Greetings Mavrofos! Thank you for accepting this interview. This issue is almost entirely devoted to Finnish Black Metal, and you are undeniably part of the most interesting "young" formations! Can you introduce the group to our readers?

 Mavrofos: Rienaus was formed in 2009 as my own solo project, but soon after releasing my first demo "Beneath the Black Wings" I started to work with session musicians so I could play live. Our first live show was in year 2012.
After the release of third demo “Salatut Sanat, Unohdetut Kielet” we got signed to Finnish label KVLT and we released our debut album "Aamutähdelle" in 2014. After the release we toured a lot across the Finland and Eastern Europe between 2015 and 2016. One live ep was recorded during our Russian mini tour in 2015 and it was released in 2016.
In the summer of 2016, Rienaus begun to record their sophomore full length. This time the man behind the recording and mixing of the record was Jesse Könönen(previous works were recorded and mixed mainly by Mavrofos). The album was mastered during the winter 2017 at the Noise for Fiction Studios and the cover art was done by Nucleart Design. The album, entitled "Saatanalle" (For Satan), was released by KVLT in 2017.

Your new album Saatanalle has just been released on Kvlt. It is more varied than its predecessor and even more heart touching. Do you feel that you have improved your way of composing to achieve such a result?

 Yes. When working with my debut album I was still kind of searching for that special Rienaus sound and atmosphere that was was not reached until the release of "Saatanalle". I think my composing skills have been improved a lot since the release of our debut album and as I let an expert sound engineer Jesse Könönen take care of recordings and mixing this time a perfect sound for Rienaus material was found. I have never never been really good at recording or mixing so it was wise decision to let an expert to handle that kind of stuff.

How were the feedbacks after the release? Did you feel that your work was recognized for its true value? Generally speaking, do you pay any attention to criticism, be it good or bad? Knowing that, on the Internet, it is easy to speak, so anyone can give his opinion on anything...

 So far the new album has been gathering great reviews across the globe in different metal medias. I really don’t care about criticism that much but it has been nice to notice that something that I have worked for a really long time is getting good feedback.

Can you tell us more about the composition and the recording of this album? How is the work shared between the different members? Was the album recorded in a row or in different phases? Is it only new compositions?

I created all the music and lyrics except instrumental track "Välisoitto" that was composed by my old friend from one of my previous bands Sigyn. I really dont want anybody to write music or lyrics for Rienaus as it is so personal project for me. However when I need ambient inspired tracks like "Välisoitto" on newest album or "Alkusoitto" on our debut album I let my friends that are more familiar with that kind of genre to compose and perform tracks.  Since the beginning Rienaus has been a way for me to channel my personal ideology in to the form of audio art and spread the word of my master. Once all the material was written we recorded the whole album pretty fast in couple of weekends. "Saatanalle" has 6 totally new compositions and one old one "Pimeä Hehku" that was originally written in 2010, but I modified it a little bit from its original form and updatet lyrics during the same time when writing new material for "Saatanalle".

Even with an approximate translation, one understands that your texts deals mainly (only?) with satanism and death. Two of the most classic themes for this style of music. Then, what is really characterized your approach for you? A more intimate side perhaps?

 Now days lyrics are pretty much about worshipping Satan trough self destructive methods, but I would not say that Rienaus is suicidal black metal or anything like that. And yes maybe Rienaus lyrics have more intimate side than typical Black Metal lyrics.

In your approach, what is the relationship between music and themes? Which one is the inspiration of the other? Do you think that Rienaus will stick to this way of composing, or do you plan to explore different concepts in the future? Do you think, like URGEHAL in his time, that Black Metal MUST be Satanic?

 I get inspiration from my personal ideology. Right now I think that Rienaus has achieved its personal atmosphere and sound and I am not thinking about trying anything dramatically different in near future but rather stick to the way of making Black Metal that I am familiar with. And yes I think that main message of every Black Metal band should be Satanic.

Every human will sooner or later be confronted to death, but did you experienced something that have changed your point of view on this subject? Do you have any kind of fascination with it? If so, how does it express itself in your everyday life?

 For me death is just a beginning and I truly believe life after death. I have always been fascinated about death. To be honest I have been close to death so many times because of my self-destructive life style.

The entire lyrics and song titles are in Finnish. Can we see it as a form of identity claim?

 In the beginning during the first two demos Rienaus lyrics were mainly in English. But while preparing material for our third demo I found out that I can get much more feeling in to the lyrics and approach the subjects in lyrics more intimately. And when there are enough feeling in the lyrics I can get a much more out of me when performing live.

On a wider position, in your opinion, does political claims make sense in Black Metal music? Some Finnish bands thinks yes, and show it frontally (like Goatmoon or Hammer for instance), but others refuse to do so and remain more classical (or wicked) in their themes. What is your approach?

 I probably would never write lyrics that have political views as I am not really into politics. I cannot get the same kind of feeling into the lyrics as I have when writing about Satanism. However I have nothing against Black Metal groups that bring political views into the music as long as there are still satanic elements in their art.

Black Metal bands in Finland during the 90s were very different from each other (from Beherit to Impaled Nazarene, Archgoat, etc.) but the "Finnish Black Metal"  that we are referring to for the past ten years is inspired by bands such as Horna, Behexen or Satanic Warmaster. Do you regret the beginnings of the scene? Are you recognize yourself in this bloodline? How would you define the Black Metal of Rienaus with your own words?

