Arkiv001 – Morannon.
Interview answered by Ferocious, May 2021.
Morannon started as a band back in 1994. A great year for Black Metal looking back at its content. How did you guys meet and what lead up to the point that you actually formed Morannon?
Answer: We all lived in the same part of Gävle and we all had music as our prime interest. Vortex is 5 years older than I, and he already played in a couple of bands when I got to know him. He was one of the people who introduced me to Black Metal. Bathory and Darkthrone! I was into punk at the time, so when I heard “A Blaze in the Northern Sky” and “Under the Sign of the Black Mark” I knew that I just had to play similar music.
As we all know the name Morannon originates from The Lord of the Ring saga, and is the name for the black gate of Mordor. A lot of bands took inspiration from this fictious world that Tolkien carved out, and you are not an exception from that. How did you come in contact with the authorship of J.R.R. Tolkien? Was it through books or through the us of it within the Black Metal scene?
Answer: My first contact with Tolkien was through Ralph Bakshis animated Lord of the Rings. Sometime around mid-80’s I think. I didn’t read the books until 1996 or 1997. That’s when I took the name Morannon. We used Midnatt for the first couple of years.
Listening to your old material it is undeniably inspired by Darkthrone. Would you say that Darkthrone was the main influence in your musical writing, or was it the raw and primitive minimalism that Darkthrone represented back then?
Answer: It was total Darkthrone worship! And early Bathory. As it is still today.
Looking back at the lyrics, what was the main themes being dealt with? Did you have any satanic approach or was it more of a culturally based fascination for death that was your main lyrical motivator?
Answer: We had some satanic stuff, but more darkness and death. I have always loved Fenriz lyrics from the early stuff so I wanted to have more or less the same feeling in my lyrics. Can’t say that I was that successful, haha!
Did you do any live shows back in the 90’s? If so, what bands did you play with? Originating from the Gävle area, was there any local scene to talk about?
Answer: We never played live, but we did play some Morannon songs as soundchecks when we had gigs with other bands. I have never been a fan of life shows with Black Metal bands. The scene here in Gävle was kind of non-existent. A dew bands, like In Aeternum, Withered Beauty, Martyrium and Behemoth (though they had already split up in 1994).
Looking back on the early days of Morannon with your adult vision, what does it feel like having this in your backpack? Is there anyrthingk you regret doing or wish that you would’ve done differently? Or is it all just pure nostalgia?
Answer: I think we did some decent songs back then. We hardly did any promotion fpr the demos. I sent “Behold the Black Candles Light” to Close Up Magazine for a ewview. We got an ok review and it resulted in 2 sold copies. A few interviews in some fanzines, but other than that, nothing. I kind of regret that today. I should have made more of an effort. I have never sent anything to any label. Never tried to get a record deal. I just wanted to write songs and record them.
How and when did you get in contact with Black Metal, and how would you describe that magical moment we all had when first establishing a lustful, and in a lot of ways even fanatic, relationship with the Black Metal scene?
Answer: It was through friends that was a few years older than me. I was into punk, but also listened to some Metallica, Iron Maiden, Wasp, Dio, etc. Then I got introduced to Bathory and Darkthrone, and I loved it! Burzum’s debut, Mayhem’s “Live in Leipzig”, first Immortal, “Those of the unlight” by Marduk. It was pure magic to my teenage years! It spoke to me in a new kind of way. Filled my soul!
What is Morannon for you today? Is it the same beast on which you rode back in the 90’s, or have it changed throughout the years? Do you have more control over it now or do you still run by its side and see wherever it takes you?
Answer: Morannon is more controlled now, I think. I write music more or less all the time. The songs that have the right Morannon feeling will be used in Morannon. The other stuff ends up in my other bands. Though most of the songs might sound kind of similar (it’s all necro Black Metal after all), I know which songs are Morannon songs.
Being an old fart these days, are there any albums that still frequents your stereo? Are there any specific albums that still carries that furious flame and that hits you just as strong today as it did back in your teenage years?
