Grutle And Ivar - Enslaved (November 2009)

Enslaved was formed in 1991 out of the Ashes of Norwegian Death metal band Phobia. Like so many of the bands around in Norway during the early 90s Enslaved have progressed their sound a lot, and we decided to ask them some questions about that.

This interview was conducted by Long Haired Asshole with additional questions from Parasite and Anders P. Jørgensen. The interview was answered by founding members Grutle Kjellson and Ivar Bjørnson.

1. Our readers will no doubt know Enslaved from the older black metal days, and into the days of the Viking metal sound, but for those who aren't familiar with what's been going on with Enslaved lately, Could you give a short introduction to what's happened with Enslaved over the last few years?
Grutle: I guess the biggest change soundwise, came along with the release of “Below the lights” (Recorded 2002, released 2003). We changed the line up quite drastically and cut off some “dead meat” in the songwriting. We got things a lot more structured after a period of experimentation (“Mardraum” and “Monumension”), and sort of kept the good stuff from the experimentation days and the elements from our early days. I would say that we transformed our older ideas into a new era for Enslaved. After the release of “Below the lights” we got hold of Cato Bekkevold (Drums),Herbrand Larsen (Keys/Voc) and Arve “Ice Dale” Isdal (Lead guitar. He actually also play the lead parts on “B.T.L”). They have stayed with us ever since and have without any doubts contributed a lot to develop our sound both on recordings and live. We are stronger than ever!


2. You've just released Vertebrae which has already won you a Norwegian Grammy. What are your thoughts on this?
Grutle: It was actually released more than one year ago, but what´s the hurry?!! Hehe… I think it it´s cool to win a Grammy. Acknowledgement is always cool. I don´t give a rats ass if some people find it untrue or not very metal or mainstream/whatever….. The Grammy parties are a different story though…not very rock´n roll…hehe. But still, we appreciate winning the awads a lot!!


3. You've taken a swift change on the last two albums, would you say you prefer your music now or the music you made over ten years ago and before? How would you say the band's sound has changed over the past decade? Was this a natural development, would you say?
Grutle: I think it would have been awfully strange if we´d appreciate what we did 10 years ago rather than the music we make nowadays!

Although I really enjoy a lot of the stuff we made in the early days, I find it hard to imagine us looking backwards and make a “Frost II”, to put it that way. For Enslaved, development has always been the driving force. We can´t stand the idea of copying ourselves, and we are prettty simply trying to make our own favorite music at the present time. Also we have never been afraid of taking inspiration from other musical genres. We are music lovers, not genre lovers, so there´s no limits for what we can include in our music really.


4. I've noticed that there seems to be a lot of Pink Floyd influence to your music as of Monumension and onwards, are they a big influence to your writing and approach ?
Ivar: For me they are very important in all aspects.. It has been one of my top five favorite bands since I was 11 years old. I guess I was more concerned about not “mixing” those kinds of influences into our music in the early days. Around the time of “Mardraum” these self-imposed shackles started to dissolve, and personally I think we maybe went too far on the mentioned “Monumension”. Then, from “Below the Lights” onwards I think we got a lot closer to the ideal balance. I guess “Vertebrae” is the album with the most blatantly outspoken PF influences, and I think it fits the album. Some people hate it, but this is my life’s work; not a popularity contest – let the man-dolls in the biz deal with that.


5. The area you live in (early on in Haugesund and now Bergen) is known for its forest surroundings and hills, have these surroundings inspired the way you write music in anyway ? and how?
Grutle: Yes, It has inspired us a lot I think. Apart from the northern parts of Norway (above the polar circle), the western part were we live has got the most gloomy climate in the whole of Scandinavia. It rains more than 200 days a year, and it´s dark and windy. That is undoubtly colouring the way of writing music, and everything else you do for that matter!!


6. How have the lyrics and philosophy of Enslaved evolved over the last years with the progression in the style of music you have written? Did you start of writing traditional anti-christian lyrics and progress onto viking mythology based lyrics with the style of the music, or was there more to it for Enslaved?
Grutle: Our lyrical “platform” has always been the norse mythology/mystisism with a twist of rage towards the monotheistic world wiew of christianity among others. As we have gotton older and more experienced in life, our lyrics has gotten more deeper and philosophical and not so straight forward as they used to be. More or less similar to our music one can say. On our earlier releases it is easier to pinpoint the inspiration, while they are perhaps a bit more methaphorical nowadays. However, they are still full of mythological references.


7. Following on from the last question, Where do you stand on a religious and philosophical point of view today?
Grutle: I would never concider myself as a religious person, cause religion for me means total obediance , like in the before mentioned monotheistic religions. Such obediance is very far from human nature in my world. In the ancient cults they had no such religious systems that we see in todays religions. They based their life upon advices rather than rules and everything was circled around self development and individual thinking. I try to transforms these ideas into modern life.

8. You've also had many line-up changes over the years, why is this? Would you say it is harder to find musicians interested in playing your new direction of music or the older styles Enslaved was involved with?
Grutle: We´ve had a steady line up since 2003/2004, and we are very satisfied with all our members. After the departure of Roy and Dirge in 2002, it was quite hard to find suitable replacements cause we wanted musicans that could add something more than the “usual”. We started to look a little outside the extreme metal scene and after a while we got hold of three brilliant musicans that had a lot of different musical experience, and different from me and Ivar´s extreme metal background. I would say it was a very wise move, although it took some time!


9. Black Metal I hear is Norway's biggest musical export, why do you think this is?
Ivar: We are quite strong in all the “sub”-genres; electronica, jazz, contemporary music, noise ambient and so on. I think the Norwegian spirit, if such a thing exists, is quite tuned into individual thinking and living out the dream of being different and independent. Due to the historical scarcities (Norway was one of Europe’s absolutely poorest nations before the oil was discovered in the early 70’s) and rough living very far apart from each other it might have been a necessity to conform and keep your thoughts to yourself. This could have created a lack of balance in our minds and finally this has found an expression through music. Also we’ve had a particularly “un-glamorous” version of Christianity up here – the Pietism has oppressed vitality and free living to the extent that it had to explode in an anti-movement at some time. And it did. Finally I think the Norwegian Extreme Metal bands are very good at what they do – they focus and work hard. Most of us anyways, hehe.


10. When you started your sound was undoubtedly black metal, and black metal has always been surrounded in controversy over satanic lyrics and murder, were you trying to distance yourself from this ?
Ivar: We were never Black Metal, and we have been clear about that since day ONE in 1991. For us and the Norwegian scene at the time, the foundation of a Black Metal band is Satanic. I still think that way – for me Danzig is more satanic than any band singing about everyday life with a Black Metal “sound” as you call it. So yes, we were indeed closer to the Black Metal bands in the early days in terms of sound, but we were never and will probably never be a Black Metal band as there is no Satanism here.. That is out of respect for both us and our fans, as well as the actual Black Metal bands and their fans. Being genuine is more important than whatever trends are selling at any time. The ironic thing is that I sometimes think we’re “Black Metal” in spirit with all our harmonies and Pink Floyd tattoos than a lot of the shallow stuff that are stamping itself with the Black Metal seal of approval these days hehe.



11. Let's take a step or 2 back in time, to the band prior to Enslaved, Phobia, a dark and heavy death metal trip into the obscure. What happened back then when the band demised, and how had you changed personally and mentally since the new incantation Enslaved had changed from death metal, into black/viking metal?
Ivar: I think there is some kind of connection to our previous question here. We started Phobia and had a great time, being influenced by Death Metal like Autopsy and Morbid Angel (which we still are 100% into) – but I think me and Grutle grew tired very quickly from the shallowness; the lack of real commitment, the lack of a direction, a concept. The other guys were more or less having a good time and dreaming of naked chicks backstage and free parties. Not being patient people me and Grutle dismantled the band and started something of our own, determined to inject meaning and direction into the band. We were the same people but the band was us, and we were the band.


12. Later on when Enslaved's atmopshere turned darker, did you draw on inspiration from the same sources as with Phobia or did they come from somewhere else?
Grutle: We were totally into bands like Entombed, Darkthrone, Autopsy and Carcass when we played in Phobia and those influences are very significant on the Phobia-songs, no doubt! We brought with us some of those influences when we formed Enslaved too, yet they are not THAT visible. You can find some Death Metal influences here and there on our first demo tapes, but I think you will find more influences from bands such as Master´s Hammer, Bathory, Mayhem, Destruction, Sodom and Celtic Frost.


13. How much did the Darkthrone demos and Soulside Journey mean to you as a person and as a band? As I keep on making myself believe that I can hear traces of it in Phobia's material and later on in Enslaved, not directly, though in the way you built up some of the music, the suddenness of new elements and the dream-state like use of technical pieces.
Grutle: “Soulside Journey” is an amazing album, and I´m pretty sure that´s the album from that era that has been spinning around most on my record player! It meant a lot to us, both in Phobia and later in Enslaved. It sounded like nothing else emerging from Norway when it came out in 91. The technical playing, the dark sound, the complex yet melodic songs totally blew us away. It still does! It is one of my all time favorite albums. Darkthrone is an utterly great band! Both musical and personal.


