Ataraxie are the bedrock of French Extreme Doom. I have been a fan since their 2008 opus, Anhedonie and have returned to their discography numerous times throughout the past decade only to discover more treasure buried in the slow shifting epics the band crafts. An emotional underpinning of powerful melody has always been the band's stylistic trademark which Ataraxie has masterfully nestled into powerful and massive production quality. 2019 sees Ataraxie with a new record:
Contaminated Tones: Briefly, can you give a basic history of how Ataraxie's sound has changed from it's earliest years to current style? You formed in 2000 but the only remaining original members now are you and Pierre, on Drums. To my ears, the material from the Live demo is much more Death metal influenced than the ultra-slow Funeral Doom style you've adopted over time.
Jonathan 'Marquis' Thery: You’re totally right about the evolution of our music. Actually, when Ataraxie was founded, we started by rehearsing and then playing live a few rearranged songs from my previous black/death metal band Reign Of Evil. As we’ve never been a band into covers, that was the fastest way to learn how to play together. So the song ‘Black coat of death’ that appears for instance on ‘Live In Rouen’ has never meant to be an Ataraxie song…That’s also why you can’t find it anywhere else.
Then, we logically decided to work on our own songs which had to be in the doom/death vein. Thus, our very first tracks can be found on ‘The Other Path’ demo. Yet, as we were a really young band, we had to find our way to get rid of all prominent influences and find our own musical path. That’s also why ‘The Other Path’ demo owns typical Ataraxie gems but also many non-mature sides IMO. So only time and distance enabled us to reach a first mature state on ‘Slow Transcending Agony’ album. I think we really succeeded in crafting our own style during that period as we developed and polished all typical Ataraxie ingredients. Yet, as we’re a band that has always refused to repeat ourselves, we just decided to push all limits further on ‘Anhédonie’ by focusing on the extreme doom. Then, everything after ‘Anhédonie’ is just a matter of natural evolution through the years.
CT: In the 2009 Issue 1 of SOLEIL TRISTE, there was an interview with Jean from Ostra Records who remarked that the label was formed to distribute and bring awareness in France to extreme doom. Jean said that "Many didn't even know that this music style was existing and the few who knew it without being fans were seeing Shape of Despair as the incarnation of Doom Metal. Julien (label owner) was very fond of Doom so he wanted to try to stop the misinformation to some extent... although according to me most of the job has been done by just one French band: Ataraxie." What are your thoughts on this impression regarding Ataraxie's importance to the extreme Doom scene in France?
JMT: I think the situation of the whole French doom metal scene is better than ever in France. There are never been so many existing bands in France and our scene is extremely rich and varied! French bands used to be counted in the fingers of one hand (Northwinds, Dark white and Despond) when we started at the beginning of the 2000s. We have to admit that genre finally managed to get the recognition that it deserves with the time. We also can see French doom metal bands are regularly booked at big metal fests like Hellfest and also given the opportunity to tour all over the world. Remember that as a doom/death band, we only used to play at local gigs with black or death metal bands in France at the beginning of Ataraxie. It took us almost 4 years to succeed in performing our first gigs outside France with only doom bands.
Yet, the good thing is that many doom metal fests have even been set up in 15 years like Doom over Paris or Rotomagus doomicus metallicus fests. I still hope more fests like will see the light in the future in France. Yet, there are still a lot a lack of understanding inside the French metal scene about the genre itself. At the end of the 90s/early 2000, too many metalheads were convinced that goth metal bands (Theatre Of Tragedy ersatz) or unclassifiable bands like Amorphis or Tiamat were doom metal bands. I had so many argues with various metalheads about that. Now replace goth metal term by stoner/sludge and unclassifiable by post metal and you get the situation of doom metal nowadays.
