Epizoda u žanru tjelesnih modifikacija.
Ritualom protiv ljudske devolucije.
Kvazimističko-utopijska umjetnost izvođenja gadnih stvari s tijelom, koje se tretira kao instrument. Miks agonije i euforije. Bol kao tjelesni šum koji vodi prema "buđenju", prema "nečemu": istina je uvijek u unutrašnjosti, dakle (doslovno) otvorimo naša tijela.
Zanimljivo zbog tetralnih audio-vizualno-emocijskih efekata.
a-m-f.org/
www.a-m-f.org/front2.html
louisfleischauer.com/Home.html
streaming
The Aesthetic Meat Front is the performance wing of a group called the Asthetic Meat Foundation, which was started right here in Los Angeles by a twisted individual named Louis Fleischauer. The stated aim of the AMF is “ritual against human devolution” or some shit, but really what they mostly seem to be interested in is in coming up with arty, creative ways to do horrible things to themselves in public. If Jigsaw from the Saw movies has a favorite band, it’s these guys.
Now apparently based in Berlin, the AMF like to fill their performances with what Fleishauer calls “human instruments.” This includes some really high-tech gadgetry like homemade EEG machines that turn brain waves into sound—but mostly it just consists of using hooks and needles to wire the performers to various sound generating devices, then yanking the performer’s flesh around and seeing what kind of wacky noises they can generate. Besides cries of pain from the performers and groans of horror from the audience, that is.
Fleischauer’s website has a gallery of some of his more stomach-churning creations. Among our favorites: a microphone inserted under the skin (and then played by essentially mouth-farting onto whatever appendage the performer inserted the mic into—the arm seems to be the most practical) and a “human harp” made by piercing someone’s back with a bunch of wires and then pulling them taut. The AMF MySpace page also mentions something called a “vaginal scissor dance” and honestly, we’re afraid to even ask what that one’s about.
You wouldn’t think the “music”…and yeah, it definitely deserves to be in quotation marks…that comes out of all this would be of much interest to anyone, but you can in fact buy all sorts of Aesthetic Meat Front goodies from A-M-F Records, including something called the Embalmer Tapes that was made entirely from an unauthorized audio recording of an embalming session. Eat your heart out, Matmos!
Anyway, below is a video of Fleschauer and friends getting freaky at something called the Castle Party last year. Don’t worry, it’s not all that disgusting. Just try not to think about the fact that all those metal contraptions they’re wearing have probably been sewn into their skin.
- weirdestbandintheworld.com/
AESTHETIC MEAT FRONT invites you to a journey of_mental oblivion. Explore the realms of Deep Desire being transformed into a sonique landscape. Featuring: Sonique Hooks + Live Body Modification + Audience Participation + Public Deprogramming
A Symphony of Flesh performs public rituals turning humans into instruments through body modification, transforming the agony and euphoria of the stage into sonique energy to be devoured by the audience. Sculpted Leather Creations by Louis Fleischauer (AMF Korsets)
We live in bad dream written by George Orwell. The book of prophecy is called 1984. Newspeak slowly becomes the dominant language. The reality of war has been reduced to the sterility of a PG 13 video game. It is now, more than ever, crucial to not resign or dwell in apathy. The army of hopelessness has no pity for its soldiers. The time has come to wake up. Keep passion alive!
Image from ritual in Muenchen: 5th December 2003
Domagkstr.33, Haus 49, Dachgalerie
The focus of this ritual is to traumatize the participants (performers and audience alike) into a state of rapture and use this energy as a catalyst for de-programming from a consumer friendly reality, spiked with fears and anxieties. By invoking the primal instinct we are releasing our inner powers, thus reaching a state of true Self-awareness. These moments are the keys to realize that there is more to life than what we have been programmed to believe.
Can you feel your deep desire burning,
Are you afraid of your temple of flesh,
Are you afraid to lose your mind in the abyss of ecstasy,
Look around you, are you fulfilled living in this reality,
Is you PC flesh satisfied,
Does your media brain need an upgrade,
Thank you for being a valuable part of the economic food chain,
Every human is a potential threat to our security,
Consume terrorists everywhere,
Sleeper cells that will never awaken, for they've died long ago,
Feed your innermost flame,
Cut open your flesh, inflame your mind, re-open your wounds,
This moment only is true,
Spirit cleansed in pain, burned in pleasure and reborn in blood,
Temple of Flesh set my soul on fire!
- Louis Fleischauer
FENRIS LIBERATION- A public Deprogramming Ritual
They who live by the morals of the masses,
they who assimilate,
they who drown in the sea of subservience,
they who worship gods and idols,
they who crawl on their knees,
they who can not stand alone,
they who can not think for them Selves,
they who have no will of their own,
they who do not fight for them Selves,
they who do not resist in any shape or form,
A R E D E A D !
The ritual includes:
Musik made with bones, blood, meat, metal combined with dark electronics, Bodymodifications, which are also used as soundsource, collective art and audience participation.
We stand at the end of western civilization. Mankind's mind has been crippled by christian morals, which stand for stagnation, mediocrity and self- annihilation. Instead of using our communication systems as a tool to help mankind grow and evolve, we let the mass media abuse it by spreading fear and paranoia towards creativity, individuality and self indulgence. The equality that the “civilized” man strives for, condemns the strong and reduces everything to the level of the weak. Outrageous safety laws and useless disclaimers (caution coffee is hot!) eliminate the need for self responsibility and the use of common sense. Has thinking become a crime against humanity? Is it our destiny to become soulless meat machines? ...or is there more to LIFE?
The idea behind this Ritual is to help the participants (performers and audience alike)de-program themselves from a reality that we've ben told to believe.
By releasing inner powers like the primal instinct we not only become aware of parts in us that have been suppressed far to long, but we also can use these moments to realize that there is more to life than what we have been programmed to believe. We see the Fenris Wolf as the beast within us. In Ragnarok (norse mythology) Fenris breaks loose and swallows the sun. Thus the end of the world as we know it, but the sun shall rise again. A new sun for a new world. A world free of mediocrity and stagnation. Free of small believes. Where the individual can rise and evolve, where Self - love is a virtue. A world beyond good and evil!
The audience is encouraged to paint symbols of their despair on a collective art piece. This piece will be destroyed in an energy release during the ritual. Join in!
-Louis Fleischauer
by Aesthetic Meat Front
A Symphony of Flesh...
...performs rituals turning humans into instruments through body modification, transforming the agony and euphoria of the stage into sonique energy to be devoured by the audience.
Utilizing sculpted leather creations that are mounted to the performer with hooks, wires, and other devices beneath the skin, Louis Fleischauer manifests the transformation of human flesh into a sonorous organism.
In the spirit of early Surrealist ideals, the goal of
these rituals is to invoke a reality-shift within the
minds of audience members. A Symphony of Flesh mingles visuals and acoustics in meditative madness.
these rituals is to invoke a reality-shift within the
minds of audience members. A Symphony of Flesh mingles visuals and acoustics in meditative madness.
Through
exhaustion, pain and noise the performer enters a trance-like state of
mind. Some of the cathartic experienced through this, is being shared
with the audience in form of sound. Every amount of pressure from hooks
pulling the skin is translated into amplified vibrations.
For
the ritual to be effective, any barrier between stage and audience must
be destroyed. People are encouraged to participate via various tasks,
such as joining the orchestra of flesh and noise by attacking amplified
devises attached to the performer.
AESTHETIC MEAT FRONT
By Kerval
By Kerval
Louis
Fleischauer founder of AESTHETIC MEAT FRONT was born in Leipzig/East
Germany behind the iron curtain and after living in Usa, he returns to
Germany now in 2008.The art of Louis Fleischauer is an invocation of
primal energy as an answer to a sterilized, consumer friendly reality
shaped by a mass media to bread one homogenized people. Living within an
artificial reality they 'civilized' people have become disconnected
from their true nature. Louis' art seeks to reopen a channel to the
Pristine Self within the mind of the beholder.
Herr
Fleischauer is a sculptor and performer using organic materials such as
animal hides, bones, flowers, blood and his own skin. In his public
rituals he turns humans into living sculptures and instruments,
including his own body. Through a mix of agony and euphoria Louis falls
into a state of trance. His sculptures are a reflection of this
experience.The Aesthetic Meat Foundation was formed to shatter the
TV-crippled belief system of our so-called "modern world" by introducing
apocalyptic art/culture to the main stream. With apocalyptic they do
not mean Dooms Day. They see the Apocalypse or Ragnarok more as the
change of Aeons, a cleansing process, and the decline of the "modern
world".
A fundamental principle in A-M-F is to unleash dynamic states of consciousness through pain, ecstasy as tool for self awareness?
Pain,
exhaustion and euphoria have been utilized since ancient times to alter
states of consciousness. We utilize those ritual practices and
sometimes combine them with modern technology (simulated brain wave
frequencies, translation of pain into sound, lights etc) in order to
gain different states of self awareness.
What
represents for you self awareness? And from an individual point, how
this self awareness is related to worship pleasure and experience of
ecstasy in your existence in this physical plane?
Self
Awareness is ever present as long you are consciously aware of any part
of your self, to befully self aware you need to explore the hidden
corners of your (sub)-consciousness, the ritual of self worship through
pleasure and ecstasy is one way to experience your inner Self to the
fullest.