14. Well, let's get back to Enslaved, I have a really hard time to pick out a favorite album by you, though Frost, Mardraum, Below The Lights and Isa are all fighting to get the top spot. If you had to pick out the Enslaved album that means the most to you and you find is the closest to perfection, what album would you pick?
Ivar: No surprise it is “Vertebrae” for the time being. The only surprise I can offer is perhaps that “Isa” is in the second place (so it is not ALL about chronology hehe). I think the common denominator is that “Isa” and “Vertebrae” have a production that fits the atmosphere of the music and lyrical concepts; the wholeness of those albums is something I am very proud. Also on the top three I would put “Hordanes Land” the MLP from 1993. Don’t get me wrong I love ALL the albums, but these three have something “magical” between the music, concept and production. I am pretty confident our next one is on that path too.


15 . As mentioned earlier, you seem tied to nature as a band, and the productions and sounds of the more recent albums have also gone in a more harmonic and organic direction. So how do you look upon the environmental tasks that we are put in front of these days, with global warming, the ice-melting at the poles, the overall state of the polluted earth and so forth, any thoughts on that, do you do anything to save energy, recycling etc. and how does it sound if one of Enslaved's new ventures would be, being the first CO2 neutral metal band around?
Ivar: That is a VAST subject, so I’ll only be fooling around with some thoughts here – not the entire chain of thought. I think a natural disaster, the natural holocaust would be very well deserved. Man has been putting himself one a false throne now for so many centuries; using monotheistic religion as an excuse to disband any personal responsibly (“God wants me to use plastic”). I really do believe in the global warming and the coming of very hard times – but I do not fear them; there are too many people and too much resources being spent. Some of us have to suffer, it is inevitable. How it happens or when I don’t know, but I think it is ridiculous when people act as if it isn’t happening. Myself I try to save as much energy as possible, I enjoy walking around Bergen as well as taking public transportation. Also my office is freezing cold all the time to save heating. Let’s see about the CO2 neutrality – not a bad idea!


16. Of the new bands that are popular in today's metal scene which would you say are the most individual in approach and sound?
Ivar: Hard question… I don’t know how new they are, but I like the Norwegian (!) Shining a lot – the experimental progmetaljazz band. They are due soon with a new album that is a lot more metal, a real breath of fresh air in a stale scene!


17. Any chance of a full U.K tour I know there are plenty of people here wishing for you to return?
Grutle: Absolutely!! We love playing in the UK. It has always been among our favorite territories! We seem to have a solid fanbase in UK, and our British fans (and the press!) always seem to embrace our albums! UK is awesome, thanks!!


18. You performed at Bloodstock this year, I personally prefer a smaller club venue as I feel it is more personal, and the crowd can connect more with the band and work of each other. How do you feel about festival gigs or smaller gigs? Which do you prefer and how do you approach each differently?
Grutle: I like both, and there should not be any difference in the performance! One should always act like you play in front of 20.000 people…hehe. But of course, in real life there is a difference. It´s of course extremely cool to hear the roar of thousands of people in the crowd, but the intimate and often energic symbiosis you can create together with the audience in a small club is simply magic!


19. Thanks for your time to do this interview, take the your time to say any last words, tell us What we can expect from Enslaved in the future, and any contact details you wish to give out to the readers.
Ivar: Expect a new album sometime in the 2nd half of 2010, and more massive touring. Also a new DVD should be coming after that… Check out our Facebook, Myspace and Twitter pages; for the more old school oriented there is of course still www.enslaved.no hehe.

Lava aka Radek - Amok (November 2009)

Amok hails from Norway and I discovered them as the attachment to a Taake split EP "Nordens Doedsengel" (Where Amok delivers the "Sadistic Attack" demo). I wasn't that impressed by the music in the start, though after some spins the music started to grow on me, and when the band released their debut full length in 2006, I was hooked. Now 3 years later the band is working on their second album and I hooked up with mainman Lava also known as Radek to hear what was going on and a lot of other things!

1. Hails Radek, please start this interview up by telling a bit about yourself and what fuels your drive for metal!
I have earlier been playing guitar/bass in bands such as Aeternus, Taake and Slavia. I was also a member of Dead to This World for a short period, and did some minor contributions on Orcustus' selftitled full-length album (out on Southern Lord Records – check out this rabid grimness!). Beside that I have had Amok as my main band since 2000.

As for what fuels my drive for metal, there is a lot of stuff I guess. Today I would have to mention Megadeth's "Rust In Peace", Dissection's "Reinkaos", Tragedy's "Vengeance", Massacra's "Final Holocaust" and Deicide's "Deicide", "Legion" and "Serpents of the Light". I also recently got introduced to the Swedish band Agrimonia and had to get their album immediately. Check them out on www.myspace.com/agrimonia and buy their debut CD/LP!

When it comes to music inspiring me to compose music for Amok, it is stuff both within the metal genre as well as non-metal music.

2. You are the mastermind behind the entity Amok, how and when did you get the idea for this band?
Amok started up in 2000. I was playing in Aeternus at that point of time, but I wanted to do some more old school, furious, aggressive and chaotic music. The main inspiration then was Sadistik Exekution, VON, Blasphemy, Beherit, punk and raw thrash from the eighties. I started writing a few tracks, and got Stanley to help out with drums and bass. We recorded a 4-track rehearsal, it consisted of two tracks: "Flamethrower" and "Reptile Gate". In 2001 Mord joined us as the new drummer, and from then Stanley only handled the bass. With this line-up we recorded our two demos ("Sadistic Attack" and "LAVA Dictatorship") and did a few live performances.

3. The music you deliver with Amok is put together by quite a wide range of styles, elements and at times a quite claustrophobic atmosphere, how did you end up with that expression?
In the beginning we had kind of stricter frames we worked within, when composing material for Amok. But after a while I did not care to bother, because I felt the band would stagnate. I have always been inspired by a lot of stuff, both from music and from life in general, and I wanted to use all of this to get a more personal and diverse expression. In the end it all culminates with an annihilating darkness. This atmosphere is what we reach for while composing the material.

4. What is the philosophy behind the band?
Darkness, doom and self-honesty.

5. How do you work when you write music and how do you get inspired to make new music?
There is no certain way I create a song for Amok. Sometimes I get inspired by a lyric I have written or a lyrical theme I have come up with. Sometimes just the right chord is enough to get the ball rolling. Other times I have almost all the music already composed in my head before I start. When I have the music ready for a track, I make a pre-production of the track with guitars, programmed drums and occasionally bass. So the rest of the members can check out the stuff.

6. What is the main-inspiration behind Amok and what would you like the ones listening to your music to react from it?
As mentioned earlier, there is all kind of different stuff that inspires me to compose music. The important thing is that all the moments of inspiration are channeled through me and end up as Amok. I do not give much thought about how the listeners will react. But hopefully they will be sucked into morbidity their own mind-fucked brain processes, and discover pure beauty.

7. A thought that have popped into my head several times while listening to your music, is that it possesses the same youthful and experimenting elements as Mayhem's "Deathcrush". What does that album mean to you and have the music, atmosphere and expression from that release inspired you?
I personally like "Deathcrush" a lot. It sounds fresh even today. It is more raw and brutal than any "blast-beat band" and much more punk than any of today's bands playing punk/black metal/rock 'n' roll.

I can not say that we had this EP in mind while we composed music for Amok, but I sure can say that the expression "Deathcrush" delivers is a perfect example of the period of death/black Metal that inspires me even today.

8. You are as we speak, in the middle of preparing a new record, you have already made the pre-production for it, and is now looking for a label, if I'm not totally mistaken. Have you had contact with some interested labels and what kind of label would be a perfect fit for Amok?
We have fished the recording of all guitars and bass for the coming album.

In December we will record drums and vocals, and then mix the album in Grieghallen in the end of January 2010.

A few labels have been in touch, but nothing of great interest yet. Then again we have not been very active in contacting labels either, since we are in the middle of a studio recording. We want to make some sort of promo when the album is recorded, and send it out to some interesting labels. A label like The Ajna Offensive or Rise Above Records would be perfect.

9. Your first album "Necrospiritual Deathcore" was released by Planet Satan Revolution, why did you part with that label?

We want to sign to a bit more active label, which can support our coming album with proper promotion. The label also has to be able to pay for our studio costs and has to have a decent distribution network.
All serious labels with interest can get in touch: amoklava@gmail.com

10. How was that first album of yours received by the fanbase you made yourself with your demo and vinyl releases?
The reviews of "Necrospiritual Deathcore" have been both positive and negative. But I have got the impression that people who have been into our music since the beginning likes the album.

11. How do you yourself feel about the album, now when you have gotten some distance to it?
I am personally satisfied with that album. That goes for the music, the sound and the whole package (cover/booklet/design).

