Cute guys and savage bedroom black metal don’t usually go hand in hand. With the former connoting Backstreet Boys and the latter Varge Vikernes growing his hair long in a dingy, cramped space, plotting to burn churches while toying with synthesizers. It just doesn’t fit. However, the dude behind North Carolina’s Absent Christ proves the exception to the rule. Spencer Van Dyke is quite the new comer in the genre and a seasoned ladies man to boot. Intrigued? Here’s the stud himself on his real band, songwriting, and meaningful relationships with the opposite sex.

Hey Mr. Absent Christ! So, what do your friends call you? How’re things down there in North Carolina?
Hey! My name in real life is Spencer Van Dyk, and things are going great here in North Carolina!

Are you well informed about the scene in your area? I wanna ask about this heavy metal band, Hellrazor. Know them?
I’m pretty well informed about the scene. I go to shows occasionally, and there are a lot of great bands around here. Hellrazor! You know about them? They’re by far one of the best and most popular bands around here. I’ve seen them live before, and they put on a great show. Great guys too.
There are some other good bands around too. Black Skies and Tooth are some great sludge metal bands. As far as black metal goes, we have some amazing stuff. The better acts from right in my area are definitely Ignatius Blackward and Faith In Ashes; I would check both of them out if you’re into some epic heavy metal!
Some lesser-known bands that you might want to look into are Viopsy, the finest brutal tech-death around, Telotohican who are a weird combination of all different types of metal. Also check out the hilarious, completely overlooked, Skinny White Fags.

So let’s move on to your own baby, Absent Christ. Aren’t there enough bedroom projects around the globe already? What compelled you to cross the line dividing listeners and musicians? When did you start writing your own songs?
Absent Christ started a few months ago as a side project from a few other full bands I’m in already. I’ll agree that there are plenty, probably far too many, grim one-man black metal bands out there already. This is mostly for my own enjoyment, and if other people enjoy it as much as I do, I’m happy for the support, and if they think it’s overdone and cliché, I don’t mind, since the music isn’t made for those who won’t enjoy it. I crossed the line between listeners and musicians about three years ago by joining a thrash metal band named Rumors Of War, but I’ve been searching an outlet for the more extreme tendencies I have in my music, and a solo black metal project seemed the perfect opportunity. I started writing my own songs right from the get go. When I’ve been in bands, I’ve always been the principal songwriter. I enjoy writing music more than playing it.

You’ve got a demo out. How did you learn to lay down tracks and master them? Do you have previous experience in studio recording or did you seek references online?I don’t have any experience recording! In fact, the songs on the Myspace are the only recordings I’ve ever made. I learned completely by myself, recording directly into a computer with a pedal board onto the free program Audacity. My recording process is fairly uncomplicated and do-it-yourself, so I haven’t needed to consult others. Maybe that’s why the recordings sound so awful!

How long did it take you to write and compose the songs?
This might sound terrible, but for Absent Christ I usually spend one intense night writing, composing and recording each song. The longer I spend writing, the less raw the result. I usually write the drums first, and then the lyrics before I tweak them to make them fit. The guitar parts are often improvised over the drum track, but if they are not, I write them last.

So what makes “Blasphemer Present In the Flesh” special?
“Blasphemer Present In the Flesh” is the first song I ever used keyboards in. I also spent slightly more time on the drum programming and the lyrics before the recording than I usually do, sand the result was a much heavier sound than I can usually achieve. It’s one of my favorite songs I’ve written so far.

Even with the demo out, are you still writing new material?
I have made about three new songs since the demo, and have written lyrics for many more. I didn’t plan on Absent Christ absorbing so much of my time, but since I started recording the demo, I haven’t been able to stop. A second demo is currently in the works, and if you like this one, you’ll love the next one.

Where do you get your ideas for lyrics? You read newspapers often?
Most of the lyrics, with the exception of “Otty Sanchez,” are straight from my head. Many of them are images of hell upon earth and of traditional Christian icons being destroyed, as is apparent with some of the song names such as “Christ Possession.” Otty Sanchez is a disgusting story I read in the news a few weeks ago that many people urged me to write a song about after I told them of it, so those lyrics are basically fan service. I did enjoy writing lyrics from fact rather than fiction though, and I may do more like “Otty Sanchez” in the future.
The lyrics of “The Nocturnal Horsemen,” followed by the lyrics of “The Haunted Chapel,” are the first two parts of an epic black metal saga I’ve begun to write. The next demo should feature a few more songs lyrically connected to the tale, called “The Gray Shadow Of Twilight.” The story is highly influenced by the early solo albums by King Diamond, specifically Abigail, and the works of Immortal and Emperor.

Now that you listen to them, do you still find tiny details that you would have changed?
I expect in a year or so I might, but as of today I’m very happy with my tracks do far. Even if there are mistakes, I probably won’t want to fix them, as I prefer to look to the future rather than dwell on the past. I may try to have better recording quality next go around, though.

