Coph Nia

Since the release of the debut album That Which Remains in September 2000, Coph Nia has taken the Dark Ambient/Industrial scene with storm. Presenting a magnificent brand of obscure music where spoken parts and vocals belong to the major ingredients, Coph Nia has established a position as one of the most charismatic and innovative projects in the CMI roster of today. Where the debut left us, the more aggressive follow-up Holy War E.P. took by in 2001 and further served the purpose of establishing Coph Nia in the scene as well as supplying listeners and critics alike with splendid musical art noir to indulge in. Roughly a year after its release, Ortus Obscurum decided to contact Aldenon Satorial to find out more about his roots, goal, ideology and of course, the development of future Coph Nia releases such as Project: Shape Shifter, Erotomekanicks as well as a split single with the legendary Brighter Death Now. The result; a very long and extensive interview, actually the most extensive interview Aldenon has answered to date. This interview is also the last interview with Coph Nia in a very long time but this doesn't mean that we are going to hear less of this great project in the future.

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ECTONAUT: Please start by giving us a short briefing on your project, Coph Nia. Who are you really and what is Coph Nia all about? For how long have you been active in this project and where has it taken you to date?

ALDENON: Coph Nia has existed since 1995. For 2 years or so we were 4 people involved; Clara Pahlén on vocals, Åsa Vildblomma on percussion, Magnus Bäcklund on keyboard and myself. It wasn’t really much of a band; except for some lyrics by Magnus and Clara’s vocals on a couple of song it was basically my project from the start. Before Coph Nia I had been trying to make dark and experimental music for a couple of years with a project I called ‘Era Vulgaris’ but to no avail. I was mostly trying to mimic whatever I was listening to at the moment. Having said that, I suppose I’m not the only artist in history who has started out by counterfeiting the masters, so to speak.

With the birth of Coph Nia I matured a lot, musically speaking, by adopting a completely different approach to music making; the original Coph Nia experience was vocally oriented songs as opposed to the rather mindless noises I had managed to create with E.V. The dark ambient side evolved as the “band” fell into oblivion.

ECTONAUT: What was the reason for splitting up the band?

ALDENON: I simply didn’t have the energy to keep it going. The others were only involved when there was a gig in the planning, and I got bored with rehearsals and trying to find ways to keep 4 people occupied on stage.

ECTONAUT: “This is the wisdom of the cavemen, that we have lost ... Not by logic, not by intellect, nor by reason can we regain it – but by wild dances, solemn rites and chants in unknown tongues...” this is a shortened excerpt of the Jack Parson quote that you have placed on your site and are referring to as the manifesto of Coph Nia. Why is this quote so appropriate for Coph Nia?

ALDENON: Because I believe that our rational and intellectual faculties are distancing us from the mysteries. I have to wage constant war with my intellect. I’m a very analytical and rational character so the quote serves as a constant reminder to myself rather than to my fellow men. I had been tearing my hair trying to come up with a manifesto when this perfect quote appeared and saved me from the agony; the ultimate truths are always beyond words.

ECTONAUT: Do you think music and art in general is a better tool than words for exploring this “truth”?

ALDENON: Yes I think so. There’s of course poetry to consider also, but I’m not the poetic kind.

ECTONAUT: Returning again to the manifesto. In some ways, this statement is like a fist in the face to the enlightenment ideals of the 18th century that are still echoing loudly in the Western world (though not always without contradictions). Are you fed up with the ways of the humans and the philosophies of the societies of today? Would like to see a return to more “heathen” ways in the various societies of today?

ALDENON: “Fed up with” is perhaps the wrong way to put it. “Totally ignorant of” is more to the point. What I’m suggesting is not that we should go and live in solitude in a cave for 20 years and be illuminated, although that might be the way for some. I’m longing for a more primitive State of Mind; not Way of Life.

ECTONAUT: How does your longing for a state like this go with your life in 21th century Sweden? Our stressed industrialized environment seems to be constantly aiming to fill up our heads to the brim with empty dogmatic norms and stereotype ideas. Personally, I feel that I have to compromise much in order not to be run over by our “tail of the Western society” environment that we live in today or end up behind bars. How is it for you? Do you also feel that you have to compromise much in order to survive?

