An interdimensional dialogue with The Mistweaver

The Mistweaver To truly understand the forward facing momentum of a modern
underground extreme music, I kind of had to seek out artists who refuse to carve
their work into more like predictable pre-packaged shapes as that’s getting kind of
boring of course. And the issue is that the extreme music scene is notoriously
plagued by self-appointed gatekeepers and elitists who are just – who just want to
freeze the timeline and they are somewhere stuck in the early 80’s and 90’s for the
first and second vanguard kind of thing. And they just tend to look down on any
project that dares to just inject some genuine human or maybe not so human
[smirks at Årxøytt] vulnerability, diverse musical palettes or just deep political
consciousness into their musical foundations and their way to express themselves.
And so today, within the mists and accompanied by my beautiful Alfajores which I
got from Byte, I have the absolute privilege to welcome someone who is luckily or
who does luckily share the similar philosophy to not really wanting to be gatekept.
So I guess we will have plenty of time and plenty of fun today. And now, if you would
like to introduce yourself

Årxøytt Greetings. I am Årxøytt, and I would like to express my gratitude to you, The
Mistweaver of Decibels in the Mist, for inviting me to establish this interdimensional
dialogue. I have decided to appear in this form before everyone who is receiving this
transmission.

TM Oh, that’s absolutely lovely. And thank you for making your way here so that we
can have this conversation in the first place. It’s not often that the veil is thinning
enough to actually be not too thin but still allows me to communicate with
whomever or whatever there is. So yeah, thanks for being here. It’s amazing. And
let’s just start with one of the very first urgent matters for today. Um, since you’re
operating so beautifully within your own, I would say atmospheric kind of black
metal ambient space -Space might be used ambiguously here- you also, from what I
hear, kind of possess your own incredible diverse taste of music. So, how do you
navigate rigid, suffocating boundaries set by a l those gatekeeping, frozen in their
time kind of people who love to just throw tantrums whenever an artist such as
yourself is crossing any kind of genre line?

Årxøytt Well, first of all, sound is sound. Music is music. Of course, there are several
ethical, aesthetic, and other considerations that come into play when we talk about music.
Within this human context of genres, different styles, and so on, there are indeed boundaries.
But who sets these boundaries?
Usually, it is the same people who want others to fight one another. For instance, there is this
human vessel called Billy Corgan, who used to have a band called the Smashing Pumpkins.
He recently claimed that certain decision-makers at the television network MTV had decided
that rock music was no longer suitable and that they wanted to push rap music instead.
So, who decides these things? Other people.
As for those humans who are channelling sounds from whatever source, I give my human
vessel impulses to create sound. But wherever I happen to be located at the moment, I am not
thinking in terms of this is what you are allowed to do and this is what you are not allowed to
do. Not at all.
Of course, when you are a musician, you want to express something, and then you use the
tools available to you. Several human vessels have created music that transcends boundaries,
and they have been doing so for a very long time.
An example would be Queen. Queen are human vessels who channelled all sorts of music:
what you might call proto-metal, progressive rock, vaudeville or whatever you wish to call it.
They blended all these musical styles beautifully.
I understand that if you want to rebel against the establishment, you go with whatever makes
the establishment angry with you. And this is precisely what the first wave of black metal
managed to do: it shook the foundations of what music in general, and metal music in
particular, was doing at the time.
In any case, human history has shown us over centuries that whenever something new
emerges, it eventually gets assimilated. A counterculture becomes a subculture at some point.
This happened to punk rock. It happened to heavy metal. It certainly happened to black metal.
Fortunately, I have not been attacked for trying to blend genres, although I have received
some criticism regarding the amount of variety on a simple product like my first EP, Sunder.
It consists of only five tracks, yet you have black metal, classical black metal combined with
ambient, electronica, and other elements.
Some people have been very open to receiving these sonic manifestations, while others have
said, in essence, “I see where you’re going, but this isn’t exactly cohesive for me.”
That is an opinion I respect. I respect all opinions regarding art because art is subjective.
Nevertheless, I believe boundaries are there to be broken. When it comes to musical styles,
the only way for music to survive – the only way for a musical genre to keep moving
forward – is to fuse with other elements.
Human vessels such as Stravinsky, or Tchaikovsky, provide examples of this kind of
innovation. These so-called classical composers were already pushing boundaries.
Tchaikovsky, for instance, wrote a piano concerto that was rejected by his mentor.
These are all examples of humans encountering resistance when they try to innovate. It is
nothing new, and it will not disappear for as long as there are people who consider themselves
the ones who possess the truth about everything.
I hope that clarifies my point.

