HORROBLE - Interview

Horroble interview All rights reserved

1. As far as I noticed you have a different view on beauty, fashion, trends of today’s society. It’s not that you don’t like beautiful women J, but even the band name – Horroble – is like a statement. Please tell us about this name and what is Beauty for you.

Luci: There you go again with your philosophy and intellectual thought, My view of Beauty is not different, its just as odd as yours, I guess its not decided by what others think but more about what I think, but thats actually pretty fucking common, Also about the name, there is no Secret, thought it would be entertaining to reply with“it’s Horrible” when people asked about the bands name, also I wanted people to be able to find the band if they looked for it, so I misspelled it, un-purpose, oh, I mean Fun-Purposely.

2. The design of the merchandise shows a concept that is offering two alternatives – to sell or no to sell your soul to the Devil. And the 666 and upside down cross are also present, but discrete. By this, you want to speak of choice or confusion in people?

Luci: it shouldn’t confuse anyone, have a good time; decide for yourself, lets not make any rules. personally I don’t need or want to pressure anyone, it makes life dull and everything boring, and imagine how pissed off I would be if I cared.

3. This being your band, how does it represent your personality and ideas? Are you caught somewhere between a horror and a goth style? What’s your favorite horror character? I don’t know why, but when I look at some of your pictures, I see Freddy Krueger.

Luci: I’m caught between Goth and Horror, Am I? today I was trying out a copy machine that I found, and I had demons in my brains according to the copy of my face I made. Really I am into Horror, and not really big into Goth stuff, a lot of it is also Horror related so I could see why, but its just really straight up Horror influenced, not Death, Goth, Psychobilly, Black Metal, I mean it has elements of each, but we don’t have rules like those other styles, lucky for me.

I like lots of Horror Characters, but the more sarcastic and crazy the better, ie. choptop, Leatherface, Toby hooper’s movies “Texas chainsaw..” as well as “Eaten Alive”“ produced a few not so pleasant crazy faces, also The original “the Hills have eyes” thats entertaining, I like George Romero’s “Martin” that character is so troubled, But i am a big fan of Fulci, for his camera angles, and story lines, and music choices, good stuff. I don’t know why you see freddy krueger in my photos either, but let me ask you, do you live on Elm Street?

4. People might already know you from your collaboration with Ancient as Jesus Christ! and then LuCi, but your band is something totally different. What reactions do you expect from the public from this point of view?

Luci: Bad ass reactions, I expect people to hear it and go “Cool! I don’t have follow rules now”, it’s way more cool, I also encourage people to wear Masks and Halloween Costumes to the concerts or when you just listen to it, scare each other for fun, its really fun to scare people and freak people out, i do it sometimes and I have a good time, the music is not scary, its just a little weird, but it has that vibe that is kinda like, fuck it! I’m going to have a good time tonight, but a little strange good time, the kind of creepy good time you tell your grandkids about, and then scare them.

5. What connection is there between the song “Horroble”[NightVisit-Ancient] and Horroble, your band’s band? Is there any?

Luci: It was a cheap marketing plot to get the name remembered, seriously it was, I am not a big fan of marketing, the lyrics, don’t really matter? I don’t put too much worry into them, if I did I would never release words on albums, I would worry that people would take everything too seriously, and for Horroble thats not the case, this shit is not some Preachy shit, nor is it a overdone party music, its Horror, and just as diverse, I actually allow lots of pretty girls into Horror at my shows, so thats really cool, its about Horror, and a good time with it, it really is something I have wanted since I was a child, hence why the music can be diverse as I want, if its Horror related it fits thats all, we are really trying not to be pigeonholed.

6. What was the effect of being involved in such different bands, including Wicked Little Dolls, both on your own self and on the concept and activities of the bands?

Luci: I have drank way too much beer, started hating people for no reason and that regular stuff that people do. Actually it’s the opposite, although I do drink a lot of beer, all the bands and projects are something I have to do to keep my mind from getting all messed up, I have a very active imagination, and I try to do everything myself, so it doesn’t get all off track, I just don’t get enough things done. All the time, I need stimulation, dammit! right now I am watching TV, Eating, Drinking a beer, doing this interview and editing a live music show for a friends band.

7. Has the band reached a stable configuration? How is the live aspect of the band? Concerts, tours, parties etc.

Luci: No! we don’t have a stable or anything to rehearse in, we are all still alive (at this moment) if thats what you are asking, I go to concerts all the time, parties and Events!!! so I am down for that party, Currently we are not doing fun things, but that will change soon, I am now on the west coast, and my bassist is on the east, I am trying to get him out here, cause he would enjoy it, but he is sometimes lazy, or broke, or both, he is cool though.

8. You also launched your own business – Carnygoat Records. What kind of music you want to shelter there?

Luci: Its really just a front for a bigger secret operation!

9. Are you planning on making a video? You must have thought about it. What song you’d start with and why?

Luci: Yes, I love videos and I love horror movies, thats the point of the band, “Werewolf Lover” looks like it might be the one to start, but that could change, it won’t be a very normal video, no super budget or anything, but it will be cool, I study a lot about films, angles and filming techniques, so expect something refreshing, if you like horror of course!

10. Except music, you have tried your writing skills as well. Would you say there is a difference between a poet and yourself/a band’s lyrics composer? What are the differences [if there are any]?

Luci: Okay, I am confused as shit about this, if you find any Peot books with my name on them then they are just using my name for the fame, SO ARE YOU TELLIN ME THAT THERE ARE FORGERER’S MAKING ME INTO SOME GAY ASS POET?

11. Do you believe in paranormal phenomena? Have you ever tried to explain yourself such things? What is your theory regarding the other world/underworld/this world?

Luci: The Horroble album is named “Death of Ghost, so I might have killed a ghost, or something with a ghost, now I have these demons as I said earlier, from the copy machine , actually I have a song about demons “ the Fever”, thats about demons in your head, I don’t really like to talk about this stuff too much, we all have too much to worry about, to worry about demons in our heads, thats just scary talk, oh, and i have seen some people that think they should write their congressmen about it and protest about it, and they were actually just crazy people, i feel sorry for those people as it might be rough sometimes for them, i think everyone just gets too hung up about things, ideas, its a waste of time to try to figure everyone out and convince them of things, it’s like politics, boring, boring politics(yawn).

12. Could you tell us how many instruments you play? What’s your favorite, how good are you at it? Have you had other occasions to manifest your talent except those bands?

Luci: I play Guitar, its my bag. I have some keyboard time on occasion, really I started with that for composing Soundtracks, the cello almost never anymore, the skin flute since I was a child and the beautiful lustrous lady flute since the tender age of 17, I own a bunch of guitars, I am having a custom guitar made right now by a guy in Colorado, “Revenant Guitars” cool shit! check em out, www.revenantguitars.com , until I get that I play my Gibson Flying V, it has such a cool mid range tone, so when I play it un-amped, it sounds great, I have as well a Les Paul, it has its tone but the action is too low, and I don’t want to fuck with it, an older B.C. Rich Bich and Warlock, these are both fun to play fast stuff with because of the semi-wide flat neck, and a Fender Strat, that neo classical tone is fun sometimes, I really fell in love with Hiwatt and Sunn Amps, they are just so fucking loud and clear when you play them, I’ve got a few pedals Like a Rangemaster Clone, Octavia Fuzz, and few others but I really like a more simpler setup, so I try not to go overboard. I used to use a some Digital stuff but at loud volumes it would mask my particular playing style, and that was boring, Digital is good for a lot of things, but I currently stay away from it

13. What are the future plans of the band?

Luci: We are making another album, a video, and just plain old causing mischief.

