Exploring the Subconcious of Count Morthos - Interview with HATEFOG - 10/9/2026
Exploring the Subconcious of Count Morthos - Interview with Hatefog - 10/9/2026
After a long and treacherous summer I finally was able to sit down and put this together. I initially had interest in Hatefog with the Mysterivm Xarxes split, which had such good cover artwork I couldn’t pass, and the unique songwriting style intrigued me. - Rusty
Welcome to Crypt's Burden!
1. First of all, how are things for you? What does your setting look like at the moment?
Things are okay, I live alone– Currently unemployed. Here’s some context as to how I got to where I am now–
I spent about half of my youth in detention facilities and psychiatric wellness centers. My experiences in juvenile detention were disgusting and spirit crushing–I still suffer from PTSD from the shit I had to go through in there. I still have frequent nightmares of being trapped in a cold cell unable to move, or in a white clinical setting being forcefully restrained by doctors sticking needles and syringes in me.
Eventually I got out of that whole chapter of my life, got kicked out of my parents house when I was 17, got my first (cockroach infested) apartment. Shit really hit the fan then– The shithole had a massive rat problem… And I struggled with violent desires and rage problems, so I often would catch the little fuckers and light them on fire, microwave them, skin and deglove them alive, throw them as hard as I can against the wall, just all kinds of fucked up demented shit I am certainly not proud of.
That all went on for like 3 years, and also during most of the Golgaborg era, and eventually I grew out of that phase and started desiring something better for myself. I tried psychedelic mushrooms for the first time—And it changed my perspective about everything forever. I started doing them whenever I could and learned a lot about myself and the way I work. I learned to have more empathy for myself and others. It also inspired me to really start writing about my mental journey through everything.
Which brings me to now–I moved to my current apartment, and really started to work towards something more bearable for myself. I’m doing pretty good now, no longer on medication, I still struggle a lot with some mental health stuff, but I’m doing better than I ever have in years. Music is a huge therapy for me.
2. Your project was originally called Golgaborg. What moved you to change the name to Hatefog?
Gølgaborg isn’t even a real word. It combines “Golgotha” and the name of a town called Sarpsborg. There was a point where I actually thought about where I was going, what the name meant, and I thought it was really amateur and juvenile. I didn’t take time to perfect what I was working on in Golgaborg–every track was usually done in one take because I was so miserable and lethargic at that point in time that when I would get the inspiration, I had to get it done as soon as possible because I knew I would be too depressed to actually rehearse and work on it. There were all kinds of mistakes and fuck-ups in the guitar recordings. Hatefog actually means something, and makes sense.
3. What stylistic characteristics are you bringing into Hatefog from Golgaborg? Which are you leaving behind?
Hatefog is the evolution of Golgaborg. Golgaborg was something less mature than Hatefog is and will become. Everything you got from Golgaborg is dissected, amplified, and perfected in Hatefog, while leaving behind all the immature cornball shit. Whereas in Golgaborg, I viewed life in a very nihilistic way, hating life, and rejecting everything in it; Hatefog is the acceptance of the fact life is a prison and my place in it, and I am just serving my sentence.
3. What would you say are your primary musical influences at the moment?
Honestly most black metal doesn’t inspire me these days. A lot of Death, Metallica, Sepultura, and old Cannibal Corpse have been inspiring me to write lately. As for black metal, there’s the obvious ones–Gris, Abyssic hate, Leviathan, old 1349, Darkthrone.
4. You describe yourself as the first Black Metal band from Aberdeen. In such a culturally remote area, how did Black Metal find you and what brought you to DSBM specifically?
I was already down the rabbithole of extreme music then. It was only a matter of time before black metal found me. You know how it is–One band leads to another, which leads to research which leads to more bands. Finding obscure weird shit at record stores. A good friend some years ago introduced me to Abyssic hate, Xasthur, Leviathan, Make a Change… Kill Yourself., all the greats. Abyssic hate changed my life. We used to hang out in his living room listening to albums we liked and smoking weed, doing dissociatives and drinking. He showed me new stuff all the time.