Or
do you think your art, transcends all senses in this plane? A-M-F is a
gate to your own transcendental reality through carnal experimentation
to connect yourself with another dimension of a psychic/spiritual
Character?
While
I utilize all senses known to be consumed by the flesh of the beholder
in my art, there are dimensions and demons that need to be excavated in
private. None the less A-M-F can definitely be seen as a ritual tool to
shape-shift realities for everyone involved.
Each
deprogramming public ritual has a basic concept to explore:
Disintegration of mind, human devolution, Self Awareness, Ritual as
Purest form of Resistance. So, is your intention to put audience in a
state of trance with the purpose to unleash mind in aseries of
labyrinths in which people meet its own will through visual, audial,
suggestive methods?
The
ultimate goal of A-M-F's public rituals is to help the participant to
reach a state of mind that is awakening to a point where the mind is
able to reconnect with its primordial self. What to do with this
knowledge is up to the individual.
How
was transformed in your mind the creative idea to generate this
symbiosis between flesh, blood, sounds, through AESTHETIC MEAT FRONT?
It
all started out with a small piece of meat during my first stage
experience in 1993, working with this raw element triggered something in
my mind, the law of natural evolution did the rest.
And
how has been the development at psychic level, since the beginning in
1996 to now year 2008 according your experiences in visual art as
transformation bodyand sculptures?
These
days I communicate with the audience more on a level of internal
intensity rather then externally. My Sculptures are no longer just
wearable art, they have transformed into tools for psychological games
(for example chastity belts with hooks, hoods with sound chambers, that
cover and blindfold your face, that have springs connected to your
body).
And
in which way the works of A.O.Spare, Wilhelm Reich, Lovecraft, and
Crowley have inspired you in one or another way for your personal
development which is obviously reflected in A-M-F?
Spare:
His mind was absolutely beautiful. On a practical level I found his
form of Kaos magic and experiments with white noise very useful. But
also been highly inspired by his writing and drawings.
Crowley: The exercise of Will, his tragic ending as warning, but most of all his "Liber O.Z." themanifesto of the rights of mankind.
Reich:
His Orgone theory, especially with the high concentration of orgone in
blood which goes well with the Aztec "Tonally"(animating spirit), the
energy that keeps the universe in motion. This energy is the essential
nourishment of the gods. The core source of this alluring energy is the
nectar of life.
Lovecraft:
How he gets your mind spinning by only giving hints and lets your
fantasy do the rest. The reader can't just consume a finished product,
the reader has to participate, and no one will have the exact same
experience. It's this form of shape-shifting reality within the mind of
the reader that truly inspired me for my public rituals.
What’s
“Evolution” for you? Perhaps as a self-awareness, and understanding of
our own natures, having in “true will” a platform for this
“evolution-Involution”, in a neither, neither state? A neutral state of
mind?
Evolution
in my definition is a change that has to be beneficial to the subject
that goes through a transformation. On a personal level, I believe one
needs to be willing to understand it's inner demons in order to become
completely self aware, for this is the foundation of spiritual growth. A
neutral state of mind can only be benefits for a very limited period of
time before it breeds stasis. Struggle is the engine of
evolution.Unfortunately mankind likes comfort and stability a bit too
much for it's own good and thus humanity has entered a state of
de-volution. The general population uses technology and mass
communication mostly as tool to kill off their senses and intellect.
They numb themselves with entertainment that offers non-information and
over stimulation. Our bodies become monstrous lard puppets that have to
be transported in wheelchairs, 3-9% off all children have Attention
Deficit Disorder, our brains can't process the simple mathematical
transaction without acalculator and god only knows how this interview
would look without Spell Check!
Tell
us a few, about the great development, and general concept behind
“Temple Of Flesh” album, and its connection with invocation of blood sun
rituals2003/2004?
"Temple
of Flesh" is a momentous release in many ways. It is A-M-F's 10 Year
anniversary release. The package is a mix of A-M-F history and a
reflection of to this dates our most intense ritual series. I made 3
versions of this release:the regular edition:CD, elegantly packaged in a
DVD case, Temple of Flesh comes with 6 double-sided cards reflecting
the essence of an A-M-F ritual.
"10
Years of Public Deprogramming" edition (limited to 180) with the Temple
of Flesh CD, the Blood Sun Rising DVD-r, 996 006 CDR of unreleased
Materials and remixes of 1 track of each previous releases. The Flesh
Box was limited to only 27 had all the above plus scripts from public
rituals, and propaganda posters soaked in cow blood, skull and bone
fragments and other remains from previous rituals.
Yet
most intriguing part of the Flesh Box was a surprise of un-released
material from the A-M-F archives, such as original video tapes from
early A-M-F rituals, cdrs with, raw sound sources, cassette tapes, and
floppydiscs of songs and sounds. All this was packaged in a wound
covered skin jacket, hand sculpted by myself. Each Flesh Box will was
unique and included different original material from the A-M-F archives.
The "Blood Sun Rituals" was a series of Public Rituals based on this invocation:
Can you feel your deep desire burning
Are you afraid of your temple of flesh,
Are you afraid to lose your mind in the abyss of ecstasy,
Look around you, are you fulfilled living in this reality,
Is you PC flesh satisfied,Does your media brain need an upgrade,
Thank you for being a valuable part of the economic
food chain,
Every human is a potential threat to our security,
Consumer terrorists everywhere,
Sleeper cells that will never awaken,
for they've diedlong ago,Feed your innermost flame,
Cut open your flesh, inflame your mind,
re-open yourwounds,
This moment only is true,
Spirit cleansed in pain,
burned in pleasure and rebornin blood,
Temple of Flesh set my soul on fire!
This Text has been translated into 12 languages; those spoken words are
the base for this record. Later I manipulated and mixed those words
with other sounds to sculpt the sound scape for 13 versions of the
invocation above.The idea behind the Blood Sun Rituals was to overcome
once own numbness, that is created by artificial fears injected daily
into our veins by the machinery of corporate mass media. In order to
overcome this, one must first re-discover the beauty of Life's
intensity.Your body holds the key to this intensity. At your live rituals, lots of blood is spread from your own body.so, obviously a high quantity of energy is released. Is known some Qliphotic entities need the energy of blood to enter this existential plane... How do you handle such energies and is blood for you a key to a primal state of consciousness?
Never had any problems with blood hungry creatures from outer space, but blood is most definitely a key to primal state of consciousness, the first act in our life in to be covered in blood and embryonic fluids, blood represents birth and death, an open wound is a reflection of the gate to the womb we all want to return to, yet the same wound is also a mirror to your own mortality, how much more primal can you get?
What do you feel, visualize, think when doing suspension, floating in the void covered in blood and experience ecstasy of “pain” ?
I never think when I hang. Visualization and feelings all depend on the environment; I'm very sensitive to what happens around me, sound, light and also the human energy of the audience play a large factor on what is going on in my mind, while I'm travelling above the ground.
Does your primal instincts having any connection with Atavistic Shamanic Teutonic tribes, or Aztec cults, knowing they worship blood as an universal consciousness, a gate between two dimensions (earth/beyond)?
When we invoke our primal instinct we tap into the same vein our forefathers did during their rituals, no matter which gods they invoked.
I know a split Cd between A-M-F/PSYCHONAUT 75 was released.so, could you tell us a few more about this album?
Michael Ford and I have share some of the same visions and are natural allies. I worked with Dana Dark and Ugly Shyla before, one thing let to another and we decided to work on a joint release reflecting our rituals.
I don't want to talk for Psychonaut 75's part of the release, as it is not my creation, but here is the info behind the A-M-F half of this release:The raw material for tracks 2 and 3 is taken from “Pure Kaos Against Total Control”- a public deprogramming ritual, performed in London in November of 2001.
The smell of fear and burning flesh filled the air. Needles penetrated my head and hooks pierced the skin of my back. The taste of noise and pain laid on my chanting tongue. I’m apiece of meat, hanging from hooks above the ground. I’m past the point of agony, I’m dead, nolonger, blood streaming down my face, I have become the Phoenix. The focus of this recording was to capture this moment of transformation by painting a sonique landscape that reflects my experience and interpretation of the Bird Of Oblivion.Other sounds used in this recording are samples of human bone and the removal of flesh, blood, as well a variety of samples taken from unconventional instruments that have been refined at the studio.
Do you have any video material to be released yet? What about your new album or live performances? Temple
of Flesh's limited edition comes with a DVD-r of the Blood Sun Rising
rituals, then there is the infected blood Video, released with the
special edition of “Plague of Humanity”. Currently I'm taking a little
pause from recording. Does the use of chains, metal, blood is a
suggestive way to visualize expresses your own reality at stage; and is
amazing to see audience entering in the mental state when performing
your live rituals? Any visual effects to increase the ecstasy and
mentalorgasm in future performances?A-M-F is all about creating once own
reality, and this starts on stage. There is almost nothing as rewarding
for me then to see a real transformation with the mind of an individual
in the audience.As for new visuals, at the moment I'm utilizing a lot
of my leather work with on stage, to create human instruments.You says: “fear is a tool to awaken people, to confront people with their own fears”. so, I ask you: How do you confront your own fears? Are fears inhibitions and mental infections imposed by modern society?
Best Way to confront your fear is to face it, I try to do this when ever possible, sometimes that can not be so easily accomplished.You just need to spend 2 minutes at the airport to see how fears are pounded into the minds of the travellers. Look at how often the word SAFETY is invoked. Every time you use a word like SAFETY, SECURITY, BE CAREFUL, etc you automatically suggest that there is somethingto be afraid of. Our society fetishizes those words and media wants us to believe that there is a faceless Terrorist on the way to our own bedrooms.