TM It does clarify it wonderfully actually. Cuz yes exactly. I mean we do use music to
express ourselves. We do use music to help, to support. It’s art and for some people
it’s a way of escapism as well obviously. So with al the musicians you mentioned,
classical musicians or musicians such as Queen, um, do you think that, if someone is
having a broader kind of music musical diet, does it make them a better or more
capable songwriter for breaking such boundaries? Like does it enable them to work
their work better into crossing such boundaries especially inside extreme black
metal or black metal in general where it’s supposed – according to gatekeepers- to
be al violence and screaming and burning churches and whatnot.

Årxøytt As soon as you set boundaries for yourself as a songwriter, you are complying. And
if you are complying, you are not being rebellious. You are not being a rebel.
Let me give you an example that does not come from the so-called metal world. Three of the
greatest songwriters in pop and rock music did amazing things simply because they dared to
try something different. I am going to tell you their names, and I know this will probably
freak some people out.
Their names are John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison.
These three individuals decided that they were not going to remain within the boundaries of
what was known as beat music in the 1960s. They began incorporating other elements,
different instruments, and new production techniques. That is one of the reasons we are still
talking about them so many years later.
The group called the Beatles ended in 1970 of this era, and here we are in 2026 of this era,
still talking about them. Their records are still being sold, and their music continues to be
heard.
Had they stuck to the boundaries of beat music, they would never have survived in the same
way, and we would not still be talking about them.
If I extrapolate this example to black metal, the same principle applies. The bands that started
it all also experimented with other things. Call them Mayhem, call them Burzum, call them
Darkthrone – whatever you want. They have gone through several changes in their sound,
too. And many of the bands that came after them continue to do so.
A wonderful example is Trelldom. They went from being a very aggressive black metal band
to making avant-garde music, or whatever you want to call it. Their sound has changed
considerably, but they have retained that dark element. They have three great releases, and
their evolution shows what can happen when musicians allow themselves to explore.
So, the important thing is to remain authentic to yourself and not change your approach
simply because you think, “If I write this way, I will get more money or more recognition.”
You should do it like a painter who tries different colours and different combinations of
colours. You are still painting. It is still you who is putting the colours on the canvas. It is just
that the result will be different from what you are used to when you start using different
combinations of colours, lights, forms, and so on.

TM Precisely. I mean that is exactly what being an artist or expressing yourself means in the
first place I guess because if you were to express yourself always the same way it
would mean that you as a person are stuck somewhat, that you are stuck in life,
stuck with whatever and that there is no personal growth to see and there is not a
single person who can tell me that they don’t have to grow anymore. We al grow,
we al have to grow, we al change over time. Um, Bathory for example, they also
started off as a more harsh, “super true” black metal band and then they were like,
“Oh, no, you know what? The whole Viking theme is more up to our speed, so we will
go with that.” And it was flawless. I really love their Viking era so much more than
their early black metal era. Um, so yeah, keeping true to oneself also means to
admit that you will change and that you will grow eventually and if it’s reflected
within music then or within whatever art the painter’s example is brilliant for that as
well.
It should actually also enable people to just stay true to what they like in your art in
the first place. Which kind of brings me to another subject which is probably a more
touchy subject as well. There have always been voices regarding people not liking
politics in music but we know punk for example or hip-hop, they are so heavily
influenced by political happenings. So I’ve, as you know, I’ve written some of my
thoughts on your last single, the “Sobre Ruinas”. And it was such a heavy look at it,
regarding the double earthquakes in Venezuela and the indictment of the corrupt
regime more or less there. I mean, they didn’t do s*** to help people in the first
place. Mainly busy saving their own asses. So we’ve probably both seen those
complaints about people yelling out that “we don’t want politics in our music”,
especially with such topics if it’s a touchy, not so wanted kind of thing because
nobody wants to hear what’s actually going wrong in their own country.
So how do you answer to people who either bring that up to you regarding your
music or if you overhear people talking about music not having to be linked to
politics even though we know from history that court jesters and al its kind of it is
always linked together.