ALDENON: The greatest compromise would be that I have to get up earlier than I would like to and work for 8 hours most every day. But I’m fortunate enough to have a job I enjoy so I don’t feel too hampered by that obligation. Other than that I have chosen to alienate myself from society long ago, which is my way of staying reasonably sane.

ECTONAUT I take for granted that you have a special relation to occult principles and philosophies. How does this affect what you’re doing in Coph Nia? Is the occult essential to the existence of Coph Nia?

ALDENON: Yes definitely. The occult has been the main focus of my music since I started experimenting in the late 80’s. If I were to abandon the western magical tradition I would have to terminate Coph Nia as well.

ECTONAUT: Does this occult-connection just go for Coph Nia or do you generally see a strong link between your music making and the occult?

ALDENON: I don’t make any music outside Coph Nia currently so the majority of my songs draw from the occult. That might change of course, but if so I would rather broaden the scope of Coph Nia than start a bunch of side projects.

ECTONAUT: When didi you first have contact with occult studies? What was it that fascinated you so much and made you decide to walk this path of life instead of the myriad of others?

ALDENON: I discovered Crowley in the mid 80’s. At the time I was a naive goth imbecile searching for anything wicked, evil and dark. Enter “The Beast 666”. The “antichrist” Crowley exercises a lot of attraction on young rebellious sods. My interest and fascination has remained but over the years it has matured into a more genuine dedication.

ECTONAUT How does your connection look today then? There is of course Coph Nia but what else is it that makes you stick to this path? Is there a goal of some sort that you are striving towards?

ALDENON: The ultimate goal is “illumination” through self-initiation into the mysteries; to awaken the godhead within. Then there are lesser short term goals, like untying some disturbing knots in my psyche by “ceremonial psycho analysis”.

ECTONAUT: I sense that Aleister Crowley is still one of your major sources of inspiration these days. What is it about Crowley that fascinates you so much? You mentioned earlier that he once appealed to a more rebellious side of you. Do you think your relation to his writings have changed during the years or is it still this rebellious side which you spoke of that is your and Crowley’s point of contact? Perhaps something else?

ALDENON: My interest is on many levels; from the most mundane to the deepest spiritual. Not so much his bizarre character anymore, as his writings and his magickal system. He was a man of vast intellect and knowledge. He spent his whole life assimilating religion, science, magick and mysticism from all corners of the world, incorporating their essences into his system of Thelema. It’s so coherent and homogenous. I’m not saying it’s a piece of cake but it is so perfectly synthesized.

ECTONAUT: Your latest release, the Holy War E.P. is as far as I know a concept EP of sexual nature. Would you please explain this concept further to us? How does the title of this EP relate to its concept?

ALDENON: The concept is of a dual nature. First of all I use warfare as a metaphor for the martial aspect of sexuality. It is also about waging war against Guilt and Shame, something most of us have big problems with whether we think so or not.

ECTONAUT: “A global holy war will break out on the 20th of July” it was said on the news section of your web site. I of course know that you were referring to the release of the EP but we all know about what happened just 1,5 months after its release. Now I wonder; how did the incidents on September 11th affect the general feedback you got on the EP? Just out of curiosity: were their any misunderstandings or bad reactions towards the EP?

ALDENON: I was a bit paranoid for a while but I have not received any feedback indicating any misunderstandings. The last thing I want is for Coph Nia to be associated with politics. There are plenty of other acts in this scene to fill up that need.

ECTONAUT: Yes, there certainly are. The topic ‘Nazism in the Industrial scene’ is an ever re-appearing subject and it has been like this for quite a while as far as I can see. People have been beaten up at festivals: albums have been banned in various countries etc. Mainly this is because of the right-winged shadow which has followed the Industrial and Neo-Folk scene all around the world. A shadow which some have called the result of several complete misunderstandings, while others have said that this is rather a fact which cannot be denied. Where do you stand on this?  Do you believe there is a problem with Nazism in the Industrial scene?

ALDENON: I don’t think there’s very much to misunderstand. It’s quite clear what they are trying to say. Nazi and fascist imagery seems to come with the territory but I don’t think half of them are serious about it. Just spoiled brats in uniforms glorifying war and atrocities as if they had a clue. They can go ahead and do their Nazi thing for all I care; I just don’t want to be a part of it.

Holy War E.P.

