1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
Wulfaz is a duo consisting of Malthe on guitar and Simon on drums. Both share vocal duties but Simon does the main part of the vocals. We are both from the southern part of Denmark and we have known each other for many years. The behind Wulfaz is concept is raw, D-beat, but still melodic, black metal with a historic touch of the Viking Age.
2.So far you have released 2 ep's, musically how do they both differ from each other?
The first EP, ‘Eriks kumbl’ clearly focused on simplicity of the raw punk-ness you can get, when two people are having a good time in a rehearsal room. Everything is a bit simpler and you could even argue, that it has a playful vibe to it, whereas ‘Sotes runer’, our second EP, definitely sounds as a band that has matured. The songwriting is slightly more complex and thought-through, but the raw energy is still at center-stage. ‘Sotes runer’ is a concept EP about the Viking Age rune carver, Sote, who travelled around Denmark and wrote runic inscriptions for a powerful woman called Ragnhild. We have put more energy, time, sweat, and tears into this new project.
3.A lot of your lyrics cover Norse Paganism and Vikings and you also refer to your music as being 'runic' black metal, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in ancient Nordic Religion?
Simon in an historian of religion by education and has a PhD degree in the pre-Christian Nordic religion of the Viking Age. From the beginning, Wulfaz has been a creative outlet for this interest and knowledge of the ritual and religion of this time. The Viking Age has been a part of the inspiration for many black metal bands before us and we try to come with a new take on this by focusing on the runic inscriptions as windows into the lives of the Viking Age people.
4.I know that the band’s name is a proto Nordic word for wolf, how does this name fit in with the musical style that you play?
The name links up with the interest we have for the Nordic past and is taken from a group of Swedish rune stones. The wolf as such is often seen as both an aggressive and a melancholy creature and this description also fits the creature of Wulfaz pretty well.
5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the ep cover?
The artwork is a picture of the Viking Age rune stone and ship setting from Glavendrup, Denmark. The runic inscription honours the memory of the pagan priest Alle Sølve and both monuments are raised by his wife Ragnhild and their sons. The Nordic god Þórr is invoked to hallow the runes, which has given the name to the first song of the EP, ‘Vie disse runer’. The runes are written by the rune carver Sote, whose story we tell on the EP.
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?
We have no plans for expanding with more members. For us, this is the easiest and most convenient way to play music as a hobby. We also think the less is more strategy gives us different possibilities and constraints in the way we write songs as well as play them live. And all above that we work as a sort of hive-mind in the song writing process, our lyrical themes and musical style and that all flows really well in this constellation. With that in mind we also enjoy inviting having artists on stage together with us! We almost always have guest appearances on stage during the second EP’s title song ‘Sotes runer’ when we play it live.
7.What are some of the best shows and tours that the band has played or have been a part of so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
It has been a great and rewarding process for us so far. 2019 was filled with amazing shows at amazing venues together with even more amazing bands. Every place and every gig have their own story and picking one of them as a favorite would be extremely difficult. But when that’s said there’s is no doubt that our show at Studenterhuset in Copenhagen was one of a kind. It was the last show on our mini tour with Horned Almighty and Genfærd, who had both just released new records, and the crowd was really into it! On top of that, we finally had the opportunity to play together with our friend, Ole Luk, who did the guest vocals on the song ‘Sotes runer’.
During the many live shows we played during 2019, we gained lots of valuable live experience which made us adjust our stage performance along the way. We have now found our footing on stage and our stage decorations as well as our stage presence focuses on intensity and energy! We feel that this works really well and can focus on giving the full Wulfaz-experience at every show!
8.The new ep was released on TONEwood, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
Jakob Bonde, is the man behind TONEwood Music. He contacted us shortly after the release of our first EP and since then he has been providing us and all of our fans with his amazing tape-releases of our music. He is extremely talented and equally as sweet and understanding. Also, he is releasing music from our close friends from the grindcore outfit Fordærv with whom we have played several concerts with and planning on playing plenty more in the future. Check TONEwood out, you will not regret it.
9.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black metal and d beat?
We have mainly received positive reactions for our music in Wulfaz – there are of course some who don’t like the combination and that is perfectly fine and understandable. But people generally appreciate it and are fascinated by our being a duo without a bass but with a screaming drummer!
10.When can we expect a full length and also where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
We are working on a full-length record and this would be the natural next step for Wulfaz as a band. We are of course constantly evolving both as individual musicians and as a band, but the corner stones for us are still the energy from raw punk and the Nordic tonality and melancholy of black metal. The concept behind Wulfaz is still based on runic inscriptions and the Viking Age but in all likelihood the strict concept behind ‘Sotes runer’ or sticking pretty close to the actual words on the rune stones will probably not be part of the future full-length.
11.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?
We have both played metal for a long time and have been influenced by many different bands. Malthe also has a background as a jazz guitarist, which we try to use when writing riffs. We have found much inspiration in old school black metal bands like Bathory, Darkthrone, and Enslaved, and Taake, as well as more modern black metal bands like Wiegedood, Winterfylleth, Misþyrming and Der Weg Einer Freiheit. We like to describe our music as Hoest and Fenriz playing d-beat punk!
These past weeks has seen some pretty awesome releases and especially the new Winterfyllth-album, the debut by Bezwering well as the second record by Ole Luk’s black metal project Afsky called ‘Ofte drømmer jeg mig død’ are spinning on repeat.
12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Support the underground and fuck fascism!
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