As for the role of Ataraxie, you’re too kind! I don’t know if we’re only band that made more popular doom metal in France. The very first French doom metal bands like Dark White, Garden Of Silence or Northwinds were the first ambassadors in the 90s. Remember that Northwinds used to be signed on Black Widow records from Italy that is still highly praised by both prog and doom metal fanatics. We are obviously among the French precursors of the genre but definitely not the only ones as another wave of really popular bands arrived around 2003/2004 like Monarch, Monolithe and Funeralium! I’m convinced that Monarch is more way more popular than Ataraxie for example. And don’t forget about other great bands like Rising Dust, Hangman’s Chair or Huata that later enriched later the aura of the French doom metal scene by touring almost everywhere.CT: Hugo, thank you for also answering of my questions as well! As an outsider but involved in the broader French extreme doom genre, before joining Ataraxie in 2014, were you familiar with the band? Did you consider them, as Jonathan and Frederic mentioned in the Doom-Metal.com interview as early leaders in what would become a broader extreme doom european scene?
Hugo Gaspar: Yes, I knew the original members of Ataraxie, before joining the band, because we are coming from the same city (Rouen) and we shared the stage for several gigs. For me, Ataraxie was the best Doom Metal band in France but it doesn’t mean that they are not an underground band anymore, and this is what I like. The band are still playing an extreme doom/death metal, even if it doesn’t seem very mainstream nowadays; but I think they don’t care at all and it’s a good thing.
CT: Your first release was the "Live in Rouen" release that was released as a split. I have a version with a number of other live tracks. Can you figure this out? Has there been other versions of this release available with eight songs instead of the four that were on the split?
JMT: To be honest, I don’t remember much about that first demo. I can only tell you that was a split with Hyadningar that was supposed to gather 7 tracks in total. 4 from Ataraxie and 3 from Hyadningar. I don’t remember about another version. Yet, we may have released another one after first version sold out... We used to do the things in such a DIY way at that time!
CT: A song that stood out to me lyrically early on in your history was "Unholy Prayer." It speaks about how religions have compelled humans to destroy those of different thought. I was curious if you would be interested in expanding on this in the context of the recent political events that have been going on in France such as the 2015 Terrorist attacks, the 2016 Nice vehicle ramming, as well as what seems to be a continuous stream of other terrorist activity and attacks in the country.
JMT: I totally agree with you about the absence of evolution of religions through centuries and I would even say that all can be held responsible. Even if the 3 main monotheists religions pretend to care about ALL humans (remember God created all of us…), they actually just care about their own followers and power above all. That’s why they’ve all have been a real burden for the development of mankind as they’ve never ceased to encourage intolerance/scorn/hatred towards the supposedly unfaithful ones, and I don’t even speak about machismo in general. You can even notice that the concept of unbeliever can be found in each monotheist religion (heathen, miscreant, goy).
So as religious authorities are extremely good at making links between infidels and evil, terrorism is an understandable answer at the end. Anyway, all monotheist religions have had their violent era in history and they still gather violent groups of people that they more and less tolerated among them. People from Opus Dei, orthodox Jews or Salafists are all wicked and dangerous people. They just embody the most fucked up side of religion. For me religious people can be divided into 2 categories: 1) Wicked people, 2) Dreamers (= people into irrationality) who think god is behind everything that can’t be explained by science. That’s why I don’t agree when those ‘dreamers’ try to convince people they’re the sole genuine religious people. Terrorists just don’t have the same concept of religion as dreamers. Nobody is right or wrong at the end as religious principles/beliefs is only about interpretation…Fortunately, religious beliefs are not the only thing that characterizes people as the personality of someone if often far wider than that. Thus, you can find many Christians, muslims or jews that are nice and respectful people.
CT: The Other Path demo contained three newer songs that were not on the live album. Is it fair to say "The Other Path" set the stage for the Ataraxie sound going forward? In my opinion, it is still one of Ataraxie's best songs. What do you remember about the creation of this track, and was it a precursor for Ataraxie's sound going forward.
JMT: As previously said, I’d rather think the whole ‘slow transcending agony’ album crafted our own sound. Yet, that’s true that ‘the other path’ may be the closest song to ‘Slow Transcending Agony’ ones as arrangements started being more complex on that precise track. That’s been so many years was composed… I remember Sylvain composed the first and last riff one and I composed the others. Fred took care of all guitars arrangements as usual.
