Please introduce yourself and/or your project. Please give a brief relevant history.

Hi, I’m BKT, vocalist of the black metal band Traktat. We are a collective that was founded in the beginning of 2020 to play anti-fascist melodic black metal.

What does the word “Animism” mean to you… This can be as literal or abstract as you wish. Does it find life in your project or in your day to day movements?

For me animism is the search for our own existence, for a justification to be a part of the world despite our far reaching development.
The belief in a soul, the intangible thing that makes us unique, gives us our individuality and unites all living beings – it is a is a euphemism for evolution. Only through progress and development something new can emerge, this requires individuality.
We living beings on earth are characterised by the experiences of our ancestors, passed on for generations. Our decisions are the result of socialisation and imprinting, environment and surroundings.
I think animism stands for a desire for everything on this world to be an individual, to experience freedom and to be respected with no restrictions. I like the idea behind this, that every cloud, every stone should be respected. A certain degree of humility is good for us humans to be in touch with the earth.

Do you talk with spirits or deities? Do they answer back?

I talk to my comrades, my loved ones, my friends, family and companions, because here I get answers and support, reflections and critique, face to face, shoulder to shoulder. They also give me a real hug if needed.
My source of strength, my inspiration and my driving force are the wonderful people who are surround me, the people in the world who are fighting for equality, the companions in prisons who are being punished for their ideals.

If you could have a secret magickal power, or have one, what would it be? Or, what is it already? And finally, what would you wish to do with such a power?

I would like to be able to part the sea to create more safe routes to Europe.

What is the season of the year that resonates most deeply with you and why? Do these vibrations appear in your work?

Definitely summer, because I hate it.

What do you dream of destroying? What do you dream of creating?

A lot of things are worth destroying, both physically and psychologically. To stick with one example at a time, I would like to see all parts of the state executive in ruins and patriarchal structures overcome.
But much more important are the structures behind them. An important part of change is destruction and empowerment, but transformation also needs to be talked about, such as why do we live in structures that we want to destroy?
Of course it is good to visit every whiny Nazi with hammers and pepper spray, but we also have to look at the structures behind them and recognise that we have to overcome, reflect on and change the greatest evils of humanity in parallel, namely nationalism, capitalism and patriarchy.

What does the word ritual mean to you? Do you incorporate any rituals into your daily life? Your practice? Your performances?

For me, rituals mean finding new insights and corners within myself.
It means going beyond my limits in order to experience myself. I associate many borderline experiences with our music, which characterise my artistic expression and are constantly growing. Just the act of covering my face backstage and stepping forward as a faceless person on stage and screaming to the point of complete exhaustion is an extatic maelstrom. Rituals are those moments when you can’t breathe, when time seems to stand still and people are touched deep inside. It’s the moment when I turn my deepest inner feelings inside out and hold up a mirror to the world.

Apart from that, I don’t want to see our proclamations as rituals. Making music is my private ritual, people can watch and listen to me, feel my energy and absorb the atmosphere to get in touch their deepest inner being.

Do politics enter into, inform or speak through your creative workings? What are your thoughts on the responsibility to, or freedom from politics within your creative process?

As Trakat we do not preach with a raised index finger, we put it in the wound of the new right, the old right, the eternally yesterday’s shitty faces. Born in Germany, our history is characterised by atrocious crimes, racism, fascism, antisemitism, antiziganism, anti-feminism, homophobia, transphobia, xenophobia, colonialism and megalomania. There is no reason to be proud of Germany.
There is no reason to be proud of European history. There is no reason to flee from responsibility for our past and our present. We stand for an open society based on mutual respect, regardless of gender, origin and religious or spiritual beliefs.

What does the word community mean to you and how does it influence your practice?

Community is the opposite of modern human loneliness, we draw strength from it, we put our energy into it and sometimes we despair of it. It is part of humanity, it is part of the misery but also part of the solution. It is always a dance on the knifes edge.

Any last departing offerings? Anything you would like to talk about that wasn’t covered?

We would like to thank the creators of this zine for their incredible dedication and hard work. Anti-fascist subculture lives from people like them. Let’s stand together in solidarity and walk the path together.