Interview Zythaex

Born from a Hungarian–Icelandic collaboration, zythaex channel impermanence, silence, and existential dread into black metal. In this interview, they discuss creation, philosophy, and the haunting depths of The Devouring Principle.

1. Zythaex was born out of a Hungarian/Icelandic long-distance collaboration. Can you tell us how the two of you first connected online and what inspired you to create music together despite the geographical distance?

We first met through Facebook, in one of the many underground black metal groups. I can’t remember exactly which one, but early on I featured BÁL’s album Bú as part of a short-lived weekly series I was running. That album struck me deeply and it remains one of my favorite black metal records today. From there, conversation and mutual respect grew, and although it took many years before it finally happened, it eventually turned into collaboration. To be honest, I don't know exactly what took us so long. We started thinking about working together years ago.

BÁL's answer: JTS and me met online a couple of years ago, probably in 2021 or 2022 I'm not 100% sure but the reason we connected was music. I'm also unsure if he found me or I found him, or what the conversation starter was. All I know is that his understanding of funeral doom amazed me, the chaos he's able to create and the dimensions of his atmospheres are truly one of a kind and breathtaking, in my opinion. We had been planning to create a musical project together for a while, but because both of us had very busy months, we couldn't dedicate the time to the collaboration. A few weeks ago, we started talking again more regularly, and he came up with his instrumental and lyrical ideas, which I found pretty exciting. Within a few days, I recorded the vocals and sent the tracks to him. Not long after, he mixed and mastered the whole thing, and our release was ready. We're like-minded people, and our cooperation was really fast, smooth, and effective, supported by transparent communication. The main inspiration, I believe, is our long-standing wish to create something together, plus our similar way of seeing things.

2. Black metal often draws deeply from landscape and atmosphere. How do the fiery presence of Hekla in Iceland and the shadowed Carpathians of Hungary shape the sound and concept of The Devouring Principle?

It’s hard to say exactly how. Growing up in Iceland, I’ve always been influenced by the landscape and nature, and I feel that connection carries over into the music. But it’s more of a feeling than something I can explain clearly. The stark, shifting environment almost feels alive, ancient, restless, and slightly terrifying. That sense of being shaped by something vast and beyond control is what finds its way into the sound. At least I think so.

BÁL's answer: I can only list clichés here so it's better if I keep it short this time. My homeland is located in the Pannonian Basin and we're surrounded with mountains, however there are no heights in Hungary in 2025 (compared to other European countries) so if I wanna keep it trve and cold, I'd say "I am vnder the shadows of the Carpathians, eternally" haha.

3. Your debut carries a strong philosophical weight, described as “a meditation on existence as a process of erasure.” Where did these ideas originate, and how do you translate such vast, abstract concepts into music?

Much of it comes from the Buddhist idea of impermanence. The recognition that all things, even our sense of self, are constantly dissolving. It’s always fascinated me, but it also frightens me, and that darker side is what makes its way into the music. It’s as though something ancient and unseen is always pressing in, reminding us that everything is temporary. Translating it sonically means creating forms that collapse, textures that fade, and more silent parts that we try to make as heavy and emotionally charged as the loud parts.

BÁL's answer: We need to make things clear here first. JTS wrote the lyrics and I was exposed to them. From my side, the lyrics were inhaled and exhaled until I united them. I like to think about them as they're a pretty long mantra. When the balance between me, the meaning, and every single vowel and consonant found the golden spot, I translated my understanding in the form of sound waves. The time it resonated with me the most, I grabbed my mic and pressed the red button.

4. The imagery of collapsing stars, fading memories, and dissolving identity permeates the record. Would you say your music leans more toward cosmic horror, existential philosophy, or both?

For me it’s definitely more personal than cosmic. The collapsing stars are metaphors for the inner world—memory fading, identity breaking down, meaning slipping away, stuff like that. At the same time, it’s impossible not to see the parallel. Even stars and galaxies are subject to impermanence. Whatever forces drive that collapse, they feel ancient and terrifying. Not necessarily literal eldritch beings, but something vast and incomprehensible that leans into the cosmic, at least metaphorically. So while the core of it is existential and psychological, there’s a shadow of something larger that gives it that sense of dread.

BÁL's answer: I'd say none of them really. The record definitely leans the most, towards silence. The rest is up to you and your interpretation.

5. How did you approach the songwriting process when working remotely? Was it a strict exchange of ideas and files, or did the songs evolve more organically through experimentation?

It began with something simple. I (JTS) had an instrumental track that I felt needed vocals, and BÁL took care of that. What he delivered gave the piece a depth that I never in a million years could have imagined on my own. At first I didn’t even think of it as the beginning of an ongoing collaboration. But when it was finished, we both agreed 100% that from this day forward zythaex would be our joint project. For The Devouring Principle, the foundation came from that full instrumental track I already had, but in future albums there will probably be a lot more back-and-forth, letting the songs take shape in dialogue.

BÁL's answer: The instrumental definitely had multiple versions, and I think JTS would still be working on it if we hadn't agreed that one of them was the final one. In any case, I downloaded the final version and recorded the vocals as I described before. I sent all the tracks to him, and then he came up with several mixes. When we were satisfied with the results, we used the good ol' "that's the final one" method, and Devouring Principles was born.

