CURRENT LINE-UP:
Lord Jezeus - Lead Vocals and Guitars
The Abbess of Abjection - Bass and Backing Vocals
Judas - Drums

FORMER MEMBERS:
Mvnk - Drums
Adam Evil - Lead Guitar
Magnus - Drums
Hanephi - Guitar
Iconoclast - Bass

HISTORY

On Halloween night 2001, Jezeus encountered the Abbess at the infamous Cobalt Hotel in Vancouver BC.
He was fresh from a growling,axe-grinding stint with his Okanagan-based grind core project, HORROR; she
was seeking a musical darkness to infuse with her eco-atheistic lyrical sensibilities. The day
THE HAUNTED played Studebakers Cabaret, they found their drummer, the Norwegian blaster, Magnus,
the Viking Warlord, and lo,INHUMAN crawled out of the anti-cradle. At first, from Spring to Summer 2002,
INHUMAN was a five piece, featuring the almighty Iconoclast on bass and the monstrous Hanephi on guitar
while the Abbess filled in with backing chants. By November, however, when INHUMAN played their
first show with ZUCKUSS at the Cobalt, the band had become a three piece, with the Abbess
taking over on bass, while Jezeus assumed both vox and guitar duties.
2003 shows were held at the Astoria, 303 Live and The Brickyard with bands such as
CORNUCOPIA, ANGEL GRINDER and SPAWNED BY ROT. A 5 song demo(n) EP, "The Inhumanist,"
was released through Godlesswrath Records in April 2003.
After 2004 shows at the Cobalt and the Lucky Bar in Victoria with ALLFATHER, Magnus resigned to focus
on gigs with Anatolian Wisdom, a project formed by original guitarist, Hanephi. A brief hiatus ensued
before Mvnk crawled behind the kit, followed several full moons later
by our inferno-driven second guitarist, Adam Evil.
Upcoming plans include a 2005 CD, "Exeunt Armaggedon," more blood and smoke shows
and shirts/stickers for all you lurking misanthropists out there!
INHUMAN draws its influences from many diverse sources: the music of MAYHEM, SATYRICON,
EMPEROR, OLD MAN'S CHILD, IMMORTAL, IMPALED NAZARENE, DESTROYER 666, HECATE ENTHRONED and others,
the poetry and literature of cult Inhumanists such as Robinson Jeffers, DH Lawrence,
Kenneth Rexroth, W.S. Merwin and Charles Baudelaire, the Bible (Satanic and Christian),
the Necronomicon, Nordic mythologies and most of all, the dark and enduring planet.

Bigger than the Devil…Inhuman speaks
Interview by Tyler Durden

Inhuman ...dark, evil, and very Black Metal, hailing from Vancouver. Their ranks consist
of Lord Jezeus, on vocals and guitar, The Abbess of Abjection on bass and harmony vocals and skin
pounder, Magnus, the Viking Warlord. These people are deadly serious about their music and what
it means to them. Their new EP, entitled "The Inhumanist," released on indie label, Godlesswrath
Records, is a lesson in evil for the uninitiated and a condolence to its followers, who may have
thought this style of metal dead. I joined Jezeus and The Abbess of Abjection in the very
un-black metal town of Peachland for a box of beer and what I had hoped to be tales of anti-Christianity,
metal and Satan…Meat Loaf said "Two out of Three Ain't Bad." Who knew not all Black Metalers are Satanists?

Tyler Durden: So tell me about the song, "The Inhumanist." Is it, for
lack of a better description, your theme song?
The Abbess of Abjection: Yes it is. It emerges from my obsession with
Robinson Jeffers and his character, The Inhumanist, from a poem called "The
Double Axe." It's all about this caretaker that loathes humanity and tries to
find a way to escape from mass thought by living all alone and rallying
against the universe. He has, for his companion, a double axe, that speaks
to him. It's a very potent image for me.
TD: So you were enough of a fan of his body of work to, I don't want to
get this wrong, but style the band's theme after it?
AA: It was the aesthetic from which the music initially emerged. The
rejection of humanity, the realization that we've completely lost balance and
perspective…great themes.

