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Artist Statement:
The struggle to maintain a
balance between perspective
and alienation manifests in
alternately transcendent and
harrowing images. Which are
which has been subject to some
debate.
In school P. Emerson
alternately frustrated and
challenged his teachers.
Having abilities and talents
in many directions, he showed
more interest in reading
advanced ...
Further Information
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Artist Exhibitions:
P. Emerson Williams to Exhibit
at Dark Arts Festival
Gothic artist P. Emerson
Williams shall have recent
works on display at The Salt
Lake City Dark Arts Festival
as part of his unveiling of
several new directions in his
work. Known in the early
Nineties Goth revival as the
artist ...
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Artist Galleries:
Westgate GAllery
5219 Magazine Street,
New Orleans, LA. 70115, USA
Garp Gallery
21 West Church St.
Orlando, FL...
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Collections:
Westgate Gallery Of
Necromantic Art, New Orleans,
Louisiana
Suzan Elizabeth Ramer, Private
Collector, Orlando, Florida
Andrea Jarrett, Private
collector, London, England
Miko Mattila, Private
Collector, Tampere, Finland
...
Further Information
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Reviews for P. Emerson Williams:
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Mick Mercer:
The man who now makes intensely artistic records, with the
emphasis on intense, under the unwieldy name of Choronzon
made these Veil Of Thorns recordings back in the mid to late
Nineties and in his accompanying letter to me states, “I finally
have the Veil Of Thorns experience encapsulated. It’s with
more melancholy that I hear it now. We could have done so
much more.”
True enough. This is a record which comes through the ether
of Industrial and firm Ambient intricacies. It keeps its beats
simple, its guitar intent on stamping out quite a fierce identity,
and the songs are pretty precise. In fact they usually take what
could be an attractive song, then distend it, pulling at the
overall edges, and placing some gritty ingredients at the centre,
but offset those with sweet melodies or plaintive vocals.
You could almost label ‘Thelema’ as a demonic variant of the
psychedelic period Pink Floyd, with great guitar flashing
through the subtle layers, and ‘Lust Beyond Flesh’ has a mean
bass and a splattering riff, so they are out to connect, not drive
away or confuse the listener. It’s a rumbling form of Goth,
that’s what it is, especially the vocals with their melancholic
grace. It sounds surprisingly modern, all these years on.
‘Demons Play is so shuffling and coy you could view it as
sweet, with intriguing guitar shadowplay, which become
braver, with the twitchy beats of ‘Nothing Is Real’, the sound
of Marc Almond in torment.
four page section.
Mick Mercer,from HEX FILES the goth bible:
"take that,wench!"screamed Peter's note to me,in a shamefully winning way.He's an artist,dammit - he actually is - a multifaceted jaqueline of all trades. He plays guitar and cello,Christopher McClain is on bass and they now have the well named Ruddy Bitch on drums. Being an odd sort, Peter considers the band his visual side and his paintings and drawings his musical side. I'm notifying the police. Fascinated by quantum mechanics(oh,not another one), when asked about his persona he furrows his mighty brows and sternly barks,"I'm just a fluffy little fella". Peter on the artistic hand has used his third eye get heavily involved with Goth and occult mags/zines for yeas-Ghastly, Esoterra, Isolation, Virgin Meat. You have probably already licked some of his work.
From Fight Amnesia <9:
This is Peter Williams's (Veil Of Thorns) Black Metal side project, in which he invites us to enter a completely different area of his creative work.
CHORONZON are a quite open-minded act since they include a lot of noisy, HC and experimental/progressive influences and succeed in combining traditional Black Metal elements with a somewhat Big Black/Ministry sound. Yet, some excellent melodies still glimmer through the brutal arrangements and blend in one with slow-mo Doom parts, forming a rather haunting atmosphere. An excellent release for all friends of extreme music, which guarantees you many sleepless nights!
Interview With P. Emerson Williams by Janis, from Into The Abyss and Fight Amnesia! magazine:
PETER EMERSON WILLIAMS is the mastermind behind the electronic Goth band VEIL OF THORNS and the Black Metal project CHORONZON. He is furthermore active as an artist, whose drawnings are inspired by Magic and Nature. His works bear, as you will find out yourselves, a quite dark and obscure character. We were interested in Peter's creative work both as an artist and as a musician, and here's what we've found out...
You come originally from Norway. How did you land in the USA and how do you feel today about this change?
Actually, I was born in the States but grew up in Norway. I came here with my family when I was sixteen because my mother wanted to go back to where she came from. We'd been gone for about a decade without so much as a visit, so it was quite a shock coming back, especially for me, having been so young when we moved to Norway.
I feel it's always good to add to one’s experience, so I generally feel I benefited from the move. I do see myself settling in Norway to live out my life, however. It took leaving to show me how much I love Norway.
You seem to be quite annoyed about the American way of life. Which do you think is the main reason that culture is slowly dying and its place is taken by the obsession of consuming and just living a "comfortable" life?
A comfortable life is not that easy to achieve in the States. Here is no culture, only corporate product. Those doing worthwhile work have no hope of making a living. The average American is washed of any semblance of individuality and initiative in school and through popular culture.
Is there a connection between your lyrics, your music and your drawings? Do you consider your whole work as a concept or is there some part which you consider more important than the other?
