Seth. Nope. Not the Seth of the Rogen, Green or MacFarlane kind. In fact, this Seth is about as far as you can possibly get from the glamorous, narcissistic, fabricated world these A-listers call home. Strip away all the sleaziness, noobs and ass-kissers leveraging the smallest shred of fame for sex, greed-induced Hollywood power struggles, and the absurd lavishes of the rich and eccentric, what are you left with? Humans. Humans in an era of decay. 

With blinders off, and eyes set east-ward looking across the vast, deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean, one can see the faint silhouettes of five ominous figures looming in the fog of fabrication. An even closer look reveals that this quintuplet approaches with the ultimate weapon of war, one which they will unleash upon the excesses of our North American populace. This weapon? The all-consuming, fiery destruction of European black metal.

So begins the second expedition of North American soil by French (France) black metal extremists Seth. In an effort to rid our diseased brains of the by-products of all things pop culture, the band has once again teamed up with Montreal promoters-of-all-things-extreme, Sepulchural Productions, who welcomed the band back in 2012 as part of the Messe des Morts II Festival. I start my conversation with guitarist Heimoth inquiring about the band's decision to once again grace Canadian audiences, this time as headliner with eight-dates across two provinces of our great country.

"Playing in North America for the first time was great," starts Heimoth. "Messe des Morts is a great festival that I wish a long life. I think the audience really liked our show that night, so it took a bit of time but we finally planned a tour in Canada two or three years after this first gig. We have about eight live shows to perform until the end of June and beginning of July. We will see on the first show how much people from Toronto have in their guts. As for the bravest only, we are taking merchandising with us. We will have LPs, CD and t-shirts. Sadly enough, our original drummer can't make it but Julien Helwin will take over."

Seth's war against this excesses of this world began some ten years ago with their infamous release Era-Decay. Ardent fans will surely sing woes of the band's gap between their latest effort effort The Howling Spirit and the aforementioned album. What events lead to this near-decade long hiatus.

"I guess after about ten years I kind of needed a rest," explains the guitarist. "I had to to go and live abroad for quite a while.  Basically I didn't have much choice than taking some time off. The break didn't last that long though. I'd say musical activities stopped during seven years to be more accurate. During that time I kept on playing with the guys of Code in London. Kvohst and I formed a project called Decrepit Spectre together with Cyriex from Seth and Aort from Code. the EP we released was very well received by the public. Meanwhile, I also got involved in a new electronic project called Toxic Engine together with my friend Stephan Holweck (Total Eclipse, ex- Juno Reactor). But you know, everyone gets busy at some point with one's own original band. Once I came back home, I started considering reviving the Seth beast. My old music-mates were all ready to write history again and after a few gigs proposals, the band got back on track."

In that time, the band's sound seems to have developed considerably, becoming more refined with a prevalence of atmospheric and minor key melodies. One listen to The Howling Spirit and one can see how the beast could not, and should not, ever be tamed.

"What we unleashed with The Howling Spirit takes its roots in Decrepit Spectre," reveals Heimoth. "Then again, it is important to notice the band has - musically speaking - evolved from day one up to now. What shapes the musical identity of the band is that each full-length is different, yet revolving around black metal as a source of strong influence. This album is the result of a seven-year music writing approach. The idea was basically not to release these tracks under a specific band's name. When realizing we were to release some new material, I started shaping the whole stuff under the Seth signature."

The band's formative years certainly influenced and shaped an entire scene in France, with bands such as Deathspell Omega and Blut Aus Nord treading very similar paths.

"Blut Aus Nord is actually nearly as old as we are, possibly older. At the time there was no typical French black metal sound - no proper scene. There were scattered bands more often than not over concerned with image and appearances to the detriment of the music. What I want to say is, unlike other countries, it took France much time to consider black metal as a proper musical vector. So, there was no real common spirit at the time. Since 2000, bands with strong identities, such as Deathspell Omega, have helped shape a real scene. Though some people see us today as being possibly rooted to this, my vision is quite different as Seth has always been on another path. I guess there is a sense of modernity in the band that can't be found in other bands, possibly defined with more traditional black metal principles. In terms of sound production we, for instance, clearly walk on a different path. I guess the idea of a French scene contributes to some international aura; yet, in practical terms, how much we have been influencing one another is a bit hard to say."

Where Deathspell Omega has gone in a more complex direction, and Blut Aus Nord remains completely off-the-wall, The Howling Spirit showcases a less experimental direction, one that recalls the militant, structured sounds of Mayhem's Grand Declaration Of War (particularly as it relates to the song 'The Aching Agony'). Could this formula fatal to the flesh be the band's new calling?

"We've written about five songs now that need to be properly structured and reworked. I would say some parts resemble quite a lot to our last album but the whole material so far is much more atmospheric. There is no proper 'formula' as you say, I guess it grows with the flow, the goal being not to suggest the same stuff again like most black metal bands. It is our intention to unleash another album that can be seen and considered as actually 'new' - demanding new ideas, new elements - to be wisely mixed with the band's identity."