12. Let's return to your coming album, it is entitled "Exodus Reversal Hex" and consists of 5 tracks, I reckon those tracks are of a certain length and contains the same pummeling power, as your music has hold so far. Though now when I have you, why don't you tell us what we can expect of the music, how it is compared to your earlier material and what the theme behind the lyrical side of the material is?
As you have mentioned, the album will consist of five tracks. The titles are: "Remembered With Uttermost Hatred", "East Of the River Where Life Is Drunk", "Triangular Corridors", "A Glimpse of His Splendor" and "Speak Up Your Sins, the Winds Are Howling From the Sea".

The tracks length varies a bit, the shortest one being 6 minutes and the longest one being 12 minutes.

It is difficult for me to explain the music on our new album. I guess I can say it is going to sound more doom and trance. Well, people should check it out when it is released next year sometime.

The lyrics are more open for the listener's interpretation this time. It might not seem as direct as the lyrics on our earlier releases, but the message behind them is still pretty clear-cut.

13. How long time did you use on writing the material and how long time did you use in the studio recording the pre-production?
I started to write the material in the end of 2006, after the release of "Necrospiritual Deathcore". The material was finished by the end of 2008/beginning of 2009. I took my time and let things flow naturally. I did not want to repeat myself nor stress the flow of development. I guess I used a few months for the pre-production.

14. Do you already have planned where you wanna do the actual recording, who you want to produce it and what about the cover artwork, is the actual work in place or have you pinned who you want to make it?
We have already recorded all the guitars and bass for the album. All keys/effects/programming are also finished. We will start recording the drums in the beginning of December, and start recording the vocals after the drums are done. We are recording the whole album ourselves. The plan is to mix the album in Grieghallen in the end of January 2010.

I have the cover and some of the design figured out. This time we are going to work with a designer that is a friend of mine, and who is located here in Bergen.

15. You have also changed vocalist since the last release, Necrocum is gone and Kybermensch has entered. Why the change and how is Kybermensch's vocals compared to those of Necrocum?
For this album we wanted a different approach regarding the vocals. The way things ended up, I will do the main vocals. There might be some contributions from Kybermensch. He did the clean vocals on "Goatflesh Removal" ("part I (Corpus Christi)" and "II (Memento Mori)") (From the "Necrospiritual Deathcore" album, Anders).

16. You are a part of the Misantrof AntiRecords family, a site where we can find a compilation of your demos and 7" material, some live material and so forth. Why did you enter the cooperation with Misantrof and how active is the organization nowadays?
I think that Misantrof AntiRecords is really interesting concept. They asked us if we wanted to contribute with some material, and I thought it would be a good way to make our old recordings available for new listeners in a very easily accessible format. We have put up the "Execution Compilation" (consisting of: "Sadistic Attack" [demo 2001], "LAVA Dictatorship" [demo 2002] and "Effective Mass-Torture" [promo 2003]) for download. The promo-video for "Effective Mass-Torture" and Amok's debut concert is also available for download.

I think Vrangsinn is putting quite an effort into his work with Misantrof AntiRecords. He is working with some new stuff with his Phobia project and it seems sick and wicked.

Misantrof AntiRecords is something fresh compared to the regular way the corrupt record business is ran. Beside music, Vrangsinn also gives tips about open-source programs etc. People should check it out for themselves: www.misantrof.net. Support!

17. Who came up with the idea for your awesome logo of Amok and who has drawn it?
Our former vocalist, Necrocum, has designed this logo. It is developed from our first logo, that also was drawn by him.

18. In the past you used to be a part of and helping out quite a few bands, which bands are you a part of and helping out nowadays?
These days I only play in Amok. The only thing that I have planned for the future is to contribute with guest vocals on a couple of tracks for the Danish band Sagntid (www.myspace.com/sagntid). People should check out this band, it is ambient music with a great atmosphere to it.

19. How does it look on the live front, do you have some gigs lined up?
We have not played lived since 2002, and we have no plans for doing that in the nearest future. Amok has been functioning as a studio band since 2003, and we are 100% confident with our situation. I am not saying that we will never perform live again, but I do not see the point in playing live for the sake of playing live. To put it in a different way, I would rather read a book myself than having the author reading it for me.

20. Do you have more material planned to be released on vinyl in the near future?
We have recorded two bonus tracks ("Chapel of Embalmment" and "Silent Worship") in 2007 for the LP edition of "Necrospiritual Deathcore". The plan is to mix these tracks when we will mix "Exodus Reversal Hex". If all goes as planned, this LP will be released through Nuclear War Now!. We want to release the LP in 1000 copies, where 300 copies will come as a “die hard” edition including a bonus 12" EP with these two tracks.

We also want to have our coming album released on LP.

There were, by the way, some plans about releasing a 10" split EP with Iperyt. Agonia Records contacted us in 2006 and wanted to do this release. They got all the material and layout stuff, but we have not heard from them since. Seems as a pretty fucked up and frivolous label, from what I have heard from other people working with them. Amok's side was supposed to be the 2003 promo "Effective Mass-Torture" (including a bonus outro), so it was really nothing new for the listeners. The only thing is that I think Iperyt is a really energetic and violent band, and releasing a split with them would be good.

21. Thanks a lot for answering my questions, if you think I have forgotten anything or you just have something to add, feel free to add it now!
Thanks for the interview. Check out the new Amok album, "Exodus Reversal Hex", to be released in 2010.

"His blood shall be upon us and on our children."

H.V. - Wormlust (November 2009)

There aren't many bands from Iceland. Here is an interview with one of Iceland's Black Metal bands, Wormlust which arose from the ashes of another project named Wolfheart. This interview was conducted with H.V. on Friday 13th November 2009.

1. Not many people will have heard of wormlust so please introduce yourself.
Wormlust,-the vessel from which asphyxiaton metal is spewed. I have a forthcoming split coming out on Total Holocaust Records with Haud mundus titled Oblivio appostitus and a demo this year that explores the paths we must all travel down into the void.


2. Most bands change names due to line up changes or drastic changes in the sound. What was your reason for changing the name?
It was exactly that, a drastic change in sound . It also gave me the means to a modus operandi, a singularity to draw from. the meaning also runs deeper than that of the first name I chose - but that one is up to others to decipher.

3. Wolfheart/Wormlust has had other members in the ranks, but I believe you've written most of the music. Will this always be the case or will you have other members who will become permanent members and have an input on the material?
Wolfheart was to be a live band and I rehearsed all of the material that later became the Ave Nokturnum demo with a drummer but nothing besides the demo became of that. At this stage its not a band but the musical journals of my trips into the extremes, and I doubt that anyone could keep up with my work schedule. Its erratic at best, most of my music has been written in one go with long hours behind it.

Outside of vocal contributions It has only been me and will remain that way. The only additional personnel I think might work would be drums,and that in the mixing stage.

One ultimately goes down the paths to oblivion alone and the work ethic of Wormlust reflects that fact.


4. You worked with some other bands in the past. Are you still working on other projects? Do you prefer having multiple members input into the music? Or do you prefer just having your own input as you have done with Wolfheart/Wormlust?
I currently have one other band beyond Wormlust, but mostly to further extend my abilites as a musician. It´s an expression of my fondness for psychedelia and psychedelics, something that has translated rather poorly into blackmetal I feel. We shall see.

I have been in traditional bands countless times and working with others can have its rewards but it rarely translates into anything meaningful.

I like having total control in Wormlust, and idea of control itself. - With music you can influence a person aurally into a certain mood by something that you create. Art defined as the act of personal expression outside of the primal urges does not exist I believe. It´s all about dominance. By myself I can keep the overall vision and ultimately the control.


5. You spent some Time studying in the UK. Did you feel that the metal scene was very different in the UK to Iceland? Did you work on any music while you were in the UK? And if so did you feel the music was very different from when you were in Iceland?
Yeah, the most notable difference I remember were the pre-rehearsed rockstar poisturing of many of the bm bands I saw in the uk, I honestly can´t see that here. It´s probably because of how small the venues are for underground bands in iceland, I suppose its harder to act like a blackmetal bon jovi when you are on eye level with your audience.
Icelandic bands on a large degree also seem to have more of chaotic vibe to them.

I saw a show f.i with Svartidauði where they played in a middle of the crowd and the frontman would from time to time physically assault audience members, by the end the crowd had been beaten into a kind of state of submission. It was intense.

The material I did for the split was all recorded in London, It was a turning point musically. Because of negative outside factors I shut myself from the world and wrote the songs. The urban landscape gives as much as it takes.


6. You are having vocals done by Wann from Rebirth of Nefast. How Did this come about since Wann is from Ireland. Did you meet during your studies in the UK? Do you think you might have any other members joining wormlust in the future, and if so, think you'd ever play live?
Yes, He did the vocals for the split and an excellent job at that. But I cant really comment beyond that. He does not want to broadcast his personality - So I must respect those wishes.

As for playing live I dont think that would be a possibility, there are up to 200 overdubbed guitars at time , and the idea of translating that into a live show is a nightmare -also it would lose the drowning feeling which the guitar orchestra creates.