Årxøytt First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to you for reviewing this sonic
manifestation that I released in July 2026 of this era, called Sobre Ruinas. The title roughly
translates as “Above the Ruins” or “Over the Ruins.”
I have been fortunate enough not to have been confronted with this particular argument about
keeping politics out of music.
I do understand where some people are coming from, because the media is constantly
bombarding people with politics. One side or the other, whatever agenda the media wants to
follow, they will push it down people’s throats.
I understand when people say, “Music should be an escape from all that, so I don’t want
politics in my music.” That is a legitimate opinion.
Nonetheless, as you also said, artists have always used their art to express their political
views.
And even when it is not political in a partisan sense, we are still talking about politics in terms
of what is happening in this matrix world, what has happened in the past, or what could
happen in the future. If you want to think about these things as an artist, it is entirely
legitimate to express them through your art.
Of course, there are artists who sing almost exclusively about politics. You have these kinds
of vessels, such as Rage Against the Machine, who lean extremely towards the left side of
things. Then you have NSBM bands leaning towards the absolute opposite. It is up to the
audiences to decide what they want to hear. If they want to hear a particular message about
certain things expressed in a particular way, that is their decision.
But I do not think artists should limit themselves in what they want to say. That is my point of
view.
Regarding Sobre Ruinas, it was indeed a reaction to something terrible that happened in one
of the countries of this world.
Terrible things happen all the time. Nonetheless, in this particular case, you understood
correctly that the regime did not do anything at all, especially during the first few days, when
it is critical to respond in order to save lives.
They did nothing at all.
Therefore, whatever number of people died as a result of these earthquakes, they also died
because of a political regime that failed to do what it was supposed to do.
And this has nothing to do with whether a regime leans to the left or the right. It makes no
difference whether we are talking about a socialist regime, as in this case, or a right-wing,
conservative, or whatever other kind of regime. If it does not do what it is supposed to do, it
must be denounced.
This is something I observe in humans: they tend to take sides. And the best way to approach
this is not to take sides blindly.
Do not take sides, because you do not know what happens behind the scenes, or how these
two sides might understand one another much better than you think. Meanwhile, they have
you fighting one another over which side is the best.
As I said, it does not matter which side you are on. If you are not doing your work, if you are
allowing people to die through action or omission, then you must be denounced.

TM Definitely. Yeah. I mean, it would just already help if people would eventually
treat people like people instead of just starting some weird class systems. But this is
actually exactly what starts a l those issues. It’s the usual thing of “with great power
comes great responsibility”, I suppose. And some people show their true character
once they get such powers. Fortunately or unfortunately, that’s on them to decide
as they are the ones wielding those powers.

Årxøytt I can tell you that there is no light in any government in the world.
There are certain personalities who are trying to do things in different places, and I would not
like to mention any of them because that would make the conversation polarising.
But there are people trying to do certain things. The problem is that there is also a very, very
powerful system that has been in place for centuries and cannot simply be broken from
within.
That is the problem.
Whoever tries to do something for the good of humankind will run into these boundaries,
these walls that the system has put in place over centuries.
It does not matter whether you call it a democracy, a monarchy, a dictatorship, or whatever
else. They all respond to the same kind of system operating behind the scenes.
Those are the structures that get humans to fight one another over political colours, flags,
ideologies, and so on.

TM Yep. Definitely true. Also, for “Sobre Ruinas” you decided to once again cross
boundaries and use Spanish. Obviously it makes sense in that context and what was
the reason behind using Spanish as part of the lyrics, as part of the song? Was it for
emotional purposes given how it might sound more raw than simply English.

Årxøytt This is the second instance in which I have chosen Spanish for a sonic
manifestation. The first was a track called Demiurgo on my EP. The choice depends on the
message I am trying to convey.
In the case of Sobre Ruinas, the events took place in a Spanish-speaking country. Using
Spanish was a way of addressing the people there, even if they might never hear the song.
I am shaking the ether around them, and I am telling them: “I see what is going on. I see what
is happening to you. I am with you in one way or another.”
That was my intention in using Spanish for Sobre Ruinas.
I have also used German. So there is Spanish, English, and German, and there is even some
hidden Swedish in an earlier sonic manifestation of mine called Deception, which was the
very first one I released as a solo entity.
There are several spoken voices in the middle of that song, all of them my voice. One of those
voices is speaking Swedish.
Through these languages, I want to tell as many people as possible that I am listening to them
and speaking to them through this music.
It does not matter whether you listen to it or not. The message is in the ether, and you will
perceive it one way or another.

TM I mean, hence the multi-dimensional concept.

Årxøytt Indeed.