14. Could you tell us about the making of the album’s artwork?

Luci: it made me smile when I was doing it, I just said yeah that will be fun, Horror art is Fun! I don’t think I could ever paint a bowl of fruit though, I just wanted something interesting to look at when you listen, if people do that anymore, records are great for that, hmm, that reminds me I need to put the record out on vinyl someday.

15. And now… What’s your opinion about LaVey as an American?

Luci: I am proud that he was American and that he was not Norwegian or African, he has some great ideas, about how things should be, I don’t if he was a real angry person or what but I think he was just trying to have a good time without a lot of bullshit, there is a lot of bullshit in all religions , politics, music scenes, I mean what the fuck? get over it people, it doesn’t matter.

16. It’s always a pleasure talking to you. Would you like to tell us something in the end?

Luci: Time for a beer!

EQUITANT - Interview

Equitant interview

All rights reserved.

1. Hello, Equitant. Some people might know you for your involvement in Absu also. How was this band representing you at that time?

The band began in 1989 under the name DOLMEN. At this time we were playing classic style speed metal, like: Kreator, Sodom, Destruction and Slayer etc.. Only one demo/rehearsal was ever recorded. “On The Eve Of War”. It was later released by IRON PEGASUS Records on vinyl 12”. Only 666 copies were pressed, something that had such a bad sound quality really sold quite well.

After a line up change in the band we went though several name changes: Azathoth, Eternus and Necrotic. The name later changed to ABSU in 1991 with the first release called “Return of the Ancients”. Again, this was yet another Rehearsal/Demo release, since we had no money to enter a real studio at the time. I was 20 years old and the other guys; Shaftiel and Danny were 18 years old. We had no real jobs, not enough to pay for a good professional studio.

We were then offered a deal with Gothic Records (from L.A. California) for a 3 songs 7” E.P. “The Temples of Offal”. The style had changed from the days of Dolmen. We were more influenced by early 90’s American Death Metal. Such as Autopsy, Immolation, Incantation and Death.

From there we recorded our first full-length album “Barathrum”. And released it on Gothic Records once again. We then signed to Osmose Productions and re-released the “Barathrum” album. In the fallowing years we recorded a few more albums for Osmose Productions. “The Sun of Tiphareth”, “The Third Storm of Cythraul” and “In The Eyes of Ioldanach” and “Tara”

2. I’ve read there were some conditions to be fulfilled in order to join the band. One was referring to the bloodline [Scotch, Irish or Germanic]. What’s your bloodline? How well/deep do you know your genealogical tree?

There were no real conditions; Proscriptor might have said this in a statement or interview. But we didn’t care where someone was from, or what he or she was. We were all of Germanic, Irish, and Scottish descent. So, this was one reason why we took on the Celtic myths in the lyrical content. It was something that was close to us, more close to us than the ancient myths of Sumer.

I myself am German and Scotch-Irish. My father traced the American bloodline back to 1690 something. His side was German, and my name has origins in Bavaria. This is all I know of the European German side.

My mothers name is Scotch-Irish. With Germanic/English bloodlines too. Not too much is known about when/where they came to America. I wish I knew more on this subject, maybe one day I will research it more.

3. The music you are making now is so different from Absu. Would you say that one is easier to make than the other? Don’t you miss your guitar & bass and the metal arena?

The style of music I am doing now is mainly Electronic music, the projects: Equimanthorn, Starchaser Network and Equitant. This is far different from the days when I was writing Metal music. The ways of writing are much more different, and its mostly doing a click of the mouse, rather than playing something real with your hands. I use VST virtual synthesizers most of the time, various samples and drum machines.

I would say this style is much harder to write, it takes much more time to compose, get the right sound and edit it all together. Plus, I am doing this all alone, so I have not other input from other members. Some times when I write this music I arrange it almost how an old ABSU song would be arranged.

I do miss the old days of playing Guitar and Bass at times. I just did this for so many years; I was just burnt out on the music. I needed something fresh and new. So this is why I turned to doing electronic music. Maybe one day I will get back to playing Guitar and Bass, but for now its synthesizers and computers.

4. Has your perception on the metal scene changed [and what is it?]? What do you think of it and the Satanism involved in it? Is Satanism a strong/real movement/community?

Today I really don’t listen or follow new Metal. I will always get the latest Darkthrone, Enslaved, Mayhem or Aura Noir CD. As for other new acts, I just don’t fallow it any longer. I still listen to all the old legends, like Kreator, Celtic Frost, Bathory, Slayer, Tormentor, Mayhem etc.. I will always be a fan of this style of music, its what I grew up on and such a big part of my life.

These days I listen to Electro, EBM, Techno and Experimental music. Artists like, David Carretta, Anthony Rother, Terrence Fixmer, The Hacker etc.. The French have a very good electronic scene; I am truly fascinated by it. I also like older stuff like Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode and Klaus Schultz.

As for Satanism, I have never fallowed this path. I do like any old lyrics that deal with this. Mercyful Fate, Slayer, Venom etc.. I think it is a strong and real movement in the Black Metal scene, though some use it mainly for image, while others are serious and real about it. True Black Metal music must have some lyrics about Satan; it’s a must in this form of music!

5. What’s your opinion about occultism and Masonery’s role in day-to-day life or its impact on others? Do you happen to have any favorite among Crowley’s tarot cards?

I really don’t follow any Occultism; I prefer to study the history of it and history of myths. I do like the philosophy of Crowley and Friedrich Nietzsche. I would have to say I am Atheist, so I don’t follow any religions… The favorite card from the Crowley Tarot deck would be “The Queen of Disks”. Mainly since it was the cover art to the debut ABSU album “Barathrum..”.

6. Could you tell us about the current bands/projects that you are involved in at the moment?

My current and main projects are Equitant and Equimanthorn. Proscriptor and I also had a side project called Starchaser Network. This was very sleazy Rock/Electro/New wave music. We released one album on Proscriptor’s Tarot Productions a while back. I think the album shocks most people; it is nothing you would expect to hear coming from us. It was something we wanted to do, something different and fun.

The 2^nd project is Equimanthorn, a project that was formed in 1992 by the members of Absu. It was something for us to do on the side, something other than metal. The music back then was all improvised; we did it on the spot. The recordings consisted of any thing we could get our hands on, old synthesizers, glass bottles, wood, percussion and our voices. We just turned out all the lights, lit candles and hit record. What ever happened, happened on the recordings. No edits at all..

