Interview: Majesty
Image: Majesty
From the majestic scenery of Northern Arizona has arisen a black metal artist who immediately captured my attention upon first listen – Majesty. It’s a fitting name that likely carries varied meanings. Musically, majestic is one word that could be used to describe it, lending itself to an atmospheric and melodic approach to the genre.
After releasing their first EP titled Exaltation: I-IV just less than two weeks ago, Majesty has already drawn the attention of newfound listeners, which is a great sign for them as an artist starting a new musical adventure. It’s definitely a project I’m leaning into as a listener and journalist, hopeful to hear more work from this artist regularly.
Blacforje is pleased to share this exclusive interview with you where we talk with Majesty about their first release, their worldview, who they are outside of music, and many other things.
It’s a pleasure having you do an interview with us! You’re in Arizona. Right?
Hello, thanks for being interested in Majesty! Yes, correct. I moved to Arizona in 2021. I grew up in Southern California, moved to Indiana in 2013, then to Washington in 2018. We decided to leave Washington due to politics and the overall amount of insane people there. Too much crime. I did not want to raise my children there. I left Indiana for a job offer, but I ended up working from home and was able to move to Arizona and keep my employment. I now have a lot of family that lives within 30 minutes of me, and it’s great. Not to mention, where we settled is a great place to raise kids.
Majesty is a new project, to my knowledge. What inspired you to start it?
Majesty originally started as Warfrozen back in 2007-ish? Faster style, blast beat-oriented in the Dark Funeral vein. Warfrozen was on a couple compilations and a split CD but got burned by the record labels that put them out. I decided to change the name to Servant and follow in that same musical genre back in Indiana, and I had every intention of putting out more music. I was working a lot and was gone from home 18 hours a day, 5-7 days a week, and I just didn’t have any time. When I moved to Washington, I went from 6 wooded acres in the middle of nowhere to a normal neighborhood, so playing drums wasn’t an option. I let a friend and his band use them for band practice, and when I moved to Arizona, I left my drums in Washington for the band to continue using. In October of last year (2023), my friends came to visit and brought my drums to my new location. I live on 6 acres again, up in the mountains, so playing music isn’t an issue. I have been wanting to write and record for years. It is one of the things I really enjoy, outside of my family. I’ve played brutal death metal for years, toured since I was 14…all of that. But I am not interested in that anymore. I just want to write and record. I set up a recording studio in a building on my property, and now I am able to record whenever I want.
Have you been a fan of black metal for a while?
Yes, I have been listening to black metal for roughly 25 to 30 years - mainly death metal and brutal death metal - but I have always had plenty of black metal in my CD collection. I’d say that I got really interested in it when the Vaakevandring demo came out, Antestor’s Return of the Black Death came out, and when the Sanctifica album Spirit of Purity came out. I want to say that was around 1998 - 2000 for the three. Those really grabbed my attention, and I still listen to them regularly. I lost interest in the “evil” sounding black metal a while back. For some reason, listening to it really bothers me musically. I don’t know why. I guess that the predictable riffs, song structures, and the trend of using fake drum sounds and editing everything to be perfect just made it boring to me. I don’t know. I enjoy the melodic stuff more these days - not melodic for the sake of being melodic, but the stuff that genuinely creates a sense of feeling while listening. I know Majesty isn’t anything special when it comes to music. I am not trying to be unique or anything like that.
How would you describe Majesty both musically and thematically?
Musically, I guess I would describe it as melodic, but I think the correct term is “atmospheric”. Some people have told me it feels sorrowful and triumphant at the same time. I had never written any type of melodic black metal when I started writing the EP. It is just a combination of riffs that I recorded with the intention of dissecting the riffs later, rearranging them, and turning them into proper songs when I had four songs of material. I ended up just keeping them in the order that I wrote them. So, when listening, it is really the first riff I wrote all the way to the last riff I wrote. I ended up keeping the original guitar tracks as well, which were just used for writing, and decided to not re-record them.
One, I felt like they were decent enough, and I like having the human error in there. It gives it a better overall feeling. Two, I wanted to be genuine in the writing and recording of the EP during winter of 2023-2024. If I was to re-record them, it would have fallen outside of that season, and I didn’t want that. So, you will hear mistakes while I’m playing, which I am fine with. For drums, that was my first attempt at the songs. I had not played drums for many years, but I just went for it and did it all first take - all the way through - and kept it. You will also hear mistakes in it; it’s sloppy, but again, I prefer music that has a human element to it. Growing up in Southern California, we didn’t really have winters [laughs], or seasons for that matter. I always liked the aesthetic of winter and forests. When I moved to Indiana, it was during winter. It gets extremely cold there, but it felt right to me. My friends called me “Blizzard Beast” because of how unaffected I was and how much I enjoyed the subzero temps. I will always enjoy winter and autumn the most. Spring is OK, but summer is the worst. Majesty’s lyrics for Exaltation: I - IV have a focus on winter for that reason. Obviously, this is nothing new in black metal, but I truly enjoy winter and nature.
‘Exaltation: I-IV’ by Majesty
Can you tell us a little bit about who you are when it comes to spirituality and/or philosophy? I love to dig into this stuff with artists.
I grew up in a Christian household. All of my family is Christian. I have played in many Christian bands over the years, from punk, to death metal. I have always held to my Christian values at every stage of my life. I had been away from the Church for a while, but realized how important it is to my family, and I to be a part of it. The world has gone crazy, and the more political I get, the more I realize that my spiritual beliefs and political beliefs connect with each other. There are many battles going on in the spiritual realm, and it is important to me to be on the right side of it. I can ramble on about that for hours [laughs]. But what I think you are asking is, I see God in the beauty of nature, and winter is the most peaceful for me.
Outside of music, what are some of the things you love? What are some of your passions?
Over the years, my passions have really just boiled down to my wife, my kids, and family. Outside of family and music, I’d say…politics.
Do you have plans to continue making music as Majesty in the future?
Yes, I will be writing and recording another EP during autumn of this year. A few labels have contacted asking about a full-length album. I haven’t really planned on a full-length, but I’ll see how it goes.
Last question, dumbest question: Isn’t Arizona too hot to be wearing all black like a true black metal musician? I mean, let’s be real here. Black metal requires a black wardrobe. Sometimes, leather, boots, armor, and corpse paint are involved. That just seems at odds with the climate. Are you feeling any conflict or hypocrisy by being in Arizona and playing black metal when you can’t fully embrace the wardrobe?
I live up in Northern Arizona. We get plenty of snow here, and the summer temps aren’t too bad. I live on the top of a mountain, and I can see Flagstaff from my house. There is snow on it still. We get all four seasons here. Southern Arizona is definitely just desert - hot all the time. The EP cover artwork is a photo my mother took during winter of last year here in Arizona. You can see it is pine forest covered in snow. The landscape here is “black metal”.
Cheers and thank you for the interview!
