Rising from the underground of Czechia, Plague God conjures a relentless storm of crushing black metal steeped in both atmosphere and dread. With buzzsaw riffs, haunting vocals, and a vision rooted in darkness, Plague God are creating old school sounds in the Czech underground and the ever-expanding abyss of extreme metal.
Naturally Czechia, like most of the world, is often overshadowed by its Scandinavian counterparts, however Czechia has long nurtured a fiercely individualistic black metal scene, marked by raw intensity, anti-commercial ethos, and a deep connection to Slavic mysticism and history. From early pioneers like Root—who existed before the second wave began — or Master’s Hammer — who helped define the genre’s second wave — to a new generation of underground acts, such as Plague God, who are carrying the torch of old-school black metal by creating their art in true second wave style. Plague God have no interest in playing or catering to current trends, Plague God creates music for those who want second wave black metal, and they do it excellently.
Today I’m speaking to Armo to discuss Plague God, working with Dr. Fe, and Czechian black metal in general.
Plague God Interview (With Armo, by D.)
Appreciate your time today, Armo! I usually start these the same way by asking, in your own words, what is Plague God and how did this project come about?
- Hail! Thank you for kind words and interest in my project Plague God. History of this project is longer than one would think, when I think about it. Around 2002, me and Charon started a black metal band called Woden. We were kids around 15 years of age with very extreme thinking and with desire to create darkness and destruction by our music. We released few demo tapes for our friends, but after time, life has devided us to different parts of Europe so Woden split-up. I played in few different bands during the years and then finally in 2021 I decided to resurrect Woden back to life. But meanwhile Charon sold his drums and was not interested in creating music anymore, so I decided to continue under different name alone. And that is how Plague God was created. Charon is still part of the band as he is author of both bands logos and of few designs used on previous and actual release as well.
As a one-man army, how does the composition process look for yourself?
- All compositions are created on guitar first. When I am satisfied with the structure, I record both guitars and work on drums programming. After drums I can compose bass lines and work on lyrics. I have several ways for creating lyrics. Some of them are my solo work, some of them I have from friends or from Dr.Fe´s notes. I work for example with Peter Petersson, who also write lyrics for bands like Immortal Hammer etc. I worked with several host vocalists, and lyrics they use are up on agreement. Some vocalists like Dr.Fe or Misty Frost works with their own lyrics, but others prefer prepared lyrics by me, or other author. After lyrics are recorded and the idea of song is clear, I can work on samples to define the mood of specific song.
Who would you say have been the biggest influences behind your work? Who or what has helped shape your sound?
- I don’t think there is one specific artist, area or period that influenced all of Plague God music or sound. First demos were black metal music with growling vocals, first album was influenced by early 90s with amazing vocals of Dr.Fe and last one is with my black metal vocals and, in my opinion, is so far the best album I ever composed. On last album are two great hosts vocalists as well as some changes in sound. Most people call Plague Gods music as old school black metal with feeling of 80s and 90s, but I am not totally sure about it from my point of view.
I’m also just nosey, and I like to know, what equipment do you currently use to make your sounds, and is there any equipment you’d like to add to your arsenal later?
- I am using two different sounds for guitars, and I record them separately with different instrument. One is my old B.C. Rich Warbeast, that I own for more then 17 years and other one is Dean Explorer, that I bought recently. For bass parts I use Harley Benton WB-20BK. At home I use Marshall and Black Star amps for practice, but I am recording clear sound of guitars and work on sound in DAV. Same for drums programming.
Unfortunately, only a brief moment due to his passing, but how did working with Dr. Fe come about? He only really seemed to be in Root and Amon, yet out of nowhere he’s in Plague God! (For the readers who might not know—Dr. Fe was the original vocalist for Root, a pre-second wave black metal from Czechia who are still going today.)
- Around the time of second demo of Plague God, was re-released some of Amon´s early demos on vinyl as well. I think it was “Call the Master” by Nasphyx. I was searching for this re-release and found it in Brno, and Dr.Fe himself was the one selling these copies. We communicate a bit and when we meet in person I gave one of my DIY CD copies of first Plague God demo to him as a small gift. After few days I received message from Dr.Fe with offer of him joining the project as lyrics writer and vocalist. It caught me by surprise. I was honoured by this proposition, so we immediately started working on first full length album. Early Amon and Root are very important for development of black metal in Europe and music of my youth. I would never think I will have a chance to cooperate with legend, like Dr.Fe. It was my dream coming true.
