Archon Satani - Interview with
Tomas Pettersson
There are plenty of cult bands out there, so many that we are living in a time where there is a cult band being made nearly every day. Some leave a specific impression on us, but then we forget the act when some other act leaves a certain (but same) impression on us. But above all that, there are (luckily) a few selected rarities in the world of cult music that never seem to sense the bitter taste of... well growing old that is. In a way, I would even say that what these bands did back then, is almost what every man and woman is doing today daily. Be it on Bandcamp, streaming services etc etc.
Archon Satani was a band that left a deep impression beyond description, and a new direction (as well) for future underground industrial music. It´s a band that you keep on returning to, the purity and the focused dark themes are completely unmatched.
Archon Satani started in 1990 as a duo between M. Strvöstrand and T. Pettersson. They had their debut released in 1991 on the CMI side-label (only cassette) label called Sound Source, not long after it was re-issued on CD via Tesco´s sublabel Functional Organisation in 1993. A year after the debut, they released a raw and primitive but charming live recording again on Sound Source, which was later (again) re-issued on Dark Vinyl´s sublabel called Memento Mori also in 1993. And to end the duo-saga, their final and last release Beyond All The Sickness was released as a vinyl in 1992, self-released on their own label called A.C Recordings... actually, this release was the only release A.C Recordings ever released!.
At this point somewhere in 1993, M. Stravöstrand and T. Pettersson went their separate ways for reasons unknown. M. Stravöstrand continued Archon Satani til 1997 while continuing his similar solo project called Inanna (at the same time). T. Pettersson then started his own project called Ordo Equilibrio in 1993, and his first track with this project was included in the compilation named In The Butchers Backyard (which also included Archon Satani and Inanna).
But it all ends well! In 2002, CMI decided to release and make the ultimate tribute to the former partnership between M. Stravöstrand and T. Pettersson. The compilation was called Of Gospels, Lost, and Forsaken and came out in a luxurious leather-looking black thing with jaw-dropping gold shiny letters on it. It was the re-issue of their last album Beyond All The Sickness, which included rare exclusive compilation tracks AND unreleased material! And to this day, this release is (maybe) the one with the biggest impact on our modern culture.
I have been a fan of this act since I heard their Dies Irae pt.2 in the Karmanic Collection (released in 1993) which I first bought and heard in 1996. I got to know Archon Satani through Ordo Equilibrio, which I first heard on the CMI compilation called ...and also the trees in 1995. And then the CMI compilation The Absolute Supper came out in 1997, with a jaw-dropping Archon Satani track called A Time Of Ruin. After that, I bought the Of Gospels Lost and Forsaken when it came out, and believe me... it still works like a holy bible for me. With the help of an account on Discogs, I managed to buy... almost everything with Archon Satani. Still strongly maintains as a huge influence on my taste of music, and the music I create today. And this is why, I find it (kind of) important that I have managed to get an interview about Archon Satani with T. Pettersson himself!
Under which circumstances did you and Mikael Stravöstrand meet, and whatever gave u guys the idea of recording together?
Mikael and I met for the first time on our first high school day. We were casually standing on the stairs outside the main building smoking. I saw the Neubauten logo on the back of his trench coat and we started talking about music. Shortly after we realized that we would be classmates over the upcoming two years. As classmates (and smokers) we became good friends. He was from Norrkoping I was from Linkoping and after school most days, Mikael and I spent the afternoons with friends in Linkoping.
One thing led to another, and only a few weeks after we had established our first band together with three local friends - Fredrik (No Festival of Light) Bergström, Mattias (MicroMan) Lindgren & Joakim Gustafsson. The five of us had the industrial percussion project “Der Heilbut und die Manische Depressive Wiesse Jugend in die Kalte Fabrikk”. We rehearsed, drank alcohol, played local youth centers, had fun, and ultimately realized that the MicroMan was a dictator, consequently, we decided to start Archon Satani to pursue our musical endeavors in a more constructive environment. That’s how the Archon Satani saga began.
