by Niklas Göransson

The ‘Death Issue’ of Descent closed one chapter but opened another, as Tyler Davis focused on expanding The Ajna Offensive. By 2003, his vision of uniting underground currents culminated in a pivotal alliance with Norma Evangelium Diaboli.

 

TYLER DAVIS: Driving home after picking up Descent #4 from the printer, I felt somewhat intoxicated by the scent of fresh ink. Back at my flat, I brought one of the boxes upstairs, opened it, and grabbed a copy. At that exact moment, the whole house shook. First, I thought, ‘We’ve done it. We’ve done it!’ very excitedly. But yeah, I later found out it was just an earthquake.

In the early afternoon of June 23, 1997, a moderate earthquake struck much of Western Washington. It was reportedly felt from Mount Vernon to Olympia, where Tyler lived, spanning approximately 160 kilometres (100 mi).

Descent #4, in which Tyler is listed as Editor alongside Stephen O’Malley, had a wider range of music styles, with metal now in the minority. It followed Stephen’s travels across Europe, where he visited many of his black metal contacts. However, ‘meeting the person behind the music didn’t always deepen the connection,’ as he put it.

TYLER: Yes, perhaps meeting certain individuals left him disillusioned. I don’t think those sentiments affected me, though – not the same way they did Stephen. Also, between issues #3 and #4, the black metal scene evolved rapidly, with teenagers growing into their twenties. Not to mention, we both changed as well.

 

After the release of Descent #4, Tyler relocated from Olympia to Prescott, Arizona.

TYLER: I moved down to Prescott for a short spell, and Stephen came to visit. He brought this huge trunk filled with about 150 CDs, cassettes, and other stuff. In hindsight, there were probably some incredible tapes in that crate, but when you go from fifteen releases per year to two hundred, it drains your enthusiasm.

Still, I love the notion of two editors sitting down and listening to submissions together. Was that a regular thing?

TYLER: I hadn’t thought about that before, but it’s quite a nostalgic vision, isn’t it? Yes, anytime Stephen and I worked on Descent, we’d mostly listen to demos that people had sent in; it helped capture the mood of the current moment. On the same visit, we also did some great hikes and talked a lot about music, Descent, the label, and everything else. One of the best memories is taking acid and listening to ABRUPTUM – a very profound experience.

The label’s third release came with the 1997 “Emperor of a Dimension Unknown” – a North American vinyl edition of Mortiis’ “Keiser av en dimensjon ukjent”. Tyler brokered the deal when he visited Mortiis in Halmstad, Sweden, two years earlier.

 

The Ajna Offensive version boasted changes beyond the translated title. In stark contrast to Cold Meat Industry founder Roger Karmanik’s original cover, based on John Bauer’s artwork, it almost looks like a goblin at a Pride parade.

TYLER: You’d have to ask Stephen about that one. Maybe he was still on acid? <laughs> I’d say it’s more mushroom-esque than LSD, though. But honestly, I couldn’t tell you. I think Mortiis sent some art, and Stephen wanted to adapt it into something distinct from the Cold Meat version.

The initial Ajna Offensive trilogy of TORMENTOR, PLECID, and Mortiis covered a broad musical spectrum right from the outset – a strong foreshadowing of what lay ahead.

TYLER: We just let things unfold naturally, which has always been my preferred approach. Look at the initials of The Ajna Offensive: T-A-O, as in Taoism. I don’t consider myself a Taoist, but I resonate with its core tenets.

Taoism is a spiritual tradition that emphasises harmony with the Tao, meaning ‘the Way’ or ‘the Path’. It teaches the importance of aligning oneself to the natural flow of life rather than resisting it.

TYLER: It’s not about following the ‘path of least resistance’ but embracing whatever comes and adapting as needed. TORMENTOR, PLECID, and Mortiis – those three releases all arrived at the right moment. Look at the triangle around the flame in the logo; each distinct element merges into a greater whole, setting the foundation for what’s to come.