Is each ritual of A-M-F a personal entrance to a psychic, spiritual, corporal pattern in which you die and reborn, a creation and dissolution of your own reality based in pain, ecstasy and pleasure?
All A-M-F rituals are different, sometimes I die, sometimes I'm reborn, sometimes dissolution comes in form of depression the days after the ritual. The days after a Suspension awareness is still extremely strong, but one is taken out of the fleshly beautiful set of the ritual, and put back into the meaninglessness of our daily conduct just so we can survive in this plastic world.
Last week you were in Amsterdam generating the “Symphony Of Flesh” live ritual...Could you comment us about such performance and the general concept behind it?
“A Symphony of Flesh” performs rituals turning humans into instruments through body modification, transforming the agony and euphoria of the stage into sonique energy to be devoured by the audience. The energy is designed to slowly build and intensity as the ritual goes on. As the energy gains on intensity the audience is encouraged to participate by playing those human instruments and thus add and manipulate the level of ferociousness.
Before finishing with this conversation, is of high interest to know what comes for A-M-F activities relating new albums, live performances, etc?
2008 is going to be a year of personal transformation and soul searching, not sure how much time I will have to spend on new records, but there are some seeds planted, one just needs to see how long the need to blossom. There are going to be a very few public rituals this year, if all goes well one of them will be in Tokyo this summer.
well, this was a very interesting conversation Mr. Fleischauer, keeps on opening your flesh and thanks a lot for your support!! Feel free to close this interview as you want!Initiate your primal instincts to comprehend your inner demons and read them like books of knowledge.-
Interview by Aversionline Magazine
http://www.holyterror.com/aversionline/index.html?/aversionline/interrogation/int-amf.html
Interrogation: Louis Fleischauer of Aesthetic
Meat Front
August 2003
AO:
This may only require a one-word response, but to avoid confusing the readers as both names will be used repeatedly, the Aesthetic Meat Front is simply one branch of the larger Aesthetic Meat Foundation, is that correct?
LF:
Yes, the Aesthetic Meat Front is in charge of spreading our ideology in the form of public deprogramming rituals and recorded media, such as CD's and videos. You could say the Front is the syringe of the Aesthetic Meat Foundation that injects the thoughts into the veins of the public.
AO:
I'll openly admit that this is, in part, a silly question… but in this instance I think the answer will be both relevant and interesting. So, with that being said: How old are you, and at what age did you begin to formulate the many philosophical concepts that presently make up the Aesthetic Meat Foundation (including time prior to the group's documented formation more than seven years ago)?
LF:
The philosophies that started to shape the Aesthetic Meat Foundation are rooted in my early childhood. I've always been a loner and eventually I had to learn to use this to my advantage. When other kids played with trading cards, I was busy daydreaming or chasing fantasies. It seems that I instinctively knew from the beginning that I'm not a part of this herd. Without this hunger for individuality I would not have discovered the beauty of the Left Hand Path. Some rather extreme experiences helped me to truly awaken, and showed me that you can't evolve without facing some serious struggle.
AO:
I'm assuming since you chose not to elaborate on said "extreme experiences" that you'd rather not do so. However, if you can, or would be willing to, that would be interesting. It's your choice.
LF:
Some mysteries need to remain.
AO:
Clearly you're extremely well versed in certain subjects. Early on, and through time, what have been some of the most influential sources from which you've drawn research, and what initially led you to these sources in the early stages of your ideological awakening?
LF:
In my early years, my grandma used to tell me stories of how the Aztecs would remove the human hearts of their sacrificial victims while they were still alive. Back then I was still living behind the iron curtain (east Germany), so it was rather hard to find good information. My friend and I spend plenty of time picking each other's brains in high school. Eventually the wall came down, I moved to Berlin, lived on unemployment, and spent a lot of time reading: Crowley, Gregorius, CG Jung (there is still much I like to read of his work), Nietzsche, LaVey's "Law of the Trapezoid", Spiesberger and various other underground zines, etc. Later I stumbled onto the works of Stephen Flowers and Austin Osman Spare, which immediately clicked with me. HP Lovecraft's way of triggering your imagination and his way of creating doorways to the other side also painted the foundation of my ideas. And then there is Wilhelm Reich, who gave that whole blood obsession of mine a more scientific touch. On the other side there are my three favorite mythological creatures: Fenris, Phoenix, and Prometheus. The core of inspiration comes from within, simply listen to your instincts.
AO:
You've stated: "The Aesthetic Meat Foundation was formed to shatter the TV-crippled belief system of our so-called 'modern world' by introducing apocalyptic art/culture to the mainstream…" I know that your definition of the term "apocalyptic" has no connection to "the end of the world", but how, if at all, do you feel that you're assaulting the literal mainstream with such art/culture?
LF
We used to have a theme camp at Burning Man until 2000… we must've sent hundreds of weekend warriors on a very bad acid trip. Also, we got quite some exposure in the mass media: German TV (Pro 7) and various others. Thanks to Burning Man, footage of our rituals ended up on "The 700 Club". Then, there is always the internet. But most importantly, by keeping the "underground" alive, we influence and infect the culture of our society. Especially these days, where a lot of subculture has become mainstream itself, it is rather easy to penetrate the public.
AO:
In your words, "aesthetic meat" has been defined as "reaching a state of complete self-awareness and becoming one with your true self", going further to dictate that this achievement is "probably the closest you can get to your own godhood while walking on this planet". This statement could be read as curiously suggestive that you believe in some form of afterlife, or perhaps multiple planes of "existence", if you will. Shed some light on that statement.
LF
I would first have to die before I can truly say that I believe in life after death, though on the other hand I also do not rule this out. Regardless of whether you move on to some other level, you stay alive in the memories of others and in the reflection of the things you created or destroyed. I definitely do believe in multiple planes of "existence", in realities we shape and dimensions we enter.
AO:
The "infected blood" edition of Aesthetic Meat Front's "Plague of Humanity" CD comes sealed inside of protective bags filled with fetid cow blood, about which you told me, "…it's more of a psychological game that is part of the package, to awaken a form of the 'primal instinct' or fear." Of course my reaction was to the far side of latter of two, as you well know, ha, ha! But seriously, when working on various intimate levels with mass quantities of animal blood and flesh in what you call "primal revival", have you or your comrades no remote fear of somehow becoming infected by the blood yourselves?
LF:
It's all FDA approved, and we store our biological agents cool until we go on stage. The meat we use is much safer than your McChemical next door. We pick it up at the slaughterhouse and put it in the cooler, so there is no question about the fact that what we've got in the box is a dead cow. After all these years none of us have ever had any problems. Even if I ever should get sick, what a small price to pay for what I have experienced. But I'm really not concerned about this. On stage I get my head and body pierced, I hang from hooks… why should I be afraid of some fresh raw meat? What I'm afraid of is fast food.
AO:
Also on the subject of fear, you've remarked, "Instead of using our communication systems as a tool to help mankind grow and evolve, we let the mass media abuse them by spreading fear and paranoia towards creativity, individuality, and self-indulgence." How would contrast your use of fear with that of the mass media?
LF:
We use the fear factor as a tool to awaken people. We confront people with their own fears. For instance, the media quotes shrubbery saying: "Blood is pure evil!", "Sterility is good!", "Do not look at blood, stay away from people who do so!", "Code brown!", "Bloody terrorists everywhere!" (to use a language that the average American seems to understand best these days). Currently even the reality of war has been reduced to the sterility of a PG-13 video game. The Aesthetic Meat Foundation simply gives the blood to the people. Here it is, deal with it, overcome your fear, discover the beauty and power it has. Talking about the fear factor, we performed in London, the capitol of BSE (Note: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, better known as mad cow disease.), and distributed cow feet among the audience. It was beautiful to watch the audience slowly transform, first clearly worried and in a state of confusion, then slowly unleashing their primal instincts. People confronted their fears, turning a "potentially disease ridden object" into a tool, helping to create sound and release suppressed violence.
AO:
Talk about some of the instruments that you've built, notably those that incorporate blood and meat in a very obscure fashion.
LF:
Currently my favorite instrument is a 20-gallon plastic bottle filled with a half-gallon of blood. I play it sort of like a violin, with a metal rod. I also use it for effects with my voice, or move the bottle so that the blood crashes against the inner walls. The blood gives the sound a deep resonance. In 2000 we played on a ship in Rostock and used air conditioning tubing - a long, square, and hollow piece of metal - that was connected via chains to hooks inside the skin of my arm. With every movement of my arm the metal would translate my pain into sound. Now we have a metal coffin, which works in a similar fashion. Sometimes we put contact mics inside cow heads that we smash with a sledgehammer. Dump meat sound meets the ear-bleeding cracking of a contact mic. Then there is Serina: She walks on glass and rolls around in it. The glass is poured onto a piece of sheet metal. I also play a ribbed PVC pipe with a human bone (radius). The pipe is filled with nails at times. It's a very strange fusion of metal, bone, and plastic. This instrument is lightweight and not too big, so I can easily pick it up and walk through the audience with it. At the moment we are working on a machine that connects either cow livers or heads to two pieces of steel that rhythmically smash into each other. Another sound project in progress is a suspension device where I suspend from hooks that are connected to springs, this way the more I swing and move in the air the more the hooks stress my skin and pull the springs which will be amplified. Thus the energy I release becomes sound.