CT: Looking back on the run-up to Slow Transcending Agony, how much did the experimentation you had sought in Funeralium at the time influence Ataraxie? In an interview last year with Doom-Metal.com, Frederic said that "Funeralium was like a free artistic field where we could experiment with those influences, with much freedom, while we felt we couldn't do such things with Ataraxie. Or so we thought!" You both go on to say that both bands are different and it's easy to pick what goes where, but I can't help but see a drastic change from the earlier Death Doom tracks to the more epic and slow material that followed the first few releases.
JMT: That’s true that Funeralium’s music has always been a wider playground for Fred and I when it deals with musical experimentation. I still think we don’t have marked musical barriers inside Funeralium’s music for example whereas we have real ones in Ataraxie. Yet, I don’t believe that Funeralium influenced Ataraxie’s music before ‘Anhédonie’ album. ‘Slow Transcending agony’ was shaped in a distinctive way than Funeralium’s first demo ‘ultra sick doom’ and first album. When I founded Funeralium, my goal was really to play extreme doom in a sick way by making gangbang Thergothon, Bethlehem and early Cathedral.
Yet, I do admit that bands started cross-fertilizing each other from ‘Anhédonie’ release. At the end, I’m the main composer in both bands and Fred is behind most of the musical arrangements in both bands.
JMT: I was more talking about the atmosphere when pointing out the main differences between Ataraxie and Funeralium. Lyrics used to deal with different subjects at the beginning of Ataraxie and Funeralium (nihilism VS existentialism) but I think they’re pretty similar now. Most of my current inspiration really comes both from my everyday life in Paris and from my favorite writers as well (Kafka, Beckett, Sade, Sartre, Camus, Céline…). I’m really into the grand writers who have been able to go deeply inside the absurdity of life and accept/describe the beast inside us. Paris is as well a never-ending source of inspiration for my lyrics as it’s a filthy town (dirty and polluted) and obviously overpopulated one. So writing lyrics has also always been a kind of catharsis to me. It enables me to clear out all my negative feelings and thoughts instead of letting them consuming me slowly.
CT: The lyrics to "Funeral Hymn" remind me of Opeth's "To Bid You Farewell" and "Nectar" from Morningrise. I am guessing there is no connection but what is it about songs of loss and longing that you feel suits your music lyrically? The other songs are similarly concerned with inner emotions but more as a pre-existing depressing state as opposed to one caused through the abandonment or death of a loved one.
JMT: Indeed, there is not connection at all with Opeth lyrics as I’ve never been into that band. As for the concept, that was exactly about that. We all have to overcome the death of relatives in our life and we know how hard it can be.
As for songs that could fit well our music, I would say ‘The skull’ by Trouble, ‘Let the end Begin’ or ‘Patra (Petra) by Saint Vitus, ‘Reaching happiness, touching pain’ by Cathedral, ‘Salus Deceived’ or ‘The Crimson Tides - Oceans of Soliloquy Pt. II” by Deinonychus. ‘Durch befleckte Berührung meiner Nemesis’ by Bethlehem, ‘Elemental’ by Thergothon, ‘Lords of the funerals’ or ‘Resurrecturis’ by Abysmal Grief, ‘Tears from a grieving heart’ or ‘The Epitome of Gods and Men Alike’ by Mournful congregation. That’s all the songs that come directly to my mind.
CT: Anhedonie was my first contact with Ataraxie and I immediately, at the time, compared the album to Antithesis of Light or Velnias' debut, Soverign Nocturnal. What was the band's sentiment at the time going in to record Anhedonie and was there a sense that it would be such a masterful and defining album for you?
JMT: Thanks a lot for your praises! After releasing ‘slow transcending agony’, we wanted to dive a little bit deeper into extreme doom. That’s why composing longer/slower/faster songs came to us naturally. We also wanted to have back stronger death metal influences. Yet, we wanted them well balanced in the mix unlike our early work. So that’s how ‘anhédonie’ was composed.
CT: My favorite cut from Anhedonie would be "Silence of Death", but the vocal performances on "Walking Through The Land of Falsity," and the title track, "Anhedonie" are immense. My favorite lines of lyrics on the entire record are "Ready to liquidate any form of obsolete useless existence; and clean each soiled stone and parcel of fouled ground". The imagery is phenomenal. Can you comment on these two tracks regarding the writing process for the music and your thoughts regarding concepts in the lyrics?
