Merrimack: "The new generation of black metal is not as avant-garde as it was in the 1990s."
NOIRE: Hello Merrimack, could you introduce yourself to my readers—for those who might not know you yet?
Vestal : We are Merrimack, a black metal band from Paris founded in 1994. It is a long-standing band that I joined in 2010. I am Vestal, the vocalist for Merrimack.
A.K : I’m A.K. I joined Merrimack that same year; there was a major shake-up in the band at the time. Three members were replaced. I came on board at the same time as Vestal and Blastum, the drummer.
Perversifier : And I’m Perversifier, the band’s only original member, on guitar.
NOIRE: Metallum states that your band name comes from a short story by Graham Masterton featuring the Merrimack—a chasm that swallows up humans who venture too close to its edge. What made you want to draw on this subject?
Perversifier : I need to qualify the information I previously circulated—which I shared based on my own recollection. It is possible the author wasn't Graham Masterton but someone else, though that doesn't really change the substance of the matter, since I’ve never managed to track the book down.
The thing to know is that the band's name was proposed by the original guitarist—Asmodée, I believe. He already had a drummer, a bassist, and a singer lined up, and he had this name in mind. The choice had already been made by the time I joined. I wasn't actually a huge fan of it myself.
He explained the origin to me and showed me the excerpt from the book—a sort of preface. It fit well with the concept of the abyss or the underworld, but with a nautical twist. We didn't dig into it much further than that. I remember later going to the BNF in Paris to do some in-depth research on the subject, but I didn't find much.
We don't have a grand backstory to tell regarding the band's name; it’s the kind of choice you make when you're 17 and then end up carrying around for the next 30 years.
Vestal : At the same time, there is something interesting about pledging a kind of allegiance to one’s adolescence. A bit like an old tattoo you remain loyal to, even if you wouldn’t get it done the same way today.
NOIRE : How is Merrimack linked to Gnosis and anti-Christianity? What symbolism do you wish to imbue it with today?
Perversifier : As for the gap itself, there is no direct link. You have to understand that Merrimack’s lyrical approach evolved between 1994 and 2026—I wouldn't say it simply *changed*. In the early years, we were teenagers; the themes were largely anti-Christianity, mythology, and—more generally—the typical subjects of the era.
Back in 1994, black metal bands generally focused on those kinds of topics. When you play in a band for 30 years, you aren't going to keep talking about the same things, which are often quite basic. We also had new members join who brought their own interests to the table; Vestal, for instance, introduced deeper themes.
Vestal : When black metal emerged in 1990, the music was being created by kids. Consequently, the Satanism of that era owed a great deal to Dark Romanticism; it was an anti-bourgeois rebellion. In Scandinavia, in particular, black metal developed in opposition to the Protestant world. That early form of Satanism was a visceral, rather superficial thing.
Naturally, as one grows older, one can either keep propagating those clichés—out of intellectual laziness or personal preference—or choose to delve a little deeper into the subject, which is what we tried to do. By taking a closer interest in Satanism, you realize it is a modern term for Gnosis. It was a kind of primitive Satanism that developed in the shadow of—let’s call it—"certified" Christianity.
Gnosis is the idea that matter—the world and the cosmos—is actually a betrayal of the original plan of a true god: not Yahweh, not the Christian God, but what is known as the Father of the Abyss, a true and unknowable deity. This is what is known as apophatic theology—defining God by what He is not. The Father of the Abyss is, as Aristotle put it, an "unmoved mover" from whom all things emanate.
The Gnostic is one who understands that the cosmos, time, and matter are merely the bars of our prison. What is gnosis in the context of black metal as an art form? It is, in fact, a matter of gauging the distance between man and the bars of his prison.
Perversifier : However, I do want to put things into perspective. You shouldn't view Merrimack as a band that preaches Gnosticism. That was a specific focus of one album, The Acausal Mass. You can't pigeonhole Merrimack by simply calling it a "Gnostic band." It is just one of the themes.
On recent albums, we’ve tackled very broad subjects. You also have to understand that the band consists of five members who don't necessarily share the exact same esoteric or theological views. We choose to tell a story through our art; for one album, we might decide to focus on Gnosticism, while on others, we explore different topics.
NOIRE : That’s the perfect segue into the next question! Your latest album, *Of Grace and Gravity*, is a manifesto of Luciferian rebellion—at least, that’s how your label, Season of Mist, describes it. It ties into the writings of Antonin Artaud, who explains that we are "God's microbes." Is the insignificance of the human race something you are aware of in your daily life, and how does it manifest itself?
Perversifier : We should be a bit wary; when the label writes the album blurb, they might go off on a tangent and not even fully grasp what it’s actually about. The lyrics aren't explicit—they’re open to interpretation—whereas the label’s blurb is driven by marketing and can sometimes be a bit wide of the mark.