The 3^rd and 4^th albums were all written and planed out nothing was improvised. So, this is how the remaining recordings will be. Equimanthorn past and present has had members of Absu, Equitant, Zemial, Eldar, Melechesh and The Soil Bleeds Black. The current line up is:

Equitant:

Unseen Voices, Synthesizers (Moog and Arp 2600), Effects, Percussives and Lyrical Magic(k).

Ekimmu Abstractum:

Narrations, Alto Recorder, Wooden Flute, Samples, Entities, Chimes, Sixfold Bow and Synthesizer.

Dalkhu Zilittu:

Synthesizers, Sourcing, Pitch Shifting, Effects and Lyrical Incantations.

Vorskaath:

Voices, Chorus and Narratives, Electric guitar, Synthesizers, FX, African Iron drum, Tablas, Drum-set and Percussion Seism. The Overseer of Spells and Musing.

Dawn Desiree:

Unseen Voices.

Weibes Blut:

Unseen Voices.

Devamitra:

Voices from the Underworld, Synthesizers, Sampling, Effects, Bows, Sigils, Bones, Triangle, Indian Tamboura, Tin Whistle and Ritual Percussives.

Zyklon:

Synthesizers and Effects.

Proscriptor will not be on the new album, as his duties with Absu are 100% these days. Maybe on down the road Proscriptor will re-join Equimanthorn for another release. We will see!

As for my project Equitant, I have had a number of releases since 2001. I am writing what I call Electro/Techno. My first two official CD releases were released on Proscriptor’s Tarot Productions in 2006, “Zeit” and “Konstruckteur”.

As of now I release any Equitant music on my own Black Montanas Net Label, strictly digital downloads only. I also have 2 new releases coming out on The Fossil Dungeon. “Re-Konstruction” and “Elemente Remixes”. These two are artists remixing a few tracks from the “Zeit” and “Konstruckteur” albums, as well as a few remixes by myself of my own tracks. This again will be a digital release only through The Fossil Dungeon.

7. How is the creative process taking place in the case of Equitant? What does your music stand for?

The process usually starts with one part on a synthesizer, and then I will just layer the song with other synths and Drums, and last vocals. I will just keep transforming the song until I am satisfied with it, this can take ages to accomplish. No, the music has no ritual part in it; this is what Equimanthorn is for. With this music the image and out look of Equitant and mainly the Future, Science Fiction or daily events in life. It does however have a dark image, dark and futuristic.

8. How is it to work with Proscriptor on other projects except Absu? How do you get along?

Proscriptor and I get along very well when it comes to writing, we both have things in common as to what we want or need from a song or image.

I would not want to write with any one else, we just merge very well in that field. Maybe its cause we have known each other for so many years, most the time we are both thinking the same exact thing on a musical part or a piece of artwork.

It has been a pleasure working with him for so many years, maybe one day we will work together again.

9. There is a fictional story that you wrote about Agurak. Are there more of such stories? What can you tell us about your writing activities? What else is Agurak?

The story of Agurak is a fictional story I wrote in 1992. It is along the same lines as a story that HR Tolkien would write. The story is about a battle between good and evil, male and female relationships and the depressions of war. It was written for my first 2 demos “The Circle of Agurak” and “The Great Lands of Mins Ithil”. Most of the story was just spoken word (vocals by Shaftiel and myself) with ambient synths and various percussion as a base for the song. I don’t think the story is anywhere online these days, it was so long ago and my ways of writing these days do not deal with such subjects any longer. Agurak is a place of Darkness then Light..a far off land in another time. These days my recording studio is now named Agurak, as well as my Equitant official website, www.agurakelectro.com. It’s just a way to remember the old days, the beginning of Equitant.

10. Where do you find your inspiration? What books do you read and would recommend? Is music of any help when writing?

With my current music I find inspiration from movies mainly. Anything sci-fi, old to new movies. I don’t read all that much these days, I just don’t have time to sit and read a book. I have too many other things going on, from artwork to studio stuff to my label and promotion. I wish I had more time for this!

11. You are also a painter. A vast artist. Some of your works are for Absu, a dark and secret vision. Do you draw strongly influenced by music?

I have only done 5 or 6 paintings over the years; one was for the band DIVINE EVE, a t-shirt design. The other works were done with pen and pencil. All the Absu works were done so long ago, today I do digital artwork. From Equitant to making cover art for artists on my label, or designing a few logos for selected people. Once again I just don’t have time for artwork like I did in the past, it takes a large amount of time do draw like this.

For Absu I would listen to our music as I made the artwork, it helped a lot on the feel and direction the art would take. If the artwork were for a shirt design for a song or the album, I would listen to the whole album as I drew the image. It would help get a better feel for what the art had to convey. Other than that, it was all in my head as far as a theme and mood.

You can view old and new Equitant art here: myspace.com/equitantart

12. You created Black Montanas also. Tell us a little about it.

The birth of BLACK MONTANAS began in 1992, as a music magazine dedicated to the dark extreme music know as “Black Metal”. Founded by Proscriptor, and myself the first and “only” issue was well received amongst the worldwide Black Metal underground.

After the first issue was released, we made the decision to discontinue the idea of a magazine, due to endless effort and time it takes to keep such a publication going. The magazine then transformed into a distribution company for my early releases from 1992 into early 2003.

Today BLACK MONTANAS has transformed once again into a net label helping to provide worldwide digital distribution and representation for independent artists of an Electro, Techno, EBM and Experimental variety.

The first wave of the “re-born” BLACK MONTANAS includes some of the best in the art of Electro, Techno, EBM and Experimental. Equitant, Starchaser Network, Adolf Filter, Scorpio, Future, Dr. Siak, Uniflux, Crotaphytus, Raw Mechanics, Franck Kartell, Katelectro, The Breakwaters, Jonathann Cast, Dr. Lovelock, Elite!, Korporation, Maybe Mental, Mysterium, Valerio Orlandini, Tesla Monophonic, Eldar and Trifid Nebula.

It is strictly a digital net label. All of the releases will be available from all major digital distribution websites like: Itunes, Emusic, AOL Music, Napster, Beatport, MSN Music, Sony Connect, Snocap, Yahoo Music and Rhapsody to name a few.

I wanted to create a label for many years, so I have finally found the time to do so. Black Montanas now represents artists from all over the world with more growing day by day. www.blackmontanas.com

13. Do you think people understand your music, your path, yourself, even Absu? What would you add and unveil further more? Something that we should think of, a new vision maybe, a break out of the ordinary common sense of society?

I hope they do! ABSU has, over the years, been very misunderstood by selected people, from the lyrics to our image and even the sound. Most seem to hold Absu high in the Metal underground with a very large fan base from around the world. So, what we did (and what Absu is still doing to this day) is giving people an extreme form of Mythological Occult Metal. Raw and endless!

As for my solo efforts in the electronic world, some may not understand it; more have understood it than I thought would. Old Absu fans have told me they really love what I am doing now, so this means a lot to me. It’s important to have an open mind in music. The members of Absu have always been influenced by a wide variety of music, so our paths were never 100% metal, all the time. Things would get very boring if that were the case. A new vision would be to like what you like, not cause it’s a trend or your best friend likes it. If you like Pat Benatar or Willie Nelson, let it be known!

