This time I talked with Verkrag from Bloemfontein, South Africa. Verkrag is the solo-project of multi-instrumentalist Anton van Niekerk. The project released its debut, "13 Victims", last December. This was actually my first acquaintance with the South African black metal scene… So we talked with Anton about the music scene in South Africa, what he did before Verkrag and about his country that is known for its high crime and AIDS rates.

THE EARLY YEARS

Let us start with the very beginning Anton. I suppose it isn’t easy to start as a metal musician in a country like South Africa. How did it all begin?

No one in my family plays music. My grandfather would occasionally take out his guitar and just play some simple strumming songs, but that’s about it. I have always loved guitar music. I started listening to classical guitar tapes around age 6 or 7. I started playing much later though. I got my first guitar at a 2^nd hand store around 2002. I didn’t have anyone to teach me and didn’t want to play the crappy songs people usually start with anyway, so I just downloaded Satyricon and Immortal tabs. ‘Mountains of Might’ by Immortal was the first song I could play. I started writing my own music soon afterwards, things just took off from there and now I have a big collection of different instruments - mostly 2nd hand. (Laughs)

Only a year later Sanguinarius was born…

Sanguinarius was first known as Sanguinary and it was a full band – or rather, it had enough members to do a live show. This was back in 2003-4. As with most bands, in the early days, the line-up changed often and the songs had to be taught to new people over and over again. I found it frustrating and decided to go solo with my music. It felt as if I was wasting time. Time I could have spent recording and writing more music. Sanguinarius as it was known to online fans started in 2005 with me on all instruments and doing vocals. The Sanguinarious Myspace, however, wasn't created until December 2006.

Even though Sanguinarius finally became your solo-project, you quit that too?! How did it come to an end?

Sanguinarius came to an end in March 2008 because of disagreements with the extra lyricist. We were in a long-term relationship and when I left her, she became disgruntled and wanted to get her revenge by not allowing me to use the lyrics to which she contributed, even though some of them had already been released on EP’s. I didn’t feel like fighting over it, so I just let it go in order to get peace. Let this be a lesson to all musicians: do not get romantically involved with the people you work with. (Laughs)

VERKRAG

A strange thing probably is the fact you started Verkrag in Norway, even though you live in South Africa. Is there a special reason for it?

I visited Norway for 3 months back in 2008. Upon my arrival I immediately fell in love with Norway and hated the fact that I had to return to South Africa. At the same time I missed my language and people. It was a very confusing time and I was going through an assortment of emotions: I spent a lot of time in a beautiful, safe country, which I could probably never live in because of paperwork, and months earlier I had my successful musical project Sanguinarius killed because of someone else’s jealous, spiteful actions.

I chose not to quit, but to use these feelings to fuel the fire and to create new music/art, and to be more successful than ever! Sanguinarius meant nothing to me anymore and I was sick of the vampiric association anyway, so I started Verkrag in late August of that year, just a couple of days before my return.

If you look back… Wasn’t it bad to start something new: Verkrag, instead of going further with Sanguinarius, who already had a nice name in the underground?

Originally, I just wanted to write new lyrics for the music and continue Sanguinarius. The Sanguinarius fans' favourite was a song I wrote all by myself anyway. Later on, I decided to re-record the music too and to give the project a new name to fit my new, more demented lyrics.

The death of Sanguinarius was a good thing. I am more determined and focused on accomplishing my goals and I became more successful than ever before. Verkrag is doing better than Sanguinarius ever did. Not only are people commenting on the fact that the music is much better, but also on how much they love my lyrics. I feel that I have grown as a lyricist and I enjoy writing much more. The more I write, the easier it becomes. I like to create stories, mini horrors if you will. It feels great going into that sick state of mind and writing about it. I did have some help though: Polish lyricist/poet Victoria Szymanski wrote the biggest part of  the “Asylum” lyrics, while American lyricist/poet Brazenesque helped me write the tracks “13 Victims” and “Asylum”.

You play all the instruments. Never thought about making Verkrag a real band?

I play all the instruments, yes, but unfortunately the drums had to be programmed since the small town in which I live does not have a Black Metal drummer. I use old software actually, and most people find it hard to believe that it can be done using such primitive computer programs.

I really work best alone and will only involve other musicians if there is a big demand for Verkrag to play live. In that case, I would like to have a full line-up totaling 6 members with myself doing the vocals.

On December 13^th, you released your debut album “13 Victims”. Can you tell us some more about the concept that you use in the album, and why you call the music Psychotic Black Metal?

I call it Psychotic Black Metal because of the lyrical content and the imagery I use. The themes revolve mostly around the demented and deranged. I want future albums to be about society and religion as well. Religion and economic slavery kills and rapes the mind, hopes and dreams of people. In a sense, the world in which we live is psychotic. What is normal? Nothing about the way we live is natural or really ‘normal’ anymore. We are all fucking crazy! Some are just more extremely so than others, going as far as to rape and kill.

