Nearly two decades after “Lammendam” first unveiled their spectral world of symphonic horror, the Dutch masters of cinematic black metal, Carach Angren, return to where it all began. Their new EP, “The Cult of Kariba”, resurrects the haunted lands of Lammendam with a chilling new tale… one rooted in old folklore, witchcraft, and vengeance.
In this exclusive interview for Metal Imperium, Ardek and Seregor reveal the origins of Kariba’s curse, the dark connections between myths and history, and how their storytelling continues to evolve after twenty years of terror. From industrial echoes to orchestral nightmares, “The Cult of Kariba” proves that Carach Angren’s ghostly theatre is far from over… it has only grown more venomous!
M.I. – “The Cult of Kariba” kinda revisits the world of “Lammendam”, as it was then that you established your signature style of symphonic black metal and storytelling focused on different ghosts and legends. What inspired you to return to that kind of stories now?
Ardek: We stumbled upon some information that led to more layers of the original Lammendam story. There were indications that a tale existed about a poisonous witch called “Kariba” with a whole different background story. It could be that “The White Lady” and “Kariba” are the same character. The original legend turns out to be very old with elements tracing back to the dark ages. This happens with these kind of stories. Stories keep getting told over hundred of years. Things get added/ subtracted. We were fascinated by this parallel Kariba story so we decided to sort of make a sequel or prequel in the form of this EP.
M.I. - Since “Franckensteina Strataemontanus” was such a layered concept, was it liberating to return to a more folklore-rooted and “local” narrative?
Seregor: Liberating? I don't know about that. It depends from which point of view I guess. In one way; "Yes, the Franckensteina album is layered, deep and complex. But on the other hand, the Frankenstein story is an existing one. Ardek had some Industrial-styled music left from a project he worked on. The story has many faces. Horror, science, love, murder, life, death, sorrow, religion etc. And the industrial revolution is one of them, for it took place during that period of time. I didn't like his damn factory tune that much and all of a sudden... I found this title, that the real Doctor Frankenstein (Johan Conrad Dippel) used for his studies. "Franckensteina Strataemontanus" and those words simply connected perfectly with the industrial revolution idea, and thus his damn factory song… that I, all of a sudden, loved so damn much, became priceless to us in our discography. One bigger example of a thousand ones that make an album come to pass. So, in one way, you can say the Frankenstein story is undeniably famous. It is easy to follow certain lines because the good parts of this story already exist. The Lammendam story is indeed more local and personal. Especially to me. I turn 45. And I already was fucking around with Lammendam in Black/Death metalbands when I jerked off for the first time. You can still find an album on Youtube from 'Inger Indolia' called "Hexed forgotten sanctuaries" with the song 'The Lammendam Saga'. You can hear my raspy-ass voice and horrible fuckin' bass-line haha. "Lammendam" is Carach Angren's Debut album. As a kid I heard the old town folk whisper of an unholy place in the forest, where no birds are heard and traces can be seen of a castle, that sank into the depths of Hell, around 1600/1700. There was no internet… Only warnings and whispers from the old fucks in town. So me on my bike, I went searching. It took me 2 years to actually find the right spot. Because it's hidden in deep woods and surrounded by quicksand. The story practically goes: There once stood a castle/farmstead and there lived a beauty of a chick, she fell in love with 2 guys, a Dutch knight and a German duke/count. She fucked around with Holland in the morning and Germany in the evening. Apparently one one the guys found out for the castle was burned down to the ground. (Still today the castle's moatis visible) The slut died an agonizing death. All this happened during the time of the French revolution. So French refugees came here in town "Schinveld" to work as farmers on the fields. They worked hard and some of them claimed: Be warned. When the moon is full a white shrouded ghostly figure can be seen drifting along the edge of the trees. The French named her The white Lady; "La Madame Blaunche" The Dutch took that little phrase and over the years it became 'Lammendam'. Now the interesting part is that after all these years, Ardek came up with the idea of checking back into Lammendam. And we found a whole different story on the internet. So we noticed the internet became bigger and the actual Saga dates back to Roman times. When the town was founded as a simple road with a Roman soldiers grave. This time we found a Saga telling more a story of a poison witch: Kariba, who was known for turning her hatred on mankind. There was also a Dutch and German man in this tale. One of them wanted the other dead and came to the witch for a poisonous brew. When she heard it was meant for the guy that once saved her from the teeth of a wild bore, she decided to tell him. Instead of her, her children were burned at the stake. Because she intervened with mankind she broke an oath, she was cursed by some kind of forest deity and she became an old ugly man-hating hag, bound to live her life in the woods, alone in exile. We discovered that, in 1666, 75% of the town was wiped out by some kind of disease. That's where things feel liberating being Carach Angren. We give our own twist to story-telling and we are the ones who decided that Kariba must have been responsible for this genocide. So we don't just make things up. We do our homework to make sure our theories are backed up by existing tales and facts no one can go around. So it could actually be very true that Kariba, the daughter of the Devil, poisoned more than half the village, in 1666.
