Interview with Tyrant of Malum

Finnish Black Metal needs no introduction. Ever since Beherit helped pave the way for the explosion of the genre throughout the 1990s and beyond, Finland has produced some of the finest exponents of black art. Bands such as Horna, Sargeist, Musta Surma, Behexen and Forgjord established a high benchmark for quality, releasing consistently excellent recordings and delivering blistering live performances. Today, Finland boasts an impressive number of Black Metal acts who continue to break new  ground, and the tidal wave shows no signs of stopping.

Malum, formed in 2013, hail from Turku on the southwestern coast of Finland, and are yet another Finnish metal export that have produced a string of first-class releases since 2015’s debut Crowned with the Serpent Sun. Splits with Insane Vesper and Lathspell, and 2019’s Legion laid bare their highly impressive song writing capability, and has catapulted the band firmly into Black Metal’s major league.

Fiercely devoted to Satanism, Malum are nothing if honest and utterly motivated to wage sonic warfare against mainstream mediocrity and the pointless farce that is organised religion. They are all too real, all too true and burn the black flame fiercely in their proud Finnish hearts.

Now strengthened with the addition of Archgoat drumming legend Goat Aggressor, Malum have just released their latest aural assault Devil’s Creation, a fierce, powerful homage to Satan that includes some of the band’s best compositions to date. I met up with vocalist and chief songwriter Tyrant to talk about the new album, and Malum’s rise to prominence.

Hailz Tyrant, many thanks for agreeing to do this interview for Seelenfeuer magazine.

Congratulations on the release of Devil’s Creation which is yet another great release from Malum. Are the band as a whole pleased with the album?

I think we are. I think the album is honest and sounds like it should. No fancy things etc.

Night of the Luciferian Light had some really strong tracks, do you feel that your song writing has strengthened and improved in recent years?

I think we have grown stronger in this part. During our last album (Legion) we found the path where we want to take our journey to. Devil’s Creation is kind of a continuum to Legion, but a stronger album in my opinion.

I love the production on Devil’s Creation which has a really epic, majestic feel. How long did it take to write, record and produce?

The composition session did not take too long. We follow the same formula as before. We made a few riffs before the actual session and gathered the rest of the songs around it.

I think the recording session went quite fast as well. No big problems or anything. And the same goes with the producing process. Hex Inferi is just the right guy for us. He knew immediately what we wanted.

As a Satanic band what does Satanism mean to you all? I mean it’s clearly a way of life for you, but are you conveying a specific message?

There is not a specific message. Just thoughts about how I see things. I’ll try to keep Malum’s lyrics very simple so people could more easily join us. Even if I enjoy reading “deeper” lyrics by myself. Our formula is kinda simple… Glorification of Evil, and Blasphemy.

How has Goat Aggressor joining Malum changed the dynamics of the band? Obviously, he’s a fantastic drummer, but what has he added in terms of song writing and performance?

Goat Aggressor is way more aggressive than the previous drummer and that fits us better. So now the dynamics are even better than before.

We have played two gigs together so far (since the corona shit) and those two gigs have been more complete than any gigs before.

About the song writing… He already brought something to our songs (Devil’s Creation). And I liked the fact that he understood the way we want to do Black Metal. No fancy things, for example.  Still, he was a bit shy, hahaha. He could bring in some more. But maybe on the next album.

When you write for an album do you come up with the majority of the ideas, or do all of Malum contribute at that stage?

I do the basic work for the album, but every member has their own part on it. They give me some material to work with and I will shape it into a right form.

Personally, I totally agree with glorifying blasphemy. Do you think organized religion, and Christianity in particular, is still the potent force it used to be? Do you think it will finally die our in Europe?

At the moment it’s not as strong as it used to be. But every religion has the potential to rise. You can’t just forget their acts and terror because they are weaker than before. I think it will never die completely.

It found it pretty hard to single out one track I especially liked on Devil’s Creation, they are all so strong. Ultimately, I would go for Son of the Dracul. Who is Dracul, what is the song about?

The song is about the Vlad Tepes. “Dracul” means “the devil”.

The artwork is as ever excellent. Who designs the covers, and what was the idea behind the new one?

I always give the idea to our cover art artist Roni Ärling. So far, he has done an excellent job with every album (Night of the Luciferian Light, Lathspell split, Legion).

On this album I wanted to mock maybe the most important moment of Christianity and glorify the Devil’s victory over God.

The split with Lathspell in 2018 was a great release. Do you plan any more splits, do you have any bands in mind for that?

We won’t do any split albums anymore. I find it kind of pointless to mix two or more different points of view in the same album.

Once the Covid situation settles down, I guess you will get back to live work as soon as possible. Are you making plans for some live shows? If so, will you be playing in Germany?

We have agreed to a few gigs in Europe so far, including Germany. We were supposed to play in Germany just before the Covid shit started and now that gig is just postponed (twice). So far Germany and Russia have been the best places for us.

With Finnish Black Metal now in such a strong position you must feel very proud. Do you have any particular bands that you like?

Indeed I am. I do not have any favourite bands but I would recommend people to check a few bands. From our hometown: Kryptamok, which is a really good one. And another newer band called Aesthus which is giving us some promising signs.

One can only guess what heights Malum will reach in future. Their scathing, relentlessly blasphemic assault on the Christ cult will never weaken and is matched only by an incredible energy present in each of their ever-improving recordings. Malum are driven, highly gifted musicians whose following will doubtless continue to grow in the years to come. Soon, they will bring their black fire to Germany again, and that really will be something to relish.

Devil ‚s Creation is available from https://shop.purity-through-fire.com