I wanted to create a story album. I also wanted it to look great, so I involved some of the sexiest alternative models from around the world. I edited all the pictures that they sent to me, the artwork can be seen at www.verkrag.com on the ‘victims’ page. The album design incorporates these pictures, but with a creepier look and feel bringing the visuals, lyrics (my own handwriting custom font) and music together as a whole. By the way, some of the models did guest vocals on the CD as well.

The album starts off by setting the mood of insanity and shock treatment in the Asylum. Our killer - me - is now suffering and getting injections. With the medication comes the visions/flashbacks of his childhood and his incestuous relationship with his sister. Then his killing spree and illusions of being God and “saving” prostitutes from the streets begin. As an older man, he develops a love for little girls because they seem so pure and innocent compared to the whores he used to kill. Then he tortures, rapes, kills and eats these girls to keep them pure. In the asylum, all his victims haunt him. Are they ghosts or is it all in his mind? Their presence feels so real…

Where do you get your inspiration for this music and lyrics? Do you have a sick mind or is it more a matter of following the news?

The music is my way to express certain feelings or to reflect certain aspects of society.

Sometimes we feel like we could just torture, mutilate and kill, but of course we keep these emotions bottled up inside and just carry on with our mundane lives. This is where psychopaths differ from us – they lack that certain something that keeps their rage in check. I find this fascinating and write from the perspective of the killer. I like to reflect all the nastiest things in society through the eyes of the sickos doing the evil deeds they do. I explore things like torture, murder, rape, cannibalism, pedophilia and necrophilia.

These are all subjects that people normally would not speak about. Therefore, when they see and hear my work, they immediately condemn it. Verkrag is causing quite a stir in the world of the ‘happy’, ‘normal’ people. They cause the hype.

The hype/controversy is a big bonus, but it can be a curse at times too, like now that I want T-shirts printed for example. People simply do not understand what I am trying to do and don’t want to be associated with something that could potentially damage their company’s image because the mindless masses cannot see past the Bronze Age beliefs scribbled in the ‘good’ book.

Overall, the reaction to Verkrag varies from repulsion and utter disgust - mostly from South Africans - to overwhelming praise by overseas fans, calling me God and a genius. The Verkrag fan base in South Africa is growing, yes, but it is still small compared to the fan base in America and Europe. That is where I get most of my support from, be it airplay, interviews or just great comments from fans about the music and art. I must say it is a bit strange getting more promotion and positive feedback there than in your own country. Not complaining at all though – I love it!

Not only the music and lyrics are made by you, Anton. You also recorded the music and made the artwork. How come, is it a matter of being a perfectionist?

I do the recordings myself because I do not have the finances to do it in a studio and have it mixed and mastered by professionals. I refuse to let things like that hold me back.

It’s my vision, so I want to create it like I see it. First of all, I create for myself so I make something that interests me. Getting feedback from the public, be it positive or negative, keeps me motivated to do my best to create and share more work. In the end… if it is not successful, I'll have no-one to blame but myself. No band politics and no finger pointing!

So you have your own recording studio?

No, I do not own a real recording or art studio. All my work is done on my good old normal home PC. I am saving up for a better PC and new software.

It looks like you have some experience with all these matters. Did you ever record any other band or make artwork for them?

No recordings for other bands, but artwork, yes.

In 2009, I made a banner for Dark Funeral to use for the Nordic Rage Metal Fest that took place in Sweden in September. They were pleased with my design and it was used on the Dark Funeral Myspace as well as the Reverbnation page.

More recently I did the design and layout of the new split entitled ‘Angiulonius Frigus Vorago’ by old school Black Metal bands Funereus (US) and Helsefyr (Sweden).

I have also done a lot of picture edits for alternative models in the past and it looks like I'll be working with Verkrag, Dark Funeral, Devian & Hate model Elena Bathory a lot more in the future.

Then there is ‘The Verkrag Chronicles’ by the brilliant Canadian horror/fantasy writer Atusha Avarus. She approached me and asked if she could use me - and the name Verkrag - as the main character for her story. We have reached an agreement and I am happy to be a part of it. I'm also glad to announce that I am doing artwork for ‘The Verkrag Chronicles’. It is a very exciting project for me.

SOUTH AFRICA

What are the common music styles out there actually?

Generally African music, Gospel, and a new breed of black music called ‘Kwaito’ dominate the airwaves, since the black community constitutes about +70% of the South African population. “White” music is mostly only played on Digital Satellite TV here and it’s mostly Afrikaans, Rock, Alternative and Emo. As far as metal and extreme music goes, it is really hard to get good promotion, if any. If not for the internet and metal fests, there would be no promotion whatsoever. Death metal seems to be more common, but more Black Metal bands are on the rise and the fests are getting bigger every year.

Can you tell us some more about your country and how they react to Verkrag and metal music? I suppose it’s still a very religious country.

