end Archgoat is an amplifier of Lucifer. But, no girly screams, we are not the Beatles.
DinIntunerec: Since we mentioned live performances, soon Archgoat will play in Bucharest, Romania, at Underground for the Masses II festival. What do you know about Romania in general and in terms of underground metal? Naturally, we are glad and honored that you decided to play in Bucharest. Can you tell us more about that?
Ritual Butcherer: I am familiar with the basics like the history of Romania from Vlad Dracul till the fall of Ceausescu and from there the Carpathian Mountains and Transylvania. Very bloody history indeed. We feel ourselves very motivated to play in Romania and our expectations are very high as the last time way played at Old Grave Festival was very special for us.
DinIntunerec: Let’s make a journey back in time… The Angelcunt (Tales of Desecration) EP came out in 1993, but it sounds really fresh and dynamic even to these days. Tell us about the creation and the ideas behind this EP.
Ritual Butcherer: The idea was to record the Jesuspawn songs with a better sound quality than what we had on our demo and as we wanted them to sound. We have been always against the stupid idea of recording with shitty sound and have always aimed to make the music listenable in a way that you can hear all the instruments. We played all the songs live and that is the way we have done our recordings ever since. The dynamics of the music come when it’s played live WITHOUT the fucking triggers. Music has to breath and when compressed and chained it sounds weak, plastic and lame.
DinIntunerec: Angelslaying Black Fucking Metal came out in 2005, after the hiatus, with a consistent change in sound. What brought about this change?
Ritual Butcherer: The material for Angelslaying… was recorded with different studio and sound engineer than Angelcunt… which makes the difference to the sound. Our aim was to get the same sound for the later. Due to these experiences from album to album we have used the same sound engineer from 2011 Heavenly Vulva till the latest one, and have the same team reserved for the recordings of the next LP.
DinIntunerec: The landmark release, Whore of Bethlehem marks a new evolution of sound. What led to that? And why the direct focus on the Mother of Christ, I mean, why did you choose this lyrical theme?
Ritual Butcherer: There was no trying to sound anything else than Archgoat and on that release we had the most distorted guitar sound which made the sound of this release specifically cold and icy. Also, the inexperience of us and the whole recording team kept this release sounding like a rehearsal, which suits the atmosphere quite well. Mary is a good target to sink your teeth deep into, as this character describes the double-standards of Christianity very well. The whole idea of penis-free insemination is as laughable today as it was back then. The whole baseline story is based on a lie upon lie and deception upon deception… Well, basically representing everything it fights against.
DinIntunerec: The Light-Devouring Darkness came out in 2009. Tell us more about this album and the concepts behind it.
Ritual Butcherer: This is my least favorite album which, due to time strains, ended up being the least polished or complete album of our catalogue. As for the sound engineer, we decided to use a person who did not understand this music or had ever heard black metal as we wanted to have total control of what comes to the sound engineering. But, as always you play with the cards you have, and this was what came out. The album, like the previous, tells a story of its own, but from the blasphemic approach of Whore…, Light- Devouring… was more about the approach towards Luciferianism.
The title is quite self- explanatory where the Christian concept of Satanism being Darkness is instead lifted to be the Light that will reveal everything and bring the veil over the eyes of Christianity and revealing its blindness.
DinIntunerec: The Apocalyptic Triumphator followed six years later. It’s a sonic massacre and it’s been called “the best snapshot of Archgoat on a comprehensive level”. Can you comment on that?
Ritual Butcherer: There was Heavenly Vulva in 2011, between these two, which was the first release with the “AG-Team” and the first release of ours that was on purpose sound engineered to sound heavy as hell. The successful sound of Heavenly Vulva was carried to The Apocalyptic… with adding a bit more crispiness to the guitar and also being the first album where I did reduce the distortion of the guitar to make the musical nuances hearable.
I think we are a band that everybody has their own opinions what release is the best. That was the first album away from “just playing loud” and including more musical elements on a whole to make the music to include more dimensions than previously. The sound on this release is very dynamic and spot on where it was supposed to be supporting the added layers of stringed instruments. This was the first album that I was composing alone.
DinIntunerec: The Luciferian Crown came out in 2018 and there is a different vibe on that particular album. Tell us more about this album and its creation.
