Interview Mefitis

Mefitis, blending black, death, and doom metal since 2007, crafts intricate soundscapes and immersive narratives. Their latest album, The Skorian // The Greyleer, pushes boundaries with its dual-concept vision and analog recording approach.

1. MEFITIS has a deep history, having formed in 2007. How did the two of you, Pendath and Vatha, originally come together, and what was your initial vision for the band when you first started?

Vatha: I chanced upon Pendath at a local venue, where it quickly became apparent we shared common musical interests. The benefit of metal’s “uniform” I suppose! Better still, he played drums and had a group of fellow youngsters in need of a fourth member. From the first day I joined and began playing alongside Pendath, it only became more clear that our purposes were aligned. The two of us admired all corners of musical extremity, and had a vision for synthesizing all of our influences into something uniquely potent. Immediately the music became darker, filled with minor intervals, twisting chromatic riffs, and hideous growls. Once we had alienated the two thrash-loving members to the point of their departure, we became Mefitis.

2. Your music is described as a blend of black and death metal with a distinct dark metal vision. How do you balance the two genres, and how do you define “dark metal” in the context of your sound?

V: Since day one, we never felt that one tag could encompass all of our ideas. Rather, the idea would be to write songs that incorporate elements of black, death, and doom metal all at once. So it’s not so much a matter of writing “a black metal riff” followed by “a death metal riff,” but creating our own musical vocabulary that draws from both. As far as calling ourselves dark metal, this was borrowed of course from Bethlehem’s album of that name and initially conceived as a substitute for the clumsier “blackened death.” Not that we intended to follow the work of Bethlehem in particular, but they did exemplify the use of different genre ‘modes’ in service of creating a striking and distinct mood. And that’s what dark metal is to us, not a technique as much as a toolkit for sculpting our bleak vision.

3. The Skorian // The Greyleer is a dual album concept, with the two halves reflecting each other. Can you explain the thematic connection between these two parts and how they complement each other?

V: The dual titles each describe an entity of some kind. But while a Skorian would be a more tangible character (a denizen of Skoria), the Greyleer is more an object imbued with some characteristics of life. Therefore the world of The Skorian is one in which things are acted and beings are acted upon, while in The Greyleer we may find ourselves entirely within the musings of an unidentified dreamer. These all draw from the same pool of concepts, and the earlier songs read like more straightforward narratives. But as the project wore on I was essentially forced to become more and more abstract in order to explore the album’s themes to their utmost. Elsewhere we have described the two halves as “internal” and “external,” which I think a fitting summation.

4. Your latest album was recorded entirely on analog tape, which is an unconventional choice in today’s digital age. What inspired you to go this route, and how did this decision affect the creative process?

V: The decision to use tape was simply inspired by our acquisition of a reel-to-reel machine. Tape has a mystique, and the machine lends its own character to whatever sound it prints. I am always a proponent of self-set limitations and parameters around creating new music. For instance, forcing oneself to write an entire song in a single day and incite the muse’s gift. It doesn’t always work of course, but something of value may often result from the effort. Using tape was one such limitation that would guide us during the initial songwriting phase for this album, we focused on building songs with (relatively) basic component parts which we could reliably play. Key to us is that each section or riff has a distinct mood, and therefore that you experience the songs as a series of images or scenes. Neither of us is content with writing mere riff cycles now; each constituent part should be equally exciting and integral to the whole.

5. The world of Skoria is a conceptual framework for your music. Could you delve deeper into the significance of Skoria and how it shapes the narrative and atmosphere of your albums?

V: Skoria is something that has always existed in our music, though it lacked a moniker until the recording of Emberdawn and the track which bore the name. This is the canvas where our songs take form. Having a ‘world’ in which our music lives is important to us. For one, it gives a sort of continuity to the lyrical themes and aesthetic choices of our albums. But perhaps more importantly is the idea that our songs conceptually exist outside of place and time. One reading along with the lyrics might perceive it as a distant past or possible future, as a far-flung world or a reflection of our own. This means we can also create concepts which stand on their own within the skorian setting, rather than relying on allegory, allusion, or the need to draw from some other creator’s body of work. Certainly there are themes here which are echoes of those found in other media, but I personally disdain lyrics which outsource their entire creative framework to say, a single author.  Or worse yet, to the collected cliches of accepted “metal” imagery.

6. You’ve said that The Skorian // The Greyleer questions the notion of the 'self' as an entity in thrall to its master. How does this philosophical theme manifest in the music and lyrics of the album?

Vatha: The lyrical themes on the record all express some notion of a reflexive identity or the self as an “other.” This is put perhaps most bluntly in a track like “The Untwined One,” which repurposes the classic gothic nightmare of a protagonist and his perfect copy (perhaps too perfect). In another case on “Watcher Over His Own,” a sentient statue who is forced to gaze for all eternity on an identical sculpture develops a resentment which soon turns to antipathy. These themes weren’t necessarily planned from the outset of this album, but took shape in a confluence of books I was reading as well as our awareness that we were challenging our own very reflections. A lot of our thematic development is through happenstance, with the music always taking precedent and everything else following. But I think it all flows from the same wellspring; we claw these ideas from the same aether and force them into different media. 

