Zeistencroix aren’t hanging around for the dystopian aftermath to make their harbingering point. In this interview, Orlando and Santi open up about Psychotronic, an album built around the warning signs that creep into ordinary life before collapse starts looking inevitable. From surveillance, censorship and manipulation to the loaded paranoia behind the lead single Deceiving, the band unpack how industrial rock can unsettle the body before the brain has time to catch up. They also discuss working with Ulrich Wild, and why their noir-heavy visual identity feels inseparable from the music.
Fans of Nine Inch Nails, Static-X, 3TEETH, Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie will want to read the lore of Zeistencroix in full.
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There’s no escaping dystopian media these days; what made you write about the precursor to the collapse of society as we know it rather than the aftermath?
Orlando: I think everyone has already imagined the aftermath through films, books, music and other media, but not many people really stop to ask how we actually get there.
That said, I never set out to write about one specific subject. I tend to let everything flow, ideas, lyrics, music, and this time the subject just spoke to me. I channelled it into the physical world.
Santi: I think the precursor is actually more frightening because it happens while we’re still living our normal lives. Surveillance, censorship, manipulation, fear and division can become normal little by little, until people stop questioning them.
With Psychotronic, we wanted to focus on that point where the warning signs are already there, but there is still time to recognise them. It’s less about predicting the end of society and more about asking how much we’re willing to accept before something fundamentally changes.
2. The single, Deceiving, leads the album campaign, and even the title feels loaded with paranoia, manipulation and mistrust. Why did that track feel like the right doorway into the wider Psychotronic concept?
Orlando: We’re mistrusting creatures because mistrust can also be a way of protecting ourselves, and I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. The deceivers, on the other hand, are the perpetrators. So you could see deception as one of the first symptoms of the wider problem.
Santi: “Deceiving” represents a lot of what the album is about because deception isn’t always obvious. It can come from other people, institutions or even ourselves. Sometimes we convince ourselves everything is fine because the truth is uncomfortable.
Musically, the song has that same tension, aggression mixed with something almost seductive. That felt like the right introduction to Psychotronic. You’re being pulled into something that might not be good for you, but you still want to keep listening.
3. The album deals with fear, crisis, censorship, surveillance and how we can become complacent about the idea of control. Are you trying to wake people up, unsettle them, or drag them straight into the warning signs with the LP?
Orlando: We’re more interested in shining a light on the situation. I believe in free will and that everyone should think for themselves and draw their own conclusions.
Our role as artists is to reflect the times we’re living through, not necessarily to create narratives designed to influence people. We all have our own biases. People should use their own brains and develop their own ideas.
Santi: Probably a little bit of all three. [Laughs]
We’re not trying to tell people what to think. We want them to feel something first. If a song makes you uncomfortable, angry, paranoid or even curious, then it has already done something.
For me, the most dangerous thing is becoming numb. Psychotronic is our way of creating a reaction and making people stop for a moment and look at what’s happening around them.
4. Orlando, your throat singing gives Zeistencroix this really haunting, almost ritualistic charge. When did you realise that technique could sit inside post-industrial rock without feeling like a gimmick?
Orlando: It came out naturally. I discovered it in my teenage years through screaming and vocalising, and honestly it has been a struggle throughout my entire career because everyone assumes it’s a vocal effect.
Every time I try to explain that it isn’t, everybody probably thinks I’m being a petulant bastard, maybe rightly so. [Laughs]
I’d actually love to figure out a way of making it a gimmick for us, but because we’re an industrial band, and the genre uses so many vocal effects anyway, it tends to fall through the cracks. So here I am again, being the pedantic asshole explaining that it isn’t a vocal effect.
5. Santi, your drumming gives the music a physical, machine-driven force without losing the human punch behind it. How do you approach rhythm when the songs are carrying such heavy psychological and political weight?
Santi: For me, the drums always have to connect the listener physically to the song. You can talk about fear, control or paranoia, but if the rhythm doesn’t make your body react, something is missing.
I like the contrast between mechanical precision and human imperfection. Industrial music can be very rigid, but I don’t want the drums to feel programmed or lifeless. There needs to be a human pulse underneath the machine.
When I play these songs, I focus on the emotional energy. Should this part feel threatening, hypnotic or explosive? The rhythm has to communicate that before the listener even starts thinking about the lyrics.
6. You worked with Ulrich Wild on Psychotronic, whose history with Pantera, Static-X, Deftones and White Zombie sits right in the bloodstream of heavy alternative music. What did he bring out of Zeistencroix that felt different once the album was finished?
Orlando: Ulrich is the man. He gave the music a sense of depth and heaviness that I think it needed.
He also worked magic with my vocals and pushed me to improve in a really positive way. I love how the album came out.
Santi: Ulrich has an incredible ear and knows how to make heavy music sound huge without destroying the character of the band.
For me, one of the biggest differences was the drums. We wanted them to have that massive industrial impact while still feeling like a real drummer was playing them. He brought out details and dynamics that can easily disappear when you’re layering guitars, electronics, vocals and effects.
He also knows when not to add something. Sometimes knowing when to leave space makes all the difference.
7. The record has that cinematic industrial scale fans of Nine Inch Nails, Static-X, 3TEETH, Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie will immediately understand, but your noir aesthetic and theatrical visuals give it a very Zeistencroix identity. How important is the visual side when you are creating music this dark and atmospheric?
Orlando: Very important. Santi is the one in charge of the visual side, including the designs and artwork for the band.
For me, it was important that Zeistencroix had its own identity, that we could be different while still being ourselves. I’m very much the same person in everyday life, and so is Santi. The aesthetic isn’t something we simply put on for the band.
Santi: For us, the music and visuals are part of the same world.
When you create something this atmospheric, you want people to see something in their heads as well as hear it. Our noir and dystopian aesthetic gives the music another dimension and helps pull people deeper into the world of Zeistencroix.
But the music always has to stand on its own. The visuals are there to enhance the experience, not replace it.
8. You have played venues like Whisky a Go Go, toured the West Coast, supported Crazy Town across the US and built this reputation as a heavy live act. After Psychotronic lands, what kind of atmosphere do you want to create when these songs hit a room full of bodies?
Orlando: The goal is always the same, for everyone to have a good time and come away with an experience they’ll remember.
Santi: I want it to feel like the room has temporarily become part of the album.
I don’t want people to just stand there watching us. I want them to feel the bass, the drums, the lights, the noise, everything. There should be moments where the energy is almost uncomfortable, and others where everyone is completely locked into the groove.
Psychotronic has a lot of different moods, so we’re excited to bring that into the live environment. Ultimately, I want people to leave feeling like they experienced something, not just attended a concert.
If they leave sweaty, exhausted, slightly disturbed but smiling, that’s a good night for me.
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Stream PSYCHOTRONIC on all major platforms, including Spotify, now.
Interview by Amelia Vandergast