Answer: I still listen to the stuff I listened to when I was a teenager. Early Darkthrone, Bathory, Burzum, first three Immortal, Enslaved’s “Frost”, Samael’s first two albums, Abigor, Mayhem’s “De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas”, Isengard. And so on… “Transilvanian hunger” still affets me the same way as it did 25+ years ago!
2019 you digitally released some re-recorded songs from old demos under the title “Ancient Rites of Darknes”. Will we see these recordings on a forthcoming album? Are there any plans on releasing something new under the Morannon banner (Aside from the majestic Svarta Arkivet release that is)?
Answer: The idea of the “Ancient Rites of Darkness” was to re-record some of my personal favorite songs and just add them to the digital album as they were recorded. I will record a few more when I have the time. I don’t know if there will be a physical release, but you never know… I have some new songs in the making. Most likely there will be a new release later this year.
What is Black Metal to you? Is it just music no matter the packaging, or do you have specific requirements that needs to be fulfilled for you to actually pay attention?
Answer: More than anything else, it’s about the feeling, the atmosphere. How the music fills me with emotions. Like “Transilvanian hunger”, “The Return”, “Worship Him”. I like it simple, harsh and cold!
Aside from the musical escapades of Morannon, are there any other projects or hobbies you spend your time on?
Answer: I play in a few other bands as well, but nowadays It’s just recording songs. No rehearsals or gigs or anything. I have my studio at home, fully equipped, so I can record whenever I feel like it. Other than music, it’s my kids, my dog and my house that I spend my time on.
Arkiv002 – Sadocrush/Intersect.
Interview answered by Daniel Sjöheim, July 2021.
Sadocrush was formed back in the late 90's. Could you tell us about the process of Sadocrush becoming a band? For how long had you known each other, and what drove you to actually start the band? Were there any bands prior to Sadocrush from which Sadocrush emerged?
Answer: That’s of course a very long and complex story, but I will put it in as few words as possible or rather necessary. Bonecrusher and myself were involed with bands like Nocturnal Sorrow and Frostrike. So when those two bands broke apart we and a good friend of ours named Agustin naturally jumped into a new project we called Sadocrush. We were all inspired to create something simple, raw, violent and evil that would be a terrorizing voice of hell on earth.
The name Sadocrush surely fits the intense atmosphere of the music. Why the name Sadocrush and what was the thought process behind the choice of name?
Answer: Sadocrush is about the romanticism surrounding sadomasochism.
Lyrically Sadocrush seemed to be satanic in essence, heavily influenced by perverted sadism. Could you tell us about the lyrics and what they meant to you back then, and what they symbolize for you today? Were there any specific influences?
Answer: As for most of us involved in the Scandinavian Black Metal scene in the early nineties and its inverted Abrahamitic output and devil worship, pure evil was the only thing that measured the level of sincerity and devotion. So the name Sadocrush came to us very naturally and most likely during one of our regular sessions of alcohol and other ingredients of chaos.
You only recorded one demo with the line-up on “Deathorgasm”, but two years later a second demo emerged with the drummer and another member. This happened while the original line-up from “Deathorgasm” formed and played with Intersect. What was the reason for ending/leaving Sadocrush and instead form Intersect?
Answer: Well, I was actually a part of Sadocrush during that period also, playing bass, but didn’t participate on the recording of the second demo. It was short lived though. Sadocrush was abandoned by everyone involved. Intersect was the new entity emerging out of that.
Compared to Sadocrush Intersect is more Death Metal oriented, and the lyrics seems to be built upon a darker spiritual foundation. Would you say that is a correct interpretation? What can you tell us about the lyrics?
Answer: Yes, absolutely correct. Everything about Intersect was founded on a darker and more transcendental spiritual dimension of philosophy.
Both the Sadocrush demo and the Intersect demo is rarely seen on for example trade/sale/buy groups online. Did you promote the demos back when they were released, or did you just record the demos and never really bothered spreading them around? If so, how come?
Answer: For some strange and unknown reason we never made any efforts to release or spread the demos.