7, DOes Iceland have a good live scene? DO many gigs come through there? Or do you have to travel to other countries in order to be able to see any live shows?
The live scene is active, I go out once in a blue moon to see the bands that I like - seeing that most of them play about hundred times too many a year you can usually pick when.

All of the foreign bands that come through here are horrible, reflections of how out of touch with reality most promoters are. I dont have enough fingers and toes to count all the horrible power/prog/hair-metal bands and at the same time a limbless person could count the really good ones.


8. How does the Icelandic landscape affect the msuic you make with your projects? Wormlust's demo didnt really have a traditional sound and sounded rather unique. Do you think this is a result of where you were located? Do you think the sound would have been different if you stayed n the UK and continued to record there?
I cant say that the landscape influenced me much in the making of the demo, the external didn´t really move me . I let the internal be the guide when making the demo- the theme was the path to mental absence. Under the influence of days of sleep deprivation I started recorded things I would not have been created otherwise, I kept on pushing myself and recording until the music started to smother everything out of me. It is the map to my streams of consciousness for the listener then to drown in.

I dont think I would have made another sound if I had stayed in the Uk, it got rather intense in the end.

9. You have a split coming out with Haud Mundus threough Total Holocaust Records. How will the material on this split differ from the material on the demo?
It is a reworked recording of a 2006 demo I did while living in london. Its more brutal and raw,but still has the similar emotionless feel to it. Like the demo it was written in one go but this one has the benefit of hindsight.


10. What else can we expect from yourself and wormlust in the future?
I am currently mapping out the execution of a Lp which deals with the theme of drowning and all that it entails,that is asphyxiating mentally,aurally and physically - exploring more paths into oblivion.


11. Thanks for taking out some time for this interview. Do you have any last words you'd like to share? Website or snail mail contacts?
You drown not by falling into a river, but by staying submerged in it.

To get the split : http://thr666.horde.se/

For band contact : Hafsteinn1@gmail.com

Cain - Snowfall (Sometime in 2005??)

Snowfall are an obscure black metal band from the Canadian shores. The two main characters behind the project have been long time komrades who enjoy living their lives in the darkness self destructing with plenty of booze and intoxicating substances. This interview was conducted some time in 2005.

1. gegroet komrades, introduce yourself and your project snowfall!
Cain. Im the lungs in snowfall. Dramen and i started snowfall on a drunken night in the summer of 2002 and we've been pissing in the underground ever since.

2. you have released a split with funeral fog, your side was initially released on the now deceased krist burning prod label (which you ran) in tape format, tell us some about this tape and the label.
It was called "winter falls over the northlands" and we shat it out in 2003 but recorded and mixed it in 6 hours in the summer of 2002. due to your average bullshit we had to dig up the cash to pay for it, and when we did it took forever to sell. Mostly because it isn't trendy at all, no heaviness, no blast beats, no blazing fast technical melodies, no happy goth synths and shit, just hellhammer and bathory pull offs, straitforward black metal in its purest form and since we listened to a shit load of punk it is heavily power chord oriented you know, double bass and old shcool shit. just simplistic monotone too grim for the death metal hippies and the zoned out metalheads.

krist burning productions was created sometime in the winter of 2002/2003 by dramen, but later on we got harrassed by the pigs for our flyers, calling it "hate propoganda" or some bullshit, and the postal office went overboard on checking all packages from the mail box, so we changed the name to Dark Storm Productions to get rid of all the bullshit. Dramen handles all the buisness and shit, i don't mess with that stuff.

3. about bands/labels and such, do either of you run any other projcts or bands or what not you'd wish to shamelessly plug and let us know about?
I had an old band called bloodlust which never released anything, a split might come out, but we havent practiced our material for a year or so. i play guitar and vocals for bloodlust. Dramen does Ashes of christ, and has about 3 or 4 songs and is working on his own released, it is simplistic girm as fuck black metal, just his one man band, alot like burzum and xasthur.

4. I recall one of you (or both?) stating you are a pagan or heathen, what would you say you mean by this, are you wiccan? odinistic? atheist? a religion which predates christianity?
speaking for myself, I have some beleifs of the supernatural, but mostly i believe in nihilism and i do have my own spiritualities in paganism and satanism and such, but niether of us have a "religeon". we do worhsip death and nothingness, celebrate hatred and violence and rape, and any anti-jesus anti-god anti-yahweh and anti-allah organizations and phiosophies, but we don't follow any pathetic rules on morality or helping people. it's all about misanthropy and darkness... thats what lacks from most black metal...these kids or these lazy rich fat fucks...they don't know EVIL or HATE or DARKNESS! its all fantasy and comic book shit, but for us its real. evyerthing we write about is real life shit, with no metaphores. we mean every fucking word and every note.

5. continuing from the last question, what are your inspirations for the music and the lyrics, do you look up to other bands for the musical sides? and what do the lyrics involve? mythology? or?
no mythology, no fantasy or any of that shit. only personal thoughts and experiences. i write all the lyrics, and they are dealing with violence, suicide, death, spirits, woods, self mutilation, drugs, alcohol, molestation, hatred and depression. the more violent side of us is about the real life shit we ahve delt with... i have written about vomiting blood after nights of drunkness, cutting myself open, waking up after not eating for days due to my cocaine intake, offering or rather advocating suicide to anyone, my own personal negativity i deal with almost daily, our hatred of fucking dogs of religeon, kikes, camel jockies or jesus cock suckers, fighting whigger pussies in the streets and the future demise of religeon and society... it is eveyrthing we hate and lvoe about this world.

the more mystical, or grim side of us is about experiences in the woods dealing with the supernatural, rituals, or spiritualities that id rather not talk about... but we mix both together...

as far as music? for me it is mainly old school thrash and black, but im also a huge punk fan. basicaly the bands i listen to most are venom, hellhammer, celtic frost, bathory, sacrifice, exploited, discharge, black sabbath, motorhead, the cockney rejects, verbal abuse, slayer, posessed, sarcofago, gg allin, the cure, sextrash, von, vulcano, beherit, all the old school shit, most music nowadays sucks. i don't mention the nordic bands because we dont listen to much besides darkthrone, and thats not often. i love the msuic, but it doesnt really INSPIRE me.... im an 80's fanatic.


6. As far as i know there isnt much of a nova scotian scene, i have heard of only one other black metal band from there who release the MayheM & misery disk, i cant remember the band's name but i do recall they had a pretty gay vision of things. a false black metal band so to speak. Are there any komrades you might want to let us know about who are worth checking out?
Funeral fog are the grimest, been going since 87' actually, and we drink with krall(the guitarist of ff) all the time. Hellacaust is definitly a good band to look at, they are more thrash oriented. there are afew others who are decent and whatnot, but i don't pay attention to the scene, mostly because they hate us. in fact the punk community likes us more!


7. You are a partly canadian and partly american outfit. How did this happen? how'd you end up having members for these different countries? Are there other members in snowfall? How does the recording process work?
Technically we have five members, i wont list them all because i know the line up will change before we record again, like always. but the 2 main members are Cain(me) and Dramen, but we have an official drummer, rythym guitarist and bass player, but none of them will be on the next albulm due to money and time. we'll use session players again. jsut read the cd booklets for detail, it would take me years to explain all our past members. bassically, it works like this : i fly to canada and leave this shit hole for a few weeks every winter and summer and we record and drink, and every so often dramen comes here, but america is a shit hole so thats rare. due to our line up and the local venues lack of cooperation with us, we've only done 1 gig.

8. what do snowfall like the recording suroundings to be like? a snow covered forest?
depends, i prefer them to sound grainy but not too muddy, like morbid tales or apocalyptic rights. we have decent quality, not 100 percent necrohell shit or crystal clear. just decent enough, we don't care either way to much, as long as it sounds old school and nasty.


9. I suppose the name snowfall comes from having an affinity towards the winter season. I want you both to list for us what the four seasons mean to you.
it comes because we wanted ot make the coldest shit possible and because its a good name that wasnt taken.

Winter: cold, dark, depressing, lonely. this is when snowfall is at its grimmest.
Spring: annoying, and stagnated. always the spring brings the problems.
Summer: drinking, sleeping in the woods, doing shit loads of drugs, fighting, listening to immense punk and thrash. this is when we are most oldschool.
Fall: the transition into our grimmer phase, when the mystique of samhain darkens the world and hope begins to fade again.

10. lets throw in another opinionated question... How do you both feel about the following.

(i) black metal morons who say "i dont care about nature"
May as well be christians who want to live in the city so they can shop more and ride to work easier. in fact they are. they fear the woods. not just anyone can venture out at night without protection into a place where man has no true control. we sleep in the woods in just our jackets, we dirnk there, ehll sometimes we fuck our girlfriends there! its a place of darkness and serenity.

(ii) recent occurances with varg's escape from prison
too bad they didnt shoot him down before he gave up. oh well, we hope for next time.

(iii) atilla csihar's getting arrested for carrying shitloads of drugs
Don't have much of an opinion, but im glad he still does drugs and hasn't turned into a complete pussy.

