Merrimack – “…you can expect Black-Metal fanatically faithful to the tradition: spikes, leather, blood, frenzy, violence and death!”

After 4 long, dark years of waiting for the follow-up to 2002’s critically acclaimed ‘Ashes Of Purification’, French horde Merrimack return to us once more to fill our very souls with the purest and filthiest Black Metal this side of Hell.  ‘Of Entropy And Life Denial’ showcases a band dedicated to their black art in a way that most others can only dream of, spreading their vile and vicious plague upon mankind and re-lighting the flame of Black Metal the way its supposed to be played.  Read on to find out more from vocalist Terrorizt… 

Merrimack have been knocking walls down in the French Black Metal scene for quite some time now.  With no less than eight releases now under your spiked-belts including the fantastic 2006 masterpiece ‘Of Entropy And Life Denial’ and an army of ever-growing Merrimack devotees, you must be pretty pleased with how things are going for the band?
Sure. We have invested a lot of energy and dedication to the creation of “Of Entropy and Life Denial” and it’s always pleasant to see people being receptive to your work. The response so far is globally more than enthusiast, be it in the underground, mainstream or internet press, from allies, friends or fans.

The composing of ‘Of Entropy and Life Denial’ started right after the release of ‘Ashes Of Purification’ but due to various line-up alterations and a heavy touring schedule there has been 4 long years of waiting for its release.  Do you feel that now with everything back on track you have achieved what you set out to achieve with this album?
In fact we certainly have achieved more. The result has blasted away all our highest expectations which were already quite high. I listen to this album very often and I’m very proud of our work. It was a real challenge for us because the one of the main composers has left during the “line-up fuck-ups time”. We had to work really hard to create something as personal, somewhat intimate and über-cold as “Ashes of Purification” has been.

Has having new members in the Merrimack camp changed the way that you compose your music?  What elements do you feel they have contributed to make ‘Of Entropy and Life Denial’ the album it is?
Hard to answer since I am one of these new members. As far as I understood the composition process hasn’t changed at all. The individuals have changed, not the modus operandi. The guys who left and who once took an important part in the composition were all very special characters, influenced by nothing much but their twisted ethylic / toxic visions; fortunately enough their substitutes are convinced / dedicated / faithful enough and also are open to everything channelling the right aura, the necessary and omnipresent black vibrations of the higher spheres. This spiritual unity is doubtlessly the strongest element in this album and in Merrimack nowadays.

Improvements in both the quality of song writing and overall production have enabled ‘Of Entropy and Life Denial’ to become one of the best and purest Black Metal releases thus far in 2006.  Whereas most bands of your ilk depend on getting the bog standard, recorded in a toilet production to achieve ‘cult’ status, Merrimack have stepped up the pace and recorded something that not only sounds fantastic but also maintains that authentic atmosphere essential to a quality black metal record.  Is this something that you thought about a lot when writing/recording material for this album?
While working on this album (be it writing or recording) we never thought of any other band or individual. We never wanted to achieve anything better than anyone’s work, we just wanted to provide even more than the best from ourselves so we could be dead proud of this release, no matter what anyone could say. We do not play in Merrimack for the scene, for any other band or for anyone. We glorify and praise the Devil. And praising your god demands excellence. Our obsession was to accomplish something worthy enough for Him, not forcedly better than the rest.

The song titles on this album are tongue twisters to say the least.  Tracks such as ‘Adiabatic Bonds of Consanguinity’ do little to enable the listener to understand lyrically what the songs are all about.  So what is the underlying concept behind ‘Of Entropy and Life Denial’?  Is there something specific that you want to convey through the albums title and lyrics? 
The album is completely dedicated to the faith in the satanic might. The entropy is seen like the work of the Devil, the fruit of His odious deeds in this world. All the lyrics are rooted in the slavery to our God and our will to serve. Some of them portray the conception, birth, life and death of a character. He progressively realizes the presence of the Lord and submits to His might. The lyrics are religious and spiritual reflections directed to those who consider Black-Metal for what it is: the gospel of Satan, the instrument to His glorification.
The entropy is a physical measurement of the disorder rate of a system. This law teaches us that every ordered system tends naturally to go to a state of lower order, and thus increases its entropy. This is the mathematical proof of the absolute ineluctability of everything’s decay. Everything tends to its end, to which every passing second get us closer so fast. Everything dies in the end. This is a teaching about life worthlessness.

Where does the inspiration for you music and lyrics come from?  Do you hold any specific beliefs or adopt any particular philosophies you would care to share with the world that enable you to create the music you do?
As a Black-Metal band, we of course convey satanic fanaticism. We acknowledge the Devil as the omnipotent and eternal purveyor of entropy upon this world. I don’t know how this can be felt in the music. It might be felt, for sure, but it’s all instinctive for us. We just create dark music inspired by our convictions, it’s just an illustration. The real expression of our ideology of course lies in the lyrics. Music and lyrics must be 100% complementary. They need each other to make sense.

What were your initial ideas when composing material for the album?  Did you see it as a continuation of where you left off with ‘Ashes Of Purification’ or as something completely separate?  Did you have a specific idea of how you wanted the music to sound?
The band has changed so much because all the aforementioned line-up changes that it could easily have completely change music-wise. And fortunately it didn’t happen. It has just evolved to something better, yet faithful to the band’s identity. We wanted to show this. If we see “Of Entropy and Life Denial” as a continuation of where we left off with “Ashes of Purification” ? Yes, one thousand times yes, and that’s precisely why the opening riff of the new album is the final riff of “Ashes of Purification”.
For this new album we wanted something as “darkly compact” as possible, creating a thick and suffocating atmosphere of black misery through hopeless servility. As we’re very pleased with the result, I guess we’ve succeeded.

Merrimack have always been a band that have brought your music to the live arena.  How would you describe to our readers a typical Merrimack live show?  What is it you get out of playing in front of an audience?  Is it purely and simply for the adrenaline rush or something more sinister?
For the ones who wouldn’t have seen Merrimack on stage yet, you can expect Black-Metal fanatically faithful to the tradition: spikes, leather, blood, frenzy, violence and death! There’s no real specific motivation that makes us get up on stage: a metal band has to play live, that’s all. We of course enjoy playing gigs a lot, though it’s no fun at all. We all feel the inner blackness of our art while playing live, and our mission is to make the crowd feel it too.

The French black metal scene is something that I have always felt as hugely underrated.  The quality and influence of bands both past and present that have emanated from those shores cannot be argued yet it is something that you do not hear much about in the extreme metal media.  Why do you think this is?  As a country that has so much extreme music to offer, do you find it frustrating that you do not get the recognition you deserve?
I’m not that much into this “recognition” thing. Of course it’s always pleasant to be “recognized”, but is it really important? Is it really important that people consider the French metal scene as killer? It’s much more essential just to have this knowledge, to know the good bands to listen to, not to have everyone sharing it.

You have been around for over a decade now and have seen many a band in the scene both come and go.  What is the secret behind your staying power?  What is it that urges to keep pushing out your brand of ferocious Black Metal?
Once again it’s quite hard to say cos I just joined the band back in ’02, eight years after Merrimack formed. It’s exactly like in a scene: the sincere individuals stay, the posers leave! So Merrimack stays because of the sincerity of its members. I don’t mean all our past members were posers, but some have lost the motivation and had the intelligent reflex to leave at the right moment.

Is there a statement from ‘Of Entropy and Life Denial’ that would sum up Merrimack’s standpoint at this point in your respected careers?
“Worse and worse… There can’t be any other way. There can’t be any salvation without genuflexion.”
Ave Sathanas
Terrorizt on behalf of Merrimack anno 2006