ECTONAUT: “The idea of Shame and Sin that has been hampering humanity for the last 2000 years must be rooted out permanently. This is the War-chant for the Battle”. Thus said Aldenon Satorial on the track Holy War [pt.1 - enter] and now I’m curious, how is this going to be fulfilled? Even though the church has lost most of its grip (at least in our area of the world) during the last centuries, the idea of sex as something that is ugly and shameful is still strong. How can mankind be rid of guilt and shame according to you? What’s the cure?

ALDENON: Warfare is the sole cure! But not necessarily a war against external opponents; the real enemy is within. We think we’re so liberated because we have a lot of kinky sex with loads of partners, and boast about it on talk shows. True liberation, and not just sexual, can only be achieved through the discovery of your true will. This is by no means an easy task as it lies hidden beneath all your neuroses and perversions, and the ego is a deadly opponent. I am myself dealing with some twisted sexual aspects of my psyche, so I won’t pretend to be an authority on sexuality. But I will fight!

ECTONAUT: What are your thoughts upon Christianity and the Church of today? Are you actively fighting against the church and its teaching, or do you prefer to just ignore it? Are you satisfied with how things have developed and are developing considering the role that the Church has in the society of today compared to how with was a 700 years ago when it practically regulated everything here in Europe?

ALDENON: The Church of course should not rule society; it should be a house of worship for people who need religion. When I was young I was extremely hateful towards religion in general and Christianity in particular. In my naive anger I argued that religion was just for weak cowards who could not bear to take responsibility for their own lives. Nowadays I’m not “against” any type of religion; I think we all need religion in some form... I guess I’m “religious” myself.

ECTONAUT: But hasn’t the Church been one of the greatest promoters of those ideas of 'shame' and 'sin' that you want to be rooted out permanently?

ALDENON: True, but the Church is dying; with or without my interference. Burning churches is an incredibly stupid statement...

ECTONAUT: Science and Christianity (or any other religion) are often seen as each others opposites and thinkers like Darwin, Dalton, Mendelejev, Newton, Einstein and Skinner have succeeded pretty well in contributing to the dethroning of the Church’s dogmatic monopoly on explaining the wonders of this world. Yet this isn’t exactly “wild dances” and “chants in unknown tongues”. What is your opinion on science?

ALDENON: A scientific mind is essential for progress but we must not loose ourselves in the process. I simply won’t approve that all my experiences can be deduced to chemical and electrical processes in my brain. We are losing the magic of existence. We have killed God and what is left? I’ll quote D. H. Lawrence:

“Knowledge’ has killed the sun, making it a ball of gas, with spots; ‘knowledge’ has killed the moon, it is a dead little earth fretted with extinct craters as with smallpox; the machine has killed the earth for us, making it a surface, more or less bumpy, that you travel over.”

ECTONAUT: Perhaps we should avoid venturing too far from the musical side of Coph Nia and return to the more musical aspects of your project. Well, how do work when you compose the music that ends up on your releases for example? Do you work with computers or session musicians etc.? Any specific working techniques?

ALDENON: I have come to rely on computers extensively for my composing as it suits my working style. The advantages are tremendous as I work with each song over a long period of time. In the computer environment I can simply open up a project I was working on a month ago and everything is exactly as I left it.

I started out many years ago with very “old school” equipment: an analogue drum machine and some cheesy Casio keyboard and a bunch of cheap effect units. I fooled around with those for a while without getting very much done and it wasn’t until I got myself a sampler and computer that I was able to produce anything worthwhile. The final music is always “designed” in the computer environment, but I use a wide variety of equipment for sound sources, both old school analogue gear, computers, field recordings and a multitude of unconventional devices.

ECTONAUT: Each Coph Nia song seems to be closely linked to an individual concept. Is the concept for a specific track determined before you sit down and compose it, or is it perhaps the other way around? Do you take much into consideration when you determine the concept for a Coph Nia track?

ALDENON: I would say that in 75% of the cases I start out with a specific concept long before the actual music making process starts. I then use all means possible to build the music totally around the chosen idea. I will take into consideration a lot of “magical” aspects, everything from numerological properties to symbolical correspondences of the raw sound material I work with. Not much is coincidental in this scenario. The vocal takes are perhaps equally important. I go through a meticulous process to get into the mood needed for a particular song. This may all sound very pretentious but it’s the way I work.