 

Later that year, The Ajna Offensive’s fourth release took shape: an EP featuring TAINT and STRICT, packaged in a fold-out cardboard cover with real photographs glued to each side. Many of the label’s early seven-inches had handcrafted packaging to keep costs down and make production feasible.

TYLER: A lot of industrial bands assembled their own releases, so that’s where the DIY approach came from. I still do it today, which is why living on a farm makes sense – I get to fix things when they break. Real uplifting experience… most of the time. I was gonna mention another project we screened, but if you haven’t discovered it, I’ll leave that one alone for now.

Around this time, Stephen O’Malley became a full-time employee at Misanthropy Records, relocating to the label’s UK headquarters in Hadleigh, a town northeast of London.

By then, alongside BURZUM and MAYHEM, Misanthropy worked with IN THE WOODS…, FLEURETY, VED BUENS ENDE, ARCTURUS, MONUMENTUM, KATATONIA, and PRIMORDIAL. Recently, they’d expanded further by signing UK doom metal stalwarts SOLSTICE.

Were you concerned that this might negatively impact Ajna, in terms of Stephen’s time and resources?

TYLER: Not at all; I’ve never been petty enough to let that affect anything he had going on, whether it concerned his bands or professional career. The Ajna Offensive had become more of my project by then, due in part to Stephen’s increased musical focus.

After THORR’S HAMMER split up in 1995, Stephen O’Malley went on to form BURNING WITCH, a doom band that recorded a demo and two EPs during their three-year run. In 1998, as his UK work visa expired and he returned to the US, O’Malley joined forces with Greg Anderson to found SUNN O))).

 

In July 1998, MAYHEM made their US stage debut, with Tyler and Stephen along for the ride. At that time, the band’s backstory remained largely obscure. Beyond Michael Moynihan’s somewhat sensationalised book, Lords of Chaos: The Bloody Rise of the Satanic Metal Underground, information was limited to fanzine interviews and a swirl of exaggerated rumours.

TYLER: I didn’t bring up any of that stuff. If the MAYHEM guys wanted to discuss it, they did, but I mostly kept quiet and focused on selling merchandise. We spoke about current events, not the past. At one point, Necrobutcher got drunk and opened up about Dead and Euronymous, but Stephen and I just sat back and listened. Otherwise – no.

How did you find the touring experience?

TYLER: Um, preposterous might be the word <laughs>. I’m probably around the same age as them, but it felt like babysitting a bunch of grown-ass men – not exactly enriching. You know how metal tours always have these epic names, like ‘Blasphemous Goats Raping the Denizens of Yahweh’s Desert’ and whatnot? Well, I dubbed the short run of MAYHEM dates ‘Sweating Whiskey’. That about sums it up.

Descent #5 – released in 1999 and published via The Ajna Offensive – includes a MAYHEM interview Tyler conducted with Maniac after the tour. One gets the impression that it was a rather messy affair.

TYLER: Let’s just say I’m glad I wasn’t financially responsible for the damages because someone lost a lot of money. Despite it all, I do like those guys in general. Maniac was definitely inspiring in many ways – introducing me to bands like 16 HORSEPOWER.

 

The editorial of Descent #5, presented as the ‘Death Issue’, carried an ominous tone, strongly suggesting the publication was coming to an end.

TYLER: For some reason, it genuinely felt like the final chapter. Stephen and I always talked about how all the great magazines seemed to die after five issues. So, neither of us really expected Descent to continue. I do remember this one having more metal content. Maybe issue #4 was just a brief reprieve from the black metal insanity.

Besides MAYHEM, the fifth issue includes interviews with underground veterans such as ANGELCORPSE, DARKTHRONE, ENSLAVED, MARDUK, and BETHLEHEM. There’s also a feature on Australia’s DESTRÖYER 666, who were coming off their second album, “Unchain the Wolves”. In the piece, Tyler refers to them as ‘the best band around’.