JMT: Thanks again for your great words. When I wrote ‘Anhédonie’ lyrics (the song) I tried to narrate about the way this world would end. As a scientist, I’m not worried about the future about the earth but more worried about the fate of mankind as the more we know about consequences about human habits, the deeper it seems we’re already fucked to managed to go backward. So I’m sure that someday all the bad things we did to our great planet will come back as a karma penalty. It’s just too bad that our children will have to face these consequences…
CT: You put out a few releases between Anhedonie and L'Être et la Nausée. A split with Imindain, a track for a Bethlehem tribute, and a re-recording of The Other Path demo. Tell me about these release. Why did you decide to re-record The Other Path? What is the importance of Bethlehem to Ataraxie?
JMT: Actually, that’s the same cover ‘Aphel die schwarze Schlange” that you can find on Bethlehem’s tribute and on our split with Imindain. Early Bethlehem albums (from their first demo to S.U.I.Z.I.D) have been a great source of inspiration for us. Bethlehem was among the first bands that managed to focus on sick vocals and propose a unique mix of black/doom/death metal. As Bethlehem was also a big influence for Imindain’s music, we just decided to pay a tribute together to these early days. As for the Project X (reedition of the other path’ demo), as we wanted to release again these demo tracks with a proper sound, we decided to re-record everything. I’m not really sure that was the best decision ever made in Ataraxie career to be honest…Such a waste of time at the end! Yet, at least it enabled people to get that long time sold out demo without paying a DISCOGS price.
CT: Quickly - so we can get to the new album - explain the circumstances surrounding the writing and recording of L'Etre et la Nausée. Did Sylvain leave Ataraxie as a result of something that occured during this recording? Were there any signs he would leave the band?
JMT: Nothing bad happened with Sylvain and us during the record. Sylvain only left the band just because of new family commitments linked to the birth of his daughter. Even his wife was also surprised about that radical decision. So that was obviously big surprise for all of us when he informed us about his departure. Yet, we truly respected this decision and focused quickly a way to fall on our feet by recruiting Hugo and Julien.
CT: 2019 is here and Resignés is now your new album. It's been six long years since L'Etre et la Nausée. Tell me about this gap. What has transpired over this gap in time? How long did it take to get back into a writing mood? Why did you decide it was important to add two more guitarists, Hugo Gaspar and Julien Payan, to Ataraxie during this period?
JMT: When Sylvain left the band, first we needed to recruit a replacement to promote live ‘L’être Et La Nausée’ as live activity as always been important to us. We were searching for just one guitar player at the beginning but we were truly unable to choose just one after their auditions. Indeed, we thought Julien and Hugo could bring both something strong and complementary and it turned out to be true. That may explain ‘L’être Et La Nausée’ and ‘Résignés’ sound different at the end. Once recruited, we took the time re-arranged together all the songs that we wanted to play live. Shortly after, we decided to enter the studio to record a diSEMBOWELMENT cover that has to appear ‘slow transcending agony’ digipack version. That was actually our first song ever recorded together with the new line up. Then we decided to do a European tour together with Ophis and Majestic Downfall shortly. We started composing new songs a little bit before touring and it ended at the end of 2017 to finalize all arrangements.
CT: Hugo, tell me about the recording of Resignes, the new album with Ataraxie. Did the recording go smoothly? How involved were you with composing the material for the album?
HG: Yes, we took our time to record this new album in order to change some arrangements in case we needed to. That’s a facility you have when you record in a home studio. But also because we all have jobs and family to manage (Jo and I are both father); so it was not so easy to organize and take time to record.
I’ve recorded my guitar parts during two days and it went very well. For me, the most difficult part to record was also the slower part from the album. The last riff from “Coronation of the leeches” with its slowdown was a hell to record. The final riff of this track is so slow that we had to quadruple the beat during the recording.
