Arneriach - Gurthang (23 November 2003)

gurthang is a band which rises from the Antwerp scene in Belgium, playing an original style of melodic metal. This interview was conducted on 23rd November 2003.

1.) gegroet arneriach, give us a quick history of gurthang for us!
Well, Gurthang got forged back in March 2001, when we kicked our bassplayer out of Ecliptica... Since then a lot of things changed. We recorded a 3track promo 'The Avenger' that got good critics almost everywhere so we set ourselves at work to record a full-cd. During the recordingz some things went wrong and we lost half of the band (they all ended in Axamenta, a fantasy blackmetal band). We decided to continue and found some new members. since then (Spring 2002) we are back to track, however with a slightly altered sound and mood. We nowadays make music mostly because we like each others company and of course because we like to play musick...


2.) A lot of the members came from the now defunct Ecliptica, there's a huge spawning of the antwerp metal scene from that one project, tell us some more?
When we fired our bassplayer, we lost the last original member of Ecliptica and decided to change our name... also because some 16! musicians had been a part of Ecliptica for some time and we wanted to have a fresh start. Most of these ex-Ecliptians are even today still active in the Antwerp metal-scene. The first spin-off was Sfagnum (RIP, black metal), other know acts as Battalion (death metal) and Bütcher (speed metal) got raised by our (ex-)bandmates. Interested in more? check out the huge Ecliptica special on www.deathmetal.be!!


3.) The gurthang logo has a dragon in it, does that have anything to do with the meaning of the word gurthang? or is it to do with the topic gurthang deals with? if so, what topics are those?
Well, Gurthang means Iron of Death in Elfish (Tolkien) and it was the name of a black sword. With this sword the mother of al dragons (Glaurung) got killed... But besides this, we haven't used any other Tolkien-based story or idea.


4.) Leading on from the topic question, your upcoming album is going to be a concept album, could you tell us about the story and what it might be about? what will the title be?
Yeah, now you're talking about 'The Irony of Death (Chronicles of a Magical Vengeance and an Inevitable Death)'. Our since long planned debut-cd. Oh well, the story is about a young man in a mythical world long gone, that comes home from some job and finds his village, which is in fact his entire world, in ashes, every inhabitant killed. He cries for vengeance and is led to a place where he gets immortal powers and stuff... So he's now ready for his hunt on the killers of his family. In fact he has become a killing machine as well, destroying in his quest many families... so the circle of violence continues, until at the end he finds the killer, who is actually an immortal avenger like him, finds a way to finnish his job and decides to stop his life as killing machine (his quest was over)...


5.) The album we just mentioned has been in the making for a long time, how come it has been delayed so long?
All music is been written now for more than two years, drums are recorded as wel as most guitars, however the line-up from those days doesn't exist anymore, we all felt the need to finnish this job, so our new members aren't involved in this! Unfortunately we have had almost every delay possible, but we still hope that some wonder will eventually lead to the completion of the recordings. Stay tuned...


6.) Gurthang has a sound unlike any other band i have heard, where do you draw your musical influences from?
We all have other sources of inspiration, which make this strange eclectic and original sound we have. We never tried to follow other bands paths or anything like that. I think that explains a lot.


7.) Gurthang seems to have a strange place within the belgian scene. How do you view the belgian scene which is so different from you?
Hmm, a strange question... But in fact there are more than one scene in Belgium. And we don't fit in any of those local scenes. Also because of the fact we make music that is not easy to categorise, people have difficulties with placing us or even getting into our sound and music. Maybe this explains you views. Another thing is that we are not really actively busy with our image or whatsoever, it's the music that counts and our bond as bandmates and friends outside the band that keeps us goning, nothing more I guess...


8.) You're also involved with the band Herfst which just released a demo, would you want to shed some light upon that?
Certainly. Besides the wide spectrum of black metal, I have always been a huge fan of the so called NWOSDM (or Gotenburg metal) and when in the beginning of 2003 Gurthang was on a low note, 'cause of some external things, I had some time left and by accident I found this very talented band that was looking for a vocalist. since they play the style I loved for years, however with a personal touch (no copycats!), I auditioned. They really liked my blackish vokills on their raging melodic deathy metal. so after some months of rehersing, doing some great gigs and progressing, we decided it was time for a first recording (Herfst exists already since 1999!). I am really pleased with the result, certainly when you know it was for all members, except me, the first studio-encounter.


9.) Herfst is melodic death metal isnt it? how do you feel about the swedish scene which is where i believe melodic death metal originated, and i also believe t died out in the mid 90s, when every single band from up there started to sound the same...
You got a point there. Nowadays I really don't follow those bands so closely anymore. They made their best recordings long time ago, like you stated. But anyway, I still like this kind of music and I am very eager for the much anticipated return of Dissection, a band related to this melodic death metal.


10.) A big thanks for taking the time out to answer these questions, i'll leave this space for you to tell us about the future moves of gurthang and advertise any gurthang contact details. Have your say!
Well thanks for your interest in Gurthang and thanks to Herr Chemosh for the release of our live-tape!

Right now we are as a band still a bit searching for our style and place in the whole metal-movement. We attracted a new keyboardplayer to cheer thing up a little with strange sounds. We try to play live from time to time and normally we will recorded some of our latest tunes next year in Summer!

check our website @ http://users.pandora.be/gurthang or email us @ gurthang@pandora.be

Hailz en Maniacal Greetz, Arne, on behalf of Gurthang, Belgian Eclectic Black/Death Metal!