5. What inspired the newer, perhaps unorthodox, influences towards Thrash and Death Metal? Your lead work reminds me a lot of classic Death and Metallica, which is certainly unusual for DSBM but adds a lot to the creative charm.
I don’t really identify with the label of “DSBM”. A lot of my material has been depressive, as well as suicidal at times, but Hatefog is not a DSBM project.
My natural riff writing style tends to be rather thrashy and heavy handed, so I’ve just been incorporating all of that into Hatefog. With Golgaborg I was trying way too hard to be “black metal”. It’s much more natural now.
6. Tell us a bit about the Kathaarian Black Circle. With members from all over the world, when and how did it form? What does it mean to be in it?
All I can tell you is that we have members from all around the world and all of us are compelled to make dark and extreme music that isn’t for people who listen to the radio.
7. Certain titles of yours seem to focus on Greek occultism/mythology. Do you find yourself often drawing from ancient history/literature? Are there any other occult inspirations you may have?
Well that was just on the “Rites of Nekyia” EP… I don’t really write about mythology, but that ep has a metaphorical concept of the process of dying and traveling to the underworld and then coming back and being horrified with being alive again.
8. Your songs also have a common theme of dark science fiction, stories of perhaps advanced alien races. What inspires you to write about cosmic horror?
Haha I appreciate the question but that was only on one song… But to answer your question I was inspired to write the song “Lacerta” after reading a document regarding a theory that there were 6 advanced civilizations before us, engineered by a Master Race; each one becoming more and more intelligent, which were all wiped out by this Master Race. And then us, being the 7’th, are designed to be an unwitting slave race to harvest all of the earth's valuable resources, if I remember correctly.
9. What kind of music interests you outside of Metal?
I enjoy a lot of ambient and dark ambient music, post rock, shoegaze, psychedelic rock/ambient, classical, dungeon synth, punk rock (not pop punk, that shit is corporate and gay).
10. On your socials you often show a deep disdain for “content creator” projects and bands. How do you feel about the (somewhat) commercial success of Raw and Romanticized Black Metal from platforms like TikTok? Do you think that the DSBM image has been tarnished by association as well?
Yes I think dsbm is tarnished by tiktok. It’s turned something that was expressive and artful into something that is trendy, commodified, commercialized, and watered down. I hate the way everything needs to be a fucking product to be bought sold and consumed rather than an art to be respected and reconciled with.
1. First of all, how are things for you? What does your setting look like at the moment?
Things are okay, I live alone– Currently unemployed. Here’s some context as to how I got to where I am now–
I spent about half of my youth in detention facilities and psychiatric wellness centers. My experiences in juvenile detention were disgusting and spirit crushing–I still suffer from PTSD from the shit I had to go through in there. I still have frequent nightmares of being trapped in a cold cell unable to move, or in a white clinical setting being forcefully restrained by doctors sticking needles and syringes in me.
Eventually I got out of that whole chapter of my life, got kicked out of my parents house when I was 17, got my first (cockroach infested) apartment. Shit really hit the fan then– The shithole had a massive rat problem… And I struggled with violent desires and rage problems, so I often would catch the little fuckers and light them on fire, microwave them, skin and deglove them alive, throw them as hard as I can against the wall, just all kinds of fucked up demented shit I am certainly not proud of.
That all went on for like 3 years, and also during most of the Golgaborg era, and eventually I grew out of that phase and started desiring something better for myself. I tried psychedelic mushrooms for the first time—And it changed my perspective about everything forever. I started doing them whenever I could and learned a lot about myself and the way I work. I learned to have more empathy for myself and others. It also inspired me to really start writing about my mental journey through everything.
Which brings me to now–I moved to my current apartment, and really started to work towards something more bearable for myself. I’m doing pretty good now, no longer on medication, I still struggle a lot with some mental health stuff, but I’m doing better than I ever have in years. Music is a huge therapy for me.