(iv) the recent rise in raw black metal across the globe and people who like to state "i like telling xians to fuck off".
Trends. graduated humanitarian nu emtal fucks who don't know hatred anymore then living by themselves and living a shitty painful life... msot of them are rich suburban kids! they dont have to fucking work, they dont do drugs or drink, they just think its cool cuz cradle is on sony now. its all a fucken trend. it will die off.

(v) chuch arson
It needs to happen more. If we had more of a following, perhaps we'd engage. theres plenty of wooden churches in canada just waiting, but i won't state any locations, or if we plan on it. that would be fucking stupid if i did, now wouldn't it? but people lack balls, the old flame still burns, its just a matter of time

11. how do you feel about national socialism or NSBM?
I don't mind it, i don't agree with it, and i think the white race is equally shit as any other, but i don't care if someone holds those ideals. ocasionally the nazis get annoying when they preach more about killing blacks then killing christians. black metal is not about pride, its about hate without pretension, and a lot of these skins dont see that, they see it as only violent music, not dark essence which is as bad as 13 year old bowl short haird christian kids. well perhaps a bit better, but not by much, you know? in fact we've been in a few fights with skins.

12. what are your attitudes towards Americana and the Capitalist dogma the entire world seems to have sold its soul to (what do you think of the people on Ebay who sell Vlad Tepes splits for in excess of $300 each? (altough I know this ties in with the above)?
bullshit. anyone paying that for a cd is either a fat rich fuck or a total dumbass. fuck america.

13. I saw this done in another interview and i think it's a great idea... so ask yourself any question you'd like to be asked in an interview and answer it. I demand you both do this!
well, id ask myself what kinds of drugs do you prefer? then id say what have you got? any strong booze or opiates? how about some coke? as far as dramen, i dont know what he would ask himself.


14. Thanks for taking out the time on this interview, i leave this last bit for you to throw down your curse upon who ever you wish, and advertise your homepages + contacts and such.
rape children, do drugs, kill yourself, start fires and send us drugs. fuck off, die.

www.darkstormproductions.com

Foglord Gwalikath - Nekantropy (February 2004)

Nekantropy was a raging Black Metal project from Canada, this interview was completed in February 2004 with the main force behind the project Foglord Gwalikath.


1. A brief synopsis of the projects history/contributing members/release history
So far, Nekantropy has had three acual contributing members. Nekantropy was formed in 2001, for the expressing of the thoughts of Gwalikath. These three members include Gwalikath, Arataus (Misvita) and Dohmnach (Forest of Castles). These members were generally added to do drum programming and some bass. However, with the recording quality we had to deal with, this was not overly successful. I have now taken things into my own hands and currently songs are being recorded for the next demo. The only demo released so far is Foglords. This is not an active portrayal of the music to come.


2. Give some general thoughts on the inspiration behind the music.
Inspiration behind the music would include medieval aspects and hate towards today’s humanity. The race of mankind was once glorious, however of late many aspects (interracial-breeding, multiculturalism, democracy, rise of technology) have destroyed what was left of our race.


3. Some specifics on your sound.
The sound is raw and grinding, often improvised at certain parts in the music. Drums are normally filled with blastbeats and guitars are generally not technical. Expect more mystical Nekantropy in the future.


4. what does your music portray or represent?
My music represents all that my mind thinks. Stagnation in the dark ages, nature and separation of the cultures.


5. What is your opinion on the state of the underground situation?
Frankly, my area brings nothing black metal. I have little care or respect for any “black metal” scene. Most of the bands you can see nowadays are generally trendfaggits who all go after the same satanic, evil path. This is not what, in my opinion, black metal is about.


6. What is coming up for this project over the next 1-2 years?
Most likely some splits with Geimhre or other Canadian hordes I respect.


7. Ask yourself one question you'd like to be asked and answer it.


8. Thanks or taking the time to fill this out, any last words?
Stay true to yourself, may the human race choke on the grey ash of nuclear warheads.


9. Do You Have Any Contact Info? Such As A Homepage, Snail Mail or Email Addies.
You can contact me about the demo at Nekantropy@Death-star.com or use MSN via necromayhem@antisocial.com

Hellbastard & Krigkniv - Hangöver (January 2006)

Hangöver is a black/thrash band from Poland. This interview was conducted with the only permanent members Hellbastard and Krignkiv in January 2006. The interview was publiched in Estonian metal zine Pläkk, and appears here in English for the first time.


1. Hell-o. How did 31st December ended for you. Blury, I hope.
Hellbastard:I can’t recall, I don’t care. Shit like New Years are just silly excuses for college boys to drink and try to get laid. We don’t need excuses, we drink whenever we feel like and we bone on a regular basis. Burp!

Krigkniv: I did mescaline again. I danced with the spirit of the buffalo. Go figure…


2. Hangover wasn't that active for couple of years because herr Slut Eviscerator was having some problems in his personal life. Now year 2006 starts of with Hangover releasing MCD, so he is back and kicking then? Any additions to line-up?
Hellbastard: Hangöver was never too active anyway, well in playing department at least. I guess Hangöver is state of mind – that’s why Slut Eviscerator is still in the band even if we haven’t seen him for 2 years first and then we don’t see him too often as well. Well, fuck this. As for the new MCD, one can hardly say we’re back… We’re never back, we’re always far away, then we appear and record something whenever we feel like or have a chance to do so.
Anyhow, the MCD ain’t the first thing coming from us lately, there was a brand new scrotumtwisting crotchkickin’ track released on the glorious “Thrash metal blitzkrieg vol. 1” seven incher on Deathstrike Records, somewhere in 2005. Better get this EP, as we kicked some major ass the new song.

As for the “Under the shitfluence” MCD, to cut the story short – I’ve been working with my Swedish friend Krigkniv (of HORNED or THE LAW fame), a guitar player who recorded a guest solo on “Thrash metal blitzkrieg” song, then we’ve met up in December 2005 again, so we deciced to record a few (six, to be exact) GG Allin songs, because we thought they rule and we always wanted to do something with it. So yeah, I did the drums and vocals, Krigkniv blasted some guitars and shit, and then we had our pal Dreadnacht record bassturbation for us and here we go, so bite it you scum!

Krigkniv: I’m the new guy. Err..

Hellbastard: SHUT THE FUCK UP AND GIVE ME TWENTY! GO GO GO GO SHITHEAD!!!


3. Can you share some light on your upcoming GG ALLIN tribute? Wasn't he the guy who ate his own shit on stage?
Hellbastard: Well, as said before, the MCD will contain 6 songs – I kill everything I fuck, Die when you die, Bite it you scum, Son of evil, Suck my ass it smells and Highest power and I tell you – they’ll split your wig instantly. And yes, indeed, Jesus Christ Allin was the fella who liked to taste his own bowel movements, but first of all he was a great musician with a diehard attitude. It was hard to pick only a few songs from the wide selection of great songs he’d record but I believe we made some good choices.

Krigkniv: Fuck yeah bro! The king of the underground can’t be saluted enough. It was our duty to do this since we feel he’s underrated as a musician, and overrated as a cult clown figure. So what if he ate his own shit. He made some awesome songs and we tried to do our thing with ‘em.

Hellbastard: If more people today ate their own shit instead of talking shit, we’d be all much happier.


4. So who is releasing this 6 track terror and from where people can get it? All your earlier stuff is sold out anyway, right?
Hellbastard: I guess we’ll release it ourselves, as I don’t believe anyone would be interested. I took care of a nice packaging so it will be a candy. Everyone interested can order or pre-order it by emailing me at hangoverhorde@tlen.pl or writing a nice letter. Old stuff is sold out, the “Terrorbeer” cassette, the CD-R version of the demo and so on. I suspect that the “Thrash Metal Blitzkrieg 1” EP is still available from Deathstrike or other distros as it’s a fairly new release. Aha, I also have a few copies left of a CD compilation “Bang or be banged!” where we poorly perform “Creeping death” among other cool bands praising the names of old masters, i.e. Bewitched, Gernoth, Ancient Wisdom, Deceased, Front Beast, Gehennah, Ouroboros, Unpure… 80 minutes of covering madness. $10 or something.

Krigkniv: The earlier stuff sucks since I wasn’t in the band then.


5. You are getting along with other alco thrash bands like Gehennah and Nocturnal. I know you already worked with member from Nocturnal for his Necroslaughter project, but can we ever see these hardrockers collaborate on Hangover releases?
Hellbastard: Oh yeah, Nocturnal are the shit, and so are Gehennah – they started it all. Though I don’t think Nocturnal wants to be associated with this “retro alco thing”. They are too real for that, I tell you. I don’t think we’ll ever collaborate with Gehennah, as we don’t see each other that often anymore, plus the band seems to be in complete hiatus (apart from a gig every two years or something). I’ve did vocals for Necroslaughter and will do again in the future. We’ve had some tracks in mind, but things became very hectic for Daniel so it’s put on ice. You can still check out sold out EP “Sacrifice for Satan” (or it’s cassette version released by Slava Prod./Thailand) if you feel like being kicked in the face by old Sarcofago worship.