Ritual Butcherer: This was the first album where Mr. Goat Aggressor participated as the new drummer and I wanted to use his “set of fresh ears” and musicianship to support me on creating an album where we are opening the door even further by adding more musical layers than before. Good example was him bringing a change from the “normal
limited Archgoat drumbeats” to add even speed metal direction and thus breathing life to our music. This can be heard specifically on the song Darkness Has Returned, which originally was my own take of creating a Bathory tribute song, but his idea changed this to be a true Archgoat song with a twist.
For me, this album has the most of “death metal” vibes or elements of our releases as well as really brutal songs like Messiah of Pigs to name my own favorite. On the lyrical side, this album reached a new direction as it deals really strongly with what is happening inside my head and with the lyrics I wanted to press on the topic of what Satanism represents to me.
DinIntunerec: Pure impious terror from start to end, Worship the Eternal Darkness is your latest full-length, out in 2021. What are the concepts behind this album?
Ritual Butcherer: This album to me stands as a natural continuity to The Apocalyptic.. via Luciferian… to something that stands on its own feet and being still what Archgoat has always been. Basically the 80/20 rule with 80% of the old elements and 20% of something unused making it something you can expect from us, but still with a breath of
fresh air. The stretching of the musical boundaries was something I saw as a focus point of this album and with the production again opening it to allow the instruments and the ideas to shine through. The lyric approach on this one was more to the direction of apocalypse and the last death throes of Christianity before being smothered down like a
weak candle flame.
DinIntunerec: Your latest release is the EP All Christianity Ends. Is this a prophecy? Actually, do you think Christianity is finally dying, or simply undergoing a temporary crisis?
Ritual Butcherer: The songs of All Christianity… were composed at the same time as the songs for the Worship the Eternal Darkness LP and after a lengthy thinking process we decided which 9 songs went on the LP and which 4 to the EP. We recorded all the songs at the same time during one weekend, with the same settings, but for these four we left everything, but the most basic elements off. The idea was to make this release the “sister release” to 1993 EP Angelcunt… with the same stripped-down layers and added extra brutality by raw sound.
After levelling the volume, we did only 2 loops to “finetune” the sound and basically left it as raw and live sounding as possible. Regarding Christianity finally dying… Well, I think we are all equally dying, as mankind is on its limits with too many of us on such a small place and eventually cannibalizing each other.
DinIntunerec: The artwork is really special on all your releases, who deals with the artwork creation and how do you decide on the design and look?
Ritual Butcherer: All of our album covers come from Mr. Chris Moyen. His first cover for us was the 1991 Angelcunt… was just like the following arts he has done for us according to what we had ordered from him. Earlier I did this just by writing what we want, but since the 2009 The Light-Devouring… I have sent him sketches of how the whole picture should look like, but still leave him his artistic freedom to add elements as only he can. The best about working with him is that he understands and knows what Archgoat artwork should be about.
DinIntunerec: What’s next for Archgoat? Any plans for the future that you might share?
Ritual Butcherer: As I said a bit earlier, the focus and priority lies now on the new album as well as the shows and tours during this year and next year, supporting the new album.
DinIntunerec: Do you have a favorite moment, a very dear memory related to life on the road or live shows?
Ritual Butcherer: I would say that there have been some “wow” moments like the first show in 2007 in USA or in 2016 when we played the first shows in South America and drank beer in the warm water spring in the rain forest of Borneo. I could state here also that the line-up we now have I want to be our final one, as travelling and playing with this team is something I value very much. The company makes the trip and this is something that I know will offer me a lot when, next week, we land in Romania.
DinIntunerec: What is the most important life lesson that you have learnt so far?
Ritual Butcherer: Being honest to who I am and what I am doing. Too many times there has been unworthy shit-flies who have tried to turn my head from my own ideas and trying to make me doubt my own path. I think that also meeting some of my musical idols has exposed them to be assholes with rock star mentality and people to avoid like the plague. Also there has been great experiences of really cool and humble guys like Danny Lilker, Carcass and Macabre guys who showed me appreciation and made the little fanboy moment memorable.
This is today reflecting to me on how we treat our fans. A small moment for me can be something somebody has waited for more than 20 years or has driven over 2000km to see us on the stage and get his signature and photo. So, shortly, no rock star attitude bullshit on this band.
DinIntunerec: Thank you for your time, any final words for our readers?
Ritual Butcherer: Thank you for an interesting and good to the point going interview. We will meet next weekend in Bucharest.