TM It only makes sense. I had one friend actually come up to me as he’s read the
review for “Sobre” and he was like, “Oh, it’s in Spanish. That’s so great!” He thought
it might have been a Norwegian, Scandinavian project and so he was surprised to
see the variety of languages being used as well. And I think that’s actually another
nice advantage of you being a standalone project. You can just choose to do
whatever you want to do, whatever you feel like. So you have control over
everything you do, over just the whole concept, the whole art. There’s no one telling
you “oh no but we have to use this we have to do that.” – With being all solo, are
there any challenges where you are not even able to cross borders personally
because there’s too much organisation, too much a creative challenge or anything
that’s keeping you from actually expanding yourself in the way you would like to.

Årxøytt The entity that is Årxøytt does not take care of such earthly matters. There are the
musical impulses and an overall aesthetic vision, but my human vessel is the one who has to
take care of all these things.
And it does pose a challenge when one single person has to create the music, play all the
instruments or program certain instruments, sing, edit, produce, and so on and so forth.
It is indeed a challenge.
On the other hand, Årxøytt is not closed to collaboration. There have been collaborations in
the past, and there will be more.
There is this group called Waldseel from Germany. The man behind this project summoned
me because he wanted a second guitarist on stage. He said, “I want to have a second
guitarist,” and he summoned me. So I appeared, and I also added some guitar parts and vocal
parts to one of his sonic manifestations, which we recorded with his other live musicians.
There is always this openness to crossing the boundaries of solo work.
Working alone has its advantages, but I also observe the disadvantages. There is no label
behind the project. There is no big company, or even a small company, for that matter. There
is only one person.
So I am open to the project expanding beyond this one-man-project format. Nevertheless, the
overall vision remains my own, both aesthetically and lyrically.
For instance, if somebody were willing to help with production, that would be a great support,
and it would be very much appreciated.
But for now, there are things that are coming, things that are already rolling, if I may say so.
The split with Waldseel has been in the works for a while. There is also an upcoming
collaboration with an Australian one-man project. This one is outside the boundaries of what
we have been discussing in terms of musical styles. It is outside black metal, although it is
still metal. It might surprise some people.
Other artists have approached me about collaborations, and my full-length album is being
developed at the moment.
There is one song on that album for which I have decided that my own voice is not the proper
one. So I handed the reins to a female vocalist for that particular track.

TM Oh!

Årxøytt This person is well known in the metal underground, and I am very glad that she
agreed to collaborate.
As you can see, there is the one-man aspect of Årxøytt, but there is also the collaborative
aspect, and I look forward to expanding upon that as well.
The timelines ahead

TM That sounds very promising! Do you know when you will release the full
length album?

Årxøytt Well, the timelines are constantly shifting, and I inhabit the fourth dimension. Time
has a different meaning to me than it does to humans.
Through these shifting timelines, some things have been delayed.
The idea is for the split with Waldseel to come out this very year, 2026 of this era.

TM Okay!

Årxøytt The album was also initially planned for 2026, but it will probably be postponed
until the beginning of 2027.
It will also depend on who is supporting the album from the point of view of marketing and
distribution, or whether my human vessel will once again have to do everything by himself.
Time will tell. Your third-dimensional time will tell.
But it should not take much longer.
The music for the split has already been completely channelled. There are still some
adjustments taking place behind the scenes before this release sees the light of day.

TM All right, so we have roughly two and a half more months to wait before
hearing something new, and then we can add a few more months on top of that to hear even
more new material.

Årxøytt I do hope that will be the case.

TM We will certainly look forward to that. And with that, I think we are done
for today. I will release you for now. Thank you so much for making an appearance here.

Årxøytt I would also like to express my gratitude to you for facilitating this form of
communication, which I am not accustomed to using.
I would like to express my gratitude to everybody who supports Årxøytt in one way or
another, because the more support this entity receives, the more messages will arrive.
This is the first time I have had this sort of conversation, so I would also like to thank you for
being the first to reach out to me in this way. That gesture will be acknowledged at some
point.

TM Oh, lovely! That sounds great. It was a pleasure talking to you as well.

Årxøytt The same goes for me.

TM All right, then. Perhaps I will see you again or speak to you again
sometime.

Årxøytt It might happen. I do have an idea of when it could happen, and I will probably
materialise before you directly instead of appearing behind this device.

TM Oh? I will look forward to that as well!

Årxøytt Let us do that.
Until next time, Mistweaver.

Want to experience the Entity live?
check out IV. Schwarze Okkulte Nacht THAV