2. Your project was originally called Golgaborg. What moved you to change the name to Hatefog?
Gølgaborg isn’t even a real word. It combines “Golgotha” and the name of a town called Sarpsborg. There was a point where I actually thought about where I was going, what the name meant, and I thought it was really amateur and juvenile. I didn’t take time to perfect what I was working on in Golgaborg–every track was usually done in one take because I was so miserable and lethargic at that point in time that when I would get the inspiration, I had to get it done as soon as possible because I knew I would be too depressed to actually rehearse and work on it. There were all kinds of mistakes and fuck-ups in the guitar recordings. Hatefog actually means something, and makes sense.
3. What stylistic characteristics are you bringing into Hatefog from Golgaborg? Which are you leaving behind?
Hatefog is the evolution of Golgaborg. Golgaborg was something less mature than Hatefog is and will become. Everything you got from Golgaborg is dissected, amplified, and perfected in Hatefog, while leaving behind all the immature cornball shit. Whereas in Golgaborg, I viewed life in a very nihilistic way, hating life, and rejecting everything in it; Hatefog is the acceptance of the fact life is a prison and my place in it, and I am just serving my sentence.
3. What would you say are your primary musical influences at the moment?
Honestly most black metal doesn’t inspire me these days. A lot of Death, Metallica, Sepultura, and old Cannibal Corpse have been inspiring me to write lately. As for black metal, there’s the obvious ones–Gris, Abyssic hate, Leviathan, old 1349, Darkthrone.
4. You describe yourself as the first Black Metal band from Aberdeen. In such a culturally remote area, how did Black Metal find you and what brought you to DSBM specifically?
I was already down the rabbithole of extreme music then. It was only a matter of time before black metal found me. You know how it is–One band leads to another, which leads to research which leads to more bands. Finding obscure weird shit at record stores. A good friend some years ago introduced me to Abyssic hate, Xasthur, Leviathan, Make a Change… Kill Yourself., all the greats. Abyssic hate changed my life. We used to hang out in his living room listening to albums we liked and smoking weed, doing dissociatives and drinking. He showed me new stuff all the time.
5. What inspired the newer, perhaps unorthodox, influences towards Thrash and Death Metal? Your lead work reminds me a lot of classic Death and Metallica, which is certainly unusual for DSBM but adds a lot to the creative charm.
I don’t really identify with the label of “DSBM”. A lot of my material has been depressive, as well as suicidal at times, but Hatefog is not a DSBM project.
My natural riff writing style tends to be rather thrashy and heavy handed, so I’ve just been incorporating all of that into Hatefog. With Golgaborg I was trying way too hard to be “black metal”. It’s much more natural now.
6. Tell us a bit about the Kathaarian Black Circle. With members from all over the world, when and how did it form? What does it mean to be in it?
All I can tell you is that we have members from all around the world and all of us are compelled to make dark and extreme music that isn’t for people who listen to the radio.
7. Certain titles of yours seem to focus on Greek occultism/mythology. Do you find yourself often drawing from ancient history/literature? Are there any other occult inspirations you may have?
Well that was just on the “Rites of Nekyia” EP… I don’t really write about mythology, but that ep has a metaphorical concept of the process of dying and traveling to the underworld and then coming back and being horrified with being alive again.
8. Your songs also have a common theme of dark science fiction, stories of perhaps advanced alien races. What inspires you to write about cosmic horror?
Haha I appreciate the question but that was only on one song… But to answer your question I was inspired to write the song “Lacerta” after reading a document regarding a theory that there were 6 advanced civilizations before us, engineered by a Master Race; each one becoming more and more intelligent, which were all wiped out by this Master Race. And then us, being the 7’th, are designed to be an unwitting slave race to harvest all of the earth's valuable resources, if I remember correctly.
9. What kind of music interests you outside of Metal?
I enjoy a lot of ambient and dark ambient music, post rock, shoegaze, psychedelic rock/ambient, classical, dungeon synth, punk rock (not pop punk, that shit is corporate and gay).
10. On your socials you often show a deep disdain for “content creator” projects and bands. How do you feel about the (somewhat) commercial success of Raw and Romanticized Black Metal from platforms like TikTok? Do you think that the DSBM image has been tarnished by association as well?