Back in the 90’s, how was your relationship to the Black Metal scene and the culture circling around it? Ho did you get in contact with Black Metal and do you remember what band that introduced you to the genre? How would you describe your relationship to the Black Metal scene today?
Answer: Let’s just say it was a time of great learning and exploration of the dark and in general unknown side of existence. I was vert young, angry and foolish. Black Metal was perfect for me 1993 when I discovered the album “Ugra-Karma” by Impaled Nazarene. That masterpiece of an album has been with me ever since. Nowadays I’m mostly busy with other things, but occasionally been working with some underground projects like Nagas and Patala, including Black Metal influenced ones like Samhara, Kala and Kapalik to name a few.
Are Sadocrush and Intersect dead and buried, or are there any chances that we may see something new from any of these two beasts someday?
Answer: Does anything ever remain entirely dead? Perhaps that’s a question we should leave unanswered.
Aside from your musical escapades, what are some things you consider meaningful and worth spending your time on? I happen to know that you every now and then travel to India for example. What are some of the things that keep pulling you to the cremation grounds of south Asia?
Answer: Yes, that is true. I stumbled unto a journey to India the first time 2002. Now 12 years later I’ve become an initiated disciple of Aghora. Spent a lot of time at the cremation ground there. It has granted awareness of impermanence and the eternal absolute truth beyond this world.
Last words are yours.
Answer: Live your own life fully and face death and dying accordingly. Don’t parrot something you don’t truly understand just to fit in. Be comfortable because it seems right or true. May death be your guide to enlightenment!
Arkiv003 - Korp.
Interview answered by Kenny Olsson, August 2021.
Answer: Me and Hillströms used to play in a Death Metal band called Ferocity. This was back in 1993-1994. A the same time Andersson played in a Death Metal band called Danmich Aels. All of us started listening more and more to Black Metal and since Andersson is my older brother it was quite a natioral process that we sparked the idea of starting a more Black Metal oriented band together, thus Nocturnal was born. At its infancy a mishmash of different styles (Black/Death/Thrash). It was first with Demogorgon that we merged more into pure Black Metal, but still trying to figure shit out heavily influenced by the Norwegian scene. At this time we had fired and recruited a handful of members. Korp became a continuation of Demogorgon but in a more mature way regarding riffs, songwriting, lyrics etc.
Being from Bollnäs and playing Black- and Death Metal in the mid nineties, I guess there weren’t that may likeminded people around? Or was Bollnäs a maelstrom of metal extremists back then? Looking at your band history it looks like you guys had one of the classic inbreeding situations as a lot of other small cities had, where the same people played in almost every other band in the region. How was the Gävleborg scene back then? Was it a close circle of friends/people?
Answer: Bollnäs acutally had quite a bit metal scene back in the days, in the hayday 20-30 metal bands used an abandoned school as rehearsal place. I guess the most “famous” metal bands from Bollnäs would be Morgana Lefay and Tad Morose. We, however, in the mid nineties were the only band (at least) trying to play Black Metal. We also had Blazing Skies (melodic Death Metal) and Incarnated (Death Metal) and if memory serves me right I think Andersson used to play drums in both bands at different periods. Veil of Sorrow, Divine Sin (Söderhamn) and Goatworship (Knivsta) were other bands we were close friends with.
The nineties being the time when actual rehearsal places were being used I guess you guys hung out a lot in your rehearsal place? Did you use it mainly to rehearse songs, or did you spend your time there drinking beer and having a laugh with buddies?
Answer: We shared rehearsal place with Blazing Skies and Incarnated. Everything was painted pitch black from floor to ceiling, with chains hanging from the ceiling (Hellraiser style). Two huge white bloodstained inverted crosses attached from the ceiling to the second floor where we had a big sofa and a refrigerator. A big fat Baphomet pentagram painted on the walls. On another wall a Korp logo and also an Incarnated logo. Bollnäs three most extreme metal bands sharing the same rehearsal place would often result in an alcoholic haze.
