Alukta emerges from loss and ritual, blending doom and black metal with tribal influences. Their debut album Merok explores Toraja funeral rites, channeled through raw emotion, immersive soundscapes, and personal catharsis.
1. Alukta was born out of mourning
and a desire to explore old tribal customs. Can you tell us more about the
emotions and personal experiences that led to the creation of this project?
Marie : The
loss of beloved ones mixed with a harsh emotional/physical period where I felt
like I was slowly dying, which lead to a dark, crushing mood, a lot of pain to
exult and in the meantime the need to escape, through music but also through
another civilization, far and different yet so close by the most painful and
personal thing that we all share : death.
2. Your debut album Merok is
inspired by the funeral rites of the Toraja people. What drew you to these
rituals, and how did they shape the album’s themes and atmosphere?
Marie : I
can’t remember precisely when I first heard of these people but I got really
captivated by all their rites which are really particular : They keep their
dead in their houses until the day of their funeral, as if they were only sick.
The funerals are a huge celebration where pigs and sacred buffaloes are
sacrificed in a real bloodbath to accompany the dead as food and vehicles for
the afterlife. Then the shroud is brought to the deep forest and family come
regularly visit the corpse. Besides the very Black Metal spirit of all their
customs, I enjoyed the fact that, despite a slow but certain modernization,
they keep honoring their ancient rites and ways.
I’ve always
been attracted by tribal/ritual stuff and started to include a little bit of it
in Transcending Rites (my other band with Déhà) so Alukta, as a new project,
was the occasion of including more of it and taking this direction with
percussion and “ethnic singing”.
3. Marie, you transitioned from a
fully black metal background to a more doom-oriented approach with Alukta. What
inspired this shift, and how did it influence your vocal style on Merok?
Marie :
Déhà told me one day that I should compose some Doom music because I had a
touch for it, that my Brouillard albums often contained this heavy and
enveloping atmosphere and that I would surely be good at making it. To be
honest I don't really like Doom ahah, on the other hand I like challenges so it
didn't take more for me to try. But there were some conditions, it had to
please myself so I had to remove everything that annoys me in Doom: the
guttural vocals that I find so inexpressive, in favor of black howls, and the
boredom, in favor of music that is not extremely repetitive and quite rich and
melodic - for Doom - And then there should be a somewhat original concept:
death, but through very specific and quite extreme rites. And I wanted at that
moment to experiment with a new use of my voice. I couldn't explain why, I had
to say things clearly and loud, something that came from the gut!
Déhà :
Indeed, Marie's “doom” moments in her discography are amazing to me, and as a
(very slow) doom metal lover, it was... a hunch, just a hunch that maybe, she
should try. And man, am I happy that she took the challenge.
4. Déhà, you’re known for your work
in multiple projects, including Slow and Wolvennest. What was your creative
input in Alukta, and how did you approach the production and arrangements
of Merok?
Déhà : Alukta is mostly Marie's genius working. I'm arranging the songs because of the knowledge I have in the doom metal niche, but I am following Marie's vision which, to me, is the spirit of Alukta. Yet, I am not "just" the arranger behind the studio, I am in the band completely. We share the instruments, except the drums that I do myself. The production of Merok was not easy, which is great as it is a challenge most welcome, and we are really happy and proud of the result. Alukta is unique and completely different of anything we've both done!
5. Rituals and death play a central
role in Alukta’s concept. Do you see your music as a form of ritual in itself?
How do you channel these themes into your compositions?
Marie : I
see all my projects as forms of rituals, yes. When I compose, I immerse myself
completely in an atmosphere, I am 24/7 in the creation, to really enter
intimately into the concept, plunging myself into a form of trance. Death was
the logical subject at that moment, for different reasons, because it had just
passed by, because it wakes me up every fucking night like I scream in
"Kombengi", because it obsesses and terrifies me as much as it
fascinates me. It's cool that you use the term "channeling" because I
really experience inspiration as a form of magical reception, it's as if I
start to create in spite of myself because I receive ideas that I channel, as
long as I am in the right state of mind, open and ready.