14. Have you had concerts with your new bands as well? What is the difference between them and an Absu concert? I mean, how are the people feeling, manifesting, thinking… What are your dearest memories of the two different experiences? And how nervous, or not, are you on stage?

With the electronic projects I have only played one show with Equitant (Here is San Antonio in 2003) and one show with Equimanthorn in 1992. These were of course much smaller in size from an Absu show, people wise. More of a less aggressive atmosphere. The Equimanthorn show was a night people would never forget in Dallas. We really messed up some people that night; they didn’t know what was going on. It was total darkness, smoke, candles and makeup. The dark sounds of Equimanthorn filled the Dallas streets that night, people were confused, and it was just brilliant.

With Absu I have many fond memories of playing live, every show had something new and exiting or something going wrong with the sound or equipment. I think the shows in 95-97 (Europe) were the best, and one of the best times of my life. Touring with Impaled Nazarene and Saditik Exekution was like non other, something was always going on with those two bands. We had a great time with them covering so many countries, drinking, eating and playing music we loved. Enslaved and Inferno were also very nice to tour with in 1997. We really had some fantastic shows.

15. What would you like to say to your readers and fans in the end? I must thank you for your time and thoughts.

Thank you for the interview Sehmetia, it has been a while since I have done one, so thanks! Many thanks to all Absu, Equimanthorn and Equitant fans out there. Be on the look out for the new Absu album in 2008, as well as a new Equimanthorn album and numerous Equitant releases planned.

My regards, Equitant

http://www.myspace.com/equitantmusik

http://www.myspace.com/equimanthornmusik

http://www.myspace.com/blackmontanasnetlabel

http://www.myspace.com/equitantart

MORDICHRIST - an older interview

1. Mordichrist appears to be a promising black metal project, but behind any accomplishment there are the members that give esence to the band. Could you ilustrate the personalities behind this name?

We are two Dictators who are connected to each other, with same thoughts and ideas like one unit. But of course we are two individuals: Nenia and Chaq Mol.

2. Still refering to individualities, do you have any other projects working on? And if you do, how have these affected the development of Mordichrist?

You can not call it for a project, but if you mean if we play in an other band. Yes! Chaq Mol plays guitar in Dark Funeral. I separate my work in Dark Funeral and Mordichrist.

3. You call yourselves "dictators" and in my mind rised the idea of a connection between the titles of the 3 demos [2001's The root, the embryo; 2002's Hatred on repeat; 2003's The blood rise] and this noun. Is Mordichrist based on an ideology, having a well defined path to follow?

The path is simple but also complicated. But let us be simple here. We are Mordichrist, bigger than above, below and all between. The first demo was when the embryo was growing inside us. The rest of the numbers of demos was the path of chaos and disorder who gave us a record deal with Danza Ipnotica Records. Mordichrist S/T was born and the demo era was seald in the cave of the past. From here and the future you are gonna see what Mordichrist are about.

4. I refered only the 3 demos because "S/T" is still a mistery for me. Can you unveil it?

All the songs on Mordichrist S/T are from the demos, so all of you that missed to by the demos, can now buy the Mordichrist S/T instead. The demo era is over.

5. Being more than one person, although the idea might be shared, the question is who is expressing it into lyrics, into sounds?

When we create a new song it starts with some guitar licks and a text idea. Chaq Mol starts with the guitar and then we arrange it together. Nenia comes up with the text and shows me some killer ideas. The rest is just magic.

6. What kind of reactions do you expect from the listeners to the fact that the vocals are sustained by a woman?

No reactions at all! If you think about the fact that Baphomet is both female and male. You can not separate that without consequences, you can not separate Nenia and Chaq Mol without consequences. We expect worship.

7. The configuration of the band has changed through the years. Is reaching a stable, permanent line-up a wish for the future? And has this anything to do with the fact that, at least for now, you are not a concert's band?

The only thing that counts are that we (Nenia and Chaq Mol) are still a unit. Then members can come and go. But in the future we will have a stable band and will also do gigs.

8. What determined you to found Mordichrist, a daring step, as art asks for its sacrifices?
   

It´s a need like nutrition for our dark souls.

9. What do you want people to think of when they hear Mordichrist, both the name and the music it creates?

When you hear the name Mordichrist and our music, you should expect that you always get a high quality product from the ice cold hell of Sweden. With chill races down your spine.
Till eder alla, en ond jul.
Chaq Mol and Nenia.

The band on Myspace: Mordichrist

ORTHANC - Interview

ORTHANC

All rights reserved

1. Hello, Glaurung. It would be interesting for us to know the history of the band, the path that got you where you are today. [and why you chose this genre]

First I’d like to apology because of my poor english for this interview, and then to thank you for it.

Well, I founded Orthanc when I was16, with a “friend”, Adhanedel (that wasn’t really a friend, but we were the only 2 persons to listen to that kind of music in the school). I was playing drums for few years in thrash/death metal bands, and was crazy about black metal, not only norwegian, the austrian scene too... and of course the french one. At that time there weren’t so many bands in France, but they were good: Osculum Infame, Blessed in Sin, In Articulo Mortis, Funeral,...

So, here begun the story: 1995, a little city in south of France, not so many things to do, 2 teenagers wanted to play black metal because of their fascination for darkness, war, occultism, etc...

We composed some tracks that appear on Orthanc ‘s MCD “7 ans de réflexion”. We have had many musicans that come, but none stayed. For several reasons: 1, we weren’t good musicians, and 2, we had extreme right politic ideas... and that was difficult to understand for french teenagers. Remember: at that time, the most “listenable” music styles were dance and grunge. And that was more politicaly correct to be a communist fashion victim.

Adhanedel and I splitted because we had different view on what to do with the band. So I created my own black metal band: Bugale an Noz, inspired by celtic music, in 1997, that is now a part of Orthanc.

I reformed Orthanc in 2003, with a young guitarist, and we recorded “7 ans...” with the old tracks.

After recording our 2^nd CD: “Aux enfants de Thulée”, with Pesttanzer (vocals), and Dracir (ex Crystalium, lead guitar), the kid decided to leave, for personnal reasons... and pesttanzer leaved too, because he prefered drinking beers at a concert than being on stage.

Then came Hrafnagud (ex destinity), and with that line-up (Dracir, Hrafnagud & me), Orthanc played in France, Switzerland and, of course, Romania.

Dracir has been fired because of his alcoholism (he wasn’t serious enough, it‘s now pathological). So today we are only two. That ‘s not a problem for us, we can record our coming opus, “L’âge de raison”, and play live, as we did in december with Blessed in Sin and Finis Gloria Dei. People liked it a lot.

Sorry for this story: there is no jail, no burning church, no murder... anyway, that’s Orthanc’s story.

2. I saw that you are very fond of the number 732. Please tell us about its connection to your music and the message you want to send through it.

732... that year, in the french History, is a symbol. Arabian were invading Europa, and no one was able to stop them. Spain was already a muslim country, some arabian went in the south of France (wich was called Gaule still in this period. French kingdom was reduced to the north of today’s country.) devasting cities.