When you started Archon Satani, were there local similar bands/people which u were influenced by? And if there were a minor scene back then, then how was it back then?
Linkoping had plenty of legendary renowned industrial/electronic artists lurking in the background, Lille Roger, Brighter Death Know, In Slaughter Natives, Njurmännen, Verboten, etc etc., but all these people were older. By the time I and Mikael met, they had all departed from the inner city or from the city altogether.
Linkoping around this time (1989-1993) was not an electronic/industrial city. It was a hardcore Mecca. So there were no direct sources of influence and no particular scene for the appointed music. We associated with like-minded individuals with similar interests and influences, and we helped one another. We did a few concerts, either as part of the local youth center rock carousel, or concerts organized by ourselves. But the only people attending were our closest friends, and the events were more willingly a good reason to get drunk than an event promoting the music to a larger scene.
As a duo, how did u guys manage to create the debut Virgin Birth?
Mikael lived at home with his parents. I lived at home with my parents. We started the recordings of our first endeavors in the basement of Mikael’s parent's house. That’s where we recorded the majority of the songs for Virgin Birth. I also did some additions at home, sitting on the floor in my father’s office, but piece by piece we recorded Virgin Birth on a 4-channel Fostex portable studio with Mikael’s Akai sampler in Norrkoping in his parent's basement.
Later Mikael moved to Linkoping, and thereafter we recorded. Beyond All thee Sickness in the apartment, he rented from Jouni (Havukainen) and finally Dies Irae Part II In his girlfriend’s childhood room.
Virgin Birth was released on the CMI side label Sound Source, how did you get in contact with Sound Source and did u get any positive feedback for it?
Shortly after Mikael and I became friends, Mikel showed me a Swedish fanzine (New Life) in which there was an advertisement from a label called Cold Meat Industry, announcing the release of In Slaughter Natives self-titled debut cassette. Using the phone book we searched out the location of Roger’s address and we went there and rang the doorbell. We were invited inside and that’s how we first came in contact with Roger. Mikael started buying a lot of albums and cassettes that Roger was offering in his mail-order business and as a result of this, we became friendly, and successively our relationship became a gateway to working together.
We were offered a position on “Dimensions of a Coffin”, and provided two tracks and once the recordings of Virgin Birth were completed we presented them to Roger and he offered us the possibility of releasing them on Sound Source. The same goes for “Beyond all Thee Sickness” sometime later.
I suppose the “positive” feedback we accumulated was when Klaus Hilger traveled all the way from Germany to meet us in person to ask if we were interested in reissuing the cassette as a CD on “Functional Organization”. That was a sort of recognition that we enjoyed, but back then, interaction with listeners and fans was different, fanzines and magazines were king, and the music we accomplished wasn’t exactly music for the masses.
You made a live recording (which was released on LP and CD) called Memento Mori, where was this recorded? How was the performance?
Out of thin air Mikael and I got invited to perform at a Swedish electro festival in Mora (Dalarna). We were young and inexperienced. We caught a ride there from Mikael’s mother, we got drunk from the beers we had requested from the rider, and we basically improvised a concert that turned out relatively ok judging from the recording and the conditions we had presented to ourselves. The concert was immortalized as a live recording and still to this day I can hear every mistake we made.
What was the last Archon Satani album you were involved in, and what motivated you to pursue the early ideas for Ordo Equilibrio?
Shortly after the release of Dies Irae Part II, both Mikael and I relocated and moved to Stockholm. In Stockholm, we ended up sharing a one-room apartment with another friend. Eric and I slept in the living room while Mikael had his bed in the kitchen. In the kitchen, we also decided to set up a small studio in which we started to record our first tracks for what was supposed to become our debut release on CMI. However, this never happened. We did recur a few songs, and a handful of structures before our friendship suffered a fallout and we basically stopped talking. What Mikael decided to do with these recordings, I do not know. I have always wondered, but I always assumed that he used these accomplishments as part of his album “Mind ov Flesh and Bones”, especially since the sound of that particular album is more structured than Mikael’s personal accomplishments were both before and after. But I do not know. I’m just speculating.