And now, concerning the song-writing, most of time Jo send us some riffs that could make a song, and then we all aggregate our ideas to it during the rehearsals. It could be some new riffs or arrangements; so that’s how I was involved. An important thing for me was to propose ideas that could bring some new stuff in Ataraxie’s music but also not to denature what Ataraxie has always been.
CT: How did the addition of Hugo and Julien affect the songwriting process for Resignés, if at all?
JMT: Both guitar players brought some fresh air as their own ideas in terms of composition and arrangements to enrich Ataraxie’s music. Both of them have solid musical knowledge and are truly inspired musicians. We couldn’t dream of better replacements as everything happened so naturally and quickly. So we’re really glad to have this new line up as I’m convinced that we’re now stronger than ever and it can be heard on ‘Résignés’.
CT: Hugo, as one of the newer members of Ataraxie, having only joined the band in 2014, Resignes is your first recording involvement with the band. Tell me how working with Ataraxie has been different than recording for Fatum Elisum; both bands seemingly have similar song-writing and overall styles. Maybe it's not different?
HG: Yes, you’re right. It wasn’t so different than recording with Fatum Elisum because all the records I did, were made in a home studio. As we recorded all guitars in Fred’s home studio, I was in fact in a cosy atmosphere. Besides, for the ten years of “Slow Transcending Agony”, we recorded a cover of diSEMBOWELMENT in the same conditions than “Résignés”, so I was on familiar ground.
Regarding the song-writing and the involvement, to be honest, it was not so easy for me at the beginning. I’ve many reasons to explain that: I’m the youngest one in the band (I saw Ataraxie live for the first time when I was 18!) and also the less experimented. Even if I knew the other guys in the band, because we shared the stage with Fatum Elisum for some gigs, when I’ve joined the band, I think I needed some time to be really comfortable and share some ideas for the new songs.
CT: What does having three guitarists allow Ataraxie to accomplish from a song-writing and arrangement position?
HG: With three guitarists, you have a lot of possibility, but also a lot of work for the arrangements because you have to listen to each other carefully and not play in your corner. Otherwise it could be a cacophony very fast. So when we wrote the songs from “Résignés” we ‘ve listened a lot of rehearsals in order to decide and coordinate all the ideas we had. But finally it’s very formative.
In fact, I think the thing I like the most in having three guitarists, is when we play some parts in unison; it’s so powerful!
CT: Have you taken a different approach to the lyrics than in the past or is the content similar to what you've written about previously? Have you had changes in your philosophical outlook through the process of writing lyrics for Ataraxie or has the writing process reinforced how you've previously felt?
JMT: In general, I only write about subjects that make me cry out. I started Ataraxie when I was 19 and I’m now 38 so my concerns in life have obviously evolved. At least, the good news is that all Ataraxie albums are different in terms of lyrics as it’s not the same version of me that has written all these lyrics. I think my writing process has not evolved a lot through years. Once the music is completely written, I start writing the lyrics by taking into account what music inspires me and what bothers me in life at that precise moment. I usually write a complete frame and then adapt it to the music by changing/adding/erasing many times words to make lyrics fit perfectly at the end. At the end, that’s a really long process as I’m really meticulous. CT: I have not seen any of the lyrics for Resignés. Can you give some insight as to some of your favorite lyrics on the record and why they stand out to you? Where did you seek inspiration for the subject matter on these songs?
JMT: My lyrics on ‘Résignés’ deal with many different subjects that still pop up my mind. My views about power/politics in this world (‘coronation of the leeches’), religious meaningless concepts like death (‘les affres du trépas’), the end of mankind (‘résignés’) and the evil side of human mass (‘people swarming, evil ruling’). As told earlier, my sole source of inspiration is my life in this world. I don’t need to narrate other things. I think my favorite lyrics are the ones from ‘People Swarming, Evil Ruling’ as it has a direct link with my daily journey inside Paris subway. The density of people inside Paris metro can definitely reveal the worst instincts.
CT: You put out a video for "People Swarming, Evil Ruling." What is the concept behind the video? What story are you trying to tell and how does it connect with the song? The imagery in the video is memorable, with the Executioner, the condemned watching each other be executed. The people in the video are the same that appear on the cover of the album. How did all this imagery come about and get put together?