Vestal : This statement by Antonin Artaud condemns the human species yet simultaneously exalts it. For microbes are what survive everything; they reproduce and even break free from their original programming. Humans possess free will and the capacity to transcend the algorithm—the initial code—ordained by God.
To me, this sentence captures the full nuance and ambiguity of human creation: it holds within itself a measure of almost infinite freedom, while remaining subject to universal laws such as weight and gravity. The philosopher Simone Weil, for instance, viewed God as a dynamic principle—weight, gravity, and grace.
NOIRE : From this perspective, freedom is somewhat of an illusion, because we are alienated from our freedom.
Vestal : It is an illusion, but above all, it is work.
Perversifier : It’s not a concept album, unlike The Acausal Mass, which is highly conceptual. It’s always very difficult to sum up an album in a sentence or two, because it’s so much more than that. When you read the lyrics, you can see that the themes are quite varied.
NOIRE : In June 2026—two years after releasing the album we just discussed—you released a cover of Depeche Mode’s "Wrong." Why "Wrong," and why not "Personal Jesus," for instance?
Perversifier : Personally, I’ve been a Depeche Mode fan for a long time. But fans tend to be more particular than the average listener; the hit songs everyone listens to are often the very ones I can’t stand anymore. I can’t listen to Enjoy the Silence anymore—it’s been covered countless times, and I just don't find it very interesting. When you cover a song and play it in a black metal style, the lyrics really need to fit the genre. The lyrics to Wrong are perfect for that—very negative. We needed to find a track where the music lent itself to a black metal interpretation.
That song is perfect; it has a sort of melodic hook, but it’s very repetitive. It was a great fit, and the lyrics are fantastic. When it first came out, the song really made an impression on me because I thought it was musically brilliant. I had the idea and proposed it to the band, though they weren't entirely convinced at first. We recorded it back during the The Acausal Mass era—around 2012—but it was mostly instrumental at the time because we were running out of studio hours. It wasn't until this year that we decided to add vocals and release it as a digital single.
We’re really happy with the result because I don't think it distorts the original; it’s actually very close to it, yet it demonstrates the potential some songs have to be played in different styles. We didn't change a single note, and yet the final sound is quite different.
NOIRE : It’s always interesting to see how bands interpret songs in other genres, because it really adds another dimension to the track. I really like that.
Perversifier : That’s the great thing about covers: if you try to create a perfect replica of the original, not many people are actually interested. You have to make it your own and put your own spin on it—play it in your own style. In my opinion, we really succeeded at that.
NOIRE : When you play at Muscadeath, you rub shoulders with the new wave of black metal—bands like Prieuré or Les Bâtards du Roi, who were around earlier. What is your take on this new scene?
A.K : JI think we have contrasting views. That’s the great thing about Merrimack: we have a sense of camaraderie, yet we are also strong individuals—each with our own outlooks on the world and ways of living that aren't defined by tribalism. We’ve truly followed different paths, and Merrimack brings us together. Sometimes we even wonder how we manage it.
This new wave deviates somewhat from the more traditional black metal style Merrimack plays. I’m not strictly opposed to it; I don’t really have an issue with it. I know there’s an element of gatekeeping that tends to fear anything new. Personally, I believe black metal is strong enough not to be corrupted by genre-blending. It’s a clash of titans, and black metal always wins. The moment you mix any style with black metal, the end result is still black metal.
Perversifier : I don't think it's necessarily gatekeeping; I've never listened to Les Bâtards du Roi, so I can't really say. It's not gatekeeping—it's more that I'm a boomer and I've lost interest. I've been doing this for over 35 years, so I admit I don't listen to new bands.
I thought A.K. might be able to answer, since he plays in Decline of The I—a band some describe as having a "post-" sound—and Vestal is always listening to new stuff, albeit within the same genre. We can't really give you an answer on this subject from the band's perspective.
Vestal : I find it interesting that generations coming after me are able to play black metal. However, for me, black metal has always been avant-garde music. Take the second Norwegian wave, for instance: no two bands sounded alike, and often, as early as their second album, they were already moving toward pure avant-garde. They were the first to blend their sound with industrial, jazz, and so on. To my mind, this new generation isn't quite as avant-garde.
Often, they simply graft a certain aesthetic onto music that isn't necessarily all that different. Perversifier : Actually, I think there are two types of new bands. There are bands that introduce new themes. Personally, I don't connect with that. When a band focuses on themes like the ocean or mining—to name a couple—that isn't what black metal is about for me. It doesn't satisfy me.
Then there are bands that are musically avant-garde, and that’s always more interesting, because the music can't stay the same for 30 years—even though we are very traditional ourselves and still play the same style of black metal. Good music alone isn't enough; you need a strong theme, a strong image, and a solid concept. Most of these bands don't speak to me; they don't resonate with me. They might be musically excellent, but I can't listen to them for that reason alone.
Merci au Muscadeath, M&O Office Agency et Merrimack.
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