Hails, Citadelians! Following our review of Submersus that hailed the album's "crushing, suffocating weight" and "monolithic, pitch-black soundscape," we descend further into the abyss with the master of ritualistic doom himself, HELL. In an exclusive interview, M.S.W. delves into the gestation of the colossal 'Submersus,' the raw emotional fury that forged it, and the classical shadows that lurk beneath its distorted, soul-rending surface. Read on for the full, unfiltered communion.

Submersus arrives eight years after your self-titled album, what shifted in your headspace during that time, and how did it shape this record’s crushing, subaqueous weight?

A lot shifted since then. I think that’s why it took so long to put this record together. Since the last album (Obliviosus) I’d moved to another state to study audio and lived in an apartment for the first time so didn’t have a space to be loud and riff around how I was used to.

Technically, it’s always only been about 3-5 years in between a “heavier” release of mine if you consider “Obliviosus” that came out in 2020. I finished that one in 2019 though I think. I started to work on SUBMERSUS while I was studying out of my home state, not knowing yet if I was going to utilize any of those riffs or not.

I didn’t start outing things together and really getting to work on it until I moved back to Oregon in 2022. Things got bad for me emotionally soon arriving home which may have shaped how aggressive this album turned out to be? I’m not sure.

The five-track sequence, from “Hevy” through “Bog”, feels like a single oppressive descent into darkness. Did you intend it as one monolithic ritual, or did the form solidify organically?

Organically, I think. It wasn’t planned out like that. There were actually a few more songs that I decided to not include because they wouldn’t flow well with the others. That will be on something else later.

Was there one unusual or weird point of inspiration for any of the tracks on this album?

Not really, no. At least nothing different then was usually inspires something like this.

Compared to the sprawling textures of Hell III, with its ambient starts and long-form two-track structure, Submersus cuts to the heart of doom immediately. What guided that shift in creative structure?

I’ve been thinking about this. The short answer is that when I was making Hell III my anger had transformed into pure sadness and while I was making SUBMERSUS all I was feeling was pure anger and hatred.

Your music has always blended drone, sludge, funeral doom, blackened tones, and even neo-folk. On Submersus, which element do you feel most in control of now?

Shit, I don’t know, man. I guess sludge? I don’t think of this type of music in genres anymore. It’s all just specific emotions in musical form, or at least it should be.

Looking back to the Hell trilogy and that operatic, sampled-driven Hell in ‘17, with Emily Dickinson quotes and haunted broadcast samples, do you see thematic threads that ultimately culminate in Submersus?

At no point during the making of this album did I think it needed samples or operatic vocals. The other albums, I remember feeling absolute about having those things.

Maybe it’s just my natural progression as a music maker?

Performing in crushing solitude versus onstage with a band must shift the energy. How has playing songs live (say, at Roadburn 2016/2018) shaped how you frame Submersus in performance?

I’m not sure yet. I’ll know after we try playing these new songs at the upcoming December dates.

Submersus translates personal torment into face melting weight. How do you connect your internal emotional terrain to these physical-sounding atmospheres?

I just wait until the initial emotions and dark thoughts that I push deep down inside me start to spill over the rim then I try and catch the spillage in little riff glasses and lyric mugs.

You grew up immersed in classical music, thanks to your family's music‑academic background. Do those roots still influence the compositional skeletons of songs on Submersus, even if it’s buried under layers of distortion?

Absolutely. All music I’ve ever made is the way it is because of the classical music I was forced, at the time, to listen to before bed as a child. Now I proudly listen to it regularly.

If Submersus existed as a place rather than music, where would it be for you? A flooded crypt, a sunken cathedral of sound, or…your teenage bedroom on a bad day?

Just in my dumb brain. Sorry I don’t have a cooler answer.

We had to throw in a random question but if you could redo any cartoon, TV or movie opening song which one would it be?

First thing that popped into my head was “Boy Meets World” for some reason.

And final words for the fans?

I don’t fully understand how this project got to this point but to all the people that understand what they are hearing or feel deeply in some way while listening to it, thank you so very much. And thank you for supporting it by buying a record, tape, CD or digital shit.

Oh, and thank you guys for taking the time to write up some questions for me. Sorry, but there will be some horrible sentences and grammar mistakes that may need some adjusting. I’m doing this on my phone at work. Sorry it took me so long to get it done for y’all.

We’d like to thank M.S.W. for taking the time to chat with us and don’t forget to visit his Bandcamp and get some sweet merch!

Enjoy the Flames: Interview With M.S.W. of HELL