L'acephale
Biography
"L'Acephale is based on the ideas and motivations of the early 20th century artistic, philosophic, esoteric secret circle and journal of the same name. Most prominent amongst its members was Georges Bataille, whose writings gave life-blood to that, and this project. Acéphale's etymology is from the Latin 'a-cephalus', meaning headless or without a chief.
The motivations? Religion. Sociology. Philosophy & The Sacred Conjuration. An ensemble fiercely religious in a Nietzschean manner, currently resurrected in this incarnation fusing equal portions epistemic terrorism and literary atavism, basing its transmission in the combination of both black metal and folk elements while also including the experimentism and ambience of both these genres.
Conceived initially by Set Sothis Nox La in 2003 on a steady diet of Wolfthorn, Les Joyaux De La Princesse, Corrupted, Toroidh, Hate Forest, Drudkh, Krzysztof Penderecki, Veljo Tormis, Henryk Mikolaj Górecki, Huun Huur Tu, A.V.A and various Tibetan and world folk musics in the cauldron of ceremonial birth. This project currently embodies several co-conspirators building on that foundation with additional elements: bacchanalian percussion, Volkisch metal tinges and multi-vocal assault. Finding further insight from such luminaries as the thelemic prankster Kenneth Grant, Heathen epics such as 'The Eddas' and 'The Sagas', romantic writings (such as Ludwig Tieck, Georg Heym, Georg Trakl amongst others), the 'Kosmischer Kreis' (Alfred Schuler, Stefan George, Karl Wolfskehl) and the writings of the french decadents - surrealistic writers like Latréaumont and Unica Zurn. As well as writings related to 'Ouilipo' (aka "Ouvroir de littérature otentielle") and authors such as Robert Walser, Bruno Schulz, Rene Daumal, Clark Ashton Smith, Arthur Machen and James Havoc. To the films of Ingmar Bergman and the Brothers Quay, and such artists as Hans Bellmer, Suehiro Maruo, Andre Masson, František Kupka, Franz Von Stuck and the great Austin Osman Spare.
While celebrating such folkways and beliefs prior to this modern era, be they Odinist, Druidic, Chöd or many other belief systems wherein the balance of everyday life remains close to the earth: Life not separate from spirituality, but a spirituality infused with the base material. Not the "as above, so below" philosophy of Hermetic thought where one spiritual entity reigns above, but closer to the concept of Radical Traditionalism. Our philosophies, perhaps best quantified with the Bataillean statement that we stand as "a war machine against received ideas."
- Set Sothis Nox La, April 2007