Directly after the fallout between Mikael and me, most likely as a consequence of creative necessity, I started Ordo Equilibrio. I had carried the idea with me ever since Mikael started INANNA and I realized that Archon Satani didn’t sustain all my creative needs and desires. I wanted more structure, more melody, more “straightforward” “music”, and hence came the birth of Ordo Equilibrio.
Naturally, taking the current state of being into account, the products and offspring of my creative capabilities didn’t transmute that very far from where I had ended my insolvent in Archon Satani. “Reaping the Fallen, the First Harvest” hence became my first accumulated attempt to distinguish myself, and although it’s different, I can still hear where I came from.
Were you in any way, involved in any Inanna recording/album?
No, I was never involved in INANNA, this was Mikael’s personal brainchild both during and after Archon Satani.
In what was Frederic Bergstrøm ( No Festival of Light ) involved?
Fredrik was only involved in the preceding metal percussion project. After Mikael and I started AS he was not involved. However, after Mikael and I parted, I requested his involvement in Ordo, and consequently he was drumming for me from 95-2010.
Any positive/negative thoughts about the current industrial/experimental scene?
It’s a dying scene/dying scenes. The participants, both artists and audience are old and there’s basically nobody coming from behind to fill out the ranks. It’s sad. Unfortunate. And the pandemic speeded up the process. There are still a handful of active bands and artists, but I’m willing to say that they are the same as they were 10 years ago. But it’s ok, I’m very grateful to still be part of this community and still possess the possibility to travel the world and perform.
This is what constitutes the very essence of who I am. I sacrificed a lot to get this opportunity and I am grateful every day for it. But I’m definitely aware that there’s an expiration date. I just hope it kicks me in the stomach later rather than sooner. But there are also rare exceptions from this rule of successive deconstruction, like Toronto-based Canadian duo Devi-Ant. Although they are friends and I might be biased, by all means, create interesting and constructive ritualistic dark ambient music in the very vein of what we did with Archon Satani. They are very good, and deserving of the community’s attention, but on the other hand, what future are they facing from a scene perspective?
Your fondest, proudest, and most nostalgic memory of Archon Satani and why?
I think my most nostalgic moments of Archon Satani and the very beginning of things are when we receive our first letters of contact from people who actually had heard our music. Our first invitations to participate in compilations. The invitation to contribute to “Templaric Sounds” from Italy, and also the first letter I received from Eric Konofal (Les Joyaux de la Princesse) and his invitation to participate in the compilation “Zyklon-B”. These are moments that still have a significant importance to me.
You finally played live together at the CMI 30th anniversary, how did that go and was it good playing together after all these years?
The concert of the 30th anniversary was by all means a success as far as I can see it. I reached out to Mikael, and we started planning the concert and how we wanted to present ourselves. We started deconstructing and reconstructing old songs. We used the experience none of us had in the past, we reinvented some of the tracks, added more rhythm, and more structure and we conducted a very nice performance in Stockholm.
I know that some people disliked this “new” appearance of Archon Satani and the very fact that we had implemented more symmetry and structure, but being obscure and unstructured simply for the sake of being obscure and unstructured is a principle I loathe. Thou can not love them all…. Presenting yourself live is not the same as presenting yourself on an album, they require different presentations. If you seek the sound that is presented audibly on an album, listen to the album, but don’t judge a concert by the same principles and criteria.
I am pleased with the outcome of the concert. I’ve listened to some live sequences online and at some point, this material will most likely be released alongside the remaining recordings of what we still haven’t released.
Any plans for doing re-issues, or releasing unreleased material in the future?
As I said in the previous question, there are still materials we haven’t released, and there is the live recording from Stockholm 2017, and there are still the old albums to be reinvented one more time, so there’s definitely the possibility of Archin Satani reappearing at least on the album. Whether we’ll ever perform live again remains to be seen, but we aren’t dead yet so there’s always the hypotenuse possibility.
Any last words?
Memento mori.