 Rienaus is raw second wave Black Metal with a typical sound and atmosphere for Finnish Black Metal. I also draw influences from old French bands like Torgeist and Mütiilation.
 
On many aspects, the current scene is disappointing : overdose of mediocre releases, leveling from below, shitty and worthless public, etc. As a result, deserving bands do not necessarily have the exposure they deserve. How do you see that from your point of vue? Is there anything to save for you?

 Yeah now days it seems really hard to get noticed as too much garbage keep getting released constantly, And too many black metal bands without real passion or ideology behind them, but just rather get into Black Metal just because It is "a fun music genre to play" and that is just pathetic.

Unusual thing : you performed a series of concerts in Russia between 2015 and 2016, immortalized on the live tapes "Unholy Prayers in Moscow 2015". How did this opportunity comes out? What memories do you have from it? It is said that the Russian public is much more "expressive" than in the European countries, do you agree with it?

 Our current lead guitarist get in contact with really good organizers in Russia and they organized two great mini tours for us. On our second tour to Russia we just had oportunity to record the live show so we recorded it but it was not until 2016 I actually started to listen to the recorded material and tought that it should be released and eventually Feuer Publications decided to release it.
And yes audience in Russia and Belarus are definetely more expressive than audience in other countries I have played and that is the reason why we have visited both countries more than once.
All three of our Russian trips have been unforgettable and we have had great luck on our side as we have been able to work with really great organizers.

According to the samples available on internet, your live performances seem intense and sincere, quite opposed to bands without personality who simply follow the current trend (occult mass, hoods, etc.). On the opposite, you seem to let yourself carrying by your emotions and play with your guts, quite simply. Is this authentic and flawless approach important to you?

 For me every Rienaus live show is like a ritual where I let my inner demons to wake up and turn my body into a temple of Satan. I never plan anything before the shows, but just rather let all the energies take over my body and mind. And so my performance can look like emotional and highly manic. Usually after the every concert I feel sick as both mentally and physically. I feel drained and I tend to always find new ways to bring chaotic and intensive live experience not only for our audience but for me as well. Personally I hate the fact that there are rarely present any sense of danger or chaos in typical Black Metal concerts now days. Most of the shows are really predictable and with Rienaus I want to avoid that. Bring madness and chaos back into black metal!   

Speaking of live shows, Mavrofos, you have been holding the guitar in Azazel since 2011, how did this collaboration happened with such a cult band? By the way, the band made a buzz around its performance at the Steelfest 2017. With a bit of hindsight, can you tell us more about this?

 I met Lord Satanachia on one festival and after that we were in contact a lot. I went to see them to perform their last show with their previous line-up. Soon after the breakup of previous line-up Satanchia called me and asked me to join Azazel. Steelfest was just normal performance for us as you can never know what will happen during Azazel’s show(Altough this one was definitely one of the most drunkest one). Actually anything can happen every time me and Lord Satanachia are under the same roof. This time we ended up getting totally wasted before the show and rest is a history.Actually every time Azazel has rehearsals, shows or recording session etc. etc. you can never know what can happen as there is always a sense of uncontrollable chaos in the air.  

The purpose of Black Metal music is to be extreme, but ultimately, very few musicians really live dangerously or apart from the society. What about you? Is playing live an opportunity to freely express all your negative thoughts, in order to better «control» yourself in your everyday life?

 I could say my lifestyle is a little bit extreme, dangerous and my behavior is usually self-destructive. For me playing live is more like an opportunity to show people all that chaos and mayhem that roars within me and at the same time devote my soul and body to Satan. Sometimes that has led to some serious conflicts. I have few pretty nasty scars left from my live shows and I think we are not welcome to the venue we played last time as I was able to get owner(and even some of the audience) really pissed. Blood, urine and vomit was used on stage and I was able to break some equipment during the performance.  

Finnish Black Metal is taking advantage of numerous new formations that doing their bit towards this style, we think of new bands like Sarastus, Hämys, Riivaus or also Norns. From the inside, how do you perceive this constant flow of youthfulness? Are you in touch with each other?

 I am not really familiar with the bands you listed above and I have never really listened to their material carefully. I don’t really follow the scene that much. But it is always great to see new young bands that actually manage to create something decent. On the other side many young musicians lack sense of self-criticism and now days when anybody can produce a metal release on their home computer it is creating too much shitty bands trying to get into the scene. It is truly a hard job to find mature Black Metal releases among all the shitty ones.
When I look back on the some older Rienaus releases I can definetely admit that I also was lacking a sense of self-criticism back then. When you are young and enthusiastic about just writing black metal songs you let all kind of crap slide into the material.
It is also nice to see sometimes young awful bands turn into something with an actual potential like example Finnish band Tuhonsiemen have made a great progress since their first releases.
 
Even though the band was founded only a few years ago, what do you think of your own beginnings? Have you changed your approach or your vision of Black Metal? How do you see the future of the band? Do you simply live on a day-to-day basis or do you have longer-term goals with Rienaus?

 Since the beginning Rienaus have been so much more for me than just a band. It is my own personal way to show devotion towards my Lord. Whole band was started because when I got into Satanism at age of 15 or 16 as a musical person I needed a way to channel my thoughts and ideology into form of music.  

This is the end of this interview, thank you for the answers. Any final words?

 Destroy Your Life For Satan!

Interview: April 2017