JMT: Before doing the promo shots for the artwork, we did a real brainstorming with the photographer to find out the rightest concept for this whole artwork. We tried to gather the main themes of the lyrics to sum them up into a brutal imagery. The executioner came to our mind as that character has religious connotations and has always been praised by the mass from the age of the time to now. Remember about public executions that still take place in some parts of the world. We also wanted to draw the portrait of the wicked world in which we live where voyeurism is strong (remember about the recent mass murder that happened in New Zealand that was displayed in facebook live?). So we wanted to have a group of people doing crazy things intentionally as our modern world is also about that. Whatever crazy concept can now be considered as long as a certain number of people believe it’s true (flat earthers, antivax movements and all religions at the end).
CT: Hugo, what is going on with Forsaken Peddlers? Is there ever going to be a release to follow up Songs of Fate and Freedom? What is Malemort?
HG: With Forsaken Peddlers it’s quite complicated. We have all the material for a new album but actually the band is on pause; or maybe dead. I can’t tell anything more for the moment...
The TrueMalemort (that’s the real name) is a raw doom metal band I have with also death, black and sludge influences. We started in 2015 with Nemri on drums (Monarch, Sordide) and Derelictus on bass guitar (Mhönos; ex Fatum Elisum). In 2017 we release our first album “Individualism, Narcissism, Hedonism” with the label “Prison Tatt Records” (https://malemort-doom.bandcamp.com/releases). The same year, our bassist Derelictus decided to quit the band and was replaced by Frater Erwan from Mhönos.
We recorded last year a new song for a split with the french band “Endless Floods”. I hope we will release that soon. And we are actually working on our 2nd album.
So with this band, we all take our time because we all have other bands, but it’s a band that I am very proud of.
CT: Looking forward, what do you think Ataraxie will be able to accomplish now that was not possible before the inclusion of Julian and yourself on guitars? Will there be any shows here in the United States to promote the new album?
HG: The only thing I hope is that we will keep on playing the kind of doom metal we like; but also to find original material in order to always surprise the auditor.
Concerning the possibility of doing some gigs in the US, I truly hope we will do this shortly. But it is not easy to find the good opportunities in order to do this, because we have a lot of things to manage: family, job, finance, visa, etc… So it’s a big step but I think in the band we are all motivated to do this one day.
CT: Jonathan, what kind of touring plans or shows do you have lined up to promote Resignés?
JMT: We already played some gigs in May/June to promote Résignés:
- Paris(FR), May 18th
- Lyon(FR), May 25th
- Tillburg(NL), June 8th
- Melechen(BL), June 9th
We will surely have other gigs at the end of the year but nothing is confirmed yet. Keep an eye on our facebook page as we will keep on updating it regularly.
CT: Hugo, reviews and feedback have been good so far. What have you seen being the sentiment regarding Resignes so far and is there anything which reviews have said that you felt was not accurate or that you disagreed with?
HG: I was very pleasantly surprised about all the reviews I read and all the feedbacks we’ve had. It’s not that I was insecure about the quality of the album, but for me “Résignés” is so dense and to be honest, I was a bit afraid that a lot a people would have the feeling that the album is too long and too extreme in a way. As I said before, for me Ataraxie doesn’t play a mainstream doom metal, that’s why it’s so pleasant to read the good reviews we had.
CT: Jonathan, are there any other thoughts or comments you'd like to make regarding Ataraxie, the new album, or your music?
JMT: Once more, I think that’s a sinister album that is not easy to digest. So you must give it a few spins to plunge into its darkness and notice all single details. Yet, I think that an album that should appeal to all our fans (early and latest ones) as it definitely contains all Ataraxie ingredients. There are currently not so many bands that play doom/death in our vein so I guess this kind of release is kind or rare nowadays. So give it a chance even if you only loved our first album or first demo haha Yet, if you’re real doom/death fan as well it should appeal to you as well as I think not many albums in this genre are currently released.
CT: Thank you for taking the time to answer these questions. It's been a pleasure exploring your discography these past years!
JMT: Thanks for your support and interesting interview! Maybe see you soon on the road!
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