God Dethroned #Interview

For anyone who is familiar with blackened death metal, God Dethroned is without a doubt a name synonymous with great music and perseverance. Driven by the creative vision of frontman and founding member Henri Sattler, the band has released eleven albums, with their latest effort, “The Judas Paradox” coming up on September 6^th. This interview dives into the themes and other details about “The Judas Paradox”, God Dethroned’s history, the philosophy of the band and more.

Greetings!

Thank you for taking the time to do this interview! It is truly a pleasure to have this opportunity, and we at Blessed Altar Zine hope you find this interview interesting.

To start up, what is the current state of God Dethroned? What is your main focus, at the time being, especially with a new record on the way?
Well, a new album brings new responsibilities. We are promoting the new album first of all by doing tons of interviews and soon we will hit the road again to tour with Batushka and Vltimas to promote the new songs live. It’s exciting times!

Since 2022’s Illuminati, the overall theme of God Dethroned’s music seemed to shift back to the one of the earlier records, being based more around anti- Christianity and blasphemy, compared to its predecessor “The World Ablaze”. The upcoming album also seems to build upon these ideas. How will “The Judas Paradox” build upon these themes, both lyrically and musically? Is there a certain concept at the base of the record?
Indeed after the trilogy of World War One albums it was time to go back to where GD stands for. But we didn’t just go back to anti-religious themes. We expanded our horizon by using themes like the Illuminati, Egyptian Mythology, Freemasonry, etc.
“The Judas Paradox” is in fact a true story taken from the bible itself. There’s not just one story about Judas Iscariot, but there’s two stories in the bible. The second story is about the fact that Jesus could look into the future and knew how he would unfold his plan to become king of the world. The fact that he used Judas to fulfill this plan against his will makes Judas innocent instead of the perpetrator. The song itself is written from Judas’ point of view which makes it a lot more interesting.

Recent years have also brought about a change in the overall sound of the band, along with the thematic one. What exactly determined this change, and what does it mean for the future of God Dethroned?
I guess it’s normal to have changes in sound. It’s part of the development of any band. Nowadays I do my own productions so finally I didn’t have to try to bring my ideas across to a producer and hope for the best. Now it’s just me who decides how the band will sound and that’s only for the better.

The single “The Judas Paradox” is definitely a great, interesting track, which, as mentioned in its description, is heavily melody driven. What inspired you to write this kind of song, particularly one with a dark, even gruesome topic? Is it the result of an alternative perspective on the biblical story it is based on?
It’s the most atmospheric song on the album together with Kashmir Princess. As I mentioned before, the lyrics are based of off the fact that there are more explanations about what happened back in the day. I already had this thought of Judas being innocent and just being used as a scapegoat, but then I found out that even in the bible this is actually described that way…

“Rat Kingdom” is an equally intriguing song. The classical elements in the composition seem to make it even more in tune with the subject matter of the song. What prompted you to approach this theme, and how does the symbol of the rat fit into it?
Everybody knows that there are many secrets hidden in the Vatican. And everybody knows that they will never see the light of day. I thought of it as an interesting topic to write a song about.
Anyone who has followed the band throughout the years knows very well what the rat stands for…

God Dethroned has faced multiple lineup changes and various other “road bumps” along the years, including a hiatus between 2012 and 2014. How have all these events affected your approach to music, and your views in general? Are there elements that have remained constant over the years?
The line-up changes are always hard and unavoidable as people change and get different interests or views upon playing in a band over time. It’s part of life. There’s only very few bands that have the same consistent line-up through all of their careers. It taught me even more to rely on myself only and not on others. Nevertheless there’s always great musicians who still want to play in our little underground band, and as long as that happens we can move forward.

Each band has moments that define them. What are some key moments or events that shaped God Dethroned into what it is today?
I guess it’s just the fact that we got picked up by a decent number of people who became our fans and still are today. That and the fact that i’m still part of the band combined with a little success. Without a little bit of success no band will survive.

From what I noticed, the music videos for your singles have a very strong narrative quality, and there is clearly a lot of thought put into them. What makes music videos so important, and what is their role in presenting a song’s concept? Are they purely a way of exposing the single to the audience, or do they also have a deeper artistic meaning?
We try to make videos that explain the lyrics of the songs properly. That fit to the atmosphere of our music to get the general idea across. They are an important way to get attention for your songs and new album of course, but at the same time we try to make it something worthwile looking at. Otherwise what’s the point?

Among all your records so far, some that stand out are the three albums that make up the World War I trilogy ( “Passiondale” “Under the Sign of the Iron Cross” and “The World Ablaze”). The music on these records is also noticeably more abrasive and violent sounding. What inspired this concept, and what did it mean for the band to showcase historical events both musically and lyrically?
We’ve always used historical themes in the music of GD. It’s just that one of our former guitar players used to live in a town that was on the frontline during the war. I learned so much about the war while being there (several times) that it inspired me to write songs about it. Eventually it turned out to be a trilogy. Something I couldn’t have foreseen myself at the time.

God Dethroned and high energy live shows have become synonymous. What are your expectations for your upcoming tour with Batushka and Vltimas? How important is to perform live for you, as a band?
It’s very important. It’s part of who I am and it’s a way of releasing emotions, whether positive or negative. It’s also the best way to promote a new album. And last but not least, it’s a lot of fun too!

What is the main driving force behind God Dethroned? What are the main principles that drive this project forward?
It’s the fact that we want to continue making great music for as long as we can. When nobody wants to listen to you anymore then it’s time to quit.

In order to achieve something great, there needs to exist some form of obstacle, or adversity. What do you consider to be the most difficult aspect of your songwriting process, what about composing and recording the latest record?
The most difficult aspect is to always manage to come up with songs and lyrics we haven’t done before. To always make sure its something completely new and fresh. After 12 albums that has become a pretty difficult task, but with the help of the other guys we managed to do another awesome album.

By traditional extreme metal standards, God Dethroned is an undoubtedly unique band. How do you manage to stand out and innovate musically even after so many years since your debut?
I don’t know. There’s no master plan. This is just what comes out when we start writing new songs. I’m glad we stand out from the rest. It makes it worthwile for me. I know that i’m quite unorthodox when it comes down to creating new melody lines and stuff. But I guess that’s one the reasons we do have our own unique sound.

Once again, thank you very much for your time! Lastly, is there a message you would like to share with your audience?
Thanx for all the years of support! Hope to you all soon on tour!

Cheers, Henri
God Dethroned

Interview by #Ioanna