M.I. - Kariba is both a terrifying and mysterious figure. How did you shape her personality when writing the narrative? Was she always meant to be a villain, or is there ambiguity in her role?
Seregor: Well... Like I said: Kariba is more or less the same thing as the lady in white. Both entities haunting the ruins of Lammendam. The white lady was a young girl who could not choose between the love of two men. Probably one of them found out and torched her castle to the ground. That's what turned her into a vengeful spirit. Existing info on Kariba is that she's simply classified as a hideous evil witch. The ambiguous part of her might be that she eventually warned someone from her own brew of death poisoning. And that led into a life of disfigurement and solitude. She hated ever after. We added aspects ourselves like: her children were hanged for her sins. And till this day a dark cult follows in Kariba's footsteps.
M.I. - If Kariba herself could speak to you today, what do you think she would say about her portrayal in this EP?
Seregor: Well thank you for the fuckin credits Monsieur Seregor! I guess I owe you a blowjob! And that's when she bites off my dick... Sorry can't understand what she says next... She’s gotta a full mouth.
M.I. - You’ve told stories about haunted houses, spectral armies, and psychological horror. Where does Kariba fit in the Carach Angren timeline of themes?
Seregor: She is a perfect fit in Carach Angren literature. Because after 20 years telling the story of the white lady, it was quite a surprise, to find out that Kariba was another part that still had to be told by Carach Angren.
M.I. - Looking back at your career, do you feel your storytelling has become darker, more complex, or maybe even more playful, with each release?
Seregor: Yes, you could say that. We've always had our unique way of story-telling. And for many concepts we've adapted. And where possible we give our own twist to existing tales and saga's. Only if we deem it necessary. Only if it makes a story better from our point of view.
M.I. - The EP condenses a whole saga into five parts. How did that change your approach to songwriting compared to a full album?
Ardek: It was the same, actually just shorter. I knew from the beginning that this was going to be a shorter story because the core principles are very clear: There is a cult and they try to resurrect the ghost of Kariba. While doing that, things go wrong and first her attacker comes back. We didn’t want to include stupid filler songs or unnecessary bloating elements to the story. We hope fans appreciate this.
M.I. - “Ik Kom Uit Het Graf” is sung in Dutch, which adds an intimate local texture. How important was it for you to bring the regional language into this story?
Seregor: Very fucking important! Some reviewers wondered why we released this more industrial styled type of song first. That's because "Ik kom uit het graf" is raw hardcore horror best told in our own language. This release is more or less a sequel to the Lammendam story. But actually our videoclip shows something different than the actual lyrics. So you can also say that this album has in common: pure hate, that survives the grave. You can compare the story with a movie like 'I spit on your grave" Only the guys get fucked this time. I was inspired by an 80's movie called "Buried alive". An unfaithful woman screws around with a man. This man comes up with a potion of poison so she could kill her own husband. It was important to give him all the toxin. Something dripped out. That caused her man to die... But he woke up.. In the grave. Imagine the horror you'd experience. In the movie the guy got out like the character in the movie "The Crow". As a kid I screamed in joy how that guy took the wrath of Hell down on that bitch and her fucker. In our story I die.. wake up in another body. And.. Well.. You simply have to translate the last part of the song. See how uncle Seregor and Mister Ardek pay certain entities certain visits.