Krigkniv: I live in the same town as the guys in Gehennah and I see ‘em every now and then and talk some shit with ‘em at times. Nothing more nothing less. They’ve done some great shit throughout the years though. They also covered GG. I think it was “Drink, fight & fuck”. Great version indeed!


6. Nocturnal guys sure looked like your usual alcoholics within "Arrival Of The Carnivore" booklet with their Heineken granades. Ok, but any other alcohol fueled retro beer'n'roll bands we should keep an eye on? Have you heard Scepter from US?
Hellbastard: I am sure they drink as hell, I met them after all! They just don’t use it as image, which is cool… You can’t exaggerate with the “alcoholic” image or you become a joke… It’s okay with us though, because we know we’re one, we wanted to be.

I’ve lost the track of cool bands recently, but I’ll tell you what I like. Of course I heard Scepter, they fucking kick nuts. Beer powered stuff coming to my mind is definitely Drunkard from Greece (also a Deathstrike band), Gehennah of course - if one haven’t heard Gehennah yet, it’s too late, go fucking kill yourself you mongrel idiot. The “modern retro” bands I dig with worship are surely Nocturnal, Witchtrap, Deströyer 666, Bewitched, Diabolic Force, Unpure, Morbosidad, Must Missa, Nocturnal Breed, Adorior, Witchmaster, Pagan Rites, Nifelheim, Turbocharged… Fuck, I can’t remember man. It’s always good to hear some ass slaying new band praising the old masters, fuck inventing the new, look where it brought us…


7. Speaking of alco thrash, it is never being too popular, but bands playing alco thrash has been always in cult status. I know you will start your rant about you guys not being able to play your instruments and so on. Still, how did you end up starting good and enjoyable alco thrash band?
Hellbastard: It’s popular for me and fuck all prissy pants sissies cunts who think it’s not serious or trendy. Fuck them up their stupid asses. FUCK OFF!!! I don’t know why do people enjoy our music, they must be fucked in the head or something, so that’s perfectly okay for me.


8. What do you think about veteran bands like Venom and Celtic Frost for example getting their dusty instruments out again after so many years?
Hellbastard: I dig Venom’s “Ressurection” A LOT, but I don’t care if Celtic Frost are going to return or not. Warrior proved his love for faggotry too many times already… It happens too often recently… You know – bands who recorded decent albums in the beginning, then spent half of their career playing shitstained (no relation to GG here!) rainbow piece of doodie calling it “experimental” and “mature”, then realized that noone listens to this, so they decide to reattach their balls and go back to their roots to sell more albums. New Destruction is a joke, Pungent Stench should fucking die, reformed Gayhem was the biggest piece of shit ever… Who else? Fukk this, I didn’t bother remembering all the fucking “return bands” which disgusted me over the recent years. Fukk them all with a spiked deathdick.

Krigkniv: Hellbastard, you don’t know shit. The new Mayhem record is elite. I don’t have any high hopes in the new Celtic Frost record though.

Hellbastard: Do your record sucks? Do people consider you a faggot? Is life a living hell since you released that piece of crap? Don’t you worry, you can always call yourself ELITE then. It’s easy, it’s fun, and it’s FREE!!!


9. What about your side project Backstage Sluts? Quite hard to find anything about that band, all the websites I found with these keywords are porn. Did you released the demo "Trisexual Nunwhore Cumsquad"?
Hellbastard: Ooohh, it was a glorious project which never came alive, since we had only 3 songs lasting for 4 minutes total, so it was quite too stupid to be released. Me and my Danish friend Dale Wifebeater did three songs of nuclear warfare punk rock, but they are missing in action somewhere… So is Dale, so if anyone knows a Danish motherfucker called Dale Wifebeater, you better hit me up with an info where he lives, that scum, as I’ve been trying to get ahold of him for 2 years now. FUKK!!!

Krigkniv: It probably sucked anyway. I’d fucking crush that Dale-guy with my tasty licks!


10. Is there anything you do in some kind of planed way and actually finish it?
Hellbastard: No mister. We never finish anything, because I’ve always worked with FUKKING MORON KUNTS! I was always the one with ideas and power to create, but I’ve been dealing with lazy lowlife scumfukks who could barely wipe their own asses, so FUKK THEM right here from this place. Hear me?! I am insulting you all the way from Estonia! FUKK OFF!!! Though I must say that Dale Wifebeater, Krigkniv and Dreadnacht were the first persons I worked with who actually did what they should. Krigkniv never let me down so far, and we made quite a few killer projects together and I believe more will be to come. It’s like with this GG Allin album – I’ve been asking kunts and shitheads for years to help me with the guitars or whatever to accomplish this release but all they got to say was “sure yeah” and then crawl back to their miserable fukking lives. And then boom, I am landing in the heart of Sweden, we fucking eat three fucking meatballs, a potato and a bowl of shrimps and record a killer GG tribute tracks within 2 days right from the scratch. Our pal H. Hellcunt shoots pix of us the next day, I return home and do the cover artwork for the release and we’re ready to press the album. That’s the way I wanna work. Always. Fukk off.

Krigkniv: I never finish stuff. People finish stuff for me, except for beers.


11. Where you guys work to get the money for drinking?
Hell yeah… I am working as a graphic designer, photographer and all that, doing pix of chix or covers for bands-I-don’t-always-like for living. Dreadnacht is a most powerful amongst us, woking as a custom agent in FedEx, that’s GRIM and EVIL. Krigkniv is eating shit for living.

Krigkniv: I sell my ass and study to be a teacher for the younger kids.


12. From time to time in your interviews you mention having plans to do a video for Hangover. I assume these are still just plans?
Hellbastard: Forget it. Just forget it.

Krigkniv: I’d have to check with my lawyer about that. Don’t think it’d be a proper career move for me.


13. Hah, having trouble with the law like usuall so laying low profile?
Hellbastard: I’d rather say Krigkniv has a problem with a video camera. I once seen a footage of him running away from the goat, as well as the totally underground strip tease shots, and before he even answers I just want to say that I’ve never danced naked to “Eye of the tiger”.

Krigkniv: My band or the pussies in blue?


14. Some guy called Black Bielack did some solos for "Terrorbeer" which also had song "Porn Watcher" -- not suprisingly for Hangover, ironic song about perv porn watchers. Isn't that guy doing porn now?
Hellbastard: Hell yeah, Black Bielack is the shit. But he’s not “doing porn”, but works in this department as a graphic designer, photographer and all, shooting pics of plastic dildos and all, haha! It’s a great fun to have a guy with a box full of humongous dildos and a digital camera. We’ve had a pretty fresh times with that box, and no – none of our anuses got penetrated, in case you wonder, haha! Ronnie Ripper of Gehennah wrote the lyrics for “Pornwatcher” so I had nothing to do with it. I like porn, as any man should.


15. Another guy on "Terrorbeer" tape was Nergal, better known as Behemoth's singer. You said this cockstar was there just so the tape would sell better. You also don't like Acid Drinkers. It seems you don't give a shit about most metal scene in Poland with few exceptions?
Hellbastard: Forget it. He wasn’t “appearing” and noone even knows he was there. He was just screaming shit in the background about Danone yoghurts and we got it on tape during the “Fag killer” song or something.

I don’t give a shit about any scene, I just listen to whatever I like. Metalheads are a bunch of tards anyway, and I like to deal with people I can spend quality time with (believe me, screaming “hail satan, nails are cool” while drinking gets boring after a while). Acid Drinkers suck donkey ass as hard as any Christian metal does and Polish scene is a joke anyway, I only listen to Witchmaster (but I think they are dead by now) and Kriegsmaschine. I am generally disappointed with the state of metal recently, so I basically abhor the whole genre. Freshest things I’ve heard recently are German HELRUNAR with their great black fucking metal debut “Frostnacht” and their countrymen SECRETS OF THE MOON and the murderous “Exhibitions” EP.


16. And what says our friend from Sweeden about their local scene?
Krigkniv: I’m part of the Swedish metal scene and we are kinda inbred and worn out here as well. Nothing original going on here either even though there are a bunch of cool bands here who are rising to glory as we speak. My own other band, The Law, being one of them. You should check it out at http://www.myspace.com/thelawswe . There, I plugged it.

Hellbastard: I heard he also has a secret LiveJournal.


17. We are Estonian magazine, we always try to find out how much people know about our scene abroad. Do you know any Estonian bands? Or did you knew we have cheap alcohol and nice chicks?
Hellbastard: Don’t know anything about your chicks, so send three of them over here with the mentioned cheap booze. I’ll pay the airfare. As for the bands, I know Loits (but can’t say I am listening to this right-winged-disguised-as-pagan-genre), also stuff like Metsatoll, East Trading Wang (trading WHAT?!), and Must Missa which kicks some major ass with their fresh tthhrraaasshhhing madness! Kick heads!