So, in november, the frank palace mayor (Dux Francorum), Charles Martel, Karl von Herstal (remember franks are germans) -that wasn’t the king- decided to stop them. The Frank army went to Poitier city (south-west). During one week, the two armies didn’t move, and the 1rst day of the muslim ramadan , the arabian attacked. During one day they fought, and the arabian cavalery has been destroyed by the frank’s “iron wall”. The day after, arabian army went back outside the Pyrenées mountains, in Spain. Charles Martel is the ancestor of Charlemagne (Carolus Magnus), french emperor of western Europa.

That is a great symbol for today’s France, that is invaded again by muslims today.

For us, it’s a symbol too, cause we don’t believe in a multiracial Europa, our ancestors fought to give us a beautifull and rich country, lots of them died for it. The track “732” on our 1^st MCD refers to this battle and its consquences.

Orthanc’s concept is also based upon history, that is important for me.

3. “Pure French Black Metal”. Would you say it has its regional particularities, would you call your music NSBM?

The german label Christhunt called our music like this. In fact, french BM is special. Listen to Osculum Infame, or Funeral/ Kristallnacht, or some bands like Mortifera or Seigneur Voland! The compositions, the sound, the spirit are special, and different to all other kind of black metal styles, that ‘s why we call it “french black metal”.

As long as I can remember, french BM always dealed with fascism... but that wasn’t NSBM, because it was normal to be fascist and satanist (or pagan). There wasn’t propaganda for NS, but everyone was like that.

I personnaly don’t care about politic, Orthanc is about extreme right values, but that is not politic, that is philosophic. So, I can’t call my music NSBM.

NSBM is to many times a “merchandising” for bad musicians to sell their shit. I don’t care if peoples call my music NSBM, that is better than communist.

Orthanc’s members are also session musicians for RAC bands, like Frakass or Ultimatum, but it is not onOrthanc’s name... Orthanc is a different concept.

In the band, Hrafnagud & I compose together, I write lyrics.
Those are most of the time about decadence of our land, about elitism (not too much, 'cause I don't believe in elitism in black metal), honour and glory of our ancestors, paganism, Tolkien... more than all: hatred of jehova.

4. Your band is now incomplete. Is the process of finding a replacement for Dracir influenced by your ideas/message/attitude? Would you say that this scene of ‘white pride’ is something that most of the musicians stay away from?

The band is complete, the band is me.

Dracir didn’t composed a lot. For example, there is only 2 riffs from him on our next opus. With Hrafnagud, we think the same, we work the same, we are Orthanc now.

Of course we are looking for a replacement, and of course, the next guitar player will have to share our ideas, but, more than all, he must become a friend. I prefer playing with friends than with great & antipathic musicians. Orthanc is like a family.

5. How well defined is your scene in France? Do you have many fans, concerts? What are the chances for this scene to survive now with European Union’s view on tolerance?

Our french scene is ... special. You have 2 sides for it.

First: the commercial shitty scene, with shitty bands like Furia, Destinity, Phazm, and many more assholes. Always looking for money. Bitch spirit. They represent 90 per cent of the french actual scene... actual... well, that’s right! They are all kids thinking they are rock n’ roll stars.

On the other side, you have the veterans of the french scene, like Blessed in Sin, Seigneur Voland, Bekira, Mutiilation or Kristallnacht. Those bands imposed the french BM style! They are the bands that I consider as THE french scene, the other are nothing.

The first politicaly correct scene will never have problem with the society... the second is too subversive . I think we are on the second part... I hope so.

For example, Blessed in Sin and Funeral members went to jail because they made stupid things on a cemetary, but also of their politic ideas.

You told about EU... well, I don’t really know what to say about it. That is good because we can now play in Romania, but... there are too many things wrong with it. That is not the Europa I want.

Orthanc has not so many fans in France, and less in Lyon, our city! As I explained, 90 per cent of the scene is commercial shitty bastards formed, and for the metal fans, it is the same.

We played 2 times with the new line-up: 1 guitar/vocals + 1 drums/vocals, and peoples liked it a lot. I hope we’ll find a good guitarist with the same spirit.

6. You played for the first time in Romania at Frey Faxi Festival II. How did you enjoy your stay and the festival?

It was a great experience. We met lots of interessant people. Lupii Daciei gave us a good occasion to play. I didn’t expect to see so many people from eastern Europa with such ideas. Maybe it could be explain as a consequence of the communist period... I don’t know. But that is good. If it were like that in France...

Anyway, we didn’t know what to expect in coming there, in Romania. It have been a great surprise, we fell in love with your country.

It was a pleasure for us to meet Temnozor, we didn't know their music, we have had a great night with them and Absurd, lot of alcohol (palinka).
The show was good too. Time goes too fast... We 'll take more time in Romania if we go again this year.

7. How come you decided to launch an anniversary album of 12 years of existence? You plan any tour for it or maybe another appearance in Romania?

The celtic calendar is strange, every 3 or 5 years, you add some months. I calculated that 12 gregorian years equivault to 10 celtic years... This is a kind of pagan calendar.

Lupii Daciei proposed us to play again this year in Romania, but we have no news about it. I hope we’ll do it. If someone wants to see us live, he can invite us in his country, we have no manager, nor label to propose us a tour.

8. Glaurung, I know you are not only a musician, but also a photographer and painter also. Through this point of view, how was the developing of the band’s releases?

I can’t say that I work to much on Orthanc’s cover, because my graphic views are not the same as the musical. It was the case for Faustrecht, but that is another part of my personnality. I don’t melt music and graphic too much, ‘cause they are 2 different things.

I’ll put some on my myspace page maybe. Music is for me a hobby, but painting is my job. One of my customer is the Oï/ heavy streetpunk band Paris Violence (http://paris.violence.free.fr/).

9. What tools of the trade do you use?

My favorite tool is scrapboard, but I also like acrylic painting. It depends a lot of the finality of the job. For musical illustration, it’s often acrylic, for children often scrapboard, for additional jobs like creation of a pressbook for model it’s photo (of course). And for my personnal artistic work: oil painting... and sometimes music (Hemorroidz ov God).

For that work, theme is often the same: female visions, sex, depression,... finally, I don’t really know how to say it, that’s why I paint it. Look at my work, and you will know better than me.

10. What is the role of the woman? I see you always enchant us with beautiful females on your covers.

In the semitic religions, female is desecrated, she is less than an animal. But in european pagan tradition, she equals man, she is a queen, a divinity. In lots of my painting, I try to show it.

There is another reason: I love beautifull girls!

11. How does your name – Orthanc – reflect your ideals and message? Why Tolkien and not your history, as source of inspiration for the name?

Tolkien had the good idea to create ONE mythology based upon every mythologies of all indo-european traditions. It is also full of metaphors, that strangely reflect the situation today in western Europa. Like the elves, white men are disappearing from those countries because of decadence.

Orthanc is the last release of the Numenoreans, an elitist race of human, born from elves. This tower is undestructible, like our will, like our pride.