AO:
Now, the special edition of "Plague of Humanity" comes with a video of an Aesthetic Meat Front performance dating back to 2001 in London. Some of the aforementioned instruments and sound manipulations are employed in the video, however the live audio is not present, instead replaced by a constant grating loop of eerie distortion and such. Having seen the actual video of this show online it was far more interesting with the live audio in place. Why did you decide to alter that for the purposes of the release?
LF:
Actually, the soundtrack from the video is the same as the online version. The only difference is that once it got compressed into mp4 format, the frame rate of the footage appeared sped up while the audio remained the same. This made the online version only half as long as the VHS. The eerie distortion is mostly towards the end of the VHS video, and the online version ends before these loops kick in. This might give the impression of two different audio tracks. With the exception of the intro, the audio track is the original live sound. Sometimes, however, it falls out of synch due to the extensive editing that was done by R|A|A|N in the studio. This was necessary in order to get the best footage out of the two videos that were shot that night.
AO:
Musically your work is very dark and at times harsh, but it obviously expresses feeling, notably through lots of hypnotic repetition. What drives your approach to the creation of these compositions?
LF:
Like any form of art, musik for me is a way to manifest my mind, a mirror to the core of my being. Often I like to paint with sound, invite the listener to the nightmares that I have yet to dream. I'm also somewhat obsessed with the idea of creating sonique gateways into the neither neither world.
AO:
What recording techniques are used for your audio releases? Is the work improvised, do you record similar to the manner in which you perform live? There's definitely a nice lo-fi edge to your music, but tastefully so, with ample clarity.
LF:
It depends on the release. For instance, "Cadavres Sonique" and the upcoming "Embalmer Tapes" were almost completely done on my machine. "Cadavres Sonique" accompanied the latest issue of Vial Magazine, and was a sound collage of approximately 300 samples from over 30 bands that myself and Patricia Cram (the editor of Vail) deconstructed and composed into 61 minutes of sonique nightmares. The only sound source for the "Embalmer Tapes" is an audiotape of an embalming session. R|A|A|N and myself took these sounds and then dissected them and resurrected a body of truly ominous soundscapes. "Plague of Humanity", on the other hand, is a mix of manipulated live sounds and random recordings in the studio or on the street. For instance, the screaming pigs were recorded as I went to get some blood and cow heads for an Aesthetic Meat Front ritual. Next to the meat plant was a slaughterhouse. While waiting for salespeople to get my order together I thought I heard some disembodied voices. I decided to investigate further and the "voices" turned into screams coming from next door. I sneaked into the back of the plant to climb up a wall to the slaughterhouse. There were about 300 pigs waiting for the slaughter. One could sense that the animals knew of the destiny that awaited them. Their screams released a truly fascinating energy. I had a portable tape recorder on me and captured as much of this moment as I could. The dead have been given a voice once more, every time "Plague of Humanity" ends up in someone's CD player. The entertaining thing is that the reason I had the tape recorder on me was so that I could collect bad commercials on my car radio. I ended up getting so much shit for recording those screams. People called me sick, but they fail to realize the concept behind this recording. "Plague of Humanity" focuses on the damages of overpopulation. The song with the screams, "Face of Humanity - Family of Pigs" is a mirror of human behavior. Our only focus in life is to consume as much as possible. We don't wake up until we face our own extinction, and then we scream, but no one will listen, for everyone is busy screaming themselves. What differentiates mankind from pigs is that we have it in our hands to choose our own destiny and still we look the other way. Humans get freaked out by death and cruelty because they are too sheltered. We destroy this planet because we don't want to face the consequences of our doing. Is it really sick to expose people to the death that we produce? What sickens me is blissful ignorance, the fact that people grossly indulge in consumerism without spending a single thought about the resources humans drain and destroy every time they buy things they don't need.
AO:
Do you feel that the recorded output of the Aesthetic Meat Front can come anywhere close to the live setting as far as communicating your ideas?
LF:
The releases of Aesthetic Meat Front are not only to be seen as an implement for spreading the ideas and philosophies, but are also designed to paint a state of mind within the listener that reflects certain aspects of our rituals. Aesthetic Meat Front can reach far more people with the recorded sounds than we could ever reach with the public rituals. Especially in this day and age, the possibilities are unlimited for exposing your sound to the public. I also hope that some people will get inspired enough to use our sonique material for their own rituals and carnal experiments. The public rituals of Aesthetic Meat Front include so many different elements and are designed to employ all senses; it would be impossible to recreate this experience with such limited media as a CD.
AO:
I've yet to hear the new split CD with Psychonaut 75. Would you say that the direction of your sound remains steadfast?
LF:
The soundscape of Aesthetic Meat Front is ever evolving; all of my five releases have a different feel to them. I'm hoping to get back into the studio within the next few weeks; so far I have no idea where that journey will take me. I might start on a project which I've been meaning to do for quite some time, it is some rather experimental work based on the Furthark, but I need to be in the right state of mind for this.
AO:
What does the term "ritual" mean to you when it comes to live displays, and historically speaking, what types of ancient rituals have inspired your own?
LF:
I've drawn inspiration and fascination from the Sun Dance ritual, some Hindu piercing practices, various Aztec rituals, and of course Norse rituals such as the blood eagle. On a less traditional note, Crowley's Phoenix rite sparked some very creative thoughts inside of me. Any willed act can be a ritual if performed with the right mindset. The rituals on stage combine the primal wisdom from yesterday with the technology of today. I try not to hang onto tradition. Without a doubt our forefathers indulged in some powerful rituals and mysteries, but living in this modern world‚ there is no way one can relive those experiences our ancestors had. I prefer to take the best out of both worlds. Rituals have to evolve rather then be repeated the same way over and over again. On stage I become the phoenix, finding ever-new ways to die and be reborn. It is a ritual of give and take. The audience acts as a catalyst, a whirlpool to multiply the energy released on stage. In exchange the Aesthetic Meat Foundation opens the gate to primal instinct, a key to awaken yourself, and thus the ultimate deprogramming. The rituals are designed to get the audience involved as much as possible: We walk through the crowd with blood and chunks of dead flesh, to expose the audience to not only sound and visuals but also to the experience of touch and smell. We provide pipes and pieces of metal junk for the audience to make noise. People get baptized‚ and painted with blood, and sometimes the audience can write or paint words and images of despair on pieces of drywall that will be destroyed by us and the audience during the ritual.
AO:
One would assume due to the intentionally intense nature of your performances that "venues" or other subversive locations for live displays might be scarce?
LF:
You don't even know how right you are! Just now I found out that we won't be able to play at a club in Los Angeles because of our use of blood. This is a burden I'm willing to take. It is better to just have a few shows and go all the way than to compromise and have plenty without the intensity.
AO:
What are some of the most interesting locations in which you've been able to perform (legally or illegally, indoors or outdoors, etc.)?
LF:
One is Burning Man, it's a true challenge to conquer the environment. The heat was so intense at times that blood would crystallize, cow heads would partly mummify, and sometimes sandstorms would attack our set, try to steal our tents, or destroy our equipment. Nothing is meant to live there. Another is The Shipyard, an industrial yard near the harbor of Berkeley in California. Aesthetic Meat Front performed there during an experimental night that focused on noise as an art form. It was a very strange mix of people, sounds, and energies that night. Still another is Stubnitz, an old fishing boat in Rostock, Germany that was converted into a concert ship. And then there was an abandoned airplane engine check facility in southern California where we had a couple of our Noize Fests, and that was by far the creepiest environment we played at. It is a yard with several halls. One building has an eye washroom that reminded me of a scene of a documentary on German death camps. This place had destroyed electrical equipment everywhere, and ferocious looking metal fixtures that used to hold the airplane engine.
AO:
Another potentially trivial query, but where does one purchase all of these supplies (blood, bones, animal parts) for use both within the context of music and live rituals?
LF:
Just call your local slaughterhouse.
AO:
Visually the iconic Aesthetic Meat Foundation logo is quite striking, bearing resemblance to certain runes. What does the symbol represent both as a whole, and in parts - if each element can be broken down, that is?
LF:
It is a bindrune of Dagaz and Jera, which is fused in the center of Dagaz. Individually Dagaz stands here for twilight, the time of awakening, the gate from one world into another. Jera is the circle of nature, the primal current, a force that is essential for one's own evolution. Joined they invoke a violent change, Jera is fused in the center of Dagaz, the point where one world/dimension meets the other, thus releasing an intense and focused energy. The rune is rotating, breaking down stasis, the enemy of evolution.
AO:
I think that's good note to close on: Where do you see the evolution of both the Aesthetic Meat Front and the Aesthetic Meat Foundation progressing in the future?
LF:
This will depend on which direction our world is taking. If the whole planet is on fire, the smell of burning flesh would provide the public service of awakening the masses. We could never compete which that. But for the near future the focus will go more into bodysoniques, exploring and refining the possibilities of turning physical pain and psychological transition into sound in order to create a live symphony of transformation.
AO:
Is there anything else you'd care to add?
LF:
Aesthetic Meat Front is currently preparing to invade Old Europe this November. Promoters can contact us through our website. Fulfill your Deep Desire!
Interview with Rule Satannia!:
>Who else makes up the A-M-F?