Obviously his passing is a loss to the Czechian metal scene, but I do have to ask, is there any unreleased Dr. Fe vocals still to make an appearance on a Plague God release at some point? I’ve assumed not as he didn’t appear on 2025’s Frigus Ferrum Vindictae, but I’ve still got to ask!
- There are two more songs, to be honest. Dr.Fe even few weeks before his passing was eager to work on Plague Gods music for specific release with person, who Dr.Fe honoured. I can’t tell you more at the moment, but on this release will be two last songs with vocals of Dr.Fe and first song with my black metal vocals since times of Woden.
What does 2025 look like for Plague God, what’s in the plans? Also, do you have any interest in taking Plague God live at some point?
- There are two split albums at works. I don’t want to tell anything more till they are physically released. I don’t have any plans in my mind after that. Everything needs time. I am not able to push myself into composing. It must come naturally. I am not thinking about playing live shows with Plague God. I had some offers from several musicians, that offered me help with live performance, but regular practice is not possible for me right now. But…never say never.
We like the occult, the esoteric, and anything out of the ordinary here at Mithraic HQ. With that in mind, is there anything you recommend for your listeners to check out?
- I can name endless number of books, movies, music, or art that I enjoy. But most brutal, depressive, dark things happen in life itself. Human mind is capable of unimaginable things that change your feelings about your existence.
Leading from that, what is something about life that fascinates you?
- Death! It fascinates humankind itself. Some are afraid of it, some cannot wait for it. Whole religions are based on fear of death and what comes after. People are searching for reasons and manuals to confirm their position on good side of fate after they die. People think, if they behave certain way, they will become rich or have endless pleasure in afterlife. But, if you think about it, death of close person to you, more brutal or less, can mean, that your own life will become hell of its own. We will become nothing, but food for maggots. What is important is what we will left after us.
Album title aside, Frigus Ferrum Vindictae saw a change from English to Czech, what was behind this decision? Personally, I’m all for it as I feel music is a great way to learn languages, especially more obscure languages like Czech – and that’s only harder to do when everyone writes in English! I was curious about your reasoning behind this change?
- First demos were my learning curve of creating music after some time. As well as working on my recording process. So at first I didn’t have exact idea of direction of Plague God. Afterwards on first album with Dr.Fe are all lyrics in Czech, but we put on album names of songs in English. I don’t even remember the reason behind it anymore to be honest. I think it was idea of Dr.Fe. After the first album were other 3 songs created, but Dr.Fe was not able to finish them all, so I recorded my vocals on last song in Czech language. Since that time I am singing in Czech, I got used to it and enjoy it.
How much does Czechia influence your music? Do you think living there has helped to shape your sound in any specific way?
- I am happy I grew up without internet, so I was influenced mostly by local metal bands from Slovakia and Czech Republic by buying tapes from pawn shops, distros and on concerts. This way local bands very much influenced my taste in music. I am still collecting tapes and LPs. Very rarely I buy music on CD´s, mostly to support my friends or bands I enjoy, who don’t have music on other format.
On that note, Czechia has a long history with black metal, obviously with Root and Master’s Hammer being the most famous examples I can think of. That said, I am sure there are plenty of bands from Czechia who I should know but don’t. Who are some of the lesser known bands from Czechia that we should check out?
- Although I enjoy older bands personally, there are some new bands worth checking out. For sure you must listen to latest album by Sator Marte. Some interesting names worth checking out are Sadogmasochist, Agmen, Gotterdammerung, Bran or Sukkhu. And from Slovakia bands Machina Baphometa, Abyssal Necrophony, Temnohor or Dominion of Suffering.
As we wrap up for today, just want to say thanks again for your time. Is there anything you’d like to add before we finish?
- Thank you very much for interest in Plague God and good luck with your zine. To all the fans – support bands by buying physical records!
Mithraic Magazine 
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