The white community is still very religious, yes. The way of thinking here always seemed to be that if you do not believe in Jesus, or even if you do not look a certain way (short hair and no tattoos or piercings), then you must be a devil worshipper. I still hear of young guys having to cut their hair to get a job and to fit the requirements of the employer. Things are slowly changing though, and the situation is much better in the bigger cities.

Concerning Black/Death metal: religious people just hear ‘noise’ and ‘stupid screaming’ and automatically see it as the devil’s work. When I was in school they used to have Church groups visit every week, warning against the devil's music and speaking of how demons will enter our bodies etc. Ridiculous… I have been thrown out of the school hall and got suspended for blasphemy many times.

Even though (white) South Africa is still very religious, there are major national problems like crime and AIDS. How does society react to such things?

Of course, like in every other country, such things are not welcomed by the community, and with South Africa having one of the highest crime rates in the world it is a huge problem here. I get the feeling that it is kept quiet though. What I mean by that is that they would rather show political meetings and sport events crap on the news than talk about the real crimes. Except of course when it is a black person that has been kidnapped or raped or killed – then it’s a big deal and the president or some high government official attends the funeral.

The crimes against whites are rarely spoken of… In fact, just last year one of my friends gave his life defending his wife from burglars. They wanted to rape her and he attacked them and was shot dead. They ran off after that. It was never even mentioned in the news. We hear of many such instances from people all around and these occurrences also never make it to the news. It makes you wonder how many people really die daily and why it is never mentioned… Such crimes are usually against women, the elderly and people living on farms. They are tortured and humiliated before they are killed. Some have even been forced to take rat poison… Most houses now have security systems and the fences are either spiked or electrically enhanced at the top.

To learn and see more about this, simply Google search ‘plaasmoorde’ / farm murders / violence in South Africa etc. There are articles, pictures and even videos online about this. Also have a look at our president, Jacob Zuma’s history. Not too long ago, he was tied to many different court cases. The one that stands out most is the rape case. He knew she was HIV positive but he was not concerned about it, because he took a shower after having sex with her and believed that this would prevent contagion! This case took place before being elected. What were people thinking voting for him?! If they were thinking at all… Then again, what does it matter? All ‘leaders’ are just puppets anyway.

As far as the public's view on my choice of name “Verkrag” ("rape" in Afrikaans, Ed.) goes, about 90% of them do not understand it and immediately assume that I must be supporting and promoting rape and murder. "Verkrag" was considered too offensive by some ignorant narrow-minded people, and they decided to start a hate group and report the Verkrag pages and my personal profile on the social networking site Facebook. I will not be silenced and I am back. I added extra admins to the Verkrag pages so that I do not lose all my Facebook contacts again. Printers and duplicators refused to do the "13 Victims" album even after I paid my deposit and papers were signed. Not only because of the ‘rape’ theme but also because it is anti-religious. It's a struggle to find printers for Verkrag T-shirts too…

FUTURE

Any more news about Verkrag? Maybe writing new music already?

I want every album to have a different theme, so I am writing faster and more Anti-Religion oriented music which I hope to release by the end of 2010. I also plan on making 2 or maybe even 3 music videos for tracks off the "13 Victims" album.

Can we expect any more projects or even a full band?

I am thrilled to announce that I collaborated with Norwegian Black Metal band Wrath Passion doing guest vocals on one of their tracks entitled “Black Hole”. Wrath Passion is one of Norway’s fastest growing new bands, they're currently number 5 on the ReverbNation national metal charts for Norway. "Black Hole" was uploaded by Wrath Passion on Feb 1st and as far as I know, this is the first time ever that South African and Norwegian Black Metal musicians have worked together in creating a Black Metal piece. “Black Hole” will appear on the next Verkrag album as a bonus track.

I am currently playing Dr. Frankenstein with one of Throne of Malediction’s songs called “Never Enough”. It is a short track with beautiful female vocals. I want to play around with it and make a 4-6 minute song adding Doom Metal riffs and some blast beat Black Metal riffs with some depressive Black Metal screaming. Throne of Malediction is a band from the United States and we have been talking about a collaboration for some time now. “Never Enough” will also appear on the next Verkrag album as a bonus track.

I've also been talking to Ebony from Theatre Runs Red here in South Africa about her doing guest vocals on a Verkrag song for the next album. Her screams and growls are amazing and Theatre Runs Red is one of South Africa’s most popular live bands. The track I have in mind is “Sangoma” but it has not been finalised yet. The song is about African witch doctors. I used tribal drums in the music to get that African voodoo feeling.

A last thing Anton wanted to ask you, our readers…

Anyone want to adopt an African? All the stars are doing it. Take me away anytime.

But seriously: thanks for the interest in Verkrag and for the great support.

Unfortunately, due to South African tax laws, PayPal is not allowed to be used by South African sellers… However, the “13 Victims” album is available to international fans via Moneybookers on verkrag.com. subterania.co.za also has the CD in stock and there are many different payment options available. Support Sick South African Black Metal.

More info at: www.verkrag.com & www.myspace.com/verkrag

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