As detailed in the accompanying booklet to our version of The Self-Immolation Rite (SIR), the project originated when a pseudonymous person who claimed to be a member of a so-called "Traditional Satanist" group contacted Bestia Centauri. He asked whether we would be interested in re-mixing the original version of the SIR. We considered the request, and then counter-proposed an entirely new version of the SIR. Our interlocutor replied enthusiastically. So, off we went to work.
On the other hand, even then, in 2003-2004, we had strong reservations regarding this particular group's underlying seriousness and integrity. For that reason, we kept a wary distance from it. The basic idea of the SIR, however, seemed a worthwhile theme to explore musically.
Our point now is simply this: Had we known then what we currently know about the group in question, we would never have agreed to have anything to do with them, or to blend our name with theirs in any way. At most, Bestia Centauri and these "Satanists" used one another in furtherance of their respective aims. That is the best that can be said of this particular collaboration.
Today, Bestia Centauri does not wish to be associated in any way with this or any such group. We have nothing to do with the "occult" or with pseudo-esoteric "Orders", except to use them on a thematic level--which is, as a rule, all they are good for.
We also have no regard or respect whatsoever for most of the individuals that that particular group of so-called "Traditional Satanists" comprises, and we prefer that the thematic aspect of our SIR be viewed for the purely historical artifact that it is. We will, however, allow that these people are clever gamesters. But Bestia Centauri has its own game to play, and plays strictly by its own rules.
In that vein, and as to the music of The Self-Immolation Rite itself, it should stand or fall on its own merit.
