Erik Andersson, also known as Mishbar Bovmeph, is a Swedish composer, guitarist and founding member of the black metal band Mephorash. He has played a pivotal role in shaping the band’s intricate and esoteric sound. Known for their dark, ritualistic themes and richly layered compositions, Mephorash stands out as one of the most ambitious and atmospheric acts in modern black metal. Andersson’s guitar work is central to the band’s identity, weaving ominous riffs, haunting melodies, and dynamic textures into immersive soundscapes that evoke a profound sense of mystery and transcendence. With their latest album, Krystl-Ah, Andersson and the band have pushed their creative boundaries further, exploring deeply occult themes while maintaining the ferocity and grandeur of their music. In this interview, we delve into Andersson’s artistic vision and in general his way of thinking.
INTERVIEW
OBNUBIL: Hi Erik! Thank you so much for the opportunity to ask you some questions! First of all, how’s life going these days?
ERIK: Hi, thank you, I appreciate the opportunity. Well, my life is somehow always leaning towards the chaotic side in many ways. I always have a lot of irons in the fire.
Mephorash and the music we create is the centerpiece of my existence, and therefore it’s an ever-ongoing process of creation and evolution.
OBNUBIL: To give us a little idea about you, could you please tell us a bit about your musical roots? How did you get started, and what led you to become a musician?
ERIK: The answer to this question is extremely multifaceted and complex, and could in reality almost require a full book to go through everything that has happened to me in young years and what has created my views and my ideas that eventually intertwined me into an ironclad symbiosis with music, however to summarize this somewhat, you could almost say that in different ways music has been a salvation to me. The only thing that through my life has been a sanctuary to give me peace from the hell that I experienced.
To me, music is not sound.
Music is a place. A dimension.
A dimension in which you can transport your mind & your soul to completely transcend whatever your physical being is experiencing. It is a tool, in which you can completely alter the chemical structure of your brain to experience something completely different than your conscious reality is putting you through. Therefore, it can change what reality is, and thus in my opinion, music is the pure definition of “magic”.
I have devoted my life to creating these dimensions of my own, both for the sake of cleansing and expressing my own experiences, but also to offer these planes of sanctuary to other people. To create an alternate reality for those that need and crave it. To reshape people’s perspective of life and reality as it is. To transform their minds.
This is a lifelong pursuit to perfect. To create a perfect portal into a different reality, and I am not sure I will ever succeed according to my own standards.
But I will never stop trying to perfect it.
OBNUBIL: As a founding member of Mephorash, how has your vision of black metal evolved since the band's inception? What elements have remained constant throughout your journey?
ERIK: Somehow Black Metal has always spoken to me as the genre of pure devotion.
A genre that defines what it means to LIVE & BREATHE your convictions, your beliefs and your “faith” into whatever that may be.
This is the reason why I dived into this genre. Because music and spirituality is to me something way more than just something shallow.
To me it is what I live for and what I could die for.
The act of creativity and creation is to me sacred and divine in ways that most people cannot understand.
Evolving from a child to an adult where this was the ONLY thing that I could trust, that gave me peace and the only thing that felt overwhelmingly sacred to me, created a bond that goes deeper than anything in my life.
Unfortunately Black Metal has evolved to a place full of charlatans, not taking what they do seriously, or does it for the wrong reasons; fame, money or vanity.
Another side is the people that have their own strong irrelevant views of what it should be and not be, what you should wear, listen to, sing about etc, etc...
To me it’s simple: Devotion.
Doesn’t matter to me what form it takes, as long as the foundation of what you do is pure devotion to what you stand for.
OBNUBIL: Your music has a strong mystical and occult atmosphere. Can you share any specific rituals or philosophies that inspire your songwriting? Is there maybe a particular book, film, or philosophy outside of music that has had a profound influence on you as a composer?
ERIK: I have a profound fascination for the mystical in general.
This fascination is not limited to certain scriptures, ideas, branches or beliefs.
I see everything as different tools that have different purposes. Different books or scriptures have different specific uses and functions, for specific times.
I do not believe in limitations. Nothing is off limits to reach the goals and purposes of your devotion.
As I explained before, one of my goals is to perfectly construct a different dimension in which to transport whomever is experiencing this particular creation of mine.
Each creation deals with different subjects that are relevant to my own spiritual journey.
To use symbolic language, if I’m making soup, I wouldn’t give the listener a fork to consume it.
In the same way, each song I make has a correct tool, i.e mystical/occult subject, that matches it, to perfectly manifest this alternate dimension. This is something that takes tremendous time to explore and realize during the process of creating new material, and that is also why a lot of time passes between our releases.
We work under the conviction that each album deserves to be constructed in the right way, no matter how long it takes, and we won’t be satisfied until we reach that point.
OBNUBIL: Your music feels like a journey into the unknown. When you compose, do you envision a narrative or concept that guides your writing process, or does it emerge more organically?
ERIK: I guess this question has somewhat already been answered in the previous answers.