12. I’ve read that you are searching for musicians that play traditional instruments. Do you plan to change you musical line or just to enhance it? What should we expect from the future of Orthanc?

That’s right. We have found some. Bugale an Noz was based upon celtic music and pagan darkness. For that project, I wanted to mix traditionnal and black metal. Now BAN is a part of Orthanc.

Our musical line won’t change, we’ll only add traditional arrangements. Next Orthanc ‘s album (not the coming opus, the next) will be in the same vein, but there will only be an evolution.

13. I must thank you for your time, it was a pleasure getting to know you better. Would you like to say something to your Romanian [and not only] fans and readers?

We hope to go back in your country soon, and discover it better.

===This interview appears also on Metal Act[dot]com

MYRKGRAV - Interview

Myrkgrav interview

All rights reserved.

1. Hello, Lars. Please tell us a little bit about yourself, who you are and what influenced you to start a life as an artist.

Tja, what is there to say? I guess I’m just a regular guy with some interests which aren’t that regular, if I may put it that way. I don’t see myself as much of an artist though, and I merely began creating music because I couldn’t really find a band that perfectly appealed to my taste in music. I didn’t have any perfectly clear visions of what Myrkgrav would stand for musically back then, thus the generic choice of band name and earlier artist name (more about that later in the interview), and so as I grew up, Myrkgrav matured (and is still maturing) in its sound and theme along with myself.

Basically I guess I should thank my music teacher from 8^th grade of school, who pushed me into trying to play the guitar, even if he insisted for me to try to play the regular, right way although I’m left-handed. In the beginning I hated the damn instrument so much, but I figured out it wasn’t that bad in the end, although I don’t think it’s any fun to play guitar even today. As I got more and more into riff-based music like rock and metal, I started to create my own riffs and songs, and even though I’m not really sure myself of how I ended up starting a project of my own anymore, I did.

2. Myrkgrav is your band. You once called yourself “dictator in the band”. Does this reflect your personality and any visions/perceptions of life in general?

I could probably just answer this question with a big YES and leave it, but I guess it’s more to it than just that. I like to be in control of things in my own universe and keep a tidy and maybe a bit strict organization of things that happen. Now this sounds very “official” and boring, but I guess it’s just as simple as that I’m a person following routines in order to not end up with a mess of information and organizing to take care of.

3. In 2004 the press spoke about 2 demos: “Ord Fra En Fullmaanenatt” [Words from a fullmoon night] and “Fra Fjellheimen Kaller…” [A call from the mountains]. The first one you rarely mention it, just as Over Fjell og Vann. Why is that? What are they about?[Ord fra… a short history on this, it’s a mistery for me]

The reason why I rarely/never mention these two horrible excuses for demos (Over Fjell og Vann and Ord fra en Fullmånenatt) comes from the simple fact that they were never real Myrkgrav demos, but rather something I threw together for my Black Metal parody project, Skogens Trell. That was by the way the project that doomed Myrkgrav’s future for the Norwegian market, as the only thing people think of when my name is mentioned is the highly unserious and hilarious Skogens Trell.

Nearly everything on these demos is of a character that leaves you with an embarrassed taste in your mouth after listening to it, but there is a reason behind this, so let me explain: Originally I wanted to create something more serious from the beginning, although I am sure today that it would have sounded like shit. I started out with the band name Trell, but soon a hard rock band with the same name contacted me and told me they’d sue me if I didn’t change the name of my project, so rather than putting up some useless fight, I decided to change it. The problem was that I had no idea of what I wanted to call my project, so I ended up with the decision of just adding “Skogens” in front of the already existing name “Trell”, making the name mean “slave of the woods”, which in itself is quite embarrassing. Even I realized that back then, so instead of continuing my journey with serious compositions, I ended up writing songs of a less giving character. All the music is quite raw and simple, full of typical kindergarten-riffs and with lyrics dealing with shallow “Satanism” and cheesy nature mystic.

After becoming and being hate-object no. 1 for a couple of years, I grew tired of the whole thing and wanted to pursue a more giving musical path. The mistake I made was to include some riffs and actually a whole song from the Skogens Trell period into the new music, so that people naturally made a connection between the two and regarded it as the same shit only with a different name. Eventually I managed to write some more promising songs and put it together to the demo known as Fra Fjellheimen Kaller…, pushing it out under the name of Myrkgrav and gaining some attention from other countries than Norway, and after a lot of luck and hard work I am not even sure of how worked out anymore, I ended up where I am today. And that’s the short story.

4. The musical approach of Myrkgrav has changed from one release to another. You have a contract with Det Germanske Folket for 3 albums and you are probably preparing now the second one? What can you tell us about it and the musical line of it? Who are the [new] collaborators and how do you work with them?

I am indeed working with some new tracks for the next album, slowly but securely. As I’ve stated before, I like to take my time with the composition and arranging process, so that I can be absolutely sure that I’m happy with the material before it eventually gets released (although I’m not so satisfied with the first album anymore).

What counts for the music, it seems there will be less extreme metal this time, more (Scandinavian) folk melodies and much more groove and a bunch of catchy riffs, though the essence of Myrkgrav is still preserved. I don’t even think I can make anything that doesn’t sound like Myrkgrav, for what that’s worth, hehe.

I’m not completely sure how many new collaborators will be involved yet, but so far I’ve asked Sindre Nedland to take care of some clean vocals again, Hellhammer to record the drums, my companion Erlend from Quadrivium to take care of bass guitars and Lif from Exsilium to come up with some synths. If things work out as planned, Sindre and HH will record their parts in Toproom studio under my supervision, Erlend will record the bass in his own Sjaaen studio and Lif will do her parts in Koia. Working via the Internet has shown itself convenient and effective, as we can all just send each other mp3 files, add stuff and send them back to evaluate how it sounds.

5. Any idea about the third album?

Not really. For now I’m just concentrating on the second one, as that’s hard enough on its own. J

6. You are inspired by Nordic mythology and legends of your local surroundings, but how far would you go to find your inspiration? You need to do that or Norway has plenty of stories for you?

I’m not really into the whole Nordic mythology thing anymore. In my opinion later history is much more rewarding and interesting to work with, much because I can dig up something that almost no one has ever heard about before. Come on, everyone knows something about “glorious” Vikings and all that, but how much does the average non-Scandinavian know about for example the Finnish immigration to Norway during the 1600s or work, life and beliefs in forests in the 1800s? That’s right – almost nothing, so that’s the kind of information and stories I want to tell, or else it will definitely get buried deep under the dust of time, which would suck.

I’m lucky enough to own some books filled with neat local history written by Mr. Reidar Holtvedt. These books are practically gold worth for the future existence of Myrkgrav’s lyrical subject, and if the author was still alive I would give him a big hug. J

7. You had good feedback about “Trollskau, Skrømt og Kølabrenning” album [Trollish Woods, Wraiths and Coalburning], [was “Underground album of the month” at Imhotep Webzine, was very well sold, reached unofficial top 5 list of bestsellers in Norway’s store Platekompaniet, plus the direct feedback of the listeners on your guestbook]. How do you see success? Did it change you becoming more popular?