A-M-F is a translucent collective of rituals, desires, ideas, philosophies, arts, dreams and nightmares. Who
is involved entirely depends on the focus of the moment.
In 1996 I started performing public rituals. JayJ, the drummer and pyromaniac has been with us since 1997.
Serina, who is in love with broken glass performed with A-M-F consistently since 1998. And there is
R|A|A|N who manipulates drones and tortures sounds, that he captures during our rituals. Everyone else
comes and goes and sometimes sticks around for a while.
It's hard to tour with so many people, so who ever is available and suited for the ritual is A-M-F at that
moment. This includes hook addicts, blood junkies, fire dancers, donors of various voices and languages,
instruments and noize machines, body piercers, make-up artists, props and everyone in the audience who actively participates in the ritual.
>Can you give our readers a brief description of the philosophy behind the A-M-F?
A-M-F started out as an instrument of propaganda, raising the awareness of apocalyptic culture/art. Now that the smell of the burning flesh of men proclaims the winds of change knocking at our door, it is our responsibility to focus on influencing and directing this change. We're at the cross roads of Total Control and Pure Kaos. Power entices and absolute power, entices absolutely. Yet we have to realize that this absolute power does nothing towards our own good, for we are not in control of it. Thus me must embrace Pure Kaos as our only friend. Total Control feeds on the corporate reality invented by mass media. We create ruptures within this reality, every time we dissociate us from social and cultural boundaries.
A-M-F has become a virus. Don't join us, mutate our strain and multiply, be infected with will towards self-evolution, open your wounds, inflame your minds, spread the madness and grow with it or crumble.
>How do you deal with the pain of a suspension?
Pain, what pain? The moment my body is above the ground, my spirit goes on vacation. For me suspension is not about pain it is about losing oneself within oneself in order to be one with oneself.
>How often can you perform a Public Deprogramming Ritual before it takes a toll on your body?
Last time we toured Europe I did 3 suspensions within one week, this was pushing it a bit. But I had 5 month time until my next public ritual. I try not to perform more than 8 times a year. This way my body can rest and I don't get too used to being the hang-man. In order to unleash and direct the right energy at the right moment, the ritual has to stay an intense experience for me.
>How do you want your audience to feel?
Self-aware and in touch with their primal instinkt. Realize your Deep Desire, what ever it may be. The ritual is a wake up call to your daimonic Self. Some people may find our techniques shocking, but that's merely a side effect. We don't aim to shock, we don't aim to please, we aim to deprogram.
To me it makes little difference if people get offended or if they love what I do. Of course it is
more rewarding to see people overcome their inhibitions, dive into their primal selves, while
being comfortable with it. However the main focus of our rituals lays on unleashing a raw primal energy and thus opening many doors within the minds of our audience. It doesn't matter what door you choose or how you deal with it, as long as you don't remain stagnate.
>Some religious sects use pain and self-mutilation in their rituals (the Hindu festival of Thaipusam comes >to mind). Do you see any similarity between this and what you do?
There are most definitely similarities between the techniques we use and various shamanistic rites. I see these techniques rather as a form of body-manipulation then self-mutilation. I wear my scars with much pride.
Every scar on my body represents a ritual against the disintegration of mind, a disintegration which is
promoted by our so-called civilized society. Pain introduced with the right state of mind is not a
punishment, it is a reward. Agony is only the first step towards catharsis. We combine pain with sonique energies, the smell and sight of animal parts and fresh blood. Also when ever possible fire lights the road towards a trance like state of mind. Magically nothing can compete with diving into the abyss of ecstasy without loosing your awareness. The key towards this ecstasy lays within your own body.
>Is there any chance of a performance in the UK?
Due to the nature of our rituals it's hard to find a venue and promoter who is willing to host us. We
performed in London 2001 at the Red Rose during the Hinoeuma-Stigma festival. It was the first time I suspended in public. Very few things in life are as rewarding than seeing the facial expressions of the audience when you start distributing raw cow parts in the world capitol of BSE. Yet it did not took long for the audience to overcome their fears. I truly enjoyed performing in London. All it takes is 2 tickets, a suitable venue, some deconstructed cows and a promoter who doesn't mind giving us a helping hand with preparing one of our Public Deprogramming Rituals.
>If you would like to mention your forthcoming PDR and any future projects also, we would include that >in the article.
Currently I'm working on a couple of new CDs, but there is no release date yet. There is Embalmer Tapes which only sound-source is based on a recording of an embalming session. I dissected, sliced and reconstructed the sound from this tape back in 2000. So the material will have a somewhat older A-M-F flavor to it. And then there is "My Soul on Fire" This material is based on the following invocation that we translated into languages from every corner of this planet. Please stay updated via our website and mailing list: http://a-m-f.orgCan you feel your deep desire burning, Are you afraid of your temple of flesh, Are you afraid to lose your mind in the abyss of ecstasy, Look around you, are you fulfilled living in this reality, Is you PC flesh satisfied, Does your media brain need an upgrade,
Thank you for being a valuable part of the economic food chain, Every human is a potential threat to our security, Consumer terrorists everywhere, Sleeper cells that will never awaken, for they've died
long ago, Feed your innermost flame, Cut open your flesh, inflame your mind, re-open your
wounds, This moment only is true, Spirit cleansed in pain, burned in pleasure and reborn in blood,
Temple of Flesh set my Soul on Fire!
August 2003
AO:
This may only require a one-word response, but to avoid confusing the readers as both names will be used repeatedly, the Aesthetic Meat Front is simply one branch of the larger Aesthetic Meat Foundation, is that correct?
LF:
Yes, the Aesthetic Meat Front is in charge of spreading our ideology in the form of public deprogramming rituals and recorded media, such as CD's and videos. You could say the Front is the syringe of the Aesthetic Meat Foundation that injects the thoughts into the veins of the public.
AO:
I'll openly admit that this is, in part, a silly question… but in this instance I think the answer will be both relevant and interesting. So, with that being said: How old are you, and at what age did you begin to formulate the many philosophical concepts that presently make up the Aesthetic Meat Foundation (including time prior to the group's documented formation more than seven years ago)?
LF:
The philosophies that started to shape the Aesthetic Meat Foundation are rooted in my early childhood. I've always been a loner and eventually I had to learn to use this to my advantage. When other kids played with trading cards, I was busy daydreaming or chasing fantasies. It seems that I instinctively knew from the beginning that I'm not a part of this herd. Without this hunger for individuality I would not have discovered the beauty of the Left Hand Path. Some rather extreme experiences helped me to truly awaken, and showed me that you can't evolve without facing some serious struggle.
AO:
I'm assuming since you chose not to elaborate on said "extreme experiences" that you'd rather not do so. However, if you can, or would be willing to, that would be interesting. It's your choice.
LF:
Some mysteries need to remain.
AO:
Clearly you're extremely well versed in certain subjects. Early on, and through time, what have been some of the most influential sources from which you've drawn research, and what initially led you to these sources in the early stages of your ideological awakening?
LF:
In my early years, my grandma used to tell me stories of how the Aztecs would remove the human hearts of their sacrificial victims while they were still alive. Back then I was still living behind the iron curtain (east Germany), so it was rather hard to find good information. My friend and I spend plenty of time picking each other's brains in high school. Eventually the wall came down, I moved to Berlin, lived on unemployment, and spent a lot of time reading: Crowley, Gregorius, CG Jung (there is still much I like to read of his work), Nietzsche, LaVey's "Law of the Trapezoid", Spiesberger and various other underground zines, etc. Later I stumbled onto the works of Stephen Flowers and Austin Osman Spare, which immediately clicked with me. HP Lovecraft's way of triggering your imagination and his way of creating doorways to the other side also painted the foundation of my ideas. And then there is Wilhelm Reich, who gave that whole blood obsession of mine a more scientific touch. On the other side there are my three favorite mythological creatures: Fenris, Phoenix, and Prometheus. The core of inspiration comes from within, simply listen to your instincts.
AO:
You've stated: "The Aesthetic Meat Foundation was formed to shatter the TV-crippled belief system of our so-called 'modern world' by introducing apocalyptic art/culture to the mainstream…" I know that your definition of the term "apocalyptic" has no connection to "the end of the world", but how, if at all, do you feel that you're assaulting the literal mainstream with such art/culture?
LF
We used to have a theme camp at Burning Man until 2000… we must've sent hundreds of weekend warriors on a very bad acid trip. Also, we got quite some exposure in the mass media: German TV (Pro 7) and various others. Thanks to Burning Man, footage of our rituals ended up on "The 700 Club". Then, there is always the internet. But most importantly, by keeping the "underground" alive, we influence and infect the culture of our society. Especially these days, where a lot of subculture has become mainstream itself, it is rather easy to penetrate the public.
AO:
In your words, "aesthetic meat" has been defined as "reaching a state of complete self-awareness and becoming one with your true self", going further to dictate that this achievement is "probably the closest you can get to your own godhood while walking on this planet". This statement could be read as curiously suggestive that you believe in some form of afterlife, or perhaps multiple planes of "existence", if you will. Shed some light on that statement.
LF
I would first have to die before I can truly say that I believe in life after death, though on the other hand I also do not rule this out. Regardless of whether you move on to some other level, you stay alive in the memories of others and in the reflection of the things you created or destroyed. I definitely do believe in multiple planes of "existence", in realities we shape and dimensions we enter.