Déhà : I
second all. Maybe I can simply add that as a healer, rituals aren't unknown to
me and what more than healing ourselves through music? I've been doing this for
so many years now, and compared to people being in a fashionable scene where
everything is “fake it until you make it”, we are. We just are. We face our
worst demons head on, and I know I am, as well, terrified of death, so it's
been not only a challenge, but eye opening as well and, in a way, healing.
6. The combination of doom and
ritual black metal creates a very immersive and atmospheric sound. What were
some of your key musical influences while writing Merok?
Marie : To
be honest? None really. As I said before, I don't like Doom and therefore don't
listen to it. At all. That's probably why the Black Metal side still stands out
quite a bit. But I remember that it came over me like a need to pee, I first
started making clean ethnic vocals and basic tribal percussion, then simple,
slow melodies started to come, and hop, the mechanism started, the channel was
open...
Déhà :
There are definitely no outside influences when it comes to Alukta. Marie's
personality is paramount and you can, really, feel that the music is written by
someone who's black metal. As I am too. It was, for me, easy to make this doom
stands out from others, because... is it doom? Eh. Fuck etiquettes.
7. The album was recorded at Opus
Magnum Studio in Brussels. How was the recording process? Were there any
particular moments that stood out during the creation of Merok?
Déhà : We
had preproductions done, so we went from that & recorded at my studio,
indeed in Brussels. Mostly, Marie's vocals, basses & a lot of guitars were
done on her side, so I completed it with my own, and she helped me recording
the drums. We also spent a lot of hours for the mixing & mastering
together. What stood out during this process was, again, how smooth it all went
for the actual creation, and how we were "ok, that's it!" almost all
the time. That kind of magic doesn't happen all the time, but every time we've
worked together, yes - whether for Alukta or Transcending Rites.
Marie :
Yeah we really always have a great time working together as each of us brings
some ideas, we try them and we pretty much always agree on which are cool and
which suck. You want some special recording anecdote ? “Des teintes
d’éternités” is so personal and painful that I could not work on it in the
studio while mixing, I remember we were drinking some Jupilers (Belgium heh)
and with the alcohol kick I was crying every time the song began uhuh, hard
time.
Déhà : “facing demons head on”.
8. Your track “Exuvia” is being
highlighted for radio play. What can you tell us about this song, and why do
you think it represents Merok so well?
Marie : I
think it was the first one I composed, I don't know if it's the one that best
represents Alukta but it's the essence of it. It's quite rhythmic, engaging,
contains a beautiful finale of clear singing and a good touch of half-crazy
sorcerer ritual, so it was the obvious one to highlight.
9. Transcendance is a label deeply
rooted in the black metal underground. How did your collaboration with them
come about, and what does it mean for Alukta to be part of their roster?
Marie :
Heh, simple : I own this Transcendance, and we didn’t have any other
chances of collaboration with the few other labels that we reached out. So
instead of spending weeks trying to find one, we decide to use my own structure
and keep it for ourselves. The album remains quite Black Metal and I knew a big
part of my listeners also enjoyed doom music so it wasn’t too weird of a
decision in the end. And I really like to control everything and decide what
happens to my music,
make special hand crafted editions etc.. so it’s pretty cool to have released
it by myself.
Déhà : Full
disclosure, this was the obvious choice. Despite trying, I've had bad
experiences with labels and it's so much annoying to try and make these people
understand that... yeah, this is good music, stop fucking around, sign us and
fuck your contracts, we are the underground. But eh, do it with your own hands.
It's better in the end.
10. Now that Merok is
set for release, what’s next for Alukta? Do you have plans for live
performances, or will the project remain a studio-based endeavor?
Marie :
Live performance would be amazing with this band but it would also imply a
shitload of musicians and technicians since there is at least 3 guitars and
sometimes 3 or 4 different vocalists, so I don’t know how we could do this….
Another album some day is most likely for now.
Déhà :
We're taking it easy. We'll compose when we feel it, and do more if we feel
like it. The pressure we've lived is enough and we need to remove this from our
life. So : no pressure, no deadline. But it is definite that we want to keep on
composing for Alukta.
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