I quite honestly see my so-called success as a result of the fact that Myrkgrav is so typically Norwegian, and it never stops amazing me how much shit Norwegian metal bands can get away with just by being from the country they are. Is Myrkgrav’s music unique? Not by far. Is it quality music? I certainly hope so. But I have to ask myself, would I’ve had this success if I was from whatever other country in the world? I actually think not, and although it sounds cynical, it irritates me how Norway-worshipping big parts of the international metal scene is. I guess I’m not really answering your question very well right now, but I needed to get this stone off my chest.

As for becoming more popular, that’s not really something I’ve noticed here back home. I of course get more attention at for example MySpace than before, but if you look at bands that actually play live and appear more as actual bands rather than projects and how much more attention they get, I wouldn’t say Myrkgrav is so successful and thus I haven’t changed much either in my perception of things. I’m after all still just a guy with a bedroom project.

8. You are also a good technician, now working in Toproom studio. Is this ability of yours helping you develop Myrkgrav more accurately on the path that you want? You still have your own studio? What are the main processes undergone for an album of yours?

I would say every musician out there would benefit from some general knowledge about the actual production process of a record, so yes, you could say that by having some experience with sound engineering, you at least know what certainly does not work and what is worth trying out. In addition, recording and composing often go hand in hand when it comes to Myrkgrav, since I don’t have any actual band to jam along with to help arrange the songs. If I were to write the material before I recorded it, I guess everything would sound quite different than what it does, since I more or less compose as I go.

I do indeed still have my own little studio, where most of the recording will take part this time as well. Although I work in one of the best studios in the country, it’s easier to work with equipment you know well and in an environment where you basically are at home and can do whatever you want to in your breaks (which there to be honest are more of than actual effective moments of work, hehe). We will see, maybe I’ll record and mix some at home, record and mix some in Toproom; nothing is clearly planned out yet at this point so early in the process.

The main processes… I could probably write a whole book about this, but I’ll try to keep it short for now. Usually I start out with a single riff I’ve written. This gets recorded and I add some drums and basic rhythm guitars and bass lines to it. Then I try to come up with a new part which fits with it, be it before or after. Even if a following part maybe doesn’t sound all that good just with lead melodies (which I more or less always have), I always add the whole rhythm section to it to find out if I can work with it. In many cases, I’ll change the lead melody to something else and end up with something I hadn’t expected from the start. This can go on and on, and if I’m lucky the basis of the song will be done within 2 days. If I’m lucky. More often it takes around 2 months or more to finish a song, and that’s before the final arranging takes place.

When all the basic material is finished, I start thinking about lyrics. This is a crucial part to take care of if I want to be satisfied with the final result. Usually I take a look in one of my books to see if I can find some story which fits the atmosphere of one specific song, before I take this eventual story and try to turn it into a lyric while preserving the content or structure as much as I can. Some would call it cheating, I say fuck them. J

When all the instruments are recorded, I can start thinking about vocals. Quite frankly I can’t stand making up vocal lines, because it’s such tedious and tiring work. You can come up with a genius line and forget it before you finished your sentence and that tends to happen especially often when you forget to hit the record-button.

Okey, so I’m writing a little novel here, but let’s say everything is recorded and the mixing can take place. The irritating part about mixing your own record when you’re fairly new in the game and don’t have the best routines is that you constantly find new and better sounding techniques, and then you have to change that specific thing in each and every project, which takes fantastically much more time than you would expect. All in all it’s rewarding work, but it can surely make you want to smash your head in the wall every now and then. After mixing the mixdowns get sent to some dedicated mastering studio, since I don’t have the right equipment or skills to take care of that, and hopefully everything falls into place in the end.

9. Do you think is important to know to do it all? You also chose the cover for the album and all in all Myrkgrav is a massive creation. What other artistic/ non-artistic preoccupations you have, that help you create Myrkgrav and, why not, develop yourself as a man? [hobbies?]

As mentioned earlier, I kind of have to have control of everything; leaving things to the uncertain just doesn’t work when you have such clear ideas of what you want. All in all I’m not the most artistic person in the world, but to some degree you can achieve some knowledge about different parts which can help you get started and reach your final goal with hard work and lots of willpower. In fact, Myrkgrav is the manifestation of more or less all my different hobbies, if you can call them that. My interest for local history didn’t come as a result of the band, but rather the other way around, for example. Don’t know if the rest of my hobbies are worth mentioning but I’m very fond of fishing, especially brook trout in spring and a whole other type of fishing, cray, in the autumn. These fishing trips of mine are often combined with longer walks in the forest and/or nature photography, so I guess you can call them hobbies too.

10. In some pictures I see you with a beautiful Hardanger fiddle. You play that too on the next album?

The Hardanger fiddle you see in the photo has quite an irritating story to tell. You see, I really wanted to learn to play the instrument, and the only way to do that is to actually get hold of the instrument first, but taking the fact that a regular Hardanger goes for over 3000 € into consideration, that in itself is hard enough. So I searched the market for a long time until I finally came across this cheap fiddle, which actually was made by a man named Olaf Sandum from Sokna, not far from where I live for something around 100 years ago. Full of naive hope I travelled to the city Drammen, where the salesman lived, to take a look at the fiddle. Not having a lot of experience with the instrument, I thought that it would be a good purchase and that it only need some small repairs to be playable, I decided to buy it for nearly 900 €. That was the biggest mistake I could have made, because when I took it to a craftsman with skill and knowledge about Hardanger fiddles, he told me it was virtually worthless, useless and impossible to put into good condition with repairs. I had been tricked by the salesman, a high-position city council guy (not mentioning names here), and he did not want to give me any of my money back and even less to take the fiddle back into his own possession, so I ultimately ended up with it either way.

I had to tell myself that I had not spent that much money on something that both looked terrible and could never be used, so I asked acoustics- and fiddle expert/builder/repairman Anders Buen to have a look at it. To my fortune he found that he could very well put it in shape with some drastic “surgery” for a reasonable amount of money. I think he ended up thinning the bottom plate of the fiddle with over 9mm, and that’s extremely much for an instrument like this, which isn’t supposed to ever have such thick plates to begin with. In addition he replaced and perfected nearly all other small parts of the fiddle and re-glued a crack on the back of its neck, so even though it’s still not a perfect Hardanger fiddle today, it got worked on by a truly skilled craftsman and made playable and a reasonable newbie-instrument. Actually I have photos of the whole repair process at my personal MySpace profile, so if anyone wants to have a look, go ahead. It can easily be found by looking at my friends list at Myrkgrav’s page.

Unfortunately I don’t have the skill to play it myself for the next release, but I’m trying hard to find someone who can. It seems almost impossible, but now it looks like I have managed to get in touch with a couple of candidates worthy of the challenge, so we’ll see. I promise one thing, and that is that the next Myrkgrav album will include parts played in the Norwegian national instrument; the Hardanger fiddle.

11. Do you think Myrkgrav’s destiny would be different [and how?] if you’d launch it totally in your native language? Or is it just a trend now singing in the native language or maybe a sign of protest against globalization?