AO:
The "infected blood" edition of Aesthetic Meat Front's "Plague of Humanity" CD comes sealed inside of protective bags filled with fetid cow blood, about which you told me, "…it's more of a psychological game that is part of the package, to awaken a form of the 'primal instinct' or fear." Of course my reaction was to the far side of latter of two, as you well know, ha, ha! But seriously, when working on various intimate levels with mass quantities of animal blood and flesh in what you call "primal revival", have you or your comrades no remote fear of somehow becoming infected by the blood yourselves?
LF:
It's all FDA approved, and we store our biological agents cool until we go on stage. The meat we use is much safer than your McChemical next door. We pick it up at the slaughterhouse and put it in the cooler, so there is no question about the fact that what we've got in the box is a dead cow. After all these years none of us have ever had any problems. Even if I ever should get sick, what a small price to pay for what I have experienced. But I'm really not concerned about this. On stage I get my head and body pierced, I hang from hooks… why should I be afraid of some fresh raw meat? What I'm afraid of is fast food.
AO:
Also on the subject of fear, you've remarked, "Instead of using our communication systems as a tool to help mankind grow and evolve, we let the mass media abuse them by spreading fear and paranoia towards creativity, individuality, and self-indulgence." How would contrast your use of fear with that of the mass media?
LF:
We use the fear factor as a tool to awaken people. We confront people with their own fears. For instance, the media quotes shrubbery saying: "Blood is pure evil!", "Sterility is good!", "Do not look at blood, stay away from people who do so!", "Code brown!", "Bloody terrorists everywhere!" (to use a language that the average American seems to understand best these days). Currently even the reality of war has been reduced to the sterility of a PG-13 video game. The Aesthetic Meat Foundation simply gives the blood to the people. Here it is, deal with it, overcome your fear, discover the beauty and power it has. Talking about the fear factor, we performed in London, the capitol of BSE (Note: Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy, better known as mad cow disease.), and distributed cow feet among the audience. It was beautiful to watch the audience slowly transform, first clearly worried and in a state of confusion, then slowly unleashing their primal instincts. People confronted their fears, turning a "potentially disease ridden object" into a tool, helping to create sound and release suppressed violence.
AO:
Talk about some of the instruments that you've built, notably those that incorporate blood and meat in a very obscure fashion.
LF:
Currently my favorite instrument is a 20-gallon plastic bottle filled with a half-gallon of blood. I play it sort of like a violin, with a metal rod. I also use it for effects with my voice, or move the bottle so that the blood crashes against the inner walls. The blood gives the sound a deep resonance. In 2000 we played on a ship in Rostock and used air conditioning tubing - a long, square, and hollow piece of metal - that was connected via chains to hooks inside the skin of my arm. With every movement of my arm the metal would translate my pain into sound. Now we have a metal coffin, which works in a similar fashion. Sometimes we put contact mics inside cow heads that we smash with a sledgehammer. Dump meat sound meets the ear-bleeding cracking of a contact mic. Then there is Serina: She walks on glass and rolls around in it. The glass is poured onto a piece of sheet metal. I also play a ribbed PVC pipe with a human bone (radius). The pipe is filled with nails at times. It's a very strange fusion of metal, bone, and plastic. This instrument is lightweight and not too big, so I can easily pick it up and walk through the audience with it. At the moment we are working on a machine that connects either cow livers or heads to two pieces of steel that rhythmically smash into each other. Another sound project in progress is a suspension device where I suspend from hooks that are connected to springs, this way the more I swing and move in the air the more the hooks stress my skin and pull the springs which will be amplified. Thus the energy I release becomes sound.
AO:
Now, the special edition of "Plague of Humanity" comes with a video of an Aesthetic Meat Front performance dating back to 2001 in London. Some of the aforementioned instruments and sound manipulations are employed in the video, however the live audio is not present, instead replaced by a constant grating loop of eerie distortion and such. Having seen the actual video of this show online it was far more interesting with the live audio in place. Why did you decide to alter that for the purposes of the release?
LF:
Actually, the soundtrack from the video is the same as the online version. The only difference is that once it got compressed into mp4 format, the frame rate of the footage appeared sped up while the audio remained the same. This made the online version only half as long as the VHS. The eerie distortion is mostly towards the end of the VHS video, and the online version ends before these loops kick in. This might give the impression of two different audio tracks. With the exception of the intro, the audio track is the original live sound. Sometimes, however, it falls out of synch due to the extensive editing that was done by R|A|A|N in the studio. This was necessary in order to get the best footage out of the two videos that were shot that night.
AO:
Musically your work is very dark and at times harsh, but it obviously expresses feeling, notably through lots of hypnotic repetition. What drives your approach to the creation of these compositions?
LF:
Like any form of art, musik for me is a way to manifest my mind, a mirror to the core of my being. Often I like to paint with sound, invite the listener to the nightmares that I have yet to dream. I'm also somewhat obsessed with the idea of creating sonique gateways into the neither neither world.
AO:
What recording techniques are used for your audio releases? Is the work improvised, do you record similar to the manner in which you perform live? There's definitely a nice lo-fi edge to your music, but tastefully so, with ample clarity.
LF:
It depends on the release. For instance, "Cadavres Sonique" and the upcoming "Embalmer Tapes" were almost completely done on my machine. "Cadavres Sonique" accompanied the latest issue of Vial Magazine, and was a sound collage of approximately 300 samples from over 30 bands that myself and Patricia Cram (the editor of Vail) deconstructed and composed into 61 minutes of sonique nightmares. The only sound source for the "Embalmer Tapes" is an audiotape of an embalming session. R|A|A|N and myself took these sounds and then dissected them and resurrected a body of truly ominous soundscapes. "Plague of Humanity", on the other hand, is a mix of manipulated live sounds and random recordings in the studio or on the street. For instance, the screaming pigs were recorded as I went to get some blood and cow heads for an Aesthetic Meat Front ritual. Next to the meat plant was a slaughterhouse. While waiting for salespeople to get my order together I thought I heard some disembodied voices. I decided to investigate further and the "voices" turned into screams coming from next door. I sneaked into the back of the plant to climb up a wall to the slaughterhouse. There were about 300 pigs waiting for the slaughter. One could sense that the animals knew of the destiny that awaited them. Their screams released a truly fascinating energy. I had a portable tape recorder on me and captured as much of this moment as I could. The dead have been given a voice once more, every time "Plague of Humanity" ends up in someone's CD player. The entertaining thing is that the reason I had the tape recorder on me was so that I could collect bad commercials on my car radio. I ended up getting so much shit for recording those screams. People called me sick, but they fail to realize the concept behind this recording. "Plague of Humanity" focuses on the damages of overpopulation. The song with the screams, "Face of Humanity - Family of Pigs" is a mirror of human behavior. Our only focus in life is to consume as much as possible. We don't wake up until we face our own extinction, and then we scream, but no one will listen, for everyone is busy screaming themselves. What differentiates mankind from pigs is that we have it in our hands to choose our own destiny and still we look the other way. Humans get freaked out by death and cruelty because they are too sheltered. We destroy this planet because we don't want to face the consequences of our doing. Is it really sick to expose people to the death that we produce? What sickens me is blissful ignorance, the fact that people grossly indulge in consumerism without spending a single thought about the resources humans drain and destroy every time they buy things they don't need.
AO:
Do you feel that the recorded output of the Aesthetic Meat Front can come anywhere close to the live setting as far as communicating your ideas?
LF:
The releases of Aesthetic Meat Front are not only to be seen as an implement for spreading the ideas and philosophies, but are also designed to paint a state of mind within the listener that reflects certain aspects of our rituals. Aesthetic Meat Front can reach far more people with the recorded sounds than we could ever reach with the public rituals. Especially in this day and age, the possibilities are unlimited for exposing your sound to the public. I also hope that some people will get inspired enough to use our sonique material for their own rituals and carnal experiments. The public rituals of Aesthetic Meat Front include so many different elements and are designed to employ all senses; it would be impossible to recreate this experience with such limited media as a CD.
AO:
I've yet to hear the new split CD with Psychonaut 75. Would you say that the direction of your sound remains steadfast?
LF:
The soundscape of Aesthetic Meat Front is ever evolving; all of my five releases have a different feel to them. I'm hoping to get back into the studio within the next few weeks; so far I have no idea where that journey will take me. I might start on a project which I've been meaning to do for quite some time, it is some rather experimental work based on the Furthark, but I need to be in the right state of mind for this.
AO:
What does the term "ritual" mean to you when it comes to live displays, and historically speaking, what types of ancient rituals have inspired your own?
LF:
I've drawn inspiration and fascination from the Sun Dance ritual, some Hindu piercing practices, various Aztec rituals, and of course Norse rituals such as the blood eagle. On a less traditional note, Crowley's Phoenix rite sparked some very creative thoughts inside of me. Any willed act can be a ritual if performed with the right mindset. The rituals on stage combine the primal wisdom from yesterday with the technology of today. I try not to hang onto tradition. Without a doubt our forefathers indulged in some powerful rituals and mysteries, but living in this modern world‚ there is no way one can relive those experiences our ancestors had. I prefer to take the best out of both worlds. Rituals have to evolve rather then be repeated the same way over and over again. On stage I become the phoenix, finding ever-new ways to die and be reborn. It is a ritual of give and take. The audience acts as a catalyst, a whirlpool to multiply the energy released on stage. In exchange the Aesthetic Meat Foundation opens the gate to primal instinct, a key to awaken yourself, and thus the ultimate deprogramming. The rituals are designed to get the audience involved as much as possible: We walk through the crowd with blood and chunks of dead flesh, to expose the audience to not only sound and visuals but also to the experience of touch and smell. We provide pipes and pieces of metal junk for the audience to make noise. People get baptized‚ and painted with blood, and sometimes the audience can write or paint words and images of despair on pieces of drywall that will be destroyed by us and the audience during the ritual.
