The name Pantheïst (which is actually the Dutch word for 'pantheist') stands for a philosophy which is strictly personal and at the same time deeply connected with the sound of this project. A pantheist is an adherent of pantheism, a world view which claims that nature (or the universe) and God are the same entity. Pantheists regard the Universe as the totality of being, past, present and future. Its overwhelming beauty and mystery, compel their deepest reverence and wonder. Musically, Pantheïst translates this view in a sound which combines, on an abstract level, some important elements from the pantheistic philosophy. The human individual who senses that unity behind the phenomena, realizes unfortunately that although such an unity can be felt and experienced, human consciousness condems us to live closed and separated within our individuality, while only death is able to unite us by forcing us to lose our individuality. This realization evokes feelings of loss, emptiness and depression, which Pantheïst tries to capture musically.
Pantheïst started out in early 2000 as an one-man project from Antwerp, Belgium, which was meant as an outlet for Kostas' obsession with dark music. Kostas recorded with his -at the time- almost unexistent equipment and facilities a first tape version of an ambient demo called 'Dying Millennium'. Soon he was joined by Nicolas, who contributed on two compositions for the 'new' version of the 'Dying millennium' demo. The demo was a conceptual story about the different moods through which an isolated person goes during the last day of the millennium. Reverence and wonder about the millennium which has to come, are followed by fear of the unknown, desperation at the thought of an approaching apocalypse and a sudden feeling of apathy at the realization that the end of everything should be accepted as something unavoidable, which degrades the human mind to the role of a helpless spectator. This home recording which was distibuted among a few friends, was nothing special from a musical point of view, but nevertheless it marked the birth of Pantheïst.
However, Kostas' primary focus remained the heaviest, slowest and darkest form of music on the entire universe, namely doom-metal. At a certain moment, he got fed up of composing tracks on his keyboard and jamming or covering on organ and acoustic guitar tracks of Anathema and Pink Floyd with Nicolas, and he decided to make some efforts to unleash the dark, ultra slow doom-metal that thrives deeply in his tortured soul . Nicolas took hold of the 7-string guitar, Kostas started experimenting with brutal vocals and they made work of creating some heavy doom-metal tracks on Kostas' brand new 8-track recorder. Some 'personalized' rehearsal tapes and cd-r's were once again distributed among a few friends and doom 'specialists', mainly to elicit some response about the recorded tracks.
The response was very positive. This time more confident about the possibilities of their slow and heavy funereal music, Pantheïst entered the Templa Libitina studio of fellow funeral doomster Stijn Van Cauter (from Until Death Overtakes Me) in November-December 2001 to record a first official demo which bears the name '1000 years'. The band got the assistance of Lawrence (session bass) for these recordings.
What about the future? Is there a future for Pantheïst in the extreme doom scene? Only time will tell...