I don’t think Myrkgrav would have any other destiny than being put to rest before the first release if I launched it totally in Norwegian. This is mainly because the Norwegian market has almost no interest in the folk metal genre and the band would never ever get signed on any record label.

I don’t know about trends or what the typical metal band thinks about globalization, but if you ask me specifically about Myrkgrav it doesn’t make any sense to sing about old tradition in another language than your own – it’s like instantly removing the whole atmosphere of your themes and subjects.

12. Speaking about the language, you are using a dialect, so even more personalized. Why did you choose this way? Is it closer to folklore, to Myrkgrav’s theme?

This is closely related to the previous question, so I’ll just continue here, by asking a question. How do you most easily express something you want to say about a subject you know about specifically from studying your local area? Do you switch to a very formal and stiff “written” type of language? I don’t. It’s so much easier sounding natural and honest if you sing the way you speak, which I think makes sense. This honesty thing is something I think a lot about. If you sound like you don’t believe in and mean what you try to express, who wants to listen to you? No one.

It’s of course closer to the folklore as well. Actually the history of one of the written Norwegian languages, Bokmål, (this is just one part of it) comes from taking the Danish language we used and adding Norwegian words used by simple and humble Norwegians, like farmers.

13. What can you tell us about the lyrics? Some are composed; some are taken from the folklore. How do you choose/create them?

From now on, I think all the lyrics will be taken from the local history and folklore. The ones with made-up lyrics for the first album were just the demo tracks, and we both know they won’t appear on any new release, so all you get from now on are stories and tales from Ringerike, Lommedalen, Hole and other areas around here. I mentioned earlier how I proceed with turning stories into actual lyrics, but the basic thing is that the story has to fit the atmosphere of a song. I pretty much suck at writing lyrics myself, so often I hand them over to Erlend of Quadrivium, who gives me a helping hand with that process.

14. Myrkgrav is not the only band you play in, there’s also Sworn and Quadrivium. What is the present regarding these bands? Would you like to dedicate all your time to Myrkgrav or it helps you to disconnect and do something different?

I can’t tell you much about Sworn, since I quit that band last summer due to the fact that I wasn’t able to perform live with them.

Even with being a member of Quadrivium, I get more or less all the time in the world to concentrate on Myrkgrav, since Quadrivium is more or less our little playground and outlet of other musical ideas which don’t fit in any other projects we have (although we work with quite a strict musical line as well). We recently got signed on Soulseller records, which will release our debut, concept album Adversus later this year. It has actually been ready for two years, but both Erlend and I have had other things going on and not a lot of time to promote the project, so it isn’t before now we get the chance to put some focus on it again. The album actually sounds like Arcturus in the Aspera Hiems Symfonia-period, but the new material we’re working with sounds very different again.

15. “Skjøn Jomfru” is a song you’ve put on myspace last year, but then you removed it. Is it a song from you next album or why did you took it off? You also have a lot of clean voice on it. Are you satisfied with it[your voice]? Your voice sounds really good in a hard style, too. Which do you prefer?

I removed it because it has to go through some changes before I can be satisfied with it and put it back up. It is indeed a song which will be featured on the next release, but then in the improved version of course.

I wouldn’t say my clean voice is very good or strong, since I can barely sing my own songs. In fact, most of the time I can’t, and therefore I rather choose to hire someone else who can better take care of the job, like Sindre. When it comes to screaming vocals, I’m extremely picky about what I like and not, so even if it sounds narcissistic, I think my own screaming vocals are perfect for Myrkgrav. If I had to find someone else to take care of them for whatever reason, I guess I’d try hard as hell to get hold of Tyrann, who does vocals for Falkenbach and Ordo Draconis amongst others, to take care of them. By far my favorite extreme metal singer.

16. What is your source of inspiration for “Skjøn Jomfru”? What is it about?

Skjøn Jomfru is in fact a traditional Scandinavian folk ballad, I just added an own riff to it to make it a little less repetitive, which I think the other folk song I did suffered from, De to Spellemenn. It is about the definite most popular theme ever to be sung about – love; unlucky love, to be more accurate. The song has been done in countless versions already, so mine is just a try to make a slightly different one.

17. “Leidolfr” was your “stage name” and you gave up on it right before the launch of your debut album and wanted to be known as Lars Jensen. What does that name mean? You wanted to be known for whom you really are, exactly the person?

Leiðólfr means something as hilariously emo as “sad wolf”, so maybe you can see part of the reason why I gave it up, haha. But the main reason was exactly what you said; I wanted to be known for whom I am, not hiding behind any false name. And if you can’t stand for your own music with your own name and honor, what kind of musician are you then?

18. New Myrkgrav merchandise is available, t-shirts, patches. Can you tell us where to get them from and how you like them? I personally can’t wait for my Myrgrav girlie.

Getting hold of the merchandise can quite simply be done via Ureuropa’s webshop at http://ureuropa.com/catalog. As for Norwegians reading this interview, I’ll receive some t-shirts and patches to sell, so they can contact me if they want some.

My original idea of how the design for the shirts was a bit different, but they turned out alright in the end, even though they’re not eyecandy, to say the least. We weren’t able to design shirts with the Ringerike weapon and Myrkgrav M combined, so instead there were made patches with the same thing, which I simply adore.

19. The band Bucovina is the first Romanian band to sing Viking metal. What’s your opinion about their sound, as a descendant of the Vikings, by blood and music too?

As a descendant of the Vikings that didn’t die gloriously in battle (J), I would first of all say that even though it’s nice music, I can’t really hear that it’s Viking metal. The whole Viking metal description as a genre is after all pretty diffuse, as I doubt many Viking metal bands actually have music that sounds anything like the kind of music Vikings performed and listened to. But let’s put that aside. The material itself sounds quite nice, there are many good riffs and the singer doing the clean vocals has an interesting tone in his voice. I do though wish the production was a lot better and that the band would have allowed themselves to use more time recording each part with better precision. There are times when the drums go a bit over trunk and rock (although I appreciate the fact that they use a real drummer instead of programmed drums, like so many bands today), like we say it here, and though the singer’s voice is clear and precise, it seems he sings out of key intentionally over some of the riffs. All in all, the band has good potential; they just need to polish their work a bit. They should also be careful with using Norwegian lyrics full of grammatical mistakes ;)

20. For me it was a pleasure doing this interview and I thank you for your time. What would you like to say in the end to your Romanian readers and listeners?

Likewise, it’s always a pleasure to answer interviews where the questions are bit more thought through! I would encourage the people who are reading this interview to check out Myrkgrav’s music either if they’re usually fond of the folk metal genre or not – maybe they’ll find something interesting by giving it a shot. I would also like to thank you for the opportunity to do this interview and spread the word to the Romanian metal scene about Myrkgrav. Last but not least, if any fans still don’t have the album and in addition want to do some personal advertisement for the band, you can get hold of a Myrkgrav package at Ureuropa, which contains the debut album and both types of patches, for the neat price of 15€. J

===This interview also appears on MetalAct[dot]com