What kind of distribution are you seeking once physical copies are available in bulk? Have you been in touch with a lot of distros lately?
I would like the demo to be distributed, but only on a small scale. I don’t yet have a means to produce a large number of physical copies yet, so I’m still just barely thinking about distribution. I’m thinking I may produce it myself and send it to fans for free, as I’m not sure I would want a person spending money on a product I’ve produced mostly for myself and a small number of dedicated fans.

Do you consider yourself a savvy multi-instrumentalist or do you intend to keep your musicianship at primitive levels?
In my full bands I consider myself a fairly technically skilled guitar player, playing in thrash metal bands like Murdercorpse and Rumors Of War, and a recently formed tech-death band, but I keep my playing on both guitar and keyboards very minimalist in Absent Christ. I’d rather listeners focus on the mood of the pieces than the technical ability involved. The musicianship in this project is very primitive, and it’s a challenge to reduce my level of playing to serve the music. And unlike shredding with mindless levels of technique, it’s a challenge I enjoy.

Who the hell is Otty Sanchez?
Otty Sanchez is a woman who decapitated her baby and ate its brains. Then she cut off three of its toes and started chewing on them. Then, according to some rumors, she may have skinned it. To top it all off, she claims Satan himself told her to do it. Very black metal. This all happened quite recently in California, I believe. It’s a gruesome tale, and it makes for a good chilling metal song.

You actually have a band? Tell me about it. How have they received your solo music?
Murdercorpse is my main band right now, and they are in love with Absent Christ. They’re a thrash metal band, but always open to new kinds of metal, and they’re very supportive of my solo project. One of the members, Matt Graham, even recorded guitar tracks for “Jehovah Dismembered”! I’m also still in the thrash band Rumors Of War, and they’ve been supportive as well, but they’re not as big fans of raw black metal as Murdercorpse are. Overall though, being in multiple bands as well as doing Absent Christ has been no problem.

When were you converted to Christ-hating music?
Recently. I’ve been listening to all varieties of metal for a long time, but I only got my ear for extreme black and death metal recently. My newfound taste in heavier metal went along easily with a newfound distaste for Christian propaganda and ignorance. Bands that used to make no sense to me like Deicide and Darkthrone suddenly made perfect sense.

At what point did you develop an ear for raw music? How do you judge whether a track is ‘raw’ or just plain shit?
I developed an ear for raw music recently at the same time I developed an ear for black metal. I was really drawn into it by Burzum and Darkthrone, who are both very raw, yet very musical, bands. For me the line between ‘raw’ and shit is a thin one. I usually judge by the music. If the notes make sense, the level of production is of no importance. The problem with rawness comes when it is used as an excuse to write bad songs without melody or mood.

Did you ever have a glam rock phase were you devoured everything from Motley Crue to Guns N Roses? How about your death metal tutelage? Who are some of the artists responsible for twisting your mind?
No! And I am glad that I never went through that phase. One of my best friends is still going through that phase, and it always pains me. I really got into metal through bands like Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and Judas Priest, not bands like The Scorpions and Whitesnake. I really got into death metal before I got into black metal. Death metal came after a long phase of listening to nothing but heavier 80s thrash like Sodom, Kreator and Slayer, when I was looking for something new. I got into tech-death first, listening to bands like Obscura and Necrophagist, then I slowly moved to earlier bands like Morbid Angel and Deicide. The main artists that have influenced my musical taste over the years have been Exodus, my favorite thrash metal band, Immortal, the first black metal band I’d ever heard, and still one of my favorites, Atheist, who really got me into death metal in the first place, and Darkthrone, who let me know that there is actually an audience for grim and raw music. Other artists who have been a giant influence are Carcass, Suffocation and Obscura.

Do you have an axe to grind regarding today’s popular music or any underground artists whose work you consider substandard?
I don’t feel a need to bash today’s popular music. It’s already so much of a parody of itself that it doesn’t really need bashing. It serves its purpose, and the people who would listen to it wouldn’t listen to heavy metal anyways, so there’s no point in trying to convert them, or to make metal into popular music. Metal does it’s best in the underground.
There are no underground artists with substandard work unless they don’t put any effort into their music. My opinion is that anyone who puts time and sweat into their music, makes good music. I might like some more than others, but none of them are substandard.

Why are relationships with girls so hard?
Who ever said that? I have great relationships with girls! The photos on the Myspace were taken in a girl’s room by a girl! I have girls all over the place! Not very metal, I know, but I’m not going to lie; I am kind of a ladies man.

How big is your CD/record collection back home?
Pretty big. I don’t own so many CDs anymore, but I own a massive number of records. Most of my collection leans to the thrash metal side of things, but I have some great black and death as well, and some good grindcore CDs.

This is the bitter end. Thanks for the time. Any last words? Will Absent Christ ever put out a full album?
No problem! I had a great time answering some questions. I’d like to say that the Raleigh, NC, scene is massive and ever growing, so you should check out some of the bands I mentioned in the beginning. And Absent Christ will certainly put out a full album sooner or later, probably sooner rather than later! Keep up the great work!

To satisfy yer curiosity, try his (ladies) Manspace:
www.myspace.com/absentchrist

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