AO:
One would assume due to the intentionally intense nature of your performances that "venues" or other subversive locations for live displays might be scarce?
LF:
You don't even know how right you are! Just now I found out that we won't be able to play at a club in Los Angeles because of our use of blood. This is a burden I'm willing to take. It is better to just have a few shows and go all the way than to compromise and have plenty without the intensity.
AO:
What are some of the most interesting locations in which you've been able to perform (legally or illegally, indoors or outdoors, etc.)?
LF:
One is Burning Man, it's a true challenge to conquer the environment. The heat was so intense at times that blood would crystallize, cow heads would partly mummify, and sometimes sandstorms would attack our set, try to steal our tents, or destroy our equipment. Nothing is meant to live there. Another is The Shipyard, an industrial yard near the harbor of Berkeley in California. Aesthetic Meat Front performed there during an experimental night that focused on noise as an art form. It was a very strange mix of people, sounds, and energies that night. Still another is Stubnitz, an old fishing boat in Rostock, Germany that was converted into a concert ship. And then there was an abandoned airplane engine check facility in southern California where we had a couple of our Noize Fests, and that was by far the creepiest environment we played at. It is a yard with several halls. One building has an eye washroom that reminded me of a scene of a documentary on German death camps. This place had destroyed electrical equipment everywhere, and ferocious looking metal fixtures that used to hold the airplane engine.
AO:
Another potentially trivial query, but where does one purchase all of these supplies (blood, bones, animal parts) for use both within the context of music and live rituals?
LF:
Just call your local slaughterhouse.
AO:
Visually the iconic Aesthetic Meat Foundation logo is quite striking, bearing resemblance to certain runes. What does the symbol represent both as a whole, and in parts - if each element can be broken down, that is?
LF:
It is a bindrune of Dagaz and Jera, which is fused in the center of Dagaz. Individually Dagaz stands here for twilight, the time of awakening, the gate from one world into another. Jera is the circle of nature, the primal current, a force that is essential for one's own evolution. Joined they invoke a violent change, Jera is fused in the center of Dagaz, the point where one world/dimension meets the other, thus releasing an intense and focused energy. The rune is rotating, breaking down stasis, the enemy of evolution.
AO:
I think that's good note to close on: Where do you see the evolution of both the Aesthetic Meat Front and the Aesthetic Meat Foundation progressing in the future?
LF:
This will depend on which direction our world is taking. If the whole planet is on fire, the smell of burning flesh would provide the public service of awakening the masses. We could never compete which that. But for the near future the focus will go more into bodysoniques, exploring and refining the possibilities of turning physical pain and psychological transition into sound in order to create a live symphony of transformation.
AO:
Is there anything else you'd care to add?
LF:
Aesthetic Meat Front is currently preparing to invade Old Europe this November. Promoters can contact us through our website. Fulfill your Deep Desire!
Interview with Rule Satannia!:
>Who else makes up the A-M-F?
A-M-F is a translucent collective of rituals, desires, ideas, philosophies, arts, dreams and nightmares. Who
is involved entirely depends on the focus of the moment.
In 1996 I started performing public rituals. JayJ, the drummer and pyromaniac has been with us since 1997.
Serina, who is in love with broken glass performed with A-M-F consistently since 1998. And there is
R|A|A|N who manipulates drones and tortures sounds, that he captures during our rituals. Everyone else
comes and goes and sometimes sticks around for a while.
It's hard to tour with so many people, so who ever is available and suited for the ritual is A-M-F at that
moment. This includes hook addicts, blood junkies, fire dancers, donors of various voices and languages,
instruments and noize machines, body piercers, make-up artists, props and everyone in the audience who actively participates in the ritual.
>Can you give our readers a brief description of the philosophy behind the A-M-F?
A-M-F started out as an instrument of propaganda, raising the awareness of apocalyptic culture/art. Now that the smell of the burning flesh of men proclaims the winds of change knocking at our door, it is our responsibility to focus on influencing and directing this change. We're at the cross roads of Total Control and Pure Kaos. Power entices and absolute power, entices absolutely. Yet we have to realize that this absolute power does nothing towards our own good, for we are not in control of it. Thus me must embrace Pure Kaos as our only friend. Total Control feeds on the corporate reality invented by mass media. We create ruptures within this reality, every time we dissociate us from social and cultural boundaries.
A-M-F has become a virus. Don't join us, mutate our strain and multiply, be infected with will towards self-evolution, open your wounds, inflame your minds, spread the madness and grow with it or crumble.
>How do you deal with the pain of a suspension?
Pain, what pain? The moment my body is above the ground, my spirit goes on vacation. For me suspension is not about pain it is about losing oneself within oneself in order to be one with oneself.
>How often can you perform a Public Deprogramming Ritual before it takes a toll on your body?
Last time we toured Europe I did 3 suspensions within one week, this was pushing it a bit. But I had 5 month time until my next public ritual. I try not to perform more than 8 times a year. This way my body can rest and I don't get too used to being the hang-man. In order to unleash and direct the right energy at the right moment, the ritual has to stay an intense experience for me.
>How do you want your audience to feel?
Self-aware and in touch with their primal instinkt. Realize your Deep Desire, what ever it may be. The ritual is a wake up call to your daimonic Self. Some people may find our techniques shocking, but that's merely a side effect. We don't aim to shock, we don't aim to please, we aim to deprogram.
To me it makes little difference if people get offended or if they love what I do. Of course it is
more rewarding to see people overcome their inhibitions, dive into their primal selves, while
being comfortable with it. However the main focus of our rituals lays on unleashing a raw primal energy and thus opening many doors within the minds of our audience. It doesn't matter what door you choose or how you deal with it, as long as you don't remain stagnate.
>Some religious sects use pain and self-mutilation in their rituals (the Hindu festival of Thaipusam comes >to mind). Do you see any similarity between this and what you do?
There are most definitely similarities between the techniques we use and various shamanistic rites. I see these techniques rather as a form of body-manipulation then self-mutilation. I wear my scars with much pride.
Every scar on my body represents a ritual against the disintegration of mind, a disintegration which is
promoted by our so-called civilized society. Pain introduced with the right state of mind is not a
punishment, it is a reward. Agony is only the first step towards catharsis. We combine pain with sonique energies, the smell and sight of animal parts and fresh blood. Also when ever possible fire lights the road towards a trance like state of mind. Magically nothing can compete with diving into the abyss of ecstasy without loosing your awareness. The key towards this ecstasy lays within your own body.
>Is there any chance of a performance in the UK?
Due to the nature of our rituals it's hard to find a venue and promoter who is willing to host us. We
performed in London 2001 at the Red Rose during the Hinoeuma-Stigma festival. It was the first time I suspended in public. Very few things in life are as rewarding than seeing the facial expressions of the audience when you start distributing raw cow parts in the world capitol of BSE. Yet it did not took long for the audience to overcome their fears. I truly enjoyed performing in London. All it takes is 2 tickets, a suitable venue, some deconstructed cows and a promoter who doesn't mind giving us a helping hand with preparing one of our Public Deprogramming Rituals.
>If you would like to mention your forthcoming PDR and any future projects also, we would include that >in the article.
Currently I'm working on a couple of new CDs, but there is no release date yet. There is Embalmer Tapes which only sound-source is based on a recording of an embalming session. I dissected, sliced and reconstructed the sound from this tape back in 2000. So the material will have a somewhat older A-M-F flavor to it. And then there is "My Soul on Fire" This material is based on the following invocation that we translated into languages from every corner of this planet. Please stay updated via our website and mailing list: http://a-m-f.orgCan you feel your deep desire burning, Are you afraid of your temple of flesh, Are you afraid to lose your mind in the abyss of ecstasy, Look around you, are you fulfilled living in this reality, Is you PC flesh satisfied, Does your media brain need an upgrade,
Thank you for being a valuable part of the economic food chain, Every human is a potential threat to our security, Consumer terrorists everywhere, Sleeper cells that will never awaken, for they've died
long ago, Feed your innermost flame, Cut open your flesh, inflame your mind, re-open your
wounds, This moment only is true, Spirit cleansed in pain, burned in pleasure and reborn in blood,
Temple of Flesh set my Soul on Fire!
Interview with Louis Fleischauer by Patricia of VIAL Magazine
http://www.vialmagazine.com
LF
*Some think of consciousness as a direction ~ a destination. How does blood consciousness move you?
"Blood consciousness" moves me towards the core of my being, a true moment
of Self-awareness. Blood is the first thing you see after birth. You slip
through your mother's legs, covered in blood and amniotic fluid. You could
say the direction of blood consciousness is towards rebirth and
remanifestation of the Self in a moment of ecstasy.
* At any of your performances, there are a number of people who would turn away from what you are doing. How does this affect you? Do you see this as a conditioned paranoia? How would you define this fear?
