Ad Omega Interview - Noktvrnal Veitha

To understand Black Metal is to understand the value of spirituality, heritage, history and tradition. The creation of BM in its truest forms is not a conventional process, because for true Black Metal people, the music is a reflection of a life code, a mindset. For the spiritually-minded artist - one whose expression is beholden to esoteric practices, the creation of Black Metal is inspired by ritual or by epiphany. Nocturnal ceremonies to invoke the energy of the Great Olde Ones, to harness it and to use Black Metal as its vessel.

As we all know, Italy’s civilization is one that can be traced back to Ancient times. Its streets, its modest Villas and the spirit of the country speak to the soul - a voice that penetrates through superficiality and into the soul of the aware one. The Etruscans! One of history’s most influential civilizations once called the country home. Much of its spiritual ideals and practices were of direct influence for the Romans. And it’s within Etruscan necropolises and it’s upon their altars forlorn that Ad Omega’s music is formulated.

I’ve gathered you here today to encounter a true Black Metal experience, to absorb it and to be changed. It is within the spirit where this change will take place. A new perspective of Black Metal, of its purpose and of its power await! Are you ready to abandon your comfort zone? Come, let us begin our journey…

Lyc: Hails, NV! And welcome to This is Black Metal Greece. I always like to begin with a little background. Ad Omega formed in 2019, which makes it a rather new entity on the scene. Can you give us some insight into your ideals and values as a Black Metal band?

NV: The entity Ad Omega was born to be a Satanic Black Metal band, a catalyst of Sinister energy at a time when I felt a strong need to definitively break the bridges with the mundane. In a few years, many things have happened, as it is normal in the life of a man, from all points of view; material and otherwise. Victories, mistakes, growth and awareness (even of not knowing), a continuum of deaths and rebirths at subtler levels of existence; welcoming the Pathei Mathos as a fundamental juncture in these times of Hedonistic extremism. Ad Omega and the other projects in which I am active accompany this human and spiritual journey. We are devoted to the Black Arts, to the Sinister Ethos.

Lyc: More and more Occultists have been making their voices heard through the art of Black Metal. Do you draw much inspiration from Occult practices or from Occult based themes?

NV: Yes, Ad Omega's music depends and relies on Occult studies and practices. From the band's first demo to today, it is clear that things have become increasingly complex. Obviously, this does not only depend on a greater complication of the structures of the tracks. It is the gnosis that comes from study and ceremonies - the experiencing of the Numinous increasingly enveloping, which requires and stimulates an artistic growth that is a worthy "soundtrack" to this Vitriol.

Lyc: Some of your music is rooted in Etruscan traditions. The Etruscans were an advanced Civilization that predated the Roman Empire. In fact, much of what constituted Roman Mythology was inherited from the Etruscans. What is it about them that fascinates you the most?

NV: I was born and live near Viterbo - the ancient Surina for our Etruscan ancestors. This territory, southern Etruria, was probably the most significant for the Rasna from a religious point of view, and is dotted with necropolises, caves, altars and roads dug into the tuff that trace itineraries that had a sacred meaning, because everything was conceived according to a religiously orthodox vision of the world, of life and of death. My first Black Metal band, which dates back to my adolescence, was called "Sethlans" (a God of our Etruscan Pantheon), and our rehearsal room was a cave dug into the tuff in Etruscan times. Everything here speaks of our ancestors... And yet there is a dizzying abyss between the modern citizens of these parts (now too often belonging to other ethnic groups and cultures). Almost daily, I venture into the woods and countryside to enter necropolises, "use" altars and places that still prove to be very active from an energetic point of view. We know nothing about the Etruscan Discipline, but these stones speak to us in some way. These nocturnal ritual experiences prove to be much more "effective" than the meditations carried out in the safety of domestic walls. What happens on these occasions is difficult to express even in albums like this. Ours is only a humble attempt to convey to the world something of those moments so Numinous. I would say that it is not a question of fascination, but an obligatory reminder of the Blood and the Soil.

Lyc: The new album, “Fathan Aiseras Seus”, is conceptually centered around Etruscan traditions/mythology, but I picked up on some spiritual connotations as well. 

NV: Absolutely, it's a totally spiritual approach. We are not interested in conveying historical or cultural information about Etruria. Fathan Aiseras Seus (etruscan ritual mantra for "To the Genius of the Dark Gods") is a gift to the Gods and Spirits of these places... Or perhaps it is a gift from the Gods to us in these unworthy times.

Lyc: The new material doesn’t at all feel like it was recorded using conventional methods ie: a group of guys sitting around exchanging ideas. It’s a very meditative, almost ritualistic recording. How would you describe the recording process?

NV: It was a process made mostly of extra-musical aspects linked to the exploration of the other side in the necropolises and to an extreme search for immersion in the energies of these places, which incredibly always gives something new, even though I have always known them. These are tracks that I have returned to several times to take care of every detail. Certainly a different experience from Ad Omega's previous release, Aphelic Ascent, which was an eschatological album, and in its complexity, it occurred in a more immediate process. “Fathan Aiseras Seus” is tuff, soil, blood and Genius Loci. It has to do with forays into the most liminal places around this area, which reveal the implications of their magic in a changing and layered way. It is also the first album with H.D.W. on drums, who brought his ideas and experience not only with regarding the rhythmic line, but for certain choices on the definitive sound too.