TYLER: Absolutely. I’d heard of DESTRÖYER 666 before and avoided them, thinking, ‘What a stupid fucking name.’ <laughs> But – but! Stephen and I were at an INQUISITION show in Seattle. We got there early, before people arrived, hanging around and shooting the shit or whatever. Odin from Moribund was also there.

Moribund Records is a Seattle-based underground label and mail-order founded by Odin ‘The Old Goat’ Thompson in 1993.

TYLER: Odin had set up his stall and was pushing records as usual. He goes, ‘Tyler, you have to check out this band, DESTRÖYER 666!’ Somehow, he ended up as the DJ for the night and put on “Unchain the Wolves”. From the first note, I just knew it was right. It really gave me hope again.

#5 did indeed mark the death of Descent Magazine. Stephen has cited the overwhelming influx of poor-quality review submissions as a contributing factor. In Bardo Methodology #6, he also mentioned that – throughout his years as a touring musician – he’s met numerous people who still held grudges over negative reviews they received in Descent.

TYLER: Luckily, I have no such experiences. I’ve braced myself for a few <laughs>, because I definitely wrote some reviews that might warrant a punch in the face, but it hasn’t happened. Yet. Knock on wood.

Stephen and Tiziana’s collaboration continued until Misanthropy Records shut down in 1999. With both Misanthropy and Descent folding just before the new millennium, it must have felt almost like the end of an era.

TYLER: I never really saw it like that. Descent had run its course, and other doors were opening; my focus was on what lay ahead, not on mourning losses. I didn’t feel too concerned about the demise of anything at that point. Death was death, and life was life.

 

That same year, The Ajna Offensive released a seven-inch by PSYCHONAUT, a dark ambient project featuring Michael Ford from BLACK FUNERAL. This was the first instalment of Ajna’s EP series – an initiative by Tyler designed to merge art and music.

TYLER: I wanted musicians to pick an artist they liked and draw from their works to create songs within the seven-inch format. Most bands can’t expand an idea into a full-length – that’s why there are so few conceptual records – and who wants to listen to a double prog album? Not me. Michael Ford latched onto Austin Osman Spare and proceeded to take care of it.

In November ’99, The Ajna Offensive released “Dedicated to Hans Bellmer”, a seven-inch by ULTRA – an experimental noise trio founded in 1986 by Jon ‘St Degeneratus’ Carlson. Stephen O’Malley has cited ULTRA as one of the influential bands Tyler introduced him to, alongside PLECID, NURSE WITH WOUND, CURRENT 93, and AIN SOPH.

TYLER: When we pressed that release on vinyl, it took three or four attempts to get it right. The plant said they hadn’t dealt with such a difficult record since the whale songs flexi-disc for National Geographic twenty years earlier, due to its extreme frequencies. So that felt like a little check in the win column.

“Dedicated to Hans Bellmer” marked ULTRA’s return after the original project split up in 1997. Two years later, St Degeneratus assembled a new lineup for the EP. A full-length album, “Lifestyle”, followed in 2000.

TYLER: “Lifestyle” is an incredible work of experimental… I don’t know if ‘depravity’ is the right word, but he was certainly a depraved individual. I met him while living in Olympia, and we became friends. He’s been part of the industrial scene since its early days – WHITEHOUSE and similar acts. Very interesting guy, a collector of William Burroughs, Hermann Nitsch, and some of the Aktionist artwork.

 

Following the DESTRÖYER 666 interview in Descent #5, Tyler stayed in touch with the band’s frontman, KK Warslut. Their friendship evolved into a collaboration in late 2000 when The Ajna Offensive released its first original metal title: “King of Kings / Lord of the Wild”, a seven-inch EP by DESTRÖYER 666.

TYLER: I loved it; “King of Kings…” had that rough, raw quality you’d expect from DESTRÖYER 666. Getting to work with them felt like quite a big deal. Keith (KK Warslut) was on the fence for a while, but I seem to remember convincing him by suggesting we use artwork by Australian occultist Rosaleen Norton on the cover.