But to answer it briefly again, as I explained, I have a very strong vision.
A dimension or place where I want to transport you.
These visions come to me like revelations, and then I have the impossible task of trying to build and recreate this landscape out of the audial components at my disposal.
OBNUBIL: Sweden is known for producing a lot of legendary metal bands. How do you think the Swedish environment, culture, or history shapes Mephorash's sound?
ERIK: I think Sweden has a very powerful connection to nature and its very powerful and opposing seasons. It creates a sense of never ending change and evolution into what is to come.
A sense of urgency as well. A need to seize the moment before it’s gone.
I think all of these things combined creates a very stimulating environment for creativity.
For me personally, the profound connection with nature is very inspiring.
Every time you walk into the forest, it gives me a sense of time standing still. That nature has been here long before civilization, and will be long after we are gone.
It strips you of everything that you have accumulated in your life, because out there it doesn’t matter.
The forest casts no judgement or opinion on your belongings, your memories or your experiences.
And that makes you wonder, who am I?
When your belongings do not matter, who are you?
When your memories do not matter, who are you?
When your opinions do not matter, who are you?
When everything you have ever gathered, both physically and mentally in your life.
Knowledge, Ideas, experiences, opinions, memories, friends, money, items…
When these things no longer matter, who are you?
The only thing that matters right there and then is your pure consciousness. Because that is who you are, and that is who I am. In the end we all derive from the same energy. The only thing that sets us apart is the experiences, opinions, ideas and belongings that WE accumulate and decide makes us different.
But without those things, are we not the same?
I realize this took a very philosophical segue away from your initial question, but to understand me, what inspires me and what makes me do what I do, it is highly relevant.
OBNUBIL: Mephorash's music taps deeply into esoteric and occult themes. How do you balance keeping these concepts accessible to fans while maintaining their depth and complexity?
ERIK: I think that accessibility or not is irrelevant. As explained before, we use whatever is needed for us to feel that we have achieved the integrity of our creation.
If we have done it well, the listener will experience what is intended, in their own way.
I highly believe that the mystical element is needed in any form of art so that the listener can connect their own value and experience to it. As explained in the previous question, deep down we are all the same, but what we accumulate is what sets us apart.
For me to reach into the depths of your core, to the very center of your consciousness with my music, it inevitably needs to speak to you according to your own very unique journey and experience of this existence.
Therefore the music and concepts need to be mystical.
To say just enough, and to not say too much, so that you can attach your own meaning to it. To give it your own personal value.
OBNUBIL: As a guitarist and composer, do you ever feel the need to break away from the traditional boundaries of black metal? What are some ways you’ve experimented with sound and structure? How do you approach creating the dark, atmospheric sound that defines Mephorash? And, do you have any unique techniques or gear that helps you capture that essence?
ERIK: Well, I think that anyone who has ever heard Mephorash will say that we don’t very much conform to the traditional boundaries of the genre.
Just as explained before with how we view the concepts, the occult and the mystical. The music works the same way. Whatever tool is needed to construct the vision that I have will be used, no matter if it is considered traditional or not.
That is the path of my devotion.
I will do whatever it takes to build the structures and dimensions that I envision.
If the way I do it bothers people, I couldn't care less.
If anyone has a problem with that, frankly, go fuck yourself.
OBNUBIL: The black metal scene is often described as extreme and anti-mainstream. How do you think Mephorash maintains authenticity in such a polarized genre?
ERIK: Again, devotion.
These things are not even something we would ever think about or consider. All these things are yet again CONSTRUCTS of modern society, it is shallow thinking and to me offensive to what art is supposed to be and at the core it is completely irrelevant to what our consciousness is made of.
If you even have to think “Hmm, how do we become authentic”, you have instantly failed. To even be concerned with things like that is to be unauthentic to your own purpose.
We do >every single thing< we do, out of devotion to our craft. To the devotion of art.
To the purpose I explained - dimensions beyond this material world.
OBNUBIL: How do you feel the state of black metal as a genre has changed since you started Mephorash, and where do you think it’s heading in the next decade?
ERIK: I think Black Metal, as well as the rest of society as a whole, is moving further and further away from the core of what we are.
Accumulating more irrelevant belongings, and more irrelevant ideas. A synthetic society with constructed beliefs that in the great beyond will be as irrelevant as before you were born.
Therefore, this is not something that matters to us. There is nothing we can do about it, and nothing that is worth even spending time being concerned about.
All that matters to us is what we do, while we are still here.
OBNUBIL: Mephorash’s visual and lyrical elements are quite elaborate. Do you see your live performances as more of a concert or a ritualistic experience for the audience? Can you share a moment when your music or live performance evoked a powerful emotional or spiritual experience, either for yourself or the audience?
ERIK: The purpose of the concerts have the exact same purpose as the music itself. It is an extension of our creation.
We make our best efforts to transport the audience to the very same dimensions and planes that we intend with our albums.