In 1996 you finally released the first Korp demo entitled “Utvald”. While most bands had cover artworks consisting of forests, demons, castles etc. you chose to have a cover consisting of the Swedish flag in front of some mountains. Did you get any comments about it? I mean this were the mid nineties when bands such as Ultima Thule were active, and the debate on racism were brewing.
Answer: We never aimed for it to be NSBM or anything in that category. We liked the cover and did choose it just for that reason you mention (every release at this time having a black and white cover) thus making our cover stand out from the norm. As I mentioned earlier I think 90% of all music we listened to during this point in time was Norwegian Black Metal, so we took that extreme approach and made it Swedish. Korp has never been a political band.
Lyrically you chose to write in Swedish. This changed though and you started to write in English later on. What was the reason for this? Was it to please and attract a bigger and more international crowd? Or did you just find it easier to write in English? What did you write about on the “Utvald” demo? Any specific concept?
Answer: I think it just felt like a natural process to change to English lyrics. This happened around the time we signed with French label Embassy/Craziness in 1996/1997. Unfortunately, they went bankrupt shortly after that and “Until Eternity Calls” was never really officially released until now (2021). Lyrics have always touched upon subjects such as death, darkness and Armageddon.
Did you play live with Korp (or Nocturnal/Demogorgon)? I bet there must have been at least a few smaller youth center gigs during the demo days? Have you ever played with other bands or at any festivals? What’s your approach to the whole playing live thing?
Answer: Yes, we used to play live. Not that excessive though. I’d guiess maybe 15-20 times. In 1999 we did a gig in Falkenberg with Embraced, Anata and Blazing Skies. That afterparty ended when the fire brigade arrived early in the morning, ha ha! And we did re-unite ten years later in 2009 to play at Rock Weekend festival in Kilafors with bands such as Dimmu Borgir, Dark Funeral etc. Our latest gig was in 2017 in Stockholm at Copperfields together with Macabre Decay and Thalion. Besides that it has mostly been local gigs in Bollnäs.
Some people have always claimed that the Black Metal scene is dead due to its modern and commercial state of being. While others just watch it as a natural development of the scene. How would you describe your relationship with the Black Metal scene these days compared to your younger self? Are you one of the dusty old men still looking for new masterpieces? Or are you, like me, crawling around in the remnants of the nineties scene, thinking the best albums have already been written?
Answer: For sure crawling around in the remnants of the nineties! But there are some newer bands I really like as well. Bands such as Nekromantheon, Nettlecarrier, Djevel and Mgla. Back in the days we ate, slept and breathed Black Metal, spending all money on ordering demos, records, fanzines, merchandise and trying to attend as many gigs as possible. One time we rented a mini-van and took a roadtrip to Umeå for a Naglfar and Necrophobic gig, and we ended up drinking at one of the guys in Cranial Dust and slept on his floor. I think there were at least 8-9 dudes sleeping there, with his mom sleeping in the next room, ha ha! Blizzard Beasts was on high rotation that night. Those were the days! Today we are old (and cold) but still making sure that the wax collection is steadily growing.
Do you remember how and when you got in contact with extreme metal for the first time? Was there any specific album that just blew your young brain to pieces and got you hooked for life?
Answer: I guess I can answer for the whole band by saying we all had a natural hunger for the next extreme sound, starting with Metallica, Iron Maiden etc. and then moved on to Slayer and Sepultura etc. then Deicide, Morbid Angel etc. and then Darkthrone, Satyricon etc. Some less famous albums that I really enjoyed back in the days was “Forever Gone” MLP by Desultory, “Cursed” by Morgoth and “Rites of the Black Mass” by Acheron.
After the release of “Thorns of Centuries Unfold” you took a 16 year long pause before releasing the EP “Cauldron of Fire” in 2017. 16 fucking years. That’s like the length of an old Burzum song. What did you do during this time off the Korp battleship?
Answer: Most of the members still continued to play but in other constellations, though nothing of this would ever really come into fruition.
Are there any future plans for Korp or are you slowly drifting away from activity and into being a defunct band?
