Some time ago, an email in our promo folder caught our eye. It promised an album of experimental post-industrial electronics, dark ambience and tribal elements, and invoked names such as Current 93, Coil and Nurse With Wound. Of course we had to download the promo and hear what it was all about. To our surprise and delight, it delivered on the promises. The album in question was US act Kathodos’ debut Parasomnia: Pavor Nocturnus (review). Intrigued by the thematic concept and the musical framework, we got in touch with the band to ask some tough questions. Kathodos, the man behind the project of the same name, was kind enough to answer them.
Kathodos was conceptualized in 2019 when I grew tired of being a rock vocalist for a live band that was into upbeat music and I wanted to do something darker musically, Kathodos reiterates the origins of the band.
What originally started out as a pretty straightforward dark ambient project quickly morphed into something else. A pivotal moment was when Kathodos became familiar with classics acts of the UK post-industrial scene such as Nurse With Wound, Coil and Current 93 – as can be heard on the album, one might add. These inspired the work-in-progress debut album to veer in a direction that combined drones and tribal beats with a foundation of dark music.
The debut album Parasomnia: Pavor Nocturnus, on which Kathodos is joined by Lavinia on soprano and guitar, was originally written and mostly recorded in 2021 and 2022, but was ultimately put on hold due to personal reasons until 2023. It was first released by a digital only label in 2024, and received quite well despite almost total lack of promotion. As such, Kathodos is interested in seeing how the album will be received now, backed by a proper label and a re-release on CD.
The influence from aforementioned esoteric UK legends such as Coil and Nurse With Wounds is not difficult to spot on the album. Kathodos himself raises Nurse With Wound as the primary influence among these:
– Their album, Soliloquy for Lilith, showed me how dark and unsettling drone music can be. I also loved what NWW was doing with tribal beats, he says, and adds that this inspired him to incorporate some of the unnerving drones and beats to be heard on the album. He was also inspired by Coil’s unusual song structures combined with the strong presence of lead vocals. On the whole, however, Kathodos stresses that Parasomnia is not a pastiche; the inspirations are merely inspirations, not something the entirety of the album was modeled around.
Apart from the musical influences, Kathodos muses that there aren’t too many direct influences. With one notable exception. The track The Dark Priests was influenced by a scene in Stanley Kubrick’s final film, 1999’s Eyes Wide Shut:
– In the film, there is an incredibly dark scene featuring a Satanic Mass, where worshippers are clad in masks and black robes. Depending on what your religious beliefs are, this track could either represent your worst nightmare or be an extremely satisfying experience, he says.
Otherwise, seeming influences are more incidental. For example, Kathodos mentions, one might assume that the works of the painter Odilon Redon have inspired Parasomnia, seeing as how Redon’s work is featured on the cover. However, he discovered Redon only after the album was completed, and found the artist’s work fits the atmosphere of the album to a tee. Similarly, there are some similar vibes in …Window’s lyrics to Edgar Allan Poe’s The Telltale Heart, which album contributor Lavinia pointed out – but these were not intentional.
According to the promo sheet, Parasomnia is “meant to be experienced as a sequence of strange dreams.” Kathodos explains that the concept is more abstract than literal. And adds that at least he doesn’t typically have the kind of dreams that’d evoke imagery like those on the album.
– I wish I did though, he laughs.
The album is a combination of contrasting soundscapes and atmospheres. Nightmarish drones and unsettling sounds contrast with beautiful resonances and a rarified atmosphere. Kathodos says the album is intended to take the listener on a journey of dream sequences that entail all the elements that make dreams worthy of experiencing every time we sleep. The goal was not to make the album as dark and terrifying as possible, but encompass the whole spectrum of dreaming, from ethereal beauty to nightmares.
– That said, some tracks feature nightmarish composition with full intent to make listeners uncomfortable and give them a sense of paranoia, adds he.