LF:
I'm glad it is this way. If everyone would liked the A-M-F rituals
then we would be doing something wrong. It is our goal to create an
intense,overwhelming energy. The ritual is designed to release forces within
us that have been suppressed by society for a very long time. Naturally some
people can't handle this and will turn away. By doing so they help to keep
the ritual pure. They're afraid to face a part of themselves that they do
not understand. My favorites are the wannabe vampires. They put fangs in
their mouth, but if you walk towards them with blood on your hands, they
run!
* The elements used in your performances are very raw ~ they resonate with a deep part of the psyche. Do you perceive your intentions as a representation of primal meaning? What level of primitivism is the AMF seeking to expose? What is the Deep Desire ~ impulse?
LF:
I wouldn't say that the intentions are a representation of a primal
meaning. Even though we seek to release primal forces within man, the
intensions are of a conscious nature. We see the primal instinct as a tool
towards a higher state of evolution. By becoming aware and one with these
suppressed forces within you, you can experience a part of your self that
otherwise you would never have known. The trick is to keep control and be
conscious while you release your primal instinct. Don't become a slave to it
and don't enslave it. Man is a predator. Using these instincts consciously
is a great tool for everyday life as well as for spiritual development.
Jung said it best:
"We can not possibly get beyond our present level of culture unless we
receive a powerful impetus from our primitive roots. But we
shall receive it only if we go back behind our cultural level, thus giving
the suppressed primitive man in ourselves a chance to develop. ....The
Existing edifice is rotten. We need some new foundations. We must dig down
to the primitive in us, for only conflict between civilized man and the
germanic barbarian will there come what we need; A new experience of god..." -C.G.Jung"
You can replace the "germanic" with what ever works for you.
Deep Desire= The will to grow and consistently evolve as a Self-aware
individual. It is the Impulse for Self-expression through art, ritual or other means.
LF:
* What untangible influences are present in your performances?
The written works of Austin Osman Spare; "law of the trapezoid" of Anton La
Vey's; dark rituals of the Teutonic tribes; the creative assembling of
unusual instruments and sounds of Einstuerzende Neubauten, SPK and some
other bands who are not afraid to experiment; B.Lustmord for his sound
manipulations; and finally the orgone theories of Wilhelm Reich.
LF:
* How is the agenda for the AMF evolving?
At the beginning A-M-F was a drive to create change on a cultural level. Now
our focus lays on the ritualistic aspect. A-M-F is going to keep this
direction. There will be no more Burning Man or other main stream
performances for us. At the moment we're putting our energy into carefully
selected performances and sonic research for ritual practice. Our recent
release "White Noize for Black Rituals was just the beginning of a series of
ritual musik. Also "Noizefest" is on the priority list again. This is a late
night event centered around participants bringing equipment to create
ambient noize to share in the ritual cacophony or ambiance. Noizefest takes
place at bizarre locations, like hidden beaches, abandoned factories and
untouched deserts. Eventually this is where we like to envision most of the
A-M-F rituals. We are planning some side projects in the future that
concentrate on the music for more public shows. You can stay updated at
http://www.a-m-f.org
Frequently asked questions: Q: How can I join the A-M-F?
A-M-F is not an organization to be joined, it is an Idea, an experience, a philosophy. It is a thought manifesting itself.
We promote Self-evolution. If you want to evolve and re-manifest your Self, you have to rise above a mass media invented reality, which is designed to breed submissive consumer slaves. You have to dissociate from cultural and social boundaries. As more individuals and ideas put into action are capable of taking this path, we create a rupture in standards of reality, and in doing so, create gateways towards new spheres of
evolution. Our ideas are to be seen as an inspiration, not as a guideline. Feed your Deep Desire on A-M-F, mutate the thought, inflame your creative mind! Invent your own line of attack. Proceed with the Left Hand Path.
(written for VIAL Magazine)
There are few experiences that make me feel so alive as the moment when needles are removed from my head and fresh blood runs down my face. Letting me comprehend and stand in awe of the gift of life as the blood escapes my body.
No one is safe during an A-M-F ritual; there is no border between stage and audience. Everyone becomes a participant and is exposed to the knowledge of blood, as gallons of animal blood are distributed among the crowd. A primal revival for those who are willing to open up to the world of red shadows. Discomfort, confusion and fear for others.
In the rituals of A-M-F, pain, blood, meat and fire serve as form of 'sacrifice' towards the daimonic self, by creating a link between the mind and the Deep Desire. Each drop of blood is an invocation of the primal instinct, celebrating the purity of blood in the tradition of ancient rituals.
Blood sacrifices played an essential part in the life of our ancestors. The entire globe is stained by blood. It didn't matter if you asked for rain, a victorious war, or for the sun to return in the morning, blood was the aphrodisiac to persuade the gods. One of the most significant rituals in the Norse Religion was the festival at Uppsala in Sweden. Every nine years, for nine days, one human and a wide variety of animals, including birds, were to be offered daily. "The sacrifice is as follows: of every living creature they
offer nine head(s), and with the blood of those it is the custom to placate the gods, but the bodies are hanged in a grove which is near the temple; so holy is that grove to the heathens that each tree in it is presumed to be divine by reason of the victim's death and putrefaction. There also are dogs and horses hang along with men." 1
The 'Blood Eagle' was one of most poetic forms of ritual violence in Norse religion. High ranking enemies where sacrificed to Odhinn. Their ribcages were hacked open on each side of the spine, so that the lungs could be torn out to resemble the eagle.
In Crete, the celestial bull was appeased by the lives of a dozen virgins yearly.
China's ancestral spirits had an appetite for beheaded war prisoners, especially during the Shang dynasty, which is considered as bloodthirsty as the Aztec era.
In honor of the Aztec's earth mother goddess Teteoinnan, a woman's skin was peeled off and carried to a temple. The priest then wore her skin in order to become the goddess herself. The sacrifice for the sun god Huitzilopochtli was held on the top of the 'great pyramid'. A captured warrior was bound spread eagle over the sacrificial stone. Five priests held his limbs and his head, while a sixth cut open the victims ribcage with an obsidian knife, removed his heart, and held it towards the sun. After this the priest would take some blood and smear it on the lips of a statue that resembled the sun god. The dead warrior's heart was put in a bowl beneath the statue. The extinct body was then decapitated and flung down the stairs of the pyramid while his spirit joined the sun.
The drive for the blood thirst of the Aztecs was "Tonally"(animating spirit), the energy that keeps the universe in motion. This energy is the essential nourishment of the gods. The core source of this alluring energy is the nectar of life. Human blood radiates with this animating spirit. The "Tonally" of the Aztecs fits well into the orgone concept of Wilhelm Reich. Orgone is a life energy comparable with od, chi, prana or aether, which Reich discovered during microscopical experiments with ameba. At later research with blood samples Wilhem Reich found a high concentration of orgone within the red blood cells. Under the microscope he observed orgone as a blue glow around living blood cells. 2 This energy and its history makes blood the perfect catalyst for the mind. The vividness of blood has also deep psychological roots, especially when it comes to the act of bloodletting. By using your own blood you create a link between your subconscious and the numinous world of endless realities. The sole act of bloodletting is a ritual in itself, prodigious enough to easily send you into a state of neither/neither (in-betweenness/or a form of trance). Steel in your hand, a hand that inflicts pain upon its own flesh. A blade enters your body, splitting the flesh open, gushing with blood, invoking images of an ejaculating cunt. The sight of blood leaving your body awakens nightmares of your own fatality, a fear is conquered, skin bejeweled with new patterns. You have become the Lord of your temple of meat.
Unfortunately the sexual aspect of bloodletting has lost some of its power due to its popularity in mainstream gothic culture and the de-sensitizing that comes with it. Hollywood teases you with artificial blood, preying upon your instincts. You become the victim on the other side of the screen, exited by the sight of movie blood, ravenous for ecstasy, yet never satisfied - this red screen can't cure the numbness that the anticipation for blood promised to take away. At the end you're more de-sensitized than before. The smell of blood is not penetrating your brain; you can't feel it running down your throat still warm and full of life. Your eyes do not reflect its fury. It is not on your hands, dripping down your fingers. Neither is it leaving your open wounds. Nothing is real - no one dies and no one feels alive. "Living" in a culture wasteland that has become a graveyard to spirituality, it is now more than ever our obligation to realize the necessity to cleanse our minds in blood. Unless we want to join humanity's celebration of its own de-volution, we must defend our mind and unleash the beast within us, so it may slay the vulture that feast's on the flesh of our souls.
There are endless ways to dive into this purifying vortex of blood. Saddam Hussein gave his blood over a period of 3 years to a team of calligraphers to paint the Koran with his blood (BBC). Catholic nuns and monks prefer to flagellate themselves until their backs are drenched in blood (seems red wine is no substitute for blood). Artists like Herman Nitsch, Ron Athey, Gina Pane, Diamanda Galas, Stelarc, (to name but a few) all utilize the sharpness of blood in their own unique ways to force their message beneath the skin of the audience. Gnostic sects used lunar or menstrual blood as the sacred ingredient in magic recipes; mixed with sperm it was baked into a host (a consecrated wafer), for a kiss of auto-cannibalism. Menstrual flux sticks to the hands and thighs of Taoist alchemists and stains the books of Aleister Crowley. The red moon transforms bed sheets into altar cloths and adorns temple walls with her distinctive power. With this I lay my pen into the hand that bleeds me so well, the hand of a scarlet woman willing to exhume her lunar secrets.
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