Viking Throne Interview

1. Can you give us a brief history of the band?

During the year 2000 I (Count Nidhogg) had the will to create a black/viking metal band. Joined me the keyboardist Falksog and by the end 2001 we recorded the first Viking Throne's Demo CD, done with guest musicians. After many changes in the band's line up and around two years stopped (2006 and 2007), the band returned in the beginning of 2008, having as members only me at Vocals, Tyr - Guitars and Bass and Midgard - Keyboards, Vocals and Drums. At the moment we're the band's core and unique members.

2. How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard you before?

Nowadays our music is a mix of Viking and black metal. Sometimes it sounds like an epic sound track and sometimes extreme and full of hate, with epic and raw voices, it’s meticulously composed, so music and lyrics have the same feeling.

3. What releases have you put out so far?

In 2001 we released our first Demo CD "From the weak daylight to the almighty empire", in 2003 our second one "Strandhugg - The heart of the frozen throne".In 2008 we released two songs in a Swedish Metal Compilation CD, it was one track from our 2º Demo CD and a new version of an old song called "The Christian's Slayer". In the last year we signed with the Italian label Zero Effect Records and we're recording the stuff for our debut release, which will be titled "The hateflame still burns".

4. How would you describe your musical progress over the years?

When the band started, our music was something like a raw black metal and with the passing of the years it became more elaborated. There is an expressive evolution from the first demo to the second. And with our debut CD it will be even clearer. Now we have clean and epic vocals joining the traditional raw ones and in some tracks we have more then hundred instrument tracks recorded, almost an orchestra.

5. How do your fans react to you being a pagan/viking metal band from South America as opposed to Europe?

We have support of much different kind of people, since traditional heavy metal bangers to true viking metal fans. Some people understand perfectly that it doesn't matter where you live, what's really important is your heritage and ancestry. Even living in a South American country as Brazil we all have European blood. My grandparents are from Germany, Portugal and Italy, even our guitarist Tyr has Portuguese citizenship. Other people disagree with this statement, and I think they should study and learn a little bit more about the European colonization in South America.

6. Are there any plans for a U.S tour?

We are planning to get some gigs in the Brazilian southern states and maybe Argentina right after the release of our debut album. We don't have any plans to gigs in US or Europe yet, but surely it's our goal in a near future!

7. What are some of the best shows that you have played so far and which crowds would you say are the craziest or best?

On the road of these 8 years of band, we had few gigs due a lot of problems that we got with band's lineup, but I think that our best show was when we opened a gig of the Belgian band Iconoclasm.We have never played outside Brazil but I could say that here are some of the most fanatic and craziest metal fans around the world. Even major bands can say the same thing.

8. How would you describe the lyrical content of your music?

Some songs are about private visions of many different issues as for example the civilized world and a past of barbarism and so on. Other songs are about historic themes. Generally on these cases we perform a deep research about the chosen subject and then lyric is written. For example, in our next release, you'll find a song about the Germans against Romans Teutoburg battle, there'll be another about the Belgian chief Ambiorix and so on... We want to have content in our lyrics and not childish and meaningless blasphemies.

9. What are some of your main influences music wise or non music wise?

In the past we had many musical influences like Emperor, Graveland, Dimmu Borgir, Marduk and etc., but nowadays we try to copy nobody and I think that we're succeeding on have our own musical identity and personality.Out of music we have many influences, of course from historical books, mythology and also something from authors like Tolkien and Robert E. Howard.

10. What are you listening to nowadays and what are some good bands or releases that you would recommend?

Lately I have listened only to bands like Bathory, Einherjer, Falkenbach, Saxon and many old things. A band which got my attention and I'd recommend is one called Wulfgar. I listened to their album “With Gods and Legends Unite” and I thought it's really great.

11. What rule do the Norse Gods and Runes play in your music or life?

Norse paganism got a good part in our music, but not all, ‘cause I think if we do that we’d be restricting our horizon and losing the chance to speak about a lot of interesting things, like historical issues. We are not religious people, and I think that things are working well by this way. We’re not the kind of guys who sit and wait for gods gifts, we do everything by ourselves.

12. What are some good books or films that you would recommend?

The last movie I watched was Arn - The Knight Templar. I liked it, it's a good movie. Other movies that I could say I enjoy are Conan The Barbarian, The Curse of the Ring, Lord of the Rings, Gladiator, Germanus and some old school ones like 300 of Sparta, The fall of the Roman Empire, Clash of Titans, Krull, El Cid, Jason and the Argonauts and etc.I like to read books about mythology and history. The last books which I was reading were About the Spartan Civilization (an almost unknown book from a Brazilian hardcore Spartan researcher author) and Frederick The Great (from MacDonogh, Giles). Both of them are good books!

13. How would you describe the metal scene in Brazil and what are some good bands from your home country that you would recommend?

Brazilian metal scene is big and diverse. There are a lot of good bands as well as some bad ones too. Bands that I could recommend are Sarcofago which was reference to many black metal bands, Murder Rape, Darkest Hate Warfront and many others that I don’t remember now.

14. Any final words?

I’d like to thank you for opening this space to Viking Throne and for your support!Our divulgation channels are our myspace: www.myspace.com..vikingthronehorde, site: www.vikingthrone.com and our email: vikingthrone@yahoo.com.brPeople can find songs for download, pics, videos and merchandising. Thank you and everyone who support us! Best regards!---------------##----------------Thanks for your support man!

Best Regards,

Count Nidhogg

VIKING THRONE