But then of course sometimes it’s the other way around; I experiment with some device or software and manage to produce some really interesting sound. Then I add some other sounds to that and the resulting musical idea can lay dormant for years until I finally realize what has to be done with it. I can think of only one case where I have finished a song instantly, and that is The Scapegoat, which was spawned and completed in one night.

ECTONAUT: How much time does it take for you to write enough material for a whole album/EP then?

ALDENON: It takes ages! I’m much too self-critical and dwell on things for far too long.

ECTONAUT: Do you keep everything that you write, or is there much sorted out?

ALDENON: I keep almost every musical idea I come up with. Since I’m not a musician I have to work hard until I actually get results. Patience is my greatest virtue; I may not always know what’s good but I definitely know what’s bad.

ECTONAUT: I think that the effect of the contrasts between various emotions in the third track on the Holy War E.P., The Binah/Satharyal complex is truly brilliant. In the first minutes, everything feels very floating and the ambience is quite dreamy and “over-the-earth”. Then suddenly, the sound texture changes into a much darker one and the tunes grow deformed and sick and now the music feels more falling than floating, sort of like a cannon ball effect. Is there a specific reason behind the structure of this track? Is it feelings like the one I described that you wish to bestow upon the listener?

ALDENON: Yes, the Binah part is supposed to be very beautiful and soothing. Satharyal on the other hand, Binah’s “evil shadow”, is utterly horrible. The terminology is from the Qabalah but here in a sexual context. I have made two songs that I managed to scare myself with: This is one and Doppelgänger is the other.

ECTONAUT: Since I haven’t read any Coph Nia interviews in the past, I have never really had any chance to read about the sources that inspires you to go on with this project and compose your music. What do you think your sources of inspiration are?

ALDENON: I honestly don’t know. When I started fooling around with experimental music in the late 80’s I was listening to bands like: Korpses Katatonik, Ain Soph, Zero Kama, Coil, C93, PTV, Sleep Chamber and a host of other acts. How much of these influences that is audible in what I do today is not really for me to tell. I’d like to think that the sound of Coph Nia is quite unique. But If you were to listen to my early recordings you could easily hear that I was simply trying to mimic the first generation of “occult industrial”.

ECTONAUT: According to your website, you are currently planning three new Coph Nia releases. Are you working on all of these simultaneously or are you concentrating on one at a time? What can you tell us about these different projects? Do you have any idea of when they are going to be released?

ALDENON: There actually exist five different releases in my twisted mind. Two of these are just theoretical entities yet so no point of discussing them here. First out is a split single with Brighter Death Now. We will each perform a cover of Swedish band ‘Leather Nun’. My track is Prime Mover and BDN does Slow Death. It will be released on CMI after the summer. After that, the next Coph Nia full-length album is Project: Shape Shifter. This will be a totally non-conceptual album, except for the concept implied by the title. I’m also working with aural wizard ‘Mindspawn’ on an album to be entitled Erotomekanicks. The theme is dark, organic, mechanic, erotic soundscapes. We both share the notion that the best dark ambient is inherently erotic in character. It’s far too early to tell when or on what label it will be released, but I’m about to send Karmanik some demos to see if he thinks it’s something for CMI to put out.

ECTONAUT: Speaking of CMI – even though Coph Nia is one of the “newer” signings on the label, it still seems to me like you have succeeded pretty well in catching up to the standards and efforts of your other label-mates in quite a short period of time. How was your contact with the people around CMI (the musicians and Karmanik) before you signed to the label and what can you tell us about the deal and how you got it?

ALDENON: I got the deal by handing over a demo to Karmanik at a concert I was attending. I had never met him nor any of the bands before I got signed.

ECTONAUT: For how many albums are you signed?

ALDENON: The deal was for at least 2 full-length albums. But I have no intention of ever leaving CMI. Roger does a great job and I enjoy his friendship very much.

ECTONAUT: As far as I know you’ve been musically active since the 80’s. Yet it took somewhat a decade before you established your first record-deal (which is rather unusual in these days when the music industry is practically handing of record contracts as if they were flyers). Why did it take so long before your debut album was released?

ALDENON: Because I’m such a perfectionist and I mean that in a negative way. I just couldn’t get myself to finish my songs. Thank God I got signed; otherwise I would probably still be perfecting them. It was not until I put some music up on mp3.com and started getting very positive feedback that I got the confidence to start hunting. My intention was to send out demos to every obscure label I could find in hope that somebody out there would release my work. I think I shipped 5 or 6 CD’s to the major labels when I got a “go” from both CMI and World Serpent. The reason I chose CMI was that Roger showed more enthusiasm than WSD.

