Pest
I was extremely impressed by Pest's 2004 release Vado Mori so I contacted them for this interview which was done in spring of 2005. Nothing else to add. Enjoy.

Greetings Pest. First off, your newest album “Vado Mori” has been out for a while now. How have responses to it been and are you satisfied with it?
Yeah, we are really satisfied with “Vado Mori”, and most of the responses have been positive by now.
Does “Vado Mori” have any sort of theme or concept? What kind of purpose do you hope it serves and what type of feelings or reactions do you intend for it to evoke from the listener?
“Vado Mori” is not a concept album. Most of the lyrics are about death, but every song stands for itself. There’s no special purpose behind this album. We just want the listener to enjoy the musical darkness.
On your website you state that you were not completely satisfied with your two previous full lengths. Can you tell me why this is? Do you view “Vado Mori” as the album that Pest was building up to or do you feel that the band has yet to reach it’s ultimate goal?
Well, a lot of things on our previous albums could have been done better. The sound is not the way it should be, because back then we were not so experienced with our recording-equipment, and also some songs have been played badly, as we think now. “Vado Mori” is the first album we are really satisfied with, but we hope that we will still be able to improve in the future. In any case we want a bit more variety on our next album.
You choose to record all of your material yourselves. Do you think you will ever stray from this routine in the future? What do you feel you gain by doing your own recordings as opposed to recording in a professional studio for instance?
We will for sure continue recording our material in our rehearsal-room. It guarantees us a very unique sound, which we think is very important. So many bands today sound all the same, and we hate that. Also we have all the time we want, and we save a lot of money.
Your first album was released by Ketzer. Why did you decide to return to the label for your latest album? How satisfied are you with the label, distribution and all of those matters?
Well, our first album “Ära” was originally released by ourselves on CD in May 2000. It was limited to 300 copies. Ketzer re-released it in 2002 on MC, and in 2003 it was re-released by Fullmoon Prod. on CD with 3 bonus tracks and a different artwork. By the way, the contact with Fullmoon was managed by Ketzer. At the time we wanted to release our second album “Ad se ipsum”, Ketzer was fully booked, so we asked the label Fog of the Apocalypse to release it, and so it was done. When we were recording “Vado Mori”, Ketzer asked us to co-operate with him again, and because we have always been very satisfied with the work of Ketzer, we agreed. Ketzer is really a true and honest underground label. Hail to Alex!!!
You use both English and German when writing lyrics. Is there any reasoning behind this? Why not stick with one language? Is there any language that you prefer, both in terms of writing, as well as singing?
It just came like that. We are a German band, so we decided to use the German language, because it’s easier to express yourself in your native language. But some things we think sound better in English, so we use both languages. That’s it.
I’d like to talk about the name “Pest”. I know that it is a tribute to the plague that swept through Europe but as I’m sure you’re aware, there exist two other European bands that have used the name. I wonder how you feel about this and if you’ve ever thought of changing the name because of confusion? Also, forgive my ignorance but please tell me what the image is in the band’s logo and what it represents.
When we started the band in 1997, we didn’t know about other bands using the name Pest. Later we were told of five or more other bands, but we didn’t and we don’t care about that. Most of them have ceased to exist or changed their names anyway. At the moment we only know about the Swedish band and the Finnish. We have released a demo tape and 3 albums now under the name Pest and meanwhile we are well known as the German Pest. So why should we change our name now?
The image in our logo represents a plague doctor of the 14th century. They wore a costume which should protect them from any contact to the air. It consisted of a tight gown of leather, a cape, gloves and a mask with a beak-like lengthening which was filled with herbs and vinegar-sponges to filter the inhaled air. It looks really gloomy and fits perfectly to a band named Pest, doesn’t it?
In the band biography on your website you state that you hardly have enough time to rehearse, let alone play live. How much of your lives are dedicated to Pest and black metal as a whole? Would you say that Pest is the main driving force in your lives or is it merely a small part of it?
The band and the music is just one part of our lives. Of course it’s very important, but we don’t live only for that. We all have a lot different needs which have to be satisfied.
I know you’ve performed live in the past. Please describe this experience for me. Are there any live gigs planned for the future? What would be an ideal live experience for Pest in terms of setting, bands, and whatever else might apply?
On the whole it was a good experience, but recordings are much more important for us. Probably we’ll play live again, as we hear about a lot of requests for that. It would be ideal if we could play in front of an audience which consists only of pure Pest-fanatics.
The lyrics are described as being of a very personal nature. I must ask where the inspiration for your lyrics comes from, be it certain writers, music, films, or your own thoughts.
The lyrics are about darkness, death, hatred, sorrow and insanity. Inspiration comes from a lot of different things like historical events (the plague conquers Europe in the 14th century), daily news, books, films, music, personal thoughts, dreams, experiences…
The new album features acoustic and ambient pieces. I’d like to know how much thought is put into the creation of atmosphere when writing, or is this something that comes naturally? How much attention do you give to atmosphere when you listen to music?
The music comes from deep within our souls. We don’t say we have to play like this or that. The creation of atmosphere comes naturally. We like the contrast from the silent acoustic songs to the raw BM songs. Albums with nothing but blast-beats are very boring in our opinion. By the way, I (Atax) adore a lot of ambient music, as long as it sounds gloomy.
What is your outlook on the current state of mankind? Is humanity worth saving? I assume you advocate another plague. What would you like mankind’s future to be like?
There’s no denying that too many people live on this planet. Population grows and grows. If this doesn’t stop, humanity will have destroyed the whole earth and so itself very soon. It’s time for mother nature to stop this pathogen. A smaller population and more environmental awareness would be the right way for the future of mankind. But it would be no loss if mankind would cease to exist.
Tell me about the bands religious beliefs. Does Pest focus on the destruction of all religions or only Christianity? There are some that no longer consider Christianity as a threat. How do you feel about this? How great of a factor is religion in creating music with Pest?
We just believe in the law of nature and despise any kind of religion. It would be great if all religions could be destroyed, but this is a utopia. Christianity and other religions are still very powerful with millions of followers. As long as humanity exists, there will also be religions. Sad but true. Some songs of Pest are about our hate against religion, but at the moment it’s not a great factor for us in creating music.
Considering that the bands name relates to one of the most notable events in European history, are there any other historical events that the band finds particularly interesting or important? Are there any points in history that you’d like the opportunity to experience or change?
History is full of interesting events (wars, natural disasters, creations, inventions…), but by now the plague is the only one to be assimilated in our songs. But it could be possible that we’ll turn towards other events in the future, as there’s not much left to say about the plague.
There are a lot of points in history I would like to experience, for example the construction of the Egyptian pyramids or the battle in which the Teutons destroyed the Roman legions in the year 9.
What can we expect in the future from Pest? Are there any new releases planned at the moment?
We plan to release a vinyl box-set with our three albums “Ära”, “Ad se ipsum” and “Vado Mori” in the near future. Also a 10’inch and T-Shirts are planned. Our 4th album will probably be released in 2006.
Those are all of my questions. Thanks for the interview. Please end it however you’d like.
Thanks for your support!!!

http://www.pest-musik.de/