1.Can you give us an update on what has been going on with the band since the recording and release of the new album?
Zhulgaroth: The recording itself was actually finished by February. Most people think you go into a studio, record your stuff and a week later everything is fine. In fact we were busy with a lot of administrative stuff, like how to publish the album get some merch, promotion, trying to get some gigs etc. Even if music is just a hobby for us it’s way lot more work, then you might think, if you try to do all these things on a standard that looks at least somehow professional. Shortly after the release our singer Namtar came up with some personal issues and had to leave the band which was probably the worst time for that. Our blessing in disguise was that Locus Neminis, another Black Metal Band from Austria, splitted two weeks before, so their singer was ready on the spot to replace him for the upcoming gigs this year.
2.Recently you have released a new album, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style that you went for on the recording?
Alastor: The fact that everyone from us has his own music taste and with the help from our great producer Wolf Sebastian we succeeded a very cool first album. Our musical style was always clear: Pagan Metal with influence of black metal and rock styles. I think this very cool mix can be heard on every song.
3.The band was broken up for 5 years, what was the cause of the split and also the decision to reform?
Alastor: I think I can speak for every hobby musician that the greatest problem is work and the connected time problem. But everyone from us must work for a living so we decided to split up. This was about 2014 or so. The decision to reform came up, by Namtar and me because we found great musicians with motivation and great instrumental skills!
4.I have seen your music referred to as 'Alpine Pagan Metal', can you tell us a litle bit more about this term?
Zhulgaroth: The term Apline Pagan Metal came up on another interview. The interviewer asked about our different influences that he has never heard on a classical Pagan Metal album and when we were thinking about that question, we found that there are probably a lot of Black’n’Roll influences, that were not intended. The core of the question was if we are trying to invent a new genre, which we denied in the first place but of course we wouldn’t be mad if we were known as the inventor of Alpine Pagan Metal, which basically refers to our home country Austria.
5.A lot of your lyrics cover paganism, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this topic and what are some of the other lyrical topics and subjects the band has explored so far with the music?
Zhulgaroth: The lyrics for the album were all written by Namtar. He always tried to transpose some situations he experienced or his own inner conflicts into a Vikings perspective. So on the one hand the lyrics are highly personal but on the other hand all of them tell a story which is related to the paganism topic.
6.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Nordblut'?
Alastor: The circumstance that the most from us came from the northern lower Austria brought us to the idea of the name. Paired with norse mythology it was predestined for Nordblut which is German for Northern Blood.
7.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?
Zhulgaroth: As mentioned before the lyrics tell a story from the perspective of a viking. Av Liv Og Kamp means basically “From Living and Fighting” which fits in our opinion perfectly into the topic of the album. So it was kinda obvious that we asked Sirli – the guy on the cover who is a friend of the band members for many years now – who is also active in an viking themed show fight group. Under these circumstances the cover design developed itself.
8.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and also how would you describe your stage performance?
Zhulgaroth: Well, til now we just had the one show at the Metal Escalation festival. The refound of the band started in 2019 and shortly afterwards the Covid stuff started, which made it nearly impossible to play shows as a new band because most of them were cancelled and when it was possible again to host shows most of them were make ups of before cancelled concerts. It’s hard to describe your own stage performance because you are actually not able to see it, but I think we did not put that much effort into stage concepts or choreography. We are trying to enjoy the time we have on stage, have fun and try to carry along the audience with that.
9.Do you have any touring or show plans for the new album?
Zhulgaroth: There are no concrete touring plans at the moment. We are currently in contact with several concert organizers in Austria and Germany and we try to realize as many shows as possible. Of course we are available for shows basically everywhere and if someone contacts us we will try our best to make it happen.
10.On the new album you also had a guest, can you tell us a little bit more about who he is and his contribution to the recording?
Zhulgaroth: For Winter, which is probably our darkest song on the album we thought that the Black Metal vocals of Sarolf Weltenschmerz, who is the singer of Waldschrat would fit perfectly here. The story to make that happen is quite unspectacular. Namtar and Alastor know him for many years, so they asked him, and he said yes.
11.The new album was released on 'Smoke Mountain Records', can you tell us a little bit more about this label?
Zhulgaroth: Smoke Mountain Records was founded by Namtar who tried to start his own label. Av Liv Og Kamp was basically his prototype to see how all the mechanics in the business work and so on. Due to his issues, that were mentioned in the first question he had to put the project on hold. Neither me nor anyone else knows, if he will carry on with the label in the future. So technically we are an independent band again.
12.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black and pagan metal?
Zhulgaroth: Overall the reactions have been much better than we expected. We got nearly exclusively good feedback and some very flattering comparisons with Satyricon, Eisregen or Motörhead. Just to name a few. Of course there are also some Black Metal Elitists who don’t like our music at all, to describe it politely, but we can absolutely deal with that.
13.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
Zhulgaroth: We are currently developing some new music and I would say some of our key elements will stay. We will definitely keep the groovy mid tempo Black’n’Roll parts that came up coincidentally for example. Due to our actual line up change we don’t know yet what other influences will come up in the future. The upcoming stuff will definitely sound like Nordblut but I’m also sure that it will not sound like a copy of the first album.
14.What are some of the bands or musical styles the band members are currently listening to nowadays?
Zhulgaroth: We listen to so many different types of music. Of course mainly Metal but Alastor is really deep in the Black Death genre. The classics that came up back in the days when Mayhem was a young band and also newer stuff like Behemoth, Wolfchant and so on. Marbas and Azazel are listening to classic Heavy and Thrash Metal bands like Metallica, Slayer, Motörhead and so on. I’m also listening to the old school Black Stuff like Immortal or Gorgoroth for example but most of my playlist includes more of, lets call it Mainstream Metal. A lot of Melodic Metal. My personal album of the year – in which I am not included of course – is Dinosaur Warfare Pt. 2 – The Great Ninja War by Victorius. So you see we have so many different musical tastes in the band and I guess that’s the main reason why we can create music that is not that easy to describe as just one genre.
15.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Zhulgaroth: Thank you so much for your time and the interview. We really hope you and your readers enjoy Av Liv Og Kamp and we hope much more that we will meet one or another of you in the near future on a show and have a beer together.
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