7. "The Untwined One" has been chosen as the representative track for this release. What makes this track a fitting introduction to The Skorian, and what can listeners expect from the rest of the album?

V: We selected “The Untwined One” as a fitting encapsulation of our dark metal direction, while also being a bridge to fans of our earlier material. This song conveys a bit of our alchemical approach to writing, where one musical idea is twisted or inverted and presented as either a layer of harmony or new variation. Additionally it shows our growing fondness for constructing song sections ‘upward,’ building on a foundational riff with added voices and instruments. Other tracks on the album chart will more daring courses across the dark metal landscape, particularly on The Greyleer (i.e. side B).

8. Both halves of the album were recorded at different times and locations but are meant to be interconnected. How did this separation influence the sound or atmosphere of the two parts? Were there any challenges in maintaining cohesion between them?

V: Initially, The Skorian was to be a standalone EP. A shorter format befits a more experimental release, which is how we viewed our early forays into tape recording. As Pendath and I continued development on the EP, we gradually realized a distinct identity coalescing around some of the newer songs. Two distinct faces had materialized: one an imagined past, one a forgotten future. So, the concept shifted to a concurrent double EP release that would carry the more traditional dark metal songs in its first chapter and the less conventional works in the second. This is officially a single album, but to us it will always be a musical duology.

Due to circumstances largely beyond our control (mainly space and time), we recorded The Greyleer portion of the album at a different space with mostly different equipment. The tape machine remained a constant between the two halves. Overall, reconciling the slight differences in sonic character between the two sides proved a surmountable obstacle. I would even say it’s an asset to the flow of the record, since it sign-posts the change of pace going into side B.  Our design with the “dual EP” structure is that listeners can choose to experience either half at a time or the entirety in one go.

9. Your music has always explored desolate and bleak themes. What personal or external influences inspire the grim and often introspective subject matter of your work?

V: While I wouldn’t characterize either of us as having a particularly bleak disposition, Pendath and I have been drawn to the dark and dramatic in art from an early age. I had an interest in fantasy and sci-fi as a boy, the main appeal being the existence of misty worlds full of intrigue with their own developed histories. In a sense, listening to a great musician or reading a great poet also introduces you to their creative ‘world’ with its own histories and vernacular. I think darkness of any sort lends gravity to many forms of art, though I can only guess at why. Perhaps this boils down to something as simple as memento mori, which itself can wear the mask of our most base level fears. Fear of darkness, the lurking shadow in the periphery and footfalls disturbing the low brush, are these not all death? Yet we don’t despair in this experience, quite the opposite. Well, certainly some enervating metal music delights in despair. But I think most of us gravitated towards it because we thrill in proximity to the morbid. 

10. The visual side of your albums is as important as the music. Can you tell us about the collaboration with Billy Norrby, Catarina Putri, Saheefa Mustafa, and Forest Hughes for the artwork? How do their contributions enhance the overall experience of The Skorian // The Greyleer?

V: I approached Billy Norrby after discovering his excellent fantasy and sci-fi inspired paintings. This might be his first credit on a metal album to my knowledge. The whole experience working with Billy was excellent: he immediately understood our vision, the aesthetic of Skoria, and worked closely with us to conjure a unique and striking work of art. I believe the new cover will inspire intrigue and create a lasting impression. After all, it’s looking right at you!

11. Since your return with Emberdawn in 2019, how has your approach to music evolved with each album, particularly with Offscourings and now The Skorian // The Greyleer?

V: While Emberdawn was a bit of a “proving ground” for our ideas, Offscourings was made with the prior experience of creating an album. That second record was made on a shorter time frame and with much more consistent recording practices, and so feels like our most uniform album in a sense. With the The Skorian // The Greyleer, we wanted to create melodies and soundscapes that we hadn’t made before. In a way it hearkens back to the debut, or the ethos of that record at least.

12. Looking beyond this release, what future directions do you envision for MEFITIS? Do you plan to explore more conceptual albums, or are there any other experimental elements you’re interested in pursuing next?

V: As suggested above, some of the musical sketches on The Greyleer may indicate towards possible future directions for Mefitis. In particular, I find “…And the Mason Wept” and “In Gloom’s Gorge” to be our most dynamic, most fluent, and most expressionist tracks to date. There is much in these climes to chart further. Meanwhile, Pendath and I will remain busy with Mefitis and our other musical outlets. I won’t reveal too much here, but there is certainly more dark metal on the not-too-distant horizon. 

Cheers, and thanks for the interview!

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