by Niklas Göransson

Advent of the Beast – In the fall of 2002, a chance encounter in Tampa, Florida, kindled not only a friendship but also the foundation of Negative Plane’s core duo: Nameless Void and Bestial Devotion.

NAMELESS VOID: Back in the day, you’d often meet other metalheads by spotting their merch; it was like wearing an advertisement. This doesn’t seem to happen anymore, which is kind of strange. But yeah, that’s how Matthias and I got to talking at a DESTRUCTION show – because of my “The Oath of Black Blood” shirt.

BESTIAL DEVOTION: Pete Helmkamp (ANGELCORPSE, ORDER FROM CHAOS) had printed a small batch of these bootleg BEHERIT shirts – maybe five people in all of Florida owned one, and I knew three of them. So, when I saw Ed, I remember thinking, ‘Why is this guy wearing something only my cool scene friends are supposed to have?’

In October 2002, DESTRUCTION and KREATOR played at the Brass Mug in Tampa. By then, Bestial Devotion had lived in the US for almost three years, having relocated to Florida with his family from Bavaria, Germany.

NAMELESS VOID: It took me a while to realise that Matthias was German – I only figured it out due to his name. He didn’t have a hint of an accent. When we first met, I just found him really intense.

BESTIAL DEVOTION: My impression of Ed was just, ‘Yeah, this guy seems cool; we should hang out more.’ I mean, you always wanted to bring new people into your little circle – make it bigger. Who knows, maybe he played music, too. At that time, I asked everyone if they wanted to do something musically or knew anyone who did.

NAMELESS VOID: I remember us talking about how shitty the American black metal scene was, and Matthias said, ‘Oh, are you aware of LUNAR REIGN?’ <laughs> He hated them. I just went, ‘Yep, I sure am.’ I didn’t even tell him I’d been in that band until later.

Did NEGATIVE PLANE come up at all?

BESTIAL DEVOTION: No, it definitely wasn’t one of those, ‘You have to check out my band’ conversations. In fact, Ed didn’t want me to hear his demo at all. He was really reluctant, and I had to push him. ‘Listen, I don’t give a fuck what it sounds like – just send me what you’ve got, please.’ I think it took about three tries before he let me listen.

NAMELESS VOID: When I finally relented and sent him the demo, I added a bunch of caveats. I also included a few of my newer songs – “Death Mass” was already finished, and I’d been working on “Staring into the Abyss”. I thought, ‘Man, he’s gonna tear this apart.’ But to my surprise, he liked it.

 

A few months earlier, in July 2002, NEGATIVE PLANE had released a three-song demo titled “Surreality”. Nameless Void handled guitars, bass, and vocals while his friend Greg St John played keyboards and digital percussion. The plan was for Greg to switch to a real drum kit eventually – but in the meantime, he used electronic drum pads.

After hearing the demo recordings, Bestial Devotion was invited to attend one of their rehearsals.

BESTIAL DEVOTION: Despite the drum pads, watching them jam impressed me more than any other band. That’s not to slight the others I’d seen – at the time, I went to BLACK WITCHERY rehearsals every week. It was just something about Ed and Greg doing their thing that sounded so different. I remember thinking, ‘I don’t know what I can contribute, but it’d be cool if I could do something.’

NAMELESS VOID: I told Matthias, ‘Well, I can’t play guitar and sing at the same time, and you seem to have a frontman personality.’ In my mind, I pictured him as another Dead-type figure, you know? He was such a force of nature – intense and commanding.

BESTIAL DEVOTION: Back then, I had yet to learn any instrument properly. Even though I’d practised guitar for a few years, I still sucked; same with my drumming. The only thing I could offer was vocals, and those were also terrible.

NAMELESS VOID: I’d told Matthias, ‘Greg has bought a drum set and will start playing eventually.’ But his interest just kept fading. Whenever I’d suggest, ‘Hey, let’s go down to Orlando’ – which is where Matthias lived – ‘and practice’, Greg would say, ‘Ah, I don’t have time.’