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M.I. - The closing piece, “Venomous 1666,” feels like both an ending and a new beginning. Did you intentionally leave the story open for further exploration?
Seregor: Sort of yes. The track has an almost triumphant feel to it. After “Ik Kom uit het Graf”, the witch herself comes back and takes revenge on everyone. I wanted the track to be aggressive but also emotional in a way. The cult succeeded in resurrecting her but the consequences were that she killed them and the rest of the village. You could indeed argue that the ending is open… Who knows, maybe we will revisit the saga again in the future. At its core the legend is mysterious so it also felt right to keep the mystery alive by ending it this way.
M.I. – The band has always blurred the line between symphonic music and black metal. How did you balance atmosphere and aggression on this shorter, more focused EP?
Seregor: We always focus on the story but without sacrificing the music or the power of the individual songs. We feel that you should be able to listen to the tracks without going into the story. The story on the other hand is very consistent and detailed for those who like to go into it deeper.
Personally I don’t like bands or releases where the music suffers because of the story. It doesn’t make any sense to me. We also balance difference ways of story telling. We start out by narration and move into a rather linear way of story telling. Then as the EP progresses more unexpected things start happening both musically and lyrically. I think this is important. We break our own pattern as we move through different stages of the EP and that keeps it interesting I think. For the beginning I really focused on creating a terrifying atmosphere. I kept the orchestral intro short but wanted it to sound dark. The addition of a bass flute and other elements help with this. The orchestra is also rather small. It’s not supposed to sound super epic, rather more obscure and suffocating. This continues blending into the intro of “Draw Blood”. There I recorded my own voice and fucked it up so it sounds like these guttural ritual chants. I also added a didgeridoo and witch-chants to further enhance the ritualistic qualities. I think this really helps in setting the mood. Then once the song progresses all the heavier elements come in and make it very Metal.
M.I. - Does this EP stand on its own, or should fans see it as a bridge toward the next Carach Angren chapter? What does The Cult of Kariba say about where the band is at creatively today?
Seregor: To us this stands on it own definitely. I underestimated the fact that people tend to see an EP as something less serious than an album. For me an EP has always been a shorter album. So I was surprised that some people don’t take it so seriously. Let me guarantee everyone that we spend as much time (or even more) on making this release compared to any other album. We don’t do things half. This EP is an album for us, albeit a bit shorter. We could have just added some filler songs (like some bands do) and make an album out of it but that would be self betrayal and betrayal to the fans! We only release something that passes our extremely high bar of quality.
M.I. - If you had to describe The Cult of Kariba in three words to someone who has never heard Carach Angren before, what would they be?
Ardek: Cinematic Horror Metal.
M.I. - Carach Angren’s music feels almost cinematic. Were there particular horror films or composers that influenced the sound of Kariba?
Ardek: Personally I was influenced by some short stories by H.P. Lovecraft. Particularly the idea for the cult. Lovecraft has an unbelievable talent of depicting suffocating brooding atmospheres. The stories he tells generally move at a slow pace but they always create images in my head that are insane. All this reading led to a disturbing thought I started having: What if people you know from your own neighbourhood would be invested in a secret cult… gathering at night, performing horrible rituals?! That stuck with me and made it into this EP.
M.I. – What does the near future hold for the band? Are you planning on touring to promote the EP? What can fans expect?
Ardek: Yes, we just finished an incredible run across Asia. We played several shows in China and concluded with a show in Japan. Some really die-hard fans over there!!!
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Listen to Carach Angren, on Spotify
Questions by Sónia Fonseca