I consider them to be parts of a whole, none of which would be the same if I weren't doing all.
Your two musical projects, namely Veil Of Thorns and Choronzon, are quite different to each other. The first is a more Goth oriented band, the second, your solo Black Metal project. Which are the parallels between those two acts? Did you miss something with VoT, which forced you to form Choronzon?
Choronzon is more of a ritual persona than a band, allowing me total indulgence with no regard to convention. I know that, as a listener, I like a particular release to flow naturally from beginning to end, and I don't think this would be possible to pull off with all these various sounds and moods on a single release. I'm not trying to be an industrial Zappa or Gothic Mr. Bungle.
Some of the Choronzon songs are written as Qabbalistic exercises performed as rituals, time-signature and harmonies invoking elements and elemental spirits. Choronzon is gnosis and Veil of Thorns is myth. Both are equally important and complimentary.
Which are the main feelings you want to transport through your music and lyrics?
Peace, sorrow, fear, mourning, anger, tension, orgasm, grandeur, debasement, transcendence, elation, immediacy, joy, disorientation, claustrophobia; love under Will. This is why we cannot be defined by the compilation tracks and singles...
Where can people get your music and are there any plans for album releases and any distribution updates?
You can get the music of both projects direct from us at Foamin' Bone Productions, as well as T-shirts bearing the design from the cover of the single and stickers. The "Lust Beyond Flesh" 7" is available from Nightbreed in the UK, Torture Records in California and Northern Darkness Records in Italy. We have a full-length recorded, needing only somebody to put it out. We'll be doing a limited edition vinyl pressing of this anyway, because we like vinyl.
A lot of people misunderstand the meaning of magick as something that is directed against human existence. What is for you the most precious character of magick and how does it influence you as a thinking being?
Damn, do you want to devote the rest of your 'zine to this question? Certainly, what is essential is this: attain the knowledge and conversation of your Guardian Angel. Achieve this, cross the Abyss and all else will be apparent. All we do is Magick, for good or for ill, whether we like it or not. Good and evil come together like the supreme ecstasy of Hadit and Nuit.
So, you do believe in the reconciliation of the opposites, conscious / unconscious, good / evil, man / woman, crystal / amorphous, etc.?
As I mentioned earlier, the joining of Hadit and Nuit, the annihilation of duality into zero. The way I approach the creative process is to go into a trance, let my unconscious pour out its divine insight, then to refine it by myself or with Chris. When you hear Veil of Thorns or Choronzon you hear this concept both implicitly and explicitly. Ritual grew largely out of this need within human beings.
You said at an interview with "Ghastly" that the Ocean and the water in general is very important and inspirative for your work. For many Ancient Cultures water used to have a mystical character. It is also the symbol of the unknown regions of the psyche. Furthermore, it is a symbol of the Feminine. So, what does water represent for you in your works?
What you just said includes so much of what draws me to water that all I can add is the beauty of drowning.
Let's talk a little about the development of the Norse Black Metal scene. As an artist, how do you consider the fact that a part of the Arts' history, namely churches, are burnt down by Black Metal fans?
I would certainly prefer that they got rich, bought these churches to live in and to banish Christ the Vampire from these places through sexual pagan rites. More witches, real and accused, were killed by the Inquisition than Jews were exterminated by the Nazis.
We're still dealing with this legacy, so many irrational actions will manifest until we face this issue head on. The ethnicity of various European cultures was killed by the Zombification process of the Church and embalmed and mummified by the modern consumer culture of America. These are people striking out in pain and anger. I understand their motivation, but I choose other tactics.
Yeah, but fanatics just cannot deal with open-mindedness and with tolerating each other's thoughts and feelings. Everything that is controlled and directed by someone is endangered to lose its personal identity...
If we weren't brought up to conform we couldn't be vulnerable to the pressures of those we surround ourselves with. The fact that we need laws shows the extent to which we're inferior to the other creatures. Fanatics can deal with their own thoughts and feelings even less than they can deal with the thoughts and feelings of others. It comes down to not being able to handle the responsibility of being an adult. It shows a real lack of strength of character to need to adhere to a dogma or moral code. If you need an outside reference to navigate your moral landscape you never bothered to learn the lay of the land to begin with! A good place to clarify individuality as opposed to selfishness is to look into what Ayn Rand said about the difference between egoism and egotism.
Do you think that hate can be a creative force to people? We believe that hate is a weakness to which a person might be driven because of "stern" belief.
Ah, but you might hate those whose fanaticism drives them to actions which you find repugnant. Hate is such a human emotion. My being, contained as it is by this primate vessel it is, isn't totally immune from such foibles as hatred. To quote the Vampire: "By our fruits shall you know us". The results of the actions of hate determine the value judgements we place upon them. I hate the Christ and the stifling mediocrity of the Average.
Don't you think that each person has to discover his/her own world, without being led by any ideologies but only by the hunger to learn and to advance?
I have nothing to add but an emphatic YES! Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law.
"The fall of fear eliminates the life that was" is a text line of yours. Do you consider this fall as an esoteric process or could it also appear as a revolutionary force?
This was part of a litany within the poem "Tear the Cities Down", which maps the progress of the Adept. This
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