Even before Bestial Devotion joined, St John’s enthusiasm had waned; he wasn’t fond of the band’s direction.

NAMELESS VOID: Greg wanted NEGATIVE PLANE to stay like the “Surreality” demo – just him and me. He had no interest in performing live, hated the Satanic lyrics, and didn’t like the new songs. I told him, ‘Sorry, but this is what I want to do.’ The split was amicable, though.

 

After they’d become properly acquainted, Bestial Devotion invited Nameless Void to hang out at BLACK WITCHERY’s rehearsal space.

NAMELESS VOID: I gotta say, being allowed to sit in on BLACK WITCHERY’s rehearsals felt like a huge honour. Without Matthias, I’d never have been given the opportunity – he knew those guys long before I came along and had earned their trust. Watching them work and seeing how they approached music was amazing.

What were your first impressions of the members?

NAMELESS VOID: Steve (Tregenda) seemed the easiest to approach, and Impurath came across as very friendly as well. Vaz, on the other hand, took a bit more time to open up <laughs>. When I first met him, he wasn’t exactly the warm and welcoming type, but that’s just who he is – and honestly, he’s awesome. Vaz is an intense guy, and I appreciate that.

 

In the summer of 2003, after St John drifted away from the band, Nameless Void and Bestial Devotion recruited a drummer in Orlando: Paul.

BESTIAL DEVOTION: I think I met him through Steve. Paul used to sell us weed, and his house had a fully equipped rehearsal room where everyone hung out for a while. It was one of those situations: ‘I know a drummer who isn’t in BLACK WITCHERY, so…’

NAMELESS VOID: Paul played in some death metal band, and we thought, ‘Killer, this guy is a pro.’ I didn’t have much experience jamming with real drummers, so I couldn’t tell how things were supposed to go. And since Paul was way older than us, Matthias and I just assumed he knew his stuff.

BESTIAL DEVOTION: He’d played on some death metal EP back in ‘92, somewhere out southwest – maybe New Mexico or Arizona. I remember him telling me he fell off a truck, got fucked up, and was in a coma. Paul had road burn all over his arm and all that. Then he ended up in Florida. Some weird story.

NAMELESS VOID: I’ve been using the same keyboard to program drumbeats forever. Back then, I’d record NEGATIVE PLANE songs with it – rough demos, but they got the point across – and Paul would try to replicate the patterns. It quickly became clear that he wasn’t a good fit.

In what way?

NAMELESS VOID: His playing was so stiff and awkward. I remember the ending of “Staring into the Abyss” – the drums were meant to be slow and tense, but he added this ridiculous marching beat. I asked, ‘Dude, what the hell are you doing?’ Oh, and when Paul couldn’t get things right, he’d spiral into a bad mood and take it out on Matthias.

BESTIAL DEVOTION: Paul would scream at me constantly: ‘You motherfucker, you messed up the song again!’ And I’d reply, ‘I didn’t do anything – you’re the one playing drums! Fuck you.’ Then he’d start throwing shit at me; I’d laugh, and we’d end up fighting. It was constant, stupid bullshit.

NAMELESS VOID: Our gear wasn’t the best either. I used this awful Laney guitar head, and Matthias had to sing through… <laughs> his sister’s karaoke machine. We didn’t have a PA system or anything remotely proper.

BESTIAL DEVOTION: Ed and I were desperate for reverb because every band we liked had that echo on the vocals. When I noticed the delay knob on my sister’s karaoke machine, I thought, ‘Holy fuck, I need this.’ I didn’t even ask her – I just confiscated it.

NAMELESS VOID: I’m pretty sure she kept asking for it back. That, and the golden microphone.

BESTIAL DEVOTION: Oh, the golden microphone! The mic that came with the piece-of-shit karaoke machine was this cheap, gold-plastic thing we laughed about endlessly. I think I broke it by cranking everything to the max and screaming into the mic. Being essentially a toy for kids, it wasn’t quite designed for that.