The lyrics mirror the dream concept, exploring the manifold dream vistas of the music. Many of them have a potentially dark, somewhat twisted nature. A Memory Dwindles, for example, represents a dream of a man haunted by seeing a child he loved fall from the roof of a building; …Window is about being haunted by an apparition unrelentingly staring through a window; aforementioned The Dark Priests is a dream sequence taking the listener to an occult ritual; and Message Sent To Earth is a dream of an extraterrestrial invasion. All of these are not necessarily sinister and nightmarish, but have a certain weird, bizarre aspect to them.
The band have also made music videos to some of the tracks. Fittingly to the certain retro aesthetic of the music, these too have a strong old school/retro vibe to them, featuring clips from old silent films as prominent elements. The aim is to visually represent the nature of each track. As such, for example, A Memory Dwindles features clips from the 1920 silent film classic The Cabinet Of Dr. Caligari:
– The film’s use of blue, yellow, black, and white colors fits with the strange atmosphere of the track. I also thought some of the actors in the film personified the eccentric sounds of the track. Their twisted faces and disconcerting movements help make the music video attention-grabbing, Kathodos explains.
The Hanging Tree, a song whose lyrics contain a hidden religious message, appropriately borrows footage from La Vie et la Passion de Jesus Christ, a French silent film from 1903, and The Dark Priest contains footage from the 1922 Swedish classic Häxan, with visuals and concepts that fit the song to a tee.
– A few of these videos feature some acting from me and Lavinia. And yes, I wanted to create that retro feel with our acting to match the footage from the silent films, Kathodos admits, referencing the rather exaggerated and theatric mannerisms the two employ in the videos.
Kathodos admits to having been a bit in the dark regarding the current state of the post-industrial/apocalyptic folk scene:
– I didn’t know there was a current apocalyptic folk scene!, he laughs. And, admittedly, perhaps there isn’t much of a scene, at least not in the way there was during the golden age of this music.
Further, he confesses that he mostly listens to metal, especially black metal. In fact, it was via Ulver he discovered the British pioneers of post-industrial and apocalyptic folk: Garm has listed Coil as a major influence for Ulver. From that discovery, Kathodos’ path led to the discovery of Nurse With Wound and Current 93. Beyond that, Kathodos says, he’s looked but never found anything that would come remotely close to the impact the aforementioned have had on him.
– So, I think Kathodos adds to a scene that only had a handful of bands to begin with, he says. He also believes Kathodos brings new elements to the style, thus justifying its existence.
Despite not seeing much of a current scene for the music, Kathodos gives special mention to Rune Serpent, who released Parasomnia, and labelmates Puppe Magnetik:
– She is not quite apocalyptic folk, but she’s definitely post-industrial in some regard. I highly recommend Puppe Magnetik to anyone who enjoys uncanny experimental music. Look out for Kathodos, Puppe Magnetik, and Rune Serpent Europa; we’re taking over the experimental music scene!
Parasomnia was already released a year ago, so although it only now sees proper distribution, in many ways it is already something the band have moved beyond. But the next release will thematically explore similar ground:
– The second album will also focus on sleep parasomnia. I plan to do a trilogy of albums focusing on parasomnia. The second album will focus on somniloquy, which is a fancy word for sleep talking. The album will have a similar concept of each track representing a disparate dream sequence. A few songs are written and some recordings have been made. Given my obligations to other projects and me recently taking a little break from Kathodos, I don’t have a timeframe of when this album will be released. Hopefully, it will be released within the next year or two, Kathodos explains.
In the meantime, listeners can expect singles, EP’s and tracks on compilations. The best way to keep track of what the project is up to is to follow their Bandcamp, Kathodos mentions (see link at the end).
Playing live, however, is currently not in the plans. For the time being, Kathodos is a studio only project. But bever say never: if Kathodos some day is able to recruit musicians to play the various instruments required, live gigs may happen.
– For now, the focus is on creating unique studio albums that hopefully capture the attention of true experimental music fans.
Only Death Is Real 