Naglfar
Naglfar has released a
few months ago "Pariah", which has proven to be an exceptional album continuing
the band's good reputation. So, once again they offer us some quality music
and Kristoffer Olivius, the band's mainman and frontman, is here to answer
to all our questions concerning the band...
1. CONGRATULATIONS ON “PARIAH”! IT’S AN EXCELLENT
ALBUM AND IN FACT I WAS A BIT ANXIOUS TO HEAR WHAT YOU HAD IN STORE FOR
US AFTER THE INCREDIBLE “SHEOL”.
2. THE TRUTH IS THAT YOU HAVE SET A REALLY HIGH
MUSICAL STANDARD WITH EVERY RELEASE OF YOURS. DOESN’T THIS MAKE THINGS
HARDER FOR YOU?
No, I don’t think it makes it harder, because
we still work as a unite with the band, like we always did within Naglfar.
This means that first and foremost we create songs for ourselves, we write
songs that we want to listen to ourselves. So, I guess therefore this progress
is natural. We rehearse every day and it would be a shame if we didn’t
improve!
-SO, DO YOU FEEL CONTENT WITH “PARIAH” OR IS THERE
ANYTHING YOU’D LIKE TO CHANGE?
No, I’m actually very happy with the album.
This is the first album that we have produced ourselves, so we could really
take our time. We spent 3 months in the studio and I guess we could have
spent another 2 months in the studio if we wanted to, but we just took
our time and I’m happy about how everything turned out!
3. I THINK “PARIAH” IS AN AMAZING ALBUM. FROZEN,
MISANTHROPIC AND FEROCIOUS BLACK METAL ENRICHED WITH SOME IMPOSING MELODIES!
AN EXCELLENT SAMPLE OF CONTEMPORARY BLACK METAL. HOWEVER, LET’S SUPPOSE
THAT YOU WERE GIVEN THE CHANCE TO REVIEW AND PRESENT THE ALBUM TO THE FANS.
WHAT WOULD YOU SAY TRYING TO BE AS OBJECTIVE AS POSSIBLE?
I’d say that this album is still a way for
us to continue to refine our sound and I think you can find in it many
hints of our previous albums. The biggest change with this album is the
production, which is something we decide and want to change with every
album of ours. This time around I guess that the drums and the bass guitar
had more place within the musical picture of the album.
4. WHAT’S THE BEST AND WHAT’S THE WORST PART IN
YOUR MUSIC, ACCORDING TO YOU?
I think there’s nothing that is worst with
our music. We work so long with each song all the time, like we always
did, so there’s nothing I think that is bad. The good part about our music
is that it’s the kind of music that I enjoy to listen to myself!
-IS THERE A SOUND OR SOMETHING YOU’D LIKE TO EXPERIMENT
WITH IN THE FUTURE?
Hmm... it’s very hard to say! I’d have to
speculate on that so I’d rather don’t! Haha!
5. YOUR PREVIOUS SINGER AND FOUNDING MEMBER, JENS
RYDEN LEFT THE BAND BEFORE THE RECORDINGS OF THE ALBUM. SO, YOU DECIDED
TO HANDLE THE VOCAL DUTIES BESIDES THE BASS GUITAR. HOW WAS THIS EXPERIENCE?
It was the easiest thing in the world for
me. I was also the vocalist in...
-SETHERIAL...
In Setherial yeah for over 7 years, but I’ve
been singing on all the Naglfar albums as well. I was doing quite a lot
of work that I was never credited for. I played the bass guitar and did
the backing vocals. If you listen to the album, you’ll see that the change
is not that big...
-YES! THAT’S WHY I WANTED TO ASK YOU ABOUT IT!
WHEN RECORDING THE VOCALS DID YOU TRY TO SOUND CLOSE TO JENS’ VOCALS OR
DID YOU SING LIKE YOU FELT TO?
I sing like I always sing, not trying to immitate
anyone...
-DO YOU THINK THAT SOME NAGLFAR FANS WILL BE DISAPPOINTED
BY YOUR VOCALS?
Hmm... It’s very hard to say! Of course there
are always gonna be people that prefer Jens, because he was the first vocalist
of the band. However, I think that most people will see and listen clear
and realize that this was the only way for us to continue the band. There
isn’t much of a difference. Like I told you, I was always very present
when doing the vocals in Naglfar on all the previous albums, so it still
sounds the same! If they miss him as a person, well this is something else!
But within the music there is nothing different and in that case they might
be listening with different criteria than those I have.
