“Well, to be completely honest: I have absolutely no idea where Fetishistic Adoration Of Death came from,” says ToD, the sole practitioner of the dark arts behind Fetishism. “It just got vomited out in the world over the course of a couple of hours and was indeed improvised on the spot.”
Fetishistic Adoration of Death
We discovered Fetishistic Adoration of Death here at D:L HQ only a few weeks ago. Alas, too late to cop one of the tapes, but the horror found within these four songs will last forever. According to ToD, this recording “was the result of a trance-like state of mind, being captured in the form of these four songs.” He says, “I did not have any specific goal in mind, no genre, nothing. There was this old cheap keyboard, which had some drums in a preset. The simplistic rhythm devoid of any cymbals or toms at the beginning of ‘Death Is The Key’ is what started it all and things went on from there . . .”
The recording dates back to 2012, according to the band and Red Door Records’ Bandcamp pages. ToD explains, “While going through some old hard drives, I remembered this demo I made in 2012, remastered it and released it in the form it deserves. I already released it in 2012 on Bandcamp, but there was literally zero interest at the time and I took it down after some months.”
One gets the feeling that ToD is behind other projects. This recording is a loose session but there’s clearly knowledge of music, instruments and composition behind it. However warped and sacrificed to the blade of unholy black noise it may be, it’s there. Yet the hellish wormhole that is “An Act of Treason” both attests to this fact and vehemently denies it.
ToD admits, “I have done a lot of other things especially in the last two years, some well-known, some not so much—and I will probably always continue to do so. For those who are interested, there are more than enough clues out there, so I am not going to name my other endeavors but leave it to the interested ones to find them.”
When asked what influences may have informed Fetishism, ToD says, “That’s a difficult question, as I am confident enough to think of what I have come up with under the name Fetishism as pretty unique, but I think it’s safe to say, that bands like Urfaust, Circle of Ouroborus, The Angelic Process and Menace Ruine played a huge role for me at the time and especially the first two are really big influences for me. They certainly didn’t play a direct role in recording the Fetishism-material, but I guess one can’t deny certain similarities between Urfaust and, let’s say, the first minutes of ‘Death is the Key.’”
The concept behind the recording is concentrated inhibition, the momentary loss of self, set to self-destructive black metal. As ToD explains, “Fetishistic Adoration Of Death is dedicated to the worship of a specific shamanic state of mind that is difficult to explain. Losing your mind in a state of total possession, in an induced state of worshipping the end while neglecting and totally forgetting this plain of existence.
“The sound is just a vessel that is used to further deepen the experience,” they continue. “Recording something like this EP with a clear sound on high-end equipment totally misses the point of aural offerings like it—it has to be made for the few who understand it, it must not be appealing and accessible and above everything else it must not neglect its own purpose, that is to be taken seriously and with an opened mind.”
Apparently the recording was captured “using the most primitive equipment and recording technique available.” ToD elaborates on what that means, saying, “The drumming on the whole EP was recorded with an old keyboard on the spot. The guitars just went through some effects into an equally old Behringer mixer, that was probably just broken, hence the raw and blown-out sound, which became a characteristic of the EP. I don’t really remember which guitar I used. It was either a really cheap 7-string Schecter or a really cheap Harley Benton. They both played and sounded like shit, but I guess, sometimes it has to hurt to be good and feel right. Either way, the guitar got destroyed in the process, which is pretty obvious if you listen closely to some parts of ‘An Act Of Treason.’ All in all, I don’t remember that much of recording it, probably due to being everything but sober at the time, but it was a really chaotic, out-of-this-world experience to record that is difficult to put into words.”
As for the long sold-out tape reissue on Red Door, ToD says, “I decided to go with Red Door Records because I like his avantgarde approach to releasing music and the absolute and total dedication with which he runs his label. We briefly spoke after he offered to release Fetishistic Adoration Of Death and I decided to go with his offer. I don’t regret it, as the tapes turned out great.”
Here’s hoping for a repress, as this sole recording is very likely all we’ll ever get from Germany’s mysterious Fetishism. As ToD puts it, “I wouldn’t get my hopes up for more Fetishism, but maybe, just maybe I’ll be in the mood someday again and produce some more weird ritualistic & shamanic black metal magick.”
