[Xasthur] formed around early 1996, and I had a lot of hard times making it work out - I was thinking maybe it wasn't meant to be, after a lot of time had past. To tell the truth, I'd never had so much suppressed hatred come out of me until I heard Graveland's Thousand Swords album. I give Graveland a lot of credit - it really had an impact, not only the hateful battle hymns of Thousand Swords, but reading about Rob Darken's viewpoints. And like I said, hatred and sorrow brought Xasthur to be. Up until '96, I'd been listening to a lot of death metal, but after a while, it started to lack the extreme emotions that I'd always been feeling, as it never seemed to express a person's state of mind. It was like any normal person could play it - death metal, that is.
Malefic / Xasthur interview, Worm Gear, 2009
XASTHUR released A Gate Through Bloodstained Mirrors on this day in 2001 through Profane Productions.
Obscure and misanthropic black metal, glorifying darkness and pure solitude. The music has an epic yet raw quality, highlighted by lengthy songs, attentive and creative songcraft, and a wrenching vocal delivery. This release severely lacks the taint of trend, and revels in the coarse emotions of the nomad...
Profane Productions label description
I'd say Deinonychus, Burzum, Sinoath, Mutiilation, Graveland, Manes and Thergothon are the main bands that inspired me to play black metal.
Malefic / Xasthur interview, Metal Crypt, 2003
There are many shades of black, and sometimes it's hidden in places not many people would look for it, be it in music or in the outside world. I don't need to look for it... it finds me. Am I glad that blackness finds me? Of course not! I'm not supposed to be, but I'll make it into something that will make it work for me if I can. I would say that Xasthur can meet some - but not all - of the expectations of black metal, because there will always be complainers and different points of view. I don't care about meeting anyone's expectations - Xasthur is for those who seek suicide, misery, and the obscurity of old, nostalgic black metal that will curse their state of mind… for underground fiends, not the mainstream. Most importantly, it's for myself - how can a price be put on something that isn't marketable?
Malefic / Xasthur interview, Worm Gear, 2009