Welcome to From the Vault, a nifty new online feature that Kim Kelly has cooked up in conjunction with our benevolent overmistresses Louise & Miranda. Here, you'll regularly find full, uncut, and raw as fuck transcripts from some of the more intriguing interviews that have been sliced'n'diced into past and upcoming Terrorizer Magazine features. As a writer and interviewer, you often come across artists and musicians that are happy to give you thoughtful, interesting, and sometimes outright crazy answers to your questions, and it's a cryin' shame to let them languish in a vault (or harddrive) somewhere.

First up, two parts of the esoteric and engaging trinity that are SABBATH ASSEMBLY deigned to submit to Kim's questioning, and oh what a wild ride it was...

KK: Sabbath Assembly are a thoroughly unique project, one that straddles the worlds of metal and those of psychedelia, rock, gospel, and 70’s nostalgia. Did it surprise you when so many straight-up metal publications and fans welcomed Restored to One with open arms?

Jex: I wasn't sure what the metal world would make of "Restored to One", but going in I thought the origin of the tunes might intrigue the metal community and that the theology might resonate with some.

Xtian: Praise songs to Satan and Lucifer -- that’s the realm of metal.

How did you come across the story of the Process Church of the Final Judgment? What about it most caught your interest, and what made you decide to pursue this project?  Have Sabbath Assembly had any contact with the Church’s members/ex-members?

Xtian: Sabbath Assembly initially formed in response to the book LOVE SEX FEAR DEATH by Timothy Wyllie, who was a higher-up in the Church.  We toured with Timothy in support of his book prior to the release of our album, which came about very much with his blessing.  We did encounter other former Process members on the book tour, and in general what we heard from them was mixed.  

Jex: Some of them responded very well to what we had done with the hymns, while others were surprised and made sure to let us know that our renditions were a real departure from the originals. From what they said, the Process versions were more in the style of traditional hymnody and sung in unison. We only spoke to a select few and I imagine that the sound varied slightly from chapter to chapter the same way two western churches of the same faith might do slightly different versions of the same hymn. 

Xtian: The Process hymns were originally created for a sort of ecstatic ritual purpose in the context of the Process-ian Mass, and Sabbath Assembly turned them into rock songs to be listened to on an album. 

Jex: At our Portland show, I met a man who was raised in the Church. He said growing up in the cult was a mixed bag, but that as a child, singing the hymns in a group was something he looked forward to each week. He said that there was something in the hymns that just made him feel good. He explained that he had come to check out our performance not sure what feelings might come up.  As it turned out, he felt that although we had changed the style of the hymns, our versions still somehow managed to conjure whatever that feeling was that he had experienced as a youth.

Xtain: Others felt we should add a bit more gospel ecstasy to our presentation to keep them more authentic. 

Jex: There is a photograph in Timothy's book of "The Process Version” band, who apparently went electric, sporting electric guitars and featuring multiple singers. We weren't able to find much about them, or about who the original composers might be, if not them. We did discover however, that no official recordings were ever laid down.

Xtian: We’re not actors playing the roles of Process Church members, and we’re not doing a historical re-enactment of their rituals.  So, while we play the hymns in a way that feels respectful to the Church, we’re also constantly checking in with ourselves to make certain that we feel honest playing them.  The songs are Process hymns, but Sabbath Assembly is us.

Why do you think it’s important for people to be aware of and explore the stories of cults, religious sects, and other outside-the-mainstream belief systems?

Xtian: I think the point of any spiritual research is to find a locus of beliefs that somehow resonate with each of us.  While the concept of “outside-the-mainstream” has an appeal for the recalcitrant among us, it’s also relevant to realize that much of what we learn about the fringe can actually be showing us where not to go.  

Jex: We did not set out to glorify this cult with our album. This cult in particular interested me because, unlike most, it was matriarchal. Yet from what I gather, this cult, like most, was a pyramid structure with those at the top acting more in their own self-interest and less in the interest of their followers. 

Xtian: Of course there is a danger in larger religious organizations that individual freedom can be marginalized in favor of a “tyranny of the majority”-conformist trip; but smaller outsider sects are often controlled by volatile individuals who may not have the ultimate goal of self-realization in mind for those in their sect.  

Jex: Our goal with the album was to document songs, which had never been heard outside of the Church, because they had come to mean something to us. Most of what's been published about the Process Church is negative. In talking with some of the former members, this was not how they described their experience.  Of course, it was different for each of them, as two people often do not experience the same thing in the very same way.  Most of the ex-members I spoke to spent a large number of years in the cult - some more than a decade. Something was keeping them there so long.  To me, their music highlights the positive aspects of the cult.  I was excited to share these hymns with others who, if not for this album, probably would have never heard them and subsequently missed the chance to find some value in them for themselves. 

Xtian: In the end we each have our own relation to God, and the more we understand this the more particular and individual this relationship becomes.

Jex: The beauty of this album is that you don't have to be a believer in ultimate beings to derive pleasure from these tunes.  These hymns are for everyone - Satan says so.

Sabbath Assembly have a series of live actions coming up, including a performance upon the hallowed stage of Roadburn. What will your live performance be like? Will it be straight-forward, or more ritualistic? How do you think the material translates live?

Xtian: We’re going out as a band, not a Church group, treating the songs as any band would treat their latest batch of material. 

Jex: Having said that, these songs are what they are: church hymns from a church who believed that the union of Christ and Satan was the solution to all inner and world conflict. 

Xtian:  There is a ceremonial element that is implicit in this music that cannot be separated from it, despite the fact that we are performing them minus the Church community and ritual accoutrements. When we were trying out guitarists, one guy said, “I don’t feel like you guys are playing songs, I feel like you’re conjuring spirits.” 

Jex: Of course we also had him singing back-ups on “Judge of Mankind” chanting “Lord Satan” after every line.

Xtian: I think he was transported a bit. 

Jex: Ha!

Xtian: So on one level the Sabbath Assembly show will be a solid rock moment, but there may be a more subtle level happening as well. 

Will Sabbath Assembly be recording any further material, or has the purpose of the project been reached?

Jex: The purpose of the album has been reached. As for the project itself… we’ll see.