Rachel Bloodspell Moongoddess ''The original idea (Countess Erzsebet ) goes back to my community college days. I would schedule time in the school A/V department to record guitar and use their microphones and midi keyboards and would shut the doors and scream in there. People working there were probably like “what the fuck”. I had a van and I would practice singing to death and black metal before and after class, I smoked a lot of weed etc and was into weird shit (I still am!). I took a computer recording class and showed up about half the time. I took the same class like 3 years in a row. I lost most of those original recordings except one that made it on the end of this new album.. “Exile Into Depravity”.
''I was calling the band “Erzsebet” .. I released a demo called "Black Spell" in 2017 and played one show opening up for Xasthur at a friend’s house show in Oakland, CA
''After joining up with Xasthur playing acoustic bass and doing a few tours, numerous shows and recordings for 3 years I decided to focus on my own projects again.
''It started with getting excited about playing guitar again after playing bass for 3 years in Xasthur. I had some recordings I had done with a friend playing drums that I lost for a few years and then found again. Someone had mislabeled the CD, seemingly every step along the way there has been something trying to fuck my shit up, but I always persevere!
''So, I started working on the songs again, adding organ and bass tracks to the lost recordings and then some vocals. I started envisioning what would visually accompany them and started working on that, filming and editing videos. Thinking about what I wanted to convey with the lyrics and song titles. I just keep working on my creative pursuits every day, FTW
How are you able to play instruments simultaneously and is it an organic immediate process based on ideas and emotion rather than sticking to the traditional memorized format?
''On the first demo, I indeed played all of the instruments simultaneously. For 3 songs I was sitting at my drums, electric guitar on my lap. Left hand is sliding around on the neck and my right hand holds a stick. Fairly rudimentary at times but I was able to get my point across! I would get into a trance like state and just saw what came out of me and wrote all of the songs that way. For 3 songs on that album, I played a 12string and had a tambourine on my foot. There was a free flowing state initially to create the songs. I put up a video on my YouTube channel of some of the simultaneousness (“Banished to A Castle Tower “live)
It is a sound deeply rooted in the 60/70s style ?
That's funny because I am kind of living in the 90s lately . 90s black metal, vcrs.
Is your music a direct rebellion to the over processed modern sounds?
I think the sound of this album has a very raw quality to it, probably from how it was recorded initially, drums and guitar together in a living room. Actually, a couple different living rooms. As a rule, I hate stuff like auto-tune unless it is really over the top robot voice.
The importance of nature and the arcane in regard to my music?
I've lived out in a super isolated forest area for the last 10 years . I didn't have Wi-Fi for years and would drive to Starbucks and sit outside and not order anything and work on my music stuff. I like to get away from people and their judgments.
I’m heavily interested in the occult, magick spells, witchcraft, these have been important elements to me throughout my life that I incorporate into COUNTESS ERZSEBET
The importance of being open and uncompromising with your work?
Being open and uncompromising are two different things to me, I know exactly what I want for everyeverything for this project. Sometimes other people can really derail your ideas, turn them into something else, or worse waste your time, and I don’t want to leave any room for that. I'm open to working with other people and musicians as long as it fits nicely into my plan of what I'm looking for and trying to do.
Was Countess Erzsebet (Bathory) misunderstood and has history been written unfairly to judge her?
She was so misunderstood, ha-ha. She was just trying to look good, isn't that what a woman is supposed to do? Maybe it worked and she looked too good and that's really why they had to banish her to that castle tower.
Is honesty to oneself more important than public appearances? And why should it even matter?
People's personas and public appearances can hold power and highly influence others. That's why I am releasing some Satanic Black Metal! It's what the world needs right now.
The evolution of Countess Erzsebet can we expect more releases?
I am already making plans for the next one and have some songs written and recorded as demos...
Top 6 albums of all time
Ludicra- Hollow Psalms, 2002
Candlemass- Epicus Doomicus Metallicus, 1986
Morbid Angel- Blessed Are The Sick, 1991
Mercyful Fate- Melissa, 1983
Autopsy-Mental Funeral, 1991
Coven- Witchcraft Destroys Minds and Reaps Souls, 1969
Top 6 Black Metal Albums
Emperor, Wrath Of The Tyrant, 1992
Leviathan, Tentacles of Whorror, 2004
Evol, Ancient Abbey, 1998
Bathory, 1st 5 albums
Modraniht, To The Dark Mothers, 2016
Weakling, Dead As Dreams, 1998
Top 6 Black Doom Albums
Crawl, Damned, 2023
Hell, III, 2012
Dispirit, Separation, 2015
Morgion, God of Death and Disease, 2012
Thorr’s Hammer, Dommedagsnatt, 1996
Mania, Revel, 2013
Top 6 Songs
Little Dreamer, Van Halen
In Trance, Scorpions
Trial in your Native Town, Savage Rose
Suffer, Patriarchy
(Passing By) An Old ..Village, Mortiis
Darkness Be My Bride, Crebain