Yes I think dsbm is tarnished by tiktok. It’s turned something that was expressive and artful into something that is trendy, commodified, commercialized, and watered down. I hate the way everything needs to be a fucking product to be bought sold and consumed rather than an art to be respected and reconciled with.
I couldn't agree more! - Rusty
Oddball questions to end:
1. Do you believe that ancient alien civilizations built the world?
No I do not haha- Maybe though. You never know.
2. Have you ever had a paranormal experience?
Maybe. I’ve had some weird experiences, but I can't confirm if I was Skitzing out or being haunted.
3. What are your favorite activities outside of songwriting?
Oh you know, I enjoy drinking excessive amounts of alcohol, going to bars with my friends (yes, I have friends), watching the stupid fucking people at bars, yelling at hicks and harassing rednecks, bitching about music I hate, bitching about people I hate, being an overall prick, lying to homeless people, giving homeless people McDonald’s, obnoxiously vaping at the drive-through, taking a shit, taking pictures of my shit and sending it to my friends, convincing old people I’m actually 57 with a really good health and skincare routine, doing that one thing with my hands, telling children that their grandparents are going to rot in hell, undercutting the sandwich market, scromiting, lying, taping two halves of a ping pong ball to my eyes and staring at a red light and listening to static to make myself hallucinate, eating corn through a chainlink fence, being the shitclapper, going upstairs and then going right back downstairs, sewing the fabric of spacetime, pickling cabbage, drinking sardine water out the can and boofing fishpaste, smashing gnomes–oh god I hate those things staring at me with their smug fucking faces and their souless demonic eyes, taping fish to ATM’s, doing better than I have in years after I stopped taking my meds, training the avians to say foul and accursed things, going no more than 5mph over the speed limit, opening beer bottles with my teeth, grinding up tuna can lids to use as confetti, being nice to Carl, holy shit I’m doing so much better after quitting my meds, addressing the elephant in the room, hexagonal breathing, drinking oil, having the urge to scream with no mouth, collecting odds and ends and that sort of thing, wearing wet socks, playing the Weezer lick, eating popcicle sticks, petting bald people, staring down the barrel of a gun because like what the hell is in there? lifting moderately heavy objects, mopping before I sweep, making banana bread, with banana peels, tormenting the ahamkara, lasering turds in half with my piss, finding the elf on the shelf, telling the BIG 5 OH I’m strapped up and ready to roll, And long walks and meditation.
I could have guessed that. - Rusty
4. Who are the “Decalius clones”?
Oh god… there’s so many… to name a few, Blade and Bath, The Lonely, Wounded Masquerade, Sukkubys. I fucking hate them all. No one needs 10 versions of the same mediocre band. I actually liked a few Decalius songs when I first heard them, “Excluded from Humanity” is one of them. Everything else is recycled garbage. Same chord progressions. Same riff cliches. Same sad edgy middle schooler lyrics. That goes for all the projects I just listed.
A message to all of these “Projects”:
Fuck you. You are not original. You are not “deep”. Your riffs fucking suck, pussy.
Thanks for your patience in me writing this interview and for answering these questions, if there’s anything you’d like to add please do so below:
Thank you so much for having me. Thank you for your patience with how long I took to get this done. Looking forward to the next one!
4. Who are the “Decalius clones”?
Oh god… there’s so many… to name a few, Blade and Bath, The Lonely, Wounded Masquerade, Sukkubys. I fucking hate them all. No one needs 10 versions of the same mediocre band. I actually liked a few Decalius songs when I first heard them, “Excluded from Humanity” is one of them. Everything else is recycled garbage. Same chord progressions. Same riff cliches. Same sad edgy middle schooler lyrics. That goes for all the projects I just listed.
A message to all of these “Projects”:
Fuck you. You are not original. You are not “deep”. Your riffs fucking suck, pussy.
Thanks for your patience in me writing this interview and for answering these questions, if there’s anything you’d like to add please do so below:
Thank you so much for having me. Thank you for your patience with how long I took to get this done. Looking forward to the next one!
Check out new Hatefog material...:
https://glgaborg.bandcamp.com/track/subconscious-fears
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