NAMELESS VOID: The worst part was that Paul sold weed, so other metalheads would wander in, hear us, and go, ‘Oh boy. What the hell is this?’

BESTIAL DEVOTION: Random people suddenly appeared in the rehearsal room – which was full of plants – and we’d have to stop mid-song. Then, of course, an argument would ensue: ‘Paul, what the fuck?’ And he’d erupt, ‘Go fuck yourself!’ Like clockwork.

NAMELESS VOID: Paul would also drop acid and start playing even worse. It wasn’t like a THE DOORS session, with everyone tripping on LSD and creating this genius music together. No, it got progressively shittier. Then he’d just wander off.

At the time, Bestial Devotion was still practising drums with his friend Joshua Murray, working hard to improve.

BESTIAL DEVOTION: I’d always run through NEGATIVE PLANE parts in my head, having listened to those tapes incessantly. One day, Ed and I half-joked, ‘Next time Paul takes a break, let’s see what happens if we try something.’ The rehearsal room was at the very back of Paul’s house and soundproofed, so he wouldn’t hear us.

NAMELESS VOID: Matthias and I were in constant contact, so he really understood what I was aiming for. We ran through “A Church in Ruin”, and he actually nailed it. I said, ‘This is what I’m talking about! Maybe you can show Paul how to do it?’ Then we tried playing the ending of “Staring into the Abyss” – that infamous marching beat.

BESTIAL DEVOTION: I remember Ed pleading with me, ‘Fix that part, and everything else will fall into place.’ We tried, and it actually sounded great. I wasn’t an amazing drummer, but I could at least keep beats which fit the riffs; this alone made a huge difference. After that, whenever Paul left the room, I got behind the kit. It became our secret replacement plan.

Despite the underwhelming rehearsals, NEGATIVE PLANE decided to take a chance and record a demo at Down There… – the semi-professional basement studio owned by BLACK WITCHERY drummer Vaz.

NAMELESS VOID: That demo session broke us <laughs>. It was so embarrassingly bad. We really admired the BLACK WITCHERY guys – they’d released a killer album, successful in their own way. And there we were, looking like the biggest amateur clowns in front of them.

BESTIAL DEVOTION: I remember both of us sitting on Vaz’s basement stairs like this – <facepalms>. Ed was going off about how the songs were garbage, everything sucked, and maybe we should just quit and do something else. But it wasn’t only Paul’s fault; my vocals were fucking terrible, and the songs sounded like shit. Nothing worked, so we gave up halfway through.

NAMELESS VOID: I’d never had any real musical success, and I started wondering, ‘My God. Does everything I write just suck ass?’ I think we stopped even trying after that. By February 2004, I finally had to call Paul and say, ‘Listen – sorry dude, this isn’t working.’

 

Since Bestial Devotion was far better suited for the drums, the duo decided he would step away from vocal duties – leaving the oration to Nameless Void – and focus on improving his percussion skills. While Bestial Devotion searched for a drum kit and practised, Nameless Void joined another band.

NAMELESS VOID: Matthias was way more outgoing than me. He’d constantly reach out to local musicians, like, ‘Hey, I’m a big fan. Want to meet up sometime?’ That’s how we ended up connecting with Mike Browning. When I finally met him, I was in total awe. ‘Holy shit, this is the guy from “Abominations of Desolation”!’

Besides his contributions to NOCTURNUS and INCUBUS, Mike Browning is best known as one of the founding members of MORBID ANGEL. He handled both drums and vocals on “Abominations of Desolation”, originally recorded for David Vincent’s Goreque Records in 1986 and later released by Earache in 1991.

NAMELESS VOID: At that point, I had zero musical accomplishments, so meeting someone who’d worked on these legendary albums felt overwhelming. I was incredibly shy – like a little kid. I remember nervously asking, ‘Can I show you some of our stuff?’ After playing him a demo of “Staring into the Abyss”, Mike surprised me by saying, ‘You know, we’re actually looking for a guitar player. Want to try out for AFTER DEATH?’