Following DESTRÖYER 666 came another metal release: a split EP featuring fellow Australians ATOMIZER alongside Czech veterans ROOT. An unexpected pairing, to say the least.

TYLER: Mm. I’d been trying to put together a compilation titled “Darkness is my Flame”, and those were the only two tracks we received <laughs>. I’d already spent the money and couldn’t afford to waste it. I didn’t have expendable capital, so every penny had to count. I thought, ‘Fuck it. I’ll just slap them on a seven-inch together,’ and that’s how the split happened.

 

In 2002, Tyler established Ajna Bound as a dedicated platform for his printed ventures.

TYLER: Coming off the Descent experience, I liked the idea of printed material – art and text – working together. The music scene was expanding in ways that felt uncomfortable to me, with CDs, mass-volume pressings, barcodes, and this whole corporate distribution aspect, which still rubs me the wrong way. So, I figured publishing would allow me to maintain more control.

The first Ajna Bound title was “Infernal Proteus: A Musical Herbal” – an innovative multi-sensory release blending music, art, and botany. The four-CD set is housed in a lavish hardbound book featuring artwork, photography, and writings.

TYLER: The notion came to me one snowy afternoon; I had a book, music playing, and was probably smoking a little something or other – and those three forces collided in my brain, sparking the concept of “Infernal Proteus”. I mentioned my idea to a few people, and it just took off like wildfire.

Each of the forty participating artists selected a plant or herb of personal significance, crafting an exclusive track inspired by its essence. The compilation spans genres from neo-folk and dark ambient to avant-garde and experimental.

TYLER: Believe it or not, it was completed in a year and a half. Everything fell into place surprisingly fast. Most of the contributors worked solo, probably recording in their bedrooms or wherever. A few contributions fell through, which is a shame – but overall, I think it stands as a pretty solid collection of songs.

 

The “Infernal Proteus” project coincided with Tyler purchasing and relocating to a new property in Jacksonville, rural Oregon.

TYLER: My wife and I moved in during winter, so we began by clearing out the beds in our outdoor greenhouse – adding fresh soil, turning everything over, and preparing for crops. There wasn’t any vegetation above ground, just a tangle of roots… some of which, unbeknownst to us, were poison oak. It doesn’t go dormant in winter; when the aerial parts die, the roots remain, with all the sap and energy concentrated in them.

Poison oak produces urushiol, an oily resin found throughout the plant, including leaves, stems, and roots.

TYLER: So, there I was, digging through roots and clearing up – without gloves, of course. Then I stepped outside to take a leak <laughs>. Lo and behold, the poison oak spread to… everywhere. It went systemic and pretty much covered my whole body.

Urushiol oil binds quickly to the skin, causing an itchy, red rash that can blister and spread when scratched. In Tyler’s case, it got onto his hands and – unfortunately, via other sensitive areas – further into the bloodstream.

TYLER: Just imagine trying to sleep at night while every inch of you – from head to toe and anywhere in between – itches like crazy. To moderate the symptoms, they recommend cold showers, but it was the middle of winter and absolutely freezing. I’m not down with this whole ice-bath thing like you freaks.

Tyler shared his predicament with Keith Brewer of TAINT, who found it so amusing that he contributed a track on “Infernal Proteus” dedicated to poison oak.

TYLER: He recorded a song with his other project, MANIA, that truly captures the emotional strain and misery of poison oak. At the time, I worked at a photo studio; prints that didn’t turn out well were discarded. One such sheet had incredible staining from the various processing agents, so I pulled it from the trash. I used it to render the plant, drawing over the chemically distorted surface. I think it turned out phenomenally.

 

An archived version of the Ajna Offensive website mentions an ‘art show and live event’ held in conjunction with the release of “Infernal Proteus”.

TYLER: Yes, it took place in a fairly small local art gallery. We transformed the area with pine boughs, animal remnants, datura stalks, and things of that nature. David Woodard of PLECID came up, as did my good friends Benjamin Vierling and Madeline von Foerster – the artist who did the cover. All in all, it was a great event with art and live music.