6. Many black metal projects embrace myth, folklore, or personal narrative. For zythaex, do you see your work as rooted in storytelling, or is it more about channeling atmosphere and emotion beyond words?

It’s not really rooted in folklore or myth. For us, it’s more grounded in philosophy, especially existential dread and the idea of impermanence. When existential despair, fear of change, and fear of decay is carried to its extreme, it has to shift toward acceptance if there’s to be any reconciliation. That’s where the Buddhist thought comes into play, because it’s all about the acceptance part. There are echoes of Buddhism and existential thinkers like Heidegger and Sartre, but it’s less about citing influences and more about giving those ideas a sonic form. Still, I respect and admire artists who use mythology or narrative. It’s just not what we were reaching for here. Our focus is on atmosphere, on conjuring that unsettling sense that something ancient, nameless, and inevitable is always there, just beyond words.

BÁL's answer: Devouring Principles is channeling silence as the final answer.

7. The title The Devouring Principle suggests something all-consuming. How would you describe this principle, and why did you choose it as the essence of your debut?

At its core, the devouring principle is time—a relentless force that drives all change, all transformation, and ultimately death and destruction. But I also thought of it in terms of eldritch forces, something vast and incomprehensible, governing or even embodying time itself. I didn’t have a clear picture of what those forces were, only that to me they feel frightening and utterly beyond human understanding. I decided to use the word “principle” to frame it in two ways: as something like a natural law that simply exists, but also as a matter of personal principle, to accept that you will be devoured. And at the same time, although I thought about it long after, it can also be understood as something that devours all principles, erasing meaning and certainty along with everything else. The idea was to convey the universe not just as old, but as terrifying in its scale and indifference, with time as the silent mechanism of that horror. Giving the album this title was a way of naming the force that erases all things.

BÁL's answer: In my opinion, we answered unanswered questions, which is a worthy goal if you consider yourself a thinking mortal. Perhaps these questions were only ours, or maybe they were just mine, but we certainly demonstrated a process that results in something. That process is the all-consuming undoing that ultimately leads to silence. This is simply my interpretation, though. You are free to take it or leave it.

8. What role does silence play in your music, especially since you describe it as “the only remaining truth” at the end of existence?

On the album we move back and forth between quieter, more ambient passages and the louder black metal sections as a way to convey change. Decay is not a straight line, it comes in waves. The soul can seem to mend, only to break down again, but when viewed across a longer span, the direction is always toward dissolution. Silence is part of that. It represents those moments when everything falls away, when the current slows before surging again. It is not absence but a presence of its own, carrying the weight of something completely inevitable. In that way, silence becomes as essential as sound in expressing the slow unraveling we wanted to capture.

9. Thematically, your work engages with ideas of time, dissolution, and the inevitability of death. Do you find this perspective more destructive or liberating?

I think it can be both. I don’t know if I would call it purely destructive, it certainly can feel that way. But destructive or not, it’s something that needs to be addressed and recognized. It has to be accepted. If the inevitability of dissolution isn’t faced fully, it can become very destructive, eating away at you in the background. But once it’s realized as an inevitable truth, it turns into something else. It can even feel liberating. That said, I can’t speak for everyone. For me it’s a path toward acceptance, but for others it might feel like something darker entirely.

BÁL's answer: This is a spiral of different episodes, yet the happenings are always the same. At the inconceivable end of the spiral (if one exists), the only thing that remains is silence.

10. From a sonic perspective, what tools and techniques did you rely on to bridge the distance between Hungary and Iceland while maintaining cohesion in your sound?

 Since we began with a complete instrumental track, we didn’t have to deal too much with the technical side of things like integrating the project into both our DAWs separately or managing the workflow across distance. That first collaboration was fairly straightforward. But for the next albums, when we’ll be building everything more collaboratively from the ground up, there will definitely be more of those technical aspects to address. We’ll need to think more about file sharing, session compatibility, and how to keep everything cohesive while working apart.

BÁL's answer: Our machines, internet connection and communication. Patience, listening and messaging.

11. This is your debut, but it already feels like a fully formed artistic vision. Do you imagine zythaex as a continuing project with more releases, or was The Devouring Principle meant as a singular statement?

Thank you, I’m very glad that we managed to shape it into a cohesive and coherent experience. We definitely see this as a continuing project rather than a one-off. In fact, we’ve already begun working on our second album, so there’s no question that zythaex will move forward from here

BÁL's answer: This is definitely a continuing project. Moreover, we're already working on something even as I'm answering these questions.

12. Finally, what do you hope listeners take away from this record when they step into your universe—do you want them to confront the void, embrace dissolution, or simply lose themselves in the sound?

I’ve never been a fan of spoon-feeding listeners or telling them exactly what they should experience. Honestly, all of the things you mentioned are completely valid. For some, confronting the void might be the path. For others, it might be embracing dissolution. And for many, simply letting the music wash over them without thinking too much about concepts is just as legitimate. I don’t make the rules here. Personally, I’ve gone through phases where I listen to music purely as a sonic journey. At other times I dig deeply into themes and lyrics. Both approaches are real and both can be transformative. So whether someone dives into the concepts or just immerses themselves in the sound, I think they’re taking away exactly what they need. Or at least I hope so.

BÁL's answer: Personally, I don't want anything from our listeners. I only hope that this record will reach each person at the right time, when they need to hear our message.

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Devouring Principle | zythaex