Lyc: There was a brief blurb in the demo about the concept of the album relating to the death of Atheism. I genuinely feel sorry for these individuals. To be spiritually bankrupt is no way to live. How do you feel about Atheism? Particularly the Church of Satan, which was founded by Anton LaVey in 1966 - an Atheistic establishment that uses Satanic imagery merely as a way to blaspheme the Church, as opposed to walking any sort of spiritual path.

NV: Atheism is the perfect ideology for these degenerate times. It is, in a certain sense, cause and effect. Modern man thinks he is freed from religious dogmatism. In reality, he is prey to his illusions and hubris - a servant of his own material and political cages. This is Kali Yuga, made up of the depravities of this humanity far from the Gods. The Church of Satan is just fake Satanism for Atheist Liberals; ultimately functional to the Judeo-Christian goals, which want nothing left but obedience. LaVey had built a system of thought based on the cult of the ego and the mundane.

Lyc: Satanism is a broad term these days. There are so many different ideas and beliefs surrounding Him that it can be overwhelming. How do you perceive Satan and how does Satanism tie into Ad Omega’s music? 

NV: I consider Satanism as the Occult path through which the Man of the new Aeon will be formed - a new human type capable of integrating the acausal that is in him into the causal reality... A Total Man!  This process is individual, it cannot rely on the rules and dogmas of this or that group that claim to have the truth in their hands. It passes through a very advanced knowledge of the Self; on overcoming one's own limits. It is a path that continually brings you into contact with new aspects of what you thought you knew. It is often very dangerous, because the acausal intoxicates us. It requires humility and dedication. I am only one who welcomes the Mystery, one who wants to explore it, who realizes that I am human, all too human. I don't think the right way is to understand Satanism based on the different ideas that exist about it, but it is certainly useful to understand firsthand what is right for you and what is not, what really guides you on a path of growth and what only sells us empty illusions. This spiritual path, which is constantly changing and evolving, spontaneously flows into Ad Omega.

Lyc: The creation of Black Metal can be quite an enlightening endeavor; both internally and externally. What’s the most valuable or profound epiphany that you’ve experienced while creating your art?

NV: There are many crucial moments that I have experienced, especially related to the creative processes of “Aphelic Ascent” and “Fathan Aiseras Seus”. However, I would say that the genesis of my ambient project Lucusfauni is something that has to do with the otherworldly: I went, like other times, to an Etruscan tomb; intoxicated by alcohol to meditate. "Something" interacted very clearly with me in that context, and I came out with ideas that came from elsewhere, from ancient times. I remained locked in my studio for a week until that energy was exhausted in the composition of “Opus Necropolis” - our debut album also produced by Zazen Sounds in 2024. Few other times I had such a ravenous compositional urgency... It was a new beginning! A new project that had imposed itself in my artistic life, and that came from totally otherworldly inspirations. In that period, there was also an acceleration in the writing of “Fathan Aiseras Seus”. In fact, “Opus Necropolis” is the other side of the coin: they are two albums that should be enjoyed almost together for a total experience, and in fact, both have an image of the Etruscan door to the afterlife on the cover.

Lyc: There’s a shift being undertaken within the scene now as the Genre has become increasingly popular and with the onset of technology that disgraces the music. How do you feel about the current state of Black Metal?

NV: I don't know if you're referring to the use of AI, but if so, I'm totally against its use in any art form. More than ever in Black Metal, which should be antinomic and shouldn't follow the contingencies and trends of the moment. It's not just conservationism, but I think that Art is beyond time, and that it depends on experiences and maturations that concern man and the world, man and the liminal... No machine can replace this in the creative process. I think that this environment, today, is under a very violent attack from political pressures linked to the woke ideology, political correctness and similar bullshit, which uses the definition "Black Metal" for situations that are not at all Black Metal. There has certainly been, over the years, an increase in posers for whom it is important to fill their leather jacket with shitty patches and pins, but who have no idea how devastating and salvific at the same time, it is to truly immerse oneself in the Ethos of this music of Mystery, which stirs the most ancestral and violent instincts of man. No, guys, this is not something to be shared lightheartedly at the pub with friends! There is no point in trying to tame the untamed nature of this music, which is not just music. Their bluff is doomed to fail! The saddest thing is to see that some bands, labels or zines give up their dignity for fear of offending those lobbies of power. I assure you, being part of several bands and projects, we have received indecent emails in which we were ordered not to use certain words, not to express certain ideas too explicitly or even to be careful about the label we are associated with if it is considered not aligned with the needs of ridiculous contemporary ideologies. As Ad Omega, we are part of the Rasna Henthu Macstrevc (Etrurian Infernal Commando) - the Etrurian scene together with Exaltatio Diaboli, A Monumental Black Statue, Lucusfauni and Gibur. Our coven is not only based on sharing origins and spiritual researches, but also on a strong ideological union. We are a front that opposes all this shit and mediocrity!


Lyc: Do you have a message for the hordes?

Black Metal is what remains standing while everything around collapses…

~Noktvrnal Veitha

A special thank you to NV and Ad Omega.

~Jeger

Experience “Fathan Aiseras Seus” by Ad Omega right here at Bandcamp:

https://adomega.bandcamp.com/album/fathan-aiseras-seus