Krigkniv; I’m an ignorant piece of shit so I don’t know a single band, even though I know you have that neo-folk thingie goin’ on over there. Good luck to ya though! As far as chicks and liquor goes, I like ‘em both. I’m not interested in cheap chicks and nice liquor though…Or was it the other way around? Anyways… I hope you get the fucking mob out of there so you can start getting your shit together and actually PAY FOR OUR RELEASES AND NOT BOOTLEG EVERY FUCKING THING YOU GET YOUR FUCKING HANDS ON.


18. Cheers for few hours of your drinking time, got any last words?
Krigkniv; Thanks for the interview!

Hellbastard: You can lick them, you can suck them, but DON’T PUNCH THE BALLS!!!


Hangöver
L. Jaszak
P.O. Box 77
20-956 Lublin 17
Poland

Jason Kocol - Impaled (2005)

Once in a while you stumble across a joker while conducting an interview, some of those jokers makes you wonder if it's worth the while. Though fuck that, sometimes it's good to have it all turned upside down. Here you have a blood dripping interview with comedian, growler and guitarist Jason Kocol from Oakland's finest Carcass worshippers Impaled!


1. What’s going on in the Impaled camp at the moment?
We are doing pretty good at camp this year. We just learned how to tie a square knot. Tomorrow I think our counsellors are going to take us kayoing in the lake. At the end of the week there’s going to be a dance with lots of music, cookies and punch! Things are fun, but one of our bunk mates always wets the bed. Gross! We miss you, Mom and Dad.


2. How much do you look forward to get “Death After Life” released?
We look about as forward as one can look. Yep, eyes straight ahead, six inches above the horizon. That’s us!


3. What do you think about the album?
I think that it is way better than two kicks square in the jaw. Plus it sounds a lot better than that.


4. Is it the most complete Impaled album to date?
Yes, it was always a problem with our past albums where they would just stop somewhere between the middle and the last 2/3rds of what we intended. We finally got our technique down so it no longer does that!


5. How has the reaction been so far, if you have gotten any?
It’s been pretty varied. Many of the 13-year-old online webzine journalists have complaints about the production (you know, the fact that it’s actually really heavy yet there are dynamics and you can hear what we’re playing) and the material not breaking new ground (yet if we really broke new ground by arranging all the songs for a 15-piece contrabassoon ensemble they’d still complain), but our fans who’ve contacted us directly really seem to like it a lot. Go figure!


6. What do you expect from the album?
I expect every man, woman, transgender and child to have purchased a copy of it by the end of this week. If that doesn’t happen, at midnight we will turn into pumpkins. Very DEATH METAL PUMPKINS.


7. How do you think your fans will react to “Death After Life”?
I believe the most common reactions are loss of sleep, nausea, bloating, and just your everyday run-of-the-mill head exploding. Please ask your doctor if “Death After Life” is right for you. Oh wait, we are doctors. So yes, it’s right for you.


8. Will you tell us about the concept behind “Death After Life”?
The concept is very original: there are songs with both music and lyrics simultaneously! How we were able to stumble upon that is anyone’s guess.


9. How do you get influenced musically and lyrically?
The first step is to lock ourselves in a walk-in freezer for 3 days without food or water, with white noise blasting through speakers that are piped in through the next room. After that, we read a bunch of old Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary books and we’re good to go!


10. I think there is a more Carcass feel over this album, than your previous ones, is that correct?
If you’ve ever ran your bare hands over a carcass, you’d know how good it feels. So then it’s no surprise we decided to capture that feeling with music.


11. The touch of Swedish heavy melodic death is almost gone from the music, any specific reason for that?
It’s because Swedish heavy melodic death metal NEVER RETURNS OUR PHONE CALLS ANYMORE, THAT JERK!!! (sounds of heavy weeping) Sorry, I can’t talk about this. Next topic, please.


12. The production is kinda noisy and “old” sounding, I really like it and think it fits the music perfectly. What did you want to accomplish with such a production?
What didn’t we want to accomplish, is really the question here!


13. Are the intros made by the band?
They are indeed. We also make a mean spinach soufflé if you’d ever care to sample it.


14. How far can you take the bloody mess known as Impaled?
From here to eternity, baby. Sorry, by “baby” I really meant “sweetie”.


15. When will we see you rip open the stages and venues in Denmark?
When you send us plane tickets and loads of cash. Our bank account number is 100257849-673. Get crackin’, buddy!


16. What albums do you listen a lot to at the moment?
These days it’s mostly field recordings of various grain silos from farms stretching across this great land of ours. The production on those are TOTALLY SICK, BRO!


17. Thanks a ton for spilling your guts… If you have anything to add, feel free to do it now!
http://www.impaled.info – Just add water and watch it grow before your very eyes!

Dan Slaughter - Deathwitch (2004)

Once upon a time there was a Swedish band called Deathwitch, they are no more, though during their career they released some quite good thrashing black metal albums. The last album that the world saw from them, was 'Violence Blasphemy Sodomy', back in the days, when the album was released, I had a little chat with drummer Dan Slaughter.


1. Hails Dan Slaughter, how are things in Sweden at the moment?
Hail! I’m busy as hell with a lot of things, not Deathwitch tough haha.


2. Will you please introduce yourself and tell us how your metal adventure started?
The only band I play in at the moment is Deathwitch. I have played in many small underground bands since late 80’s from time to time. I’m also a biker and like fast cars.


3. You are ready with your new onslaught “Violence Blasphemy Sodomy”, a superb album to start the new year with... What was your ideas when the band started writing music for a new album?
To be honest I didn’t record the drums for the new album. I was busy with other shit and was not able to travel to Gothenburg at that time so a session drummer called Morbid Juttu did my work. I’m satisfied with his and the other guys musical work on the album! I rehearsed some of the songs before the recording session and I think our main goal was to create some aggressive and ugly metal of violent death.


4. Did the album end up as you all imagined?
I think it’s cool! It would maybe be a bit more evil if I managed to do the drums haha, I prefer my drum sound on the previous album ‘Deathfuck Rituals’ but I have no problems with it.


5. How has the first assaults from the press been, any positive surprises or does they all hate you?
Both great and a lot of negative shit, but who cares. Enjoy or hate.


6. Deathwitch has always been about primitive, yet very hardhitting and crushing metal, with influences from the early scenes of death, thrash and black metal... What is appealing to you about those styles of metal?
For me it was the music I grew up with. Drink alcohol and listen to blasphemous metal like Sodom, Sarcofago, Possessed, Death, Slayer……. It was a great time! So it’s great to play that kind of aggressive music.


7. When one throws on a Deathwitch album, the sincere freshness of a young band which wants to kill the entire world, come to mind. Though the band has some years on the back and I know Terror isn’t as young as he has been... How does Deathwitch keep the fresh and “fuck you all” spirit and attitude?
I think Terror is over 30 years old and I only have a few years left to the 40 limit huh… Slade is like 35. I think it’s important to find the feeling in the songs like you did when you listened to the same kind of music when you were young.


8. How important is the “fuck you all” attitude for the band?
I don’t know if we have that attitude maybe both me and Slade lives a bit in the FTW attitude in the biker world… But it’s a lot of ‘FUCK’ in the lyrics hahaha


9. What is metal about in your eyes?
Aggression, speed and evil lyrics!


10. What makes a so called metal band un-metal?
Happy riffing and love lyrics.


11. Who writes the music in the band?
I think Terror writes most of the riffs and then we work on it together. I always want him to create bad riffs that he doesn’t like at all, then I will like it. He normally creates heavy doom/death riffs in his other bands like Runemagick and The Funeral Orchestra. So I always ask him to make fast riffs that sucks, hahahaha.


12. Where is the inspiration to the music found?
Violence, Sodomy and Blashpemy!


13. It is easy to hear your are an excellent drummer, with great variation and superb pace shifts and great breaks... When did you start to play the drums and what inspired you to start?
Hmmm well I hope you like MY drumming on ‘Deathfuck Rituals’ hehe but Morbid Juttus work on “Violence Sodomy Blasphemy is cool! I have played drums from time to time for over 20 years.


14. Where do you find inspiration to your drumming?
Hate, aggression, booze and metal…


15. The influences of Deathwitch are found in the eighties... How much do your own musical taste collide with the music of Deathwitch?
A lot. I still listen to the old bands.


16. How much is Deathwitch a band, we all know that Terror participates in a lot of different things... What about you and Slade Doom do you play in other bands?
For me and Slade, Deathwitch is our only band even tough we almost never rehearse. Terror is busy with Runemagick and The Funeral Orchestra. He have also helped some other shit bands with drums over the years like Sacramentum and Swordmaster. But I guess that Runemagick is the only BAND for him.


17. How is Deathwitch’s live activities, I could imagine you kicks serious ass on stage... Are playing a lot live?
We have never played live. Even not before I joined the band. We’ll see what will happen in the future.


18. Will we at some point see you in Denmark and maybe Aalborg? It isn’t that far away from Göteborg!
It’s close, but I am in Thailand right now haha. I hope so.


19. This is your first album on your new label Wicked World, how do you feel about the label and how have they treated you so far?
I don’t have so much contact with the label but it seems good so far I think.