6. “PARIAH” WILL ALSO BE RELEASED IN A LIMITED
EDITION CONTAINING BONUS MATERIAL. SO, WHAT’S IT GOING TO BE?
The main thing is of course that the lay out
is going to be slightly different and then there is also a cover track
that we recorded. The original song is from a very old Swedish black metal
band called Throne Of Ahaz. The song is called “The Calling Blaze” and
it’s our way of paying homage to our roots and to a band that helped us
a lot when we first started.
7. TELL ME A FEW THINGS ABOUT THE COVER ARTWORK,
WHICH I THINK IS PERFECT FOR YOUR MUSIC. ACTUALLY I FIND A STRONG CONNECTION
AND STYLISTIC RESEMBLANCE WITH YOUR PREVIOUS COVERS. SO, WHO IS THE CREATOR?
This time around was an Austrian artist, Ralph
Manfreda (note: I don’t know if I heard the name correctly). He
is also responsible for some other cover artworks like those of Pungent
Stench and the new Belphegor. Our guitarist, Andreas, found him one time
when he was looking at the work that this guy did, so we approached him
and we gave him all the lyrics of the album to work with them. You now
have the promo CD and you can’t see how important his work is, because
Ralph actually designed the whole booklet in a very unique and special
way! I think it’s very nice for the fans!
8. NOW, ABOUT THE LYRICS… YOUR VOCALS ARE CLEAR
ENOUGH AND I GOT TO UNDERSTAND QUITE MANY OF THE LYRICS...
-BUT PLEASE TELL ME WHY SO MUCH PESSIMISM, HATRED
AND DISGUST AGAINST HUMANITY?
You know people are not alike and many people
are like that and feel this way from time to time. The lyrics this time
around were more personal and can stand as a document for us that wrote
these lyrics for a special period of time for our band. Even though all
the lyrics of this album are different, it’s like they have a general concept.
This time we looked closer to the topic hate through different angles...
Some songs are about hate and somebody or something, which could actually
be anything in a very intensive way. Other songs are about expressing this
hatred to somebody else, how it feels like and there are also a couple
of tracks dealing with the subject of self hating.
-IS THIS SOME SORT OF THERAPY TO YOU? TO GET ALL
THE TENSION AND NEGATIVE FEELINGS OUT?
Hmm... I think you’ve got to let yourself
free when you write something down. You know it’s very hard to talk about
your own writings. Of course they mean very much to me and I think that
the lyrics are written over the music and they really connect to each other.
So, they are important if you want to get the full picture and to really
understand why the songs are built the way they are.
9. I SUPPOSE YOU’VE BEEN ASKED THIS QUESTIONS
A THOUSAND TIMES, BUT WHO IS THE PARIAH? DO YOU IMPLY THAT YOU ARE THE
PARIAH, WHO GOES AGAINST THE STREAM AND WANTS TO CRUSH DOWN THE EMPIRES
OF HUMANS, LIKE YOU SAY IN YOUR LYRICS?
In one way yes!!! On another way it could
mean very much regarding our band. We have always been a very isolated
band from the rest of the Scandinavian black metal acts. We were never
a death metal band and we never were a black metal band. We have always
been the guys who were somewhere in the middle. It was difficult for the
people to label our music...
-YEAH! FOR EXAMPLE ON “VITTRA” YOU WERE MORE BLACK
METAL AND THEN ON “DIABOLICAL” YOU TOOK A MORE DEATH METAL DIRECTION AND
NOW YOU MOVE SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE...
I guess it’s a matter of opinion you know.
This has always been the situation with us and our music...
10. CENTURY MEDIA IS THE BIGGEST LABEL YOU’VE
BEEN TO SO FAR. HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT IT?
It feels very good and it means that even
more people are going to be able to obtain our album...
-THIS SURELY MARKS A NEW ERA FOR NAGLFAR. DO YOU
THINK IT’S FOR THE BEST?
Yeah! Definitely! We have always, for so many
years, chosen to be in smaller, independent labels because it was something
that we thought was better for a band like us. Building up the band like
we wanted, writing the songs for ourselves and trying to improve our style
all the time.
-AREN’T YOU AFRAID THAT CENTURY MEDIA MIGHT NOT
INCLUDE YOU AMONGST ITS PRIORITIES?
We are the highest priority for them within
this form of extreme music. There are other... Century Media has a wide
spectrum of metal music and too many bands, but in our case, we have an
individual contract as a band with Century Media. It’s not a very long
contract and both parts are gonna work to make Naglfar be available to
more people, but we still have total artistic freedom and we can release
an album whenever we want to. There is no rush or any other pressure from
this label this way... There is no pressure, but we are in a very good
writing mood with the band at the moment. As soon as we finished writing
this album, we have started writing music for the new one.
