THE PROJECT HATE MCMXCIX – Part 2: The New Apocalypse

Past. Present. More hate. More music. More death. Lord K. Philipson replies.

What do you become inspired by, musically speaking? Or perhaps it is now, having many albums in your roster, that you kind of inspire yourself, always searching for the minor or bigger details that drive your music further?

It’s mostly about challenging and inspiring myself by myself, yes. I have heard it all already. I am 37 years old, nothing shocks me anymore in music. It’s not like when I was a kid and heard Slayer or Iron Maiden for the first time. The novelty of those experiences are long gone so I turn to myself and what I wanna hear in music as a whole. And TPH is that. Of course I can hear some excellent bands who fire up something really fucken good, and that might inspire me to write a special section or something – without it sounding like what I heard, as mentioned before. There is a section on the new album that I doubt I would have executed as I executed it if it weren’t for Watain, for example. Is Watain an influence as a whole for me? Absolutely not. Are they a great fucken band? Oh yes. But I listen to so much music, it all inspires me in some way even if it may not be as obvious to anyone else as it is to me. A great song is a great song, no matter the influences.

When it comes to lyrics, I suppose it’s good ol’ Hate that’s the main focus, your main project, so to speak. Taking for granted that we’re speaking of violence and that Christianity is not your favourite religion, why do you choose to spread your music to people who mostly are on the same level? I mean, I don’t like Christianity, so what’s in it for me?

How about the best fucken music you ever had the privilege to hear? Good enough for ya? I know it is for me anyways. I have a hard time believing Christians could stomach what we do musically if they take in the message we provide. The lyrics as a whole is an instruction manual. Learn it. It’s all a weapon in the war against everything that is holy. Welcome destruction. Welcome the end.

A bit political, but Sweden is, just as Norway, quite Americanized. And the politicians can’t say a bad word about dark skinned people (read; negroes) or Jews or Arabs without being accused of being racists, thus are not permitted to have an opinion. How does metal people, as far as you know, regard the immigration in Sweden and what kind of thoughts do you have on terrorism? I mean, looking apart from the religious and political aspects of the campaign, these terrorists do the devil’s work, just like the Christian Church were doing back in the day. Now the Christian Church focus more on your boys’ behinds…

I have exactly zero interest in discussing politics. Fuck it all. You have to have in mind though that raping kids in the name of Jesus is ok. And hey, they are priests after all. It’s probably in the bible too, you know. Now that is some serious distorted bullshit. Still it goes on and on and on…

Do you think The Project Hate MSMXCIX is the best band in the world, or best project if you will?

It is without a doubt the best fucken music I have ever heard in my life and will ever hear. That’s the whole point. Do everyone agree? Fucken hardly so, and I hope that never changes.

How do you manage to bring in the various artists to help you out during the recordings, and what is that makes them necessary to you, since aiding artists seem to be an important aspect of the band? As in, when do you know you need in example Leif Edlund to have a conversation in "Summoning Majestic War"?

You wrote "Leif Edlund". His name is Edling. Spelling his name wrong is a reason good enough to end this interview right here. You must not spell Leif’s last name wrong, it is blasphemy. Then again, blasphemy is one of the things we promote, so I guess we’ll continue, yes? To include Leif, f.e, wasn’t my idea – it was Jörgen’s. Jörgen might not be a fan of TPH but he sure knows what the fuck I am a fan of. He called me up and told me we really should have Leif for a part of this particular tune. And so we did. He added that perfect, twisted persona to the intro of the song, making the atmosphere more vicious than it was initially. I always wanna use people who can add something to what we do. I don’t want them there becoz they have a "huge name" or something. I don’t give a fuck about that. This is about enhancing what we are creating. To perfect it. Leif was another piece of the puzzle to get there, and his spoken part is majestic, as the title implies. When it comes to other guests it’s all about them having certain qualities that I know will make our work even better. I can’t play solos like Mike Wead, so why not ask Mike Wead to do solos? He’s one of the best guitarists I have ever heard and to have him on the last 2 albums is such a huge fucken honour to me. I wish I could play solos like him. The fact that he’s a TPH fan is just a fucken bonus. I am a Mike Wead fan, so hey… I will continue to ask him to contribute for as long as he feels like it. As I said, it’s an honour to have him helping out.

There are others who are appearing here and there becoz they truly add something unique to our sound. Martin van Drunen for example. He did quite a bunch of backing vocals on our last album. Can’t speak highly enough of this crazy fucker. And I can’t thank him enough either. Or Amon Amarth’s Johan Hegg. Or… blablabla.. or.. blablabla..  It’s just a matter of asking them. Most of them we know personally which sure make things easier. The list goes on and on and on. As mentioned, I can never thank them enough, all the people who have contributed over the years. They should be fucken honoured they were asked to helped out when I think about it, haha…

Being on the said song, a marvellous journey through the death of the dogs of Heaven, it amuses me and I think it’s a great thing, that the title of the album is in there. But there’s one subject that needs further investigation, without turning it into a book. What is the most destroying aspect of the origins of Christendom, from your point of view, and why do the Christian seven deadly sins demand all residence that we can come up with?

To have people follow you blindly, you have to strip them of all their free will. You have to make them puppets and terminate all of their individual thoughts. Kill their spirits. Make them hollow. That’s where the 7 deadly sins come in, among other things. People who serve "God" and live by the bible are dead, alone and useless. They just don’t know it. Yet. We could talk about this for hours but the subject bores me since I have explained my stance on it over and over during all these years. Christianity is a sickness and we have decided to be a part of the cure.

To me, it feels like your music has a constant flow, no matter which song and after which part. The length is of less importance. What is it that people/fans consider to be most important when it comes to your music and the totality of The Project Hate?

I have absolutely no fucken idea and I seriously do not give a fuck. I am not writing this music for "them". I am writing this for me. But a band is nothing without its supporters, and it seems like quite a few people have taken a liking in what TPH is all about. I cherish that and it’s a huge, huge compliment, but I would still be doing this were zero people there to support it. Obviously a few people thought Mia was the important part of TPH. I didn’t. Obviously a few thought Jo was the important part of TPH. I didn’t. I know that the important part of TPH is exactly where we are today, this very second. As I said; it all led us to this. And it will become even clearer to everyone in the future. It’s flattering to see that so many people care to give the slightest of fucks about TPH. You are all going to hell with us.

"Bring heaven the torture, let the slaughter begin Hear thy words, speak them with might Terminate the order of light". And after the termination? Freedom? Violence? The survival of the fittest? What shall we do when the light has vanished?

We’ll devote ourselves to endless gluttony. Of all kinds. Welcome darkness. Welcome The New Apocalypse.