20. Where was “Violence Blasphemy Sodomy” recorded and who produced it? The raw and very energetic production really slays!
I think it’s recorded in 2 different studios in Gothenburg and some stuff at Terror's own little studio.


21. You are one of the great few bands, which plays with sincere and a crushing feeling of metal... Why is that feeling so hard to find in new bands and even many new releases with once great bands?
People get old and forget the ancient spirit of metal and the young ones likes other shit…


22. Will you share your 3 all time favorite albums with the worldwide ‘bangers?
Death – Scream Bloody Gore
Slayer – Reign In Blood
Motörhead - Motörhead


23. Thanks a for answering my questions, I’ll leave the last words of torment to you!
Thanks man!

Daniel Corchado - The Chasm (2004)

This interview was conducted during the cold November of 2004 for the DK based 'zine Nocturnal Horde, so far only published in Danish, so for you death metal heads into dark mystical travels into the obscure thoughts and incantations of The Chasm, here you go! As you'll find out while reading the interview, it was conducted while the band was promoting the release of the album 'The Spell Of Retribution'! To catch up on recent news from the band, they just released their new offering 'Farseeing The Paranormal Abyss' on Corchado's own label Lux Inframundis. A release that I haven't checked out yet, so I can't tell you whether is good or bad, though having the band's past in mind, I can't imagine it beeing the latter!


1. Please start off by introducing yourself and tell us why you play metal?
My name is Daniel Corchado of the Cult of Death of THE CHASM and I play Heavy Metal because is the only music that matters to me, the only source of strength and inspiration to go on in this putrid life…


2. What do you find fascinating about metal and especially the atmospheric death metal with occult and ancient inspiration, as you make with The Chasm?
I am of the belief that Heavy Metal ,when played with conviction, honor, feeling and power,can be the most interesting and powerful form of artistic expression, when we create our songs we are not only doing music, we are also painting pictures of death and obscurity within our souls.


3. Where do you find inspiration when you write music?
Mostly from the golden era of Metal (80’s – early 90’s), my own ancestry and roots as a Mexican and of course my inner self.


4. Do you have a certain mood you have to be in, when you make your fantastic tunes?
Thanks for the compliment, yes,the majority of times I have to be in a certain mood to create our hymns of death, it may be a sad/depressive one, or an angry/hateful one, but it has to be a special state of mind.


5. What about the lyrics, how do you get inspired to write them?
It is just visions and ideals that are very personal and of big importance to me, I really don’t get any inspiration from books or movies, it all comes from deep inside, sometimes the lyrics may not make any sense to the people, but that's understandable!


6. Will you tell a bit about the lyrical content on “The Spell Of Retribution”?
The main core deals with the spiritual search of one individual for its owns roots and recover the past/lost glories, manifesting and constructing a very powerful spell to punish those individuals or circumstances that caused the decline and corruption of a once magnificent empire (and here I'm in some way metaphorically speaking about the ancient Aztec empire as well as the golden years of true Heavy/Death/Thrash/Black Metal!). I always had this vision about reaching a new place or dimension when my existence has ceased , and to find what I’m looking for, a lot of preparation must be made, learning and constructing, these ideas and visions are what The Chasm’s lyrical concept is all about…


7. You have always had a grandiose epic feel over your music, how did that come about?
As I mentioned,we are trying to create this special form of Heavy Metal of death, music that even if it’s extreme and intense, will transport ourselves (and the listener) to a different dimension, it may be one of war, or one of desolation, but we are creating Metal that goes beyond the generic and the mundane, something more transcending and with meaning.


8. What did inspire you to create The Chasm?
The urge to represent/channel my feelings into the most magnificent music in the world, Metal… That is the main reason why this band exists…


9. Have your inspirational sources changed over the years?
Not at all, the only thing that changes is that the emotions and visions are coming in different variations now, the experience of the past years and the lessons learned through this journey made this odyssey somehow different than in the beginning.


10. Will you tell us what bands and releases that has meant the most to you and the musical approach of The Chasm?
I could mention 5 that really marked my life: Slayer - Hell Awaits, Black Sabbath - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Iron Maiden - killers, Celtic Frost - To Mega Therion and Kreator - Pleasure To Kill


11. When you first started The Chasm, what did you want to accomplish, and have you accomplished that?
I think so, because the main purpose to do this band was just to play the music that I like so much, to be able to be part of this magnificent movement, to create my own visions and ideas without any limits or boundaries, to create an authentic entity and force in Death Metal, and so far we have been lucky enough to realize this goal.


12. You are now ready with your new album “The Spell Of Retribution”, how do you feel about it?
We are very proud and satisfied with the final result, I really think it is our most destructive work to date, the way it should be, every new release has to be better (in our ears) than the last one, if one day we realize we cannot progress no more, then that day will be the day The Chasm will be put to rest…


13. How do you think your fans will react towards the album?
So far the reactions have been very strong and positive, this album is 100% in The Chasm style, but obviously taken to a higher level, so I’m sure any REAL follower of our path of destruction won’t be disappointed, because we are not, we are 100% into our new album!


14. Have heard any reactions towards the new album yet, both from the press and your fans?
Yes, so many reviews, and the grand majority are very positive and some even amazing. Of course there are a few out there who really don’t got into the album, which is ok,I ’m very glad that there is people who despise this album, and even talks shit about us. It is great to keep a balance, but in the end if the reviews are good or bad, it really doesn’t matter to us, as long as we are satisfied with our music, we will be fine.


15. It seems like The Chasm has built a huge fanbase over the years, is that correct and how do you feel about it?
Well,yes, I agree to some degree ,I mean,for a band like us, that still is very underground, I think you can call it “huge” to the amount of believers and followers that really support our crusade, it really gives us strength to continue in this battle, it shows that there are still dedicated souls who think and feel like us, who believe in the dark side of Metal… anti-trend …


16. You have always released your albums on minor labels through the years, but have still managed to get the album and name out to a lot of people, how have you managed that?
Well, I think it just is a sign of how much I care for this band,and how much I used to believe in spreading our pestilence! Back in the day the underground “network” was so much more pure, and I knew that there were individuals who maybe was interested in our style, I worked hard, sending promos, flyers etc., since our first days in Mexico, trying to spread our word and I guess that it paid off. I still try to do the same, but now with the website and internet, things are somehow simpler to do, but also the “personal” touch has been lost in one way…


17. How much did your gig in Incantation mean for The Chasm, it must have opened a lot of people’s eyes?
Probably it kinda helped our name a bit, but it was something that I tried to avoid, I mean, we always wanted to be heard and respected for what we are, as The Chasm, we don’t want to get compared to anybody. For me it just was a phase in my life, I had a good time and went to a lot of places, met a lot of people, it was great experience…


18. You have now signed to Wicked World/Earache, which must mean a breakthrough for The Chasm, what do you expect from the label?
To be honest,our expectations with Wicked World have been fulfilled almost 100% or so, I mean, we wanted to have a good recording budget, great distribution and promotion, and we accomplished that. It's been really satisfying to see our music spread to areas where we never have been before. Wicked World is doing a tremendous job promoting the album, the only thing that we may need to complete this work is to be able to finally tour worlwide. I mean, full American and European tours would be great, but it do not only depend on us, we need support from both the label and people, so we'll see, time shall tell...


19. What do you expect from “The Spell Of Retribution”?
What I expected already came true, a satisfying and unique piece of Darkened Heavy Metal of Death, that’s the way we see/hear it, that’s how we created it, that’s what we expected of it, it is done… Whatever happens on the “market” or with people’s reactions, is out of our control…


20. The latest album I own with The Chasm is the superb “Deathcult For Eternity: The Triumph”, a lot of things have happened since then. The band has developed a lot, though your still is sticking to your main idea. How would you describe the development of The Chasm since then?
It has just been a long road of keeping our own vision and conviction together and very strong, obviously there has been some changes and variations in the way we play, but the core and ideals of the band are still the same, but stronger and more focused. As we grow older I think we gain and learn from experiences and mistakes, it is a natural process, we want to keep doing this, we still feel it, and also we are more structured in several ways, not only musically but also mentally, as you said, we are developing, both as musicians and individuals. When we created “Deathcult For Eternity…” we were still in Mexico, we were younger and had a different perspective, but the style and essence I think was the same…


21. What can we expect from The Chasm in the future?
If there are no disturbing changes, and the ideas and inspiration keep flowing, then you can expect a more devastating The Chasm attack in the future.


22. How do you see the future for The Chasm?
Hard to tell, life brings so many unexpected things everyday, that it's hard to see the future clearly. I hope next year we'll be touring Europe as well as the USA, is all I can say for now…


23. Will you share your 3 favorite albums through the time with us metal heads?
Slayer - Hell Awaits
Black Sababth - Sabbath Bloody Sabbath
Iron Maiden - Killers


24. Thanks a ton for answering my questions, the last remark are yours!
Thanks for your time and support, keep the dark flame burning high and proud, hopefully we’ll meet soon!

Utter death