As I mention in the interview itself, most people hear black gaze and think of Sunbather by Deafheaven. An album that won awards, sold out multiple pressings, and put a subgenre on the map for dorks like me that can give you a detailed history of “mysterious guy hardcore” but can’t name more than 5 black metal bands. When I came across American Sacred Music, I was immediately drawn in on the harsh vocals but strong production quality. There’s nothing to hide behind with clean production. Everything is bare and in the open, it’s especially freeing but terrifying as an artist to put oneself out there like that. Something about aggressive music works even better in a situation like this.
Some bands never even make it past the initial conception and you successfully put two splits out in less than a month. It’s infectious how inspired and hard working you are. Not to blow up your spot with the mysterious background, but do you have a long history of making music?
Hey, that is so kind of you. Yes, I have been playing in various bands for about a decade and have picked up enough experience in different roles to at least have an “okay” idea of how to express my ideas musically at this point.
What drives you? What makes you want to do this?
Making music is simply the only thing that I have ever wanted to do. DIY musicians that are relatively obscure felt like A-list celebrities to me as a kid, and once I figured out how to make my own noise I just started trying to copy my heroes the best that I could. This project specifically was born out of an intense depression and sense of loss; recording for American Sacred Music was my way of surviving.
Give us some background on the project and its history
I spent about half of a decade pouring everything into another project that had finally picked up some (modest) steam. At the height of that project I experienced a loss that I had been too busy to see coming and then the project in question came to what felt like a natural end. I felt that I had traded precious time with a loved one for essentially nothing and the only way that I knew how to deal with that was to start writing. I spent the bulk of 2025 writing and recording for American Sacred Music and banked up a handful of releases that will come out throughout 2026, splits, standalone ep’s, singles, full collaborations – pretty much any DIY adjacent medium you can think of.
How did you come to work with Ameokama and how did you come to work with Wounds of Recollection?
Aki (ameokama) and Anos (Wounds of Recollection) are two individuals that I feel eternally indebted to. Both were willing to cosign this new project with their names before I had ever released anything. Aki and I met when an old band of mine supported an old band of hers (Dreamwell) while they were on tour. Anos and I struck up a friendship after I cold messaged them as a fan following the release of their “Blood Mountain Black Metal Choir” debut.
Tell us about Fig On Wrist, the label that put both splits out
Fig on Wrist is a label that I also run. My old band had the opportunity to sign to a label and while it was an incredible honor, I also hated a lot of the experience and wound up taking on a lot of the work that the label was supposed to do for us in an attempt to keep up appearances. What I found is that not only did I really enjoy that work, but I was at least okay at it.
I decided that I would like to do similar work for other bands/artists, but with the expanded scope that includes recording, mixing, mastering, PR, graphic design, distribution – pretty much anything you can imagine. The hope is that my own music will serve as a showcase and that I can contribute to the community that I love so much as a result. I never want someone to feel like they are trading their integrity for label support in the way that I had previously experienced.
For an untrained ear like mine, the first split feels very much like Sunbather by Deafheaven. Give us some more background on your history with black gaze as a genre, and that blackened subsect
The intro that you wrote is very similar to my own experience. I was a teenager when Sunbather came out and it hit me like a ton of bricks; I had heard black metal before, but it wasn’t something I was familiar with at that point. Everything Deafheaven did on that record spoke to me at the time, it was slick and beautiful enough to rope me in, but had some many elements that I had just never experienced before. How low in the mix the vocals really stood out to me (something I have really emulated in my own music since them, haha).
In the time that’s passed I have gotten much more into black metal and its various (sub) subgenres. I have plenty of love for other bands that are either full on black metal or incorporate elements of it with a few that come to mind being Thantifaxath, Panopticon, Portrayal of Guilt, the aforementioned Blood Mountain Black Metal Choir, and plenty more. My love for Deafheaven still reigns supreme though, I find every move that they make very inspiring.
The last word is yours
Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me, and thank you to anyone who takes the time to listen to the racket that I publish. Please lend your ears to the incredible art of Ameokama and Wounds of Recollection, please take care of your friends and neighbors in this nightmare world we have found ourselves in.
American Sacred Music’s Linktree is here, and Fig on Wrist can be found here.