Every single show is very powerful, emotional and spiritual to me.
They are all unique and always connect me to this other dimension that I'm striving for.
Just like no spiritual experience is ever the same, neither are our shows, but the profound sense of awe and wonder is always a foundational part of the experience.
Although what is always very special to me is when we have shows where you can tell that the audience is fully aware of what we do and that they partake in our ceremony fully. When they submit themselves to this energy we try to conjure and travel with us to this dimension.
OBNUBIL: In general, I perceive that you take great care of aesthetics, whether in clothing, designs or even in your music videos. How did the initial idea of your clothing and masks come about? And, regarding the whole design issue, is there anyone in the band who is a designer? That is often the case when you see something so carefully done in general.
ERIK: We are extremely meticulous with every single detail of everything we do. Nothing is left to chance and that includes our stage show.
From how we craft our music, concepts and lyrics - to the artwork, the symbols, sigils, props, garments and decorations.
All of it is very carefully thought through and chosen.
As with most things this is a joint effort between me and Mashkelah, and whoever collaborators we are working with at that time.
For the past albums we have worked a lot with artist José Sabogal, who has helped us realize the vision and concepts we have, and that goes for our masks and garments as well.
OBNUBIL: How does the creative dynamic within Mephorash work? Are there specific roles that each member takes on when composing music, or is it a collaborative process?
ERIK: Mephorash was formed by me and Mashkelah, as a sort of amalgamation of our separate struggles and traumas from our troubled upbringing. When we met we knew we needed a higher purpose.
Thus, Mephorash has always been a very deep journey between me and Mashkelah, so since the dawn of its existence, it has been him and me sharing all the creative processes behind it.
By chance, or by destiny, this is a perfect unity & complement between us.
I am the composer, and he is the author, which we illustrate in one of the artworks on our last album.
To explain further, the process usually consists of me spending vast amounts of time composing music, and during this process Mashkelah is separately gathering his inspirations. We don’t show each other much during this part of the process.
However, once I feel I have perfected the structure of a song, it is shown to him, and he starts sculpting his lyrics and the concepts to mold perfectly into the song.
Once we have a full album made like this, we bring the songs before the other members of the band and then we start the detailed production, recording the drums, and so forth.
OBNUBIL: If you could collaborate with any other creative mind, living or dead, from inside or outside the metal genre, who would it be, and why?
ERIK: Well, if I may divert your question a little, I would like to reply to this in a little different way.
Of all the creative minds that have walked this earth, there are two I would like to have met, NOT to collaborate, or to work with, but just to listen - and learn.
I would have loved to just witness the process of how Antonio Vivaldi composed his music. To understand his creative process. What went through his mind, and how he finally translated that into music.
In the same way I would have wanted to meet Dante Alighieri. To just peer into his mind. Have philosophical discussions and learn more about this complex mind.
OBNUBIL: And, if you could compose a soundtrack for a historical or mythological event, what would it be, and how would you capture its essence through black metal?
ERIK: Well, this is actually something I already do with my music.
Historical, mythological, and religious stories and events like this are a main source of inspiration for me. The one song that I have made that is the most inspired by a historical event would be "777: Third Woe".
It is directly inspired by my many visits to the Vatican in Rome.
Partly inspired by Michelangelo’s “Last Judgement” - But also by the events of Emperor Nero and how he tortured the christians by turning them into human candles.
OBNUBIL: What’s next for you in your musical journey? Any upcoming albums? New genres, projects, or collaborations you’re particularly excited about exploring? What can we expect from you next?
ERIK: The process of Mephorash is never-ending, so a new album is always in the works.
However, this process is long and it’s impossible to say when it will be ready.
Besides this, we will play a very special anniversary show for our album "1557: Rites of Nullification" next year to celebrate the album turning 10 years old.
We will play the album in its entirety.
OBNUBIL: To reach an end to our interview, what’s a lesser-known Swedish band or artist that you think deserves more attention from the global metal scene? And what are the three best underground albums you’ve discovered recently?
ERIK: To be honest with you, I am not very deep into what is going on within the scene right now.
For me to feel truly inspired, it is almost vital that I gather most of my inspiration from other places. I somehow feel that it becomes rather incestuous to only listen to bands from the same genre as you yourself play.
The most refreshing experiences that can truly evolve me as a composer always comes from the most unexpected things, and thus I am always searching far and wide away from home to explore the vastness of our conscious reality.
However, I always like to give a shout out to our friends and brothers in Voodus. One of few bands today that I feel have the right passion for what they do.
OBNUBIL: It has been a pleasure talking to you and getting to know you a little more! Thank you so much for taking your time answering the questions! Is there anything that you would like to say to the readers and to your fans?
ERIK: Thank you very much for this opportunity. I really enjoyed this interview and kudos to you for very stimulating and interesting questions.
To the readers, and our fans, all I can say is: To whatever you believe in, always stay devoted.
Thank you.
Interview done December 2024. Promo photos taken by NecrosHorns.
