Bitter Frost Interview

1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never heard you before?



Bitter Frost is basically my musical vision; it combines multiple genres with a common foundation in Black Metal. Because I love so many styles of metal it was difficult for me to stick to just one, so I ended up in the end with 21 tracks with all kinds of musical styles. To mix things up I also decided to use guest vocalists on all the tracks, to make it as varied as the music is.



2. How would you describe your musical sound?



Neo-Classical Melodic Black Metal would be the foundation; my primary focus has always been lead guitar. So the songs themselves are usually very melodic and feature tons of guitars and keyboards. It’s very difficult for me to sum up my overall sound, that’s up to the listener.



3. What is the meaning behind the band's name?



There is no real meaning; I just thought it sounded good. A friend of mine came up with the name years ago and I convinced him to let me use it.



4. On your album you used a lot of guest musicians, where did you find these musicians and what are some bands that they play in?



I found most of them at concerts, through friends or on myspace. I had a large list of artists that I was in contact with but several of them did not pan out, some of them for example where Trym from Emperor, Dan Svano, Vitalij Kupril and Stephen from Mystic Forest.



The biggest name on my album would be Sean Peck from the American Power Metal band Cage. Funny thing is that Cage is a Christian Power Metal band, yet Sean doesn’t really know that he is singing on a pretty dominant satanic album. I don’t think I’ll tell him either, that’s up to him to discover.



As for the others on my album, they are mixed musician from local bands here in Southern California that I am friends with; Anthony Pretchl (Diadem), Dorian Bell (Evighet Av Aske), Dan Morris (Gannondorf), Stacy Rugely (Oplexicon) and Joe Onweller (Con).



5. Are you happy with what you had accomplish so far?



I would not have released it if I wasn’t happy with it, however I would have liked it to be far more technical in nature but I decided along time ago to minimize the amount of guitar solos and technical riffs. I think for my next album I will not hold myself back.



I spent several years learning how to record, mix and master metal. It wasn’t until about a year or more ago that I was happy with my production level and finally decided to finish the album.



6. Do you have any other bands than Bitter Frost?



Yes, at the moment I’m working on a Avant-garde Funeral Doom album with a good friend of mine. Thick with atmosphere and melody, all depressing shit that will make you want to kill yourself.



Also I will be assisting several friends of mine with their own productions.



7. How would you describe the musical progress over the years and what direction do you see the music heading into on future releases?



The primary reason I decided to make my album less technical was so I could teach myself how to play rhythm guitar. My sense of tempo and grove was horrible and all my guitar riffs where basically lead guitar melodies. So I decided to focus on rhythm. Now that I feel I have that under control I can really start working on my real vision for Bitter Frost



A Faster, more technical, more layers and with more solos. A more refined and focused version of my current album.



8. How have metal fans worldwide reacted to your music so far?



Better than I could ever imagine, I am such a perfectionist with my music that I thought I would have tons of critics tearing it apart. But so far it has all been positive! Im very excited about that and thoroughly enjoy all the feedback that I get. I just wish it was more negative so I could learn from any mistakes I might have made.



9 .Are you planning on getting a full line-up for shows. tours, recording sessions or do you plan on keeping Bitter Frost a 1 man band?



Not really sure how all of this will pan out, but I take caution from my past when thinking about expanding Bitter Frost to a live band. In the beginning I hired and fired about 13-14 different musicians in a span of 2 years to work on the project. I was far too critical about their performances and decided just to do it all myself. So I guess I am a control freak when it comes to Bitter Frost. IF I found a musician with a similar vision and the same technical abilities as myself I would be very open to that. Well, I did find someone like that ONCE, but he was a bigger jerk than I am.. so.. it didn’t work at all!



10. How would you describe the lyrical content of the music?



Lyrics are secondary to me, I am incapable of being poetic in any form due to my rigidly logical mind. My lyrics are horrific, I think that’s the primary reason that I finally decided to go with multiple vocalists, so I could make them write the lyrics for me!



Overall I am very happy with the lyrics they created; some of it is very clever! I don’t think I will ever write lyrics for my music when I can find people of a refined poetic nature to do it for me.



11. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and what are you listening to nowadays?



My primary two influences are Yngwie Malmsteen and Windir. So almost all of my songs get some kind of influence from them. Other than those two I also find great inspiration from: Wintersun, 1349, Hateforest, Moonsorrow, Emperor.. I could go on forever.



Now I am not listening to anything, I have been to busy promoting my album. But before when I had time I was listening a lot to: Coldworld, Silencer, Shining, Moonsorrow, Wuthering Heights, Behemoth and others. Ive recently been very interested in suicidal black metal primarily for its thick atmospheres and overall sense of melancholy.



12. You have previously mentioned that you are an atheist, how would you describe your views on atheism, and I also noticed from your music that you have studied a little bit about occultism and paganism, how would you describe your knowledge or views on those topics?



Atheism is taking responsibility for your own life and actions, you have no higher power to turn to or to blame, only yourself. It puts life into perspective for you and can either destroy you or set you free. It takes a strong mind to be an Atheist because the primary thing you have to acknowledge is that you are alone and always will be and that your life most likely has no ultimate purpose. Atheism, while it free’s mans mind, diminishes his importance in the face of a chaotic universe. This is why I believe Atheism is ultimately hated by the unwashed masses.



I am however a soft atheist, meaning I don’t deny that a god might exist, I just find the probability of that so incredibly small its not worth considering. I don’t say “God does NOT exist”, that is an act of faith just as large as the person that says “God Exists”



Funny thing is that I consider all Atheists to be closet Satanists. When I actually took the time to read up on satanic doctrine I found that I agreed with 90% of it, as did other Atheist friends of mine. It closely reflected my own personal philosophy. I however do not call myself as a Satanist, I think Satan is just an ideal, that a free man should strive to become like, much like Nietzsche‘s ubermensch.



13. What are some of your interests outside of music?

Computers, reading, photography, cooking, philosophy. Eh, that all pales in comparison to my dedication and passion for Metal!



14. Any final words or thoughts?



Yeah, thanks for the interview and the review you did earlier, I really appreciate it. I also want to thank everyone out there that took the time to listen to my music!



Im going to listen to the new 1349 album, it better fucking good after the travesty they released earlier.. Keep it metal my friends!

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