11. YOU FACED QUITE MANY PROBLEMS WITH THE LINE
UP, WHICH SLOWED YOUR COMPOSING PROCESS DOWN IN THE PAST. WHAT IF SOMETHING
LIKE THAT HAPPENS AGAIN?
Hmmm... (note: he silenced for a while)
It’s hard to say... Time will tell, I guess, in that case...
12. DO YOU HAVE ANY PLANS FOR LIVE SHOWS OR FOR
A TOUR?
Yeah! We just came off a 31 day long tour
in Europe. The first promotional tour for “Pariah” is going to be in September
or October and we’re gonna try to do 2 European tours this year and also
play a bit in the UK and in the States...
-IS THERE A CHANCE YOU MIGHT COME TO GREECE AT
LAST?
I really hope so! I’ve been wanting to go
to Greece for quite some time, but it has to do with the promoters and
the people. People have to want to see the band live and let the promoters
know about it!
13. IF YOUR MUSIC WAS AN EMOTION, WHAT WOULD IT
BE?
-IF IT WAS A PAINTING, WHAT WOULD IT SHOW?
I think it would be completely red!
-RED AS FOR PASSION OR RED AS FOR BLOOD?
14. BY THE WAY WHAT ELSE DO YOU LISTEN TO BESIDES
BLACK METAL? DO YOU LISTEN FOR EXAMPLE TO SYMPHONIC MUSIC, BE IT IN CLASSIC
OR IN METAL MUSIC? WHAT OTHER KIND OF METAL WOULD YOU BE INTERESTED IN
PLAYING?
I think personally... Hmmm... I have a thrash
metal band called Bewitched, which me and Markus have for so many years
and so... I’m really into old thrash metal and old hard rock music, but
to be honest with you I mostly listen to black metal, because it’s the
music for my soul. This music might sound bad to some, but it sounds good
to me! For a strange reason! Hahaha! For me this is the music to relax
and meditate with. I really enjoy some of the new Swedish bands and also
the French band (note: I didn’t listen to the name).
-SO, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE CONTEMPORARY BLACK
METAL SCENE, WITH SO MANY BANDS COPING DIMMU BORGIR AND CRADLE OF FILTH?
I don’t know! It’s not for me to say! Naglfar
have never copied these bands. Anyway, I don’t like it, but also I don’t
care about it. I’m not bothered with it. For me being in a band means to
mainly focus on your own band and not say anything bad about the rest of
the bands. I try to work and improve as much as possible.
15. WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE SETHERIAL CAMP?
I know that the guys are recording their new
album. From what I’ve heard, from some of the songs that are going to appear
on the album, it’s going to be a very cold and also a very melodic album
with more structured songs. Unfortunately I chose not to be a part of the
Setherial camp anymore. I felt it wasn’t right the main man to be in 2
bands that both needed my full attention. Naglfar has always been my main
band so I had to come to this conclusion. I’m still a big Setherial fan,
now an even bigger fan than I was when I was playing with them.
16. IF YOU COULD BE ANOTHER PERSON FOR A DAY,
WHO WOULD YOU CHOOSE TO BE AND WHICH PERIOD OF HIS/HER LIFE WOULD YOU LIKE
TO HAVE A TASTE OF?
That’s a difficult question, that I have never
had the chance to think about. It’s very satisfying being me you know and
at some other times it’s really sad being me... I know that I’m really
boring in that way! Hahaha!
17. WHAT TITLE WOULD YOU LIKE THIS INTERVIEW TO
HAVE? A TITLE THAT WOULD SUM UP YOUR WHOLE CAREER UP TO DATE…
Huh!!!! Very difficult question!!!!! Hmm...
(note: after almost a minute of silence...) I can’t come with anything
good right now...
18. THANK YOU! IS THERE ANYTHING YOU’D LIKE TO
MENTION AND I FORGOT TO ASK YOU? LEAVE A MESSAGE TO YOUR FANS…
Thank you very much for your time! No! I think
we covered a lot! It’s hard to say! Maybe we could have talked a little
bit more about the fact that we haven’t yet made it to Greece for live
shows! Hahahaha! But I hope we’ll be able to play live there in the near
future, so keep bugging your local promoters over there! I’d also tell
our fans to give the new album a chance and actually listen to it a couple
of times, because there are so many complex and small guitar works that
can’t reveal themselves in the first listening.
Christine Parastatidou
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