One of the performances featured an artist known as The Red King, a one-man project from Portland led by the late Johann Bran Cleereman.

TYLER: This fellow was quite an extreme character who ran with a pack of berserkers that would’ve fit right into a certain Swedish scene; very belligerent guys. His interests included extreme brewing – like making absinthe and distilling alcohol – and he had the wild idea of bringing along a giant brazier filled with about a kilo of incense.

Really? A full kilo?

TYLER: Massive quantities, at least. He set the whole thing ablaze during his performance, and man – the smoke it produced… <laughs> everyone had to evacuate because the fire alarms were blaring. The best part? The gallery owner loved it; he wasn’t concerned in the slightest.

 

The following year, in 2003, The Ajna Offensive collaborated with another unique solo venture, releasing “Nidstang” by dark ambient project SACRIFICIAL TOTEM.

TYLER: I remember the artist being deeply involved in both Sabbatic witchcraft and environmental activism. If you look at the packaging, those were all his ideas: handmade papers, antlers, wax seals, and black-on-black printing, fully rejecting the standard jewel cases and usual presentation.

SACRIFICIAL TOTEM ended three years later after its creator, Exile, was arrested by the FBI for arson attacks attributed to the Earth Liberation Front.

I found some photos of “Nidstang” – that packaging looked rather time-consuming.

TYLER: Well, we only made about seventy-five copies. You print them in a couple of hours while listening to the album, let everything dry, and fold it up. It’s probably no more work than handling all the one-sheets, promo codes, and other nonsense involved in uploading something to Bandcamp or YouTube. And it’s much more rewarding because it’s hands-on.

 

In August 2003, The Ajna Offensive announced an official partnership with a new underground operation from France: Norma Evangelium Diaboli, or NoEvDia. Founder Christian Bouché describes it as the culmination of groundwork laid by End All Life Productions – a vinyl-only label he established in 1999.

According to Bouché, it was ‘the absolutely insane “Infernal Proteus” project’ that convinced him Ajna would make an ideal US collaborator.

In the ensuing months, NoEvDia profoundly impacted the black metal scene with its first three releases: KATHARSIS’ “Kruzifixxion”, FUNERAL MIST’s “Salvation”, and WATAIN’s “Casus Luciferi”. Then, in February 2004, DEATHSPELL OMEGA unveiled “Si Monvmentvm Reqvires, Circvmspice”.

TYLER: I wasn’t very familiar with Timo Ketola’s work then, but the “Si Monvmentvm…” cover stood out, especially compared to the more typical black metal designs on DEATHSPELL OMEGA’s previous albums, “Inquisitors of Satan” and “Infernal Battles”. This one reached another level: a luxurious package featuring artwork clearly crafted for the record.

 

Besides “Si Monvmentvm Reqvires, Circvmspice”, Finnish artist and Dauthus editor Timo Ketola also handled the cover artwork for “Casus Luciferi”, as well as the “Salvation” layout.

TYLER: The Latin title, the “First Prayer” intro, and then “Sola Fide I” kicking in, opening with ‘O Satan…’ – all truly transformative. DEATHSPELL OMEGA changed the game alongside KATHARSIS, WATAIN, and FUNERAL MIST. Everything shifted afterwards – the entire paradigm of black metal evolved.

The same month that “Si Monvmentvm…” arrived, The Ajna Offensive declared itself the official US distributor for French label Drakkar Productions. While NoEvDia handled the vinyl of WATAIN’s “Casus Luciferi”, Drakkar issued it on CD.

TYLER: I’d been reaching out to European labels, trying to establish collaborations. For instance, I imported from Voices of Wonder to stock the classic Deathlike Silence titles. I distributed Malicious Records in America when GORGOROTH’s early albums came out, along with Avantgarde Music. Drakkar was another attempt, but it led nowhere. There weren’t many releases I actually cared for besides the WATAIN CDs.