ECTONAUT: I believe your sound was much noisier in the days of Era Vulgaris though I know this only from scripture and not from experience. Yet I think your music is more like a clash between Dark Ambient and Neo-Classical music these days. What was it that encouraged this change of styles that your project has gone through since you first started composing music? Is this change an ongoing process or do you think you have found your sound at last?

ALDENON: Coph Nia will continue to evolve and change, hopefully with grace. So far I have been able to get away with my mixture of different styles and moods. In fact I think that is what makes Coph Nia strong.

That Which Remains

ECTONAUT: It’s interesting to see that most people thought you sounded like raison d’être in the “Coph Nia sounds like” survey that you did last year. What do you think of this? Personally I don’t really agree since I think Coph Nia is more “Up-front” than Peter Andersson’s project, meaning that there’s a character (yourself) speaking and guiding us through the concept of the project in many of your tracks and thus Coph Nia feels more present (nothing bad about raison d’être, I think it’s more sublime and this is of course good in another way). Do you see why people compare your sound to raison d’être?

ALDENON: I can see why the comparison was made. I can’t say I agree with it but they had to compare my work to something. As people (myself included) need to classify all phenomena, the answers were based on their “belief system”. The listener has to place me somewhere in his/her mental filing cabinet. That’s why people from outside the industrial/dark ambient sphere gave some very weird comparisons: Depeche Mode, NIN, Massive Attack and what not. But we’re overlooking a very significant fact; on second place came the notion that Coph Nia is unique. Even though I specifically asked people to draw comparisons. For me, that is the highest form of praise possible.

ECTONAUT: Like I said earlier, I think that the music of Coph Nia feels quite present due to addition of speeches and vocals in the music. I think this mixture is great, yet there have been some complaints towards this element in your music in some reviews I have read. It seems that these reviewers would rather see Coph Nia changing into an instrumental project. What do you have to say on this matter?

ALDENON: A few individuals seem to have a problem with the presence of my voice, but they are a minority. One person even was so bold as to mail me and ask if I could please stop singing. But from all the feedback I get it’s evident that 99% of my listeners appreciate my emphasis on vocals. I don’t really care about the remaining one percent; they should refrain from buying Shape Shifter, which will be more vocally intense yet. However, they should enjoy Erotomekanicks, as that will be completely void of vocals.

ECTONAUT: Speaking of CMI bands – Like most of your label mates, you’ll be featured on the CMI DVD video compilation. Can you give us any details on what we are going to see and hear on this contribution of yours? Have you begun working on your part yet?

ALDENON: The Coph Nia track on the DVD will be Hymn to Pan. A long, simplistic but very powerful song if I may say so myself. Mikael Prey, aka Fetish23, is producing the video. We have done some initial shootings already but much work remains to be done. I’m not going to give away any details about the concept of the video, but it’s going to get pretty interesting.

ECTONAUT: This year, you have broken a 6 year long absence from the live scene by performing your music live on the first 'The Ecstatic Society' show in Stockholm along with the NFOL/ORE project in March. A gig in Turku together with IRM and Brighter Death Now then followed in September. According to what I have heard and seen; Coph Nia live seems to have been appreciated indeed by the spectators. How does it feel to be back in the live business? Has performing live again been a positive experience for you?

ALDENON: Very much so. It was basically just an experiment to see if Coph Nia 2002 e.v. had anything to offer in a live situation. Plus I wanted to try out my new material as well as technology. In the early days we were four people on stage, now it’s just me. I have been somewhat sceptical to perform live solo but the show was highly appreciated. Much thanks to the video backdrop performed by Fetish23 on these occasions.

ECTONAUT: Are there any more shows planned?

ALDENON: The only concert planned is ‘The Ecstatic Society‘ in Stockholm, November 16th. But next year I hope to be playing at ‘Wave Gotik Treffen’ in Leipzig along with some other European shows.

ECTONAUT: Well Aldenon. I thank you for answering my questions. I’m looking forward to see what the future holds for Coph Nia and I wish you good luck with your upcoming projects. The word is yours.

ALDENON: Aum. Ha.

Coph Nia Correspondence

Aldenon Satorial

Related Links

The Coph Nia Website
Cold Meat Industry