KAOTEON

Having survived war, incarceration and intensive interrogations, Beirut’s steel-willed extreme metallers Kaoteon are determined to fight for freedom in all its forms

Beirut’s freedom fighters have faced war, interrogations and more.

Perspective is an incredible thing. For most musicians in the Western world, being ambushed by guntoting detectives at a show your band is headlining, and who subsequently arrest you, throw you into the trunk of their vehicles, and proceed to interrogate you for four days just because your band chose to play metal, would undoubtedly be a horrific ordeal. But for Anthony Kaoteon, guitarist/songwriter of Lebanese black/death shapeshifters, Kaoteon, such an experience, which happened to him back in 2003, was taken in his stride because of the conditioning his upbringing in a war-torn country instilled in him.

“If you lived in Lebanon and grew up in bomb shelters wearing bulletproof jackets and running from street to street to escape the heat of war, a couple of nights in jail are not what I call terrifying,” Anthony states in an eye-opening fashion. “But it absolutely reinforced every inch of me to play louder than ever before.”

The reason for arresting Kaoteon was based on the authorities’ misguided belief that their music was a front for Satanism, yet all charges were dropped following lengthy, sleep-depriving interviews with the band. We are told that the Lebanese authorities’ hatred of metal continues to this day, due to their need to control anything that they deem anti-establishment. Such pressure from a government eager to silence freedom of expression, together with a lack of the resources to take their band to the next level, spurred Anthony and vocalist Walid Wolflust to relocate to Amsterdam to follow their dreams.

“Europe, as a cultural ‘big city’ made up of many countries, is one of the most beautiful lands in the world,” Anthony says. “Lebanon is also a beautiful country with four seasons and a very short distance between ski slopes and sandy beaches. However, Lebanon is still stuck in time, feeding from its own flesh, with its talent abroad. When you live in a country that did not see 10 years of peace for longer than your grandfather remembers, you move elsewhere.”

Looking back on his childhood, it wasn’t all centred around the perils of war, as Anthony fondly tells us that he discovered metal through his uncle, a performer who used to sing Elvis songs on Lebanese television. In addition to hard rock classics by heavyweight bands such as Led Zeppelin and the Doors, his hip-shakin’ uncle loaned him tapes of albums by Slayer, Metallica and even the grindstitution, Napalm Death.

“I used to listen to anything I could get my hands on from friends and music shops,” he recalls. “I still have, back in Lebanon, old Metal Hammer issues where I would discover new bands and then try to get my hands on their music. Metal Hammer was banned from Lebanon for a while back in the day. Today, I’m not sure if you can find it there but I can still buy it from time to time in the United Arab Emirates for example.”

After binging on the blastbeats of Napalm Death’s Mick Harris and Dave Lombardo’s explosive playing on early Slayer records, more extreme entities caught Anthony’s attention through his reading of metal mags and other clandestine social avenues, leading him to discover Bathory, Mayhem, Morbid Angel, Death and Emperor amongst others. Yet while those seminal bands formed a lifelong affinity for underground extremity in the young Lebanese metalhead, it was a controversial Norwegian BM act that inspired him to play his own music.

“It all really started in 1998 when I got my first electric guitar and decided to do a one-man band like Burzum,” notes the Kaoteon founder. “The rest is history. I even used riffs from those days on both our first album, [2011’s] Veni Vidi Vomui, and our new album, Damnatio Memoriae.”

Did the anti-religious sentiments of some of those underground metal bands draw him in, or were his interests purely musical?

“I was never a big fan of lyrics unless they are really well written,” Anthony reveals. “Metal’s energy and freedom of expression and choice is what got me into the genre. There is a passion that you can’t find anywhere except in metal when 10,000 people are shouting and moving like a wave while they are crowdsurfing, moshing and keeping it safe and friendly.”

anthony’s steely determination has resulted in the creation of Kaoteon’s second studio release, the aforementioned Damnatio Memoriae. The concussive blackened death metal on this album is more technically proficient than their debut, and its distinctive atmosphere is accentuated by Walid’s unique delivery, one of the most intense vocal performances you’ll hear this year. Also of note is that Kaoteon’s recording line-up is newly bolstered by the premier session talents of Obscura bassist Linus Klausenitzer and former Marduk blast-furnace Fredrik Widigs, both of whom increase the fluidity of the rhythm section to match Anthony’s ever-improving musicianship.

“Our sound has matured over the years but the way I compose the music is still the same: keep it straightforward and as memorable as possible without losing intensity,” the ambitious songwriter explains. “I wanted the album to sound big and epic instead of fast and aggressive. I wanted the listener to sing the melodies while the music lifts their spirit and crushes their worries into the ground. I really like my riffs and I imagine them being played with an orchestra conducted by Stravinsky!” he laughs. “Walid, on the other hand, is a vocal powerhouse with a signature voice and a brother since we met in 2001 at a metal concert in Lebanon, and that is why I share everything with him today. He definitely improves my riffs with his vocals, and that’s how great songs are made in my opinion.”

Anthony also stresses that their turbulent life events have given them a never-say-die attitude when it comes to pursuing their music career.

“We were not traumatised nor are we victims,” he says resolutely. “We are the true voice of the underground. We might not have experienced six months of darkness and frostbitten ice, but we lived war, breathed rebellion, tasted poverty and came out strong. I take honour and pride in our story, and I pity those who are stuck in the gutter, blaming it on the system and the world.

“Art doesn’t exist without struggle,” Anthony continues. “We do it because of passion, because we believe in our music, and because we hope to see more people breaking out of the system. Our bodies will rot but our music will not, and in 2018 we will try to spread our sound as much as possible so that we realise our goals. I’m already composing the next album and I promise you nothing short of 100% Mental, 100% Metal!”

DAMNATIO MEMORIAE IS OUT NOW