Answer: At this moment Korp is hibernating. Regarding future plans I can’t mention too much yet but dark waters stir.
Aside from playing and listening to extreme Metal, what do you prefer doing in your everyday life? Got any hobbies that takes up your time?
Answer: Nah! Most of my spare time is dedicated to song writing and writing lyrics. I did a tryout for the Swedish curling team but that went to shite!
Last words are yours.
A big thank you Mikael And Svarta Arkivet for the support and keeping the old flame alive! Bang your head for Satan!
Arkiv004 – Niden/Bloodshed Nihil
Interview answered by Henke Forss & Jonas Albrektsson, January 2022.
Henke: Originally the name was just Niden. A made up name that, as far as I know, had no meaning. Div. 187 was added for the release of “Towards Judgement” on MCD. But you’re basically right. We wanted the name to be connected to death, murder and war, as it reflected our vision of the band, both in visual aesthetics and lyrics.
When was the concept of ND187 borm? Was it more of a side project while you boys worked with your other main bands (which I assume at the time were Dawn, A Canorous Quintet and Thy Primordial)? Or is there another story to be told about the short lifespan of the band?
Henke: Again you’re right on the button. I t was never meant to be more than a project as our other bands were gaining some momentum and demanding more and more focus. But the urge to dig down to the core of brutality and create something on the other side of the Death/Black Metal spectrum was something that drew me and Leo Pignon together. Thus, Niden was born. Another reason for Niden being a project was that Leo lived in Stockholm and it was almost pre-internet which meant that to be a band you had to be physically meet and rehearse. There was none of the modern stuff like rehearsing online and such nonsense.
Before the MCD “Towards Judgement” and the full-length album “Impergium” you released the demo “Towards Judgement” that didn’t reach many music collections due to its very strict limitation. I assume this was the cassette that ended up on the table of Necropolis Records. Could you tell us about the process of becoming a Necropolis band?
Henke: My other band Dawn was signed to Necropolis so we had an “in” from the get go. We sent the tape to Paul Thind who loved it and offered to do a MCD of it. We liked the idea and started working on material for a full album, which Necropolis also released a year later.
The statement printed in both the demo and the MCD “Towards Judgement” was pretty straight forward. Did you get any reactions? What was it that made you feel that such a statement was needed? The lines were: “Niden will not accept being linked to the pretentious attitudes that often come with black Metal. In no way are we trying to prove to others that we are “Evil” or “True”.
Henke: We knew people were going to label us as a Black Metal band, even though none of our lyrics are about satanic topics. The statement was our way of distancing ourselves from Black Metal as a satanic genre. We were all about war. The statement was in hindsight stupid as fuck as people thought it was the epitome of pretentious, and I agree, haha.
What can you tell us about the lyrics? Is there a specific concept? Listening to the music and looking at the aesthetics you definitely get the feeling that a final life obliterating world war is sweeping through the songs. Is it the end? A final boot in the bleeding mouth of life itself?
Henke: I wish I could tell you in detail, but the lyrics are long gone. I even tried to listen to the songs and write the lyrics down, but no dice. Though one of my favorite lines is from the song “Genocide” and it goes like this: “Nausea excels into hate, twisting the mind of me. Enjoy the war and give your support. Give your life for the destruction of mankind”. This pretty much sums it up. On the demo/MCD the lyrics were not only about war/genocide/murder etc. but for “Impergium” we went all in.
Was the buried production on the albums intended to be a murderous underground “Fuck You” atmosphere, or is there another reason?
Henke: The production on “Impergium” was supposed to be raw, ugly and annoying, and I think we managed that pretty well. Looking back at it now I have no idea how the hell we managed to make it even more raw and ugly than we intended. We recorded everything ourselves which might be an answer. Bad recording equipment might be another, but I’m really happy we didn’t manage to get a “better” sound as I’m sure that would have taken the edge off the atmosphere.
What’s your take on the Black Metal scene back then contra now? Are there any specific differences that you like/dislike? Do you prefer to get packages filled with physical paper flyers etc. and listen to music on cassette/vinyl/cd, or do you prefer to log on to Spotify and blast away unto the digital music universe?