TD: (to Lord Jezeus) Your last band, HORROR, was a different style of
metal all together. Total death-grind, whereas INHUMAN is Blackmetal from the
old school. Was there much transition in the writing and playing style?
Lord Jezeus: It was kind of a musical maturity. The writing changed
after a time and the vocals are a completely different style. I've been
training my voice for six or seven years now. Training myself for the high
vocals was really difficult. It hurt for a long time. It hurts until you open
your throat up. As for the music, my last band was from the "less is more"
school. The blackmetal I play now is more complicated and intricate.
AA: There's much more texture to this kind of music. More complexity
with the classical influences.

TD: Seeing as how your music is as cold and dark as it is, do you
think maybe the subject matter is lost on people?
LJ: Well, it's not accessible music by any means. It's not intended to
be. It's not for the masses. On a deeper level, it does take a different mind
to listen to and appreciate this kind of music. This music is intended for an elite audience.

TD: Tell me a little about the disk…you mentioned you may not be
totally happy with the end product…
LJ: The production on Apocalypse/Eden, Tortured Souls and The Inhumanist
I like, but Our Killdom Come and Virgin Revisioned, I wasn't pleased. The bass
was too low and it's one of our most powerful instruments.
TD: Given an unlimited studio budget, how would this recording differ? Would it?
LJ: Yes, but it would still sound underproduced. My favorite music is
underproduced. Mayhem…pretty raw, Ulver, raw, high pitched and hard to listen
to…and I like that. I was really striving for this in our recording.

TD: Tell me about the difference between Blackmetal and Satanic music.
Until I met you guys I figured all blackmetal folk were Satanists…
LJ: Blackmetal is, stereotypically, satanic music…
AA: Our interpretation of blackmetal is more pagan than Satanic.
LJ: If you were to ask any of the "true" blackmetal types, I won't
mention names or bands, but they would say if you're not a Satanist, you're a poser.
TD: So there's a difference between being anti-Christian and being Satanic?
AA: Yes. Lyrically it translates into being against all ideologies, including
Satanism. Trying to obliterate these labels. The annihilation of all those
types of constrictions.
LJ: We don't consider ourselves to be Satanists, by any means.
AA: But definitely anti-Christian.
LJ: I'm anti-everything, man.
TD: Being that Blackmetal is not huge in the scene, what sorts of reactions
do you get from the crowds in Vancouver? Any members of that elite audience you
were referring to?
LJ: We do have a small, cult following that show up every time to see us play.
AA: The criticism that we get is mostly people who don't understand the
whole wearing of corpse paint, for one. They don't understand our melding of
the classical and the poetic with blackmetal…they loathe our cover songs…

TD: What covers do you play?
AA: Mayhem's "Freezing Moon" and "Eternal Glory of War" by Destroyer 666.
LJ: Some people don't like the fact that we play Eternal Glory…
AA: They think it's a fascist piece…or racist.
LJ: I believe the song originates from the idea that Euronymous had
about Blackmetal. It's an evolution that goes back thousands of years. When
Rome conquered Norway and shoved Christianity down their throats. Took away their talons…
AA: It's a religion imposed on Western thought.
LJ: Their gods, Odin, Thor, the Norse gods…they were taken away from them.
And then they were forced to read the Bible. That's where Blackmetal comes from.
It's a rising up against the cross. Some people just don't understand and therefore
give us a negative reaction…

TD: How do you deal with negative reactions?
LJ: Any publicity is good publicity.
AA: I have to deal with a few different kinds of reactions,
being one of the rare women in this style of music, playing an instrument
and singing. I've had a lot of sexism thrown at me, and comments about
how my being in the band - and it is my band - is just a gimmick…

TD: Tell me about being the "Chick" in the band
AA: Well, you get the annoying comments - "You should strip while
you're up there…"
LJ: That was from our producer (laughs)
AA: Or there's the outright hostility, which is much worse. The
"get back to the kitchen" attitude. And the school of thought that it's
impossible for me to be true to this style of music because I'm a woman.
Patriarchal bullshit.

TD: What's the motivation for wearing the corpse paint?
AA: For me, it's part of creating an image of death…the macabre…the
essence of truth for us
LJ: It's part theatrical, but also part a tribute to Euronymous.
It also lets you inhabit another self…

TD: Which leads me to my next question, what do your "stage" names mean?
AA: An Abbess is the head of a religious order…so I'm the head nun of the
abject…which is the line that most of us don't want to cross, the state of
repulsion and disgust. It's just a larger, darker self.
LJ: It's your inner self…
AA: The part of yourself that you would like to reveal
continuously…but you just can't…

Mandible Claw
Issue 9
Summer 2003