Olle: We are a Swedish Black Metal band that was formed in late 2017 by Marcus and I. We started with an intention to play old school Nordic, rock n roll influenced black metal. We released our first demo on cassette in September 2018 and later it was re-released on a 7” vinyl by Fallen Temple I February this year. At the same time we signed a contract with Naturmacht who will release our full length debut album.
2.You have your first full length coming out during the end of September, musically how does it differ from the demo you had released in 2018?
Olle: I would say that it doesn’t differ that much, we still play the same music and have a similar sound. Of course we aim to progress as a band so perhaps you can hear something like a natural development even though some of the songs already was written when the demo was released.
Marcus: I agree with Olle, production is perhaps a little bit different since I was spending more time on it. But other than that, not so much, and that was sort of the point of the demo.
3.Your lyrics cover 'Norse Mythology', can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this topic?
Olle: It has been an interest for a very long time and it is part of our heritage and history. I have spent a lot of time around the Grebbestad/Tanum area where my parents have a summer house. In the area there is a lot of history with rock carvings, grave fields etc.. I find it fascinating with runes and the stories about the heathen gods.
4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Nordkväde'?
Olle: It is the words Nord and Kväde combined and it means North and poem. We are Northmen and we have poems about our history, Nordic mythology, war against the monotheistic religions etc…
5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?
Olle: The artwork is drawn by Sofia Gefyr (Gefyr Art Design) and she is my girlfriend. We wanted something that we felt was representative for the music we make and the lyrics we write. It is strongly combined with the music, with the fallen warriors, the runestone (which contains a lyrical extract from the song “Allfader”, Hugin & Munin and so on… So we are very pleased with the result.
6.Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you open to expanding your line up or do you prefer to remain a duo?
Olle: We are open for suggestions if we get the right people. However we are working good together as a duo and it has worked with a session drummer and on the album another guy played the bass on two tracks. We’ll see how it will be in the future, time will tell. In the future we also aim to perform live, but it will be when the time is right, then we obviously need some more people and we hopefully have some people that are interested in this.
Marcus: We are currently not a rehearsing band, even tho I know Olle is craving for it. Malte, who played bass on some songs on the album also showed interest in playing live and rehearsing. Myself I like to just write music, so we decided to focus on the next album, for now.
7.So far you have worked with 'Fallen Temple'and 'Naturmacht Productions' on your releases, do you feel that they have been very helpful when it come sot getting your music out there heard?
Olle: Yes, they have been very helpful! Starting with Fallen Temple we are more than pleased with the 7” release. It is great to have it in a gatefold format, a sticker with it and a die hard version with a patch was great! It got us quite some attention which has been good. Then we have the upcoming release with Naturmacht and it has boosted the attention even further. The full length will come in four different versions (vinyl, cassette, A5 digipak CD and regular CD) which is amazing! We couldn’t be happier with how they have done everything for us.
8.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black metal?
Olle: Overall it has been very good! People really seemed to like the demo and hopefully they will like the full length album as well.
9.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Olle: We will continue do create the music we love ourselves and go further on the path we have paved so far. Some songs are already written, and we aim forward on creating more good black metal.
Marcus: That’s hard to answer, but since the completion of the first album there are 4 new songs almost done and those are in the style ranging from “traditional 90’s black” to more melodic black in the style of “Allfather” from “Visdom & Makt”. But I think there will be a few tracks that’s a bit more atmospheric on the next album, we’ll see, which tracks ends up on the next record are not decided yet.
One thing that I felt was a limitation with this record was the playing time. Me and Olle loves the Vinyl-format so in order to keep a good sounding record, we had to land on a maximum of 20min per side since a gatefold double-vinyl was out of the question.
10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Olle: Marcus should answer about the musical part on this but for me lyrically the inspiration comes from all the music I listen to I guess, subconsciously or for some parts more consciously, as well as everyday happenings, life in general and the earlier mentioned Nordic mythology is inspirational.
I listen to a lot of music but at the moment it is Advent Sorrow, Vitriol, Hellripper, Mork, Arckanum, Rimfrost… the list could be very long, hehe
Marcus: The bands that influenced the songs on “Visdom & Makt” I guess are Burzum, King of Asgard and The Hellacopters. I’ve listened A LOT to those bands in the last 3 years. But I wouldn’t go as far and say I actually can hear the influences... That’s up to the people listening, to decide.
11.What are some of your non musical interests?
Olle: As I am a mechanical engineer I must say that technology is a big interest as well as design. Then we have Nordic mythology of course but the music is the main interest.
Marcus: Spending time with friends in the forest, just lighting a fire and drink some beers. That’s good times. But I’m also a huge gamer.
12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Olle: Thanks for the interview! “Stenar ska resas till vårt minne och runor ska ristas igen!”.
No comments:
Post a Comment