Henke: Musically it has evolved really well. Come to think of it, I think I listen more to contemporary BM than the older stuff. No that the gems of the 90’s are bad, absolutely not. I just enjoy seeking out new stuff all the time. But if we flip the coin and take a look at imagery, it’s definitely gone in the wrong direction. Sure, there are bands who pay homage to the traditional aesthetics but it seems that being flamboyant in your graphical expression is the way to go if you want to sell records. I’m ranting and I don’t really know why.
As for “how” I listen to music, since I can listen to whatever I want at work, it tends to be in favor of Spotify and Bandcamp. But at work it’s background noise. When I really want to listen, it’s on vinyl. And who doesn’t like getting flyers?
When ND187 was buried, did you miss that kind of musical/visual/ideological intensity? Have you had the possibility to channelize the same kind of raw unfiltered aggression elsewhere?
Henke: I absolutely miss it. For me, Niden was on a whole other level than any of my other bands or projects. Sure, Retaliation is close, but not all the way there. Being a Grindcore band that never rehearsed, nor did Nide, it gave us the opportunity to vent some of that aggression and hostility in the studio when we had perhaps 2 days to record 20-30 songs. Plus, Retaliation and Niden share 3 members.
Do you look back at the ND187 era with sentimentality or do you face it as just another period of time in your musically active history? What would you say that ND187 means for you today contra 1996/1997?
Henke: I don’t know if sentimental is the right word, but yeah, something like that. I don’t know if it’s common or not that your own band makes such a huge impact on you, but it did on me, and I hold Niden closer to heart than anything I’ve ever done.
How do you view the world and its parasitic residents today? Do you still feel the same rage and contempt as you did back in the 90’s? Are the triggers the same now or have you grown into another worldview/mindset?
Henke: The triggers are basically the same, but the world gets shittier with each year. Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse something comes along and proves you wrong. Fuck, I hate this world.
Another band boiling beneath the surface during the same period of time was Bloodshed Nihil, releasing its first and only demo in 1997. At first, I thought it was a more or less discrete continuation of ND187, which it wasn’t. When and why was Bloodshed Nihil born?
Jonas: Well it’s not to be linked to ND187 though I fully understand that it does, and awaken the thought by its similarities. Bloodshed Nihil was born during the actual recording of the one and only demo, I guess, which took place sometime during 1997. Its first steps of existence was probably out of the lack of Nidens presence and the yearning of keeping the frenzy and aggression of its being active. I have always had a penchant for this specific kind of music and everything that follows its paths, so it simply needed to come out and leave the system. The result were these four tracks, born out of the urge of sonic violence.
The name Bloodshed Nihil sure fits the music. Raw, dark and it awaken the thoughts of a final global bloodbath. Why the name Bloodshed Nihil and what is its meaning?
Jonas: The name in itself is meant to, as you figured, to portray the music… a global bloodbath is surely close to its perception. Accompanied with – Nihil – being the denial of all knowledge and value in human life. No more no less. No frills or filters.
What could you tell us about the lyrics? Having the aesthetics and music in mind something tells me its not that far from the end of the world gospel of ND187?
Jonas: There’s not much to be said about them I believe. They are in the tradition of ND187 for sure… the gospel of the end. As you predicted it’s the prophecies of downfall – all inclusive, all included.
Is there a reason you only recorded one demo (that also ended up on a 4-way split)? Did you plan to record more with Bloodshed Nihil or was it just a come together once and record thing?
Jonas: Well, I had in mind for a long time to continue the path but for several reasons it never came to being. I’m very passionate to this sort of musical direction but it need to be done right, wholeheartedly, and with the right approach by all its participants and that wasn’t really achieved and thus it kind of lost the spark. This was probably for the best for the “band” as the result would have suffered of such and thus it was better off to the grave. To sum it up, the intention was to continue but we, or I, failed and it faced death and its final rest some years ago probably.
Ingen intervju gjordes för släppet av Arkiv005.