It was a very weird thing. We started that stuff with the Under Jolly Roger album, and everything started with the song "Under Jolly Roger." At that time we were looking for a title for the whole record, and I said that was a great title for the record so let's do it. So we did, and then we had to do the cover like that, because it fits the song. So we did it, and so we said let's do the stage clothing like that. So we did it, and then we said let's do the set like that , and when we looked back we said, "Oh, wow, we look like pirates!" So it just came; we didn't plan it. And then at the times we were rehearsing for the Port Royal album, I really became interested in reading books about that. That is why the titles "Port Royal" and "Calico Jack." are like that. We thought it was kind of the whole thing that RUNNING WILD stands for, or which stands for RUNNING WILD. It just came.
Rolf Kasparek / Running Wild interview, 1996RUNNING WILD released their fourth album on this day in 1988. Many memorable songs, this was the album they really established the 'pirate' theme.
The "Welcome to Port Royal" tour took place across Germany in January of 1989 and then sporadically through the rest of the year, into Spain, Greece and England. ANGEL DUST were the support band for all dates.
Rolf has in the past considered this album the end of RUNNING WILD's 'first period'.
]]>Putting the albums in a rough frame, I would say there have been three periods in the development, the first starting with Gates To Purgatory and ending with Port Royal, the second from Death Or Glory to Pile Of Skulls and the third from Black Hand Inn to where we are now. Whereas each period was based on the respective previous one.
Rolf Kasparek / Running Wild interview, 2000
In ways, it's different, but it's not so different in other ways, you know?! That's how I see it. The musical progress is clear, I think. "...And So The Night Became" has more pounding sound, better arrangement and more 'focused' emotion than "Beyond The Wandering Moon".
Aeternus interview, Random #4, 2000AETERNUS released their second album, ...and So the Night Became, on this day in 1998 through Hammerheart.
]]>Night time is an enchanting time, nature becomes more beautiful in ways, etc. etc. I could go on and on about what the night can give me emotionally and so forth, but I see no reason for that. The night is enchanting for those who knows and feels its bare essence and power.
Aeternus interview, Random #4, 2000
...we did another EP, Quick Fix of Melancholy, which was our way of trying to get back into writing songs—or something resembling songs—and also find out where we wanted to take things.
Kristoffer "Garm" Rygg / Ulver interview, Modern Fix, 2005ULVER released their fourth EP, A Quick Fix of Melancholy, on this day in 2003.
The lyrics for "Vowels" are taken from poet Christian Bök's 2001 book Eunoia.
]]>The book, Eunoia, is in addition to being absolutely beautiful writing a mammoth disciplinary achievment. We appreciate systematic processes like the ones Bök employs in his book. And we relate because he works in ways akin to how we do with the technology of sound and music.
Kristoffer "Garm" Rygg / Ulver interview, Atomic Threat, 2006
]]>The band practiced in a shed behind a crack-house in Torrance and they worried they might get their amps impounded or stolen before the studio date came. Whereas for the first album the band could only conceive of playing the tune in its live arrangement, by now they practiced rhythm arrangements for the studio so we could lay down a consistent sound-bed and more carefully set a sound for the solo and overdub it. We were getting real pro by our lights, but you could tell the Music Grinder Studio folks up on Melrose had never had any other band come in and pound out an album's tracking and mixing in four straight twelve hour days. On "Mournful Cries" Wino plays second guitar on some tunes which worked out great; he's got the best rhythm sense of any guitarist I've heard, something elastic akin to John Bonham's drum-feel. Listening to these great Saint Vitus slabs of sound in these studios was better than any live P.A. or LP or CD playback could possibly be.
Joe Carducci, The New Vulgate #75, 2010
I began a Death Metal band called Molested and that was really cool times. It was kind of being an apprentice, learning to play guitar, and we rehearsed and all that for four years, I think every second day. Really intense period.
Øystein Brun / Borknagar interview, Cryptic Rock, 2019MOLESTED released their second demo, Unborn Woods in Doom, on this day in 1993.
Founder, vocalist and guitarist Øystein Garnes Brun would within a year form BORKNAGAR. The last MOLESTED recordings took place in 1995 for the Stormvold EP, BORKNAGAR recorded their debut album a few months later.
]]>I'm still proud of the stuff we did back then. It had something very unique about it. It's very passionate, in a way, and I kind of planned my own youth, in a way, and it kind of gives me a lot of nice associations...
Øystein Brun / Borknagar interview, Metal Storm, 2019
Some of the songs, including the eponymous track above, originate at least as far back as the first FUNERAL MIST demo, Darkness, recorded in 1995 with a different lineup.
Eternal shadow, eternal grief, endless destruction...
]]>It's occultist roots stemming back to the ancient Vampiric society of UR mixes well with our dark music. It is still very Satanic in nature, but it is something different than anything I wrote before.
Rev. Vincent Crowley, Acheron interview, Dark Ages, 1998ACHERON released their fifth full-length on this day in 1998 through Full Moon.
We left MORIBUND RECORDS due to the fact that they couldn't put out "Those Who Have Risen" in time. we departed on positive terms, but we needed to release the album. Thorns from FULL MOON PRODUCTIONS showed a lot of interest in putting it out, so I decided to sign a one album deal with them. Thus far I am very pleased with the results.
Rev. Vincent Crowley, Acheron interview, Dark Ages, 1998
The album includes guest vocals from David Vincent (MORBID ANGEL) and George Corpsegrinder Fisher (CANNIBAL CORPSE).
]]>Both of them are friends of mine and I admire their vocals very much. I felt that their contribution would be an added bonus to the new CD. As for working with them again, this was just a special guest appearance for "Those Who Have Risen".
Rev. Vincent Crowley, Acheron interview, Dark Ages, 1998
It's definitely our best one, the best songwriting, the best production and all that stuff. So it is definitely a step forward for the band and as far as a wider audience goes, the record label, Morbid Records, helped that. They've taken care of a lot of the promotion and distribution; we did a lot of that ourselves in the past. Especially in Europe, they've done a lot more for us there. We still do a lot of the American work ourselves, we print the CDs ourselves here.
Jason Netherton / Dying Fetus interview, Chronicles of Chaos, 1999DYING FETUS released their second album, Killing on Adrenaline, on this day in 1998 through Morbid Records.
]]>The lyrics are my department, whereas the music's mainly John's department, with the guitars, etc. I wrote one song on the album ["We Are Your Enemy"], he wrote the rest of them. We've always wanted to play this kind of music. We don't concentrate on writing brutal songs, we write songs which are catchy. We like it, that heavy sound, and we're glad it comes out that way. As far as the lyrics go, I like to keep them interesting, too. Half of them are more kind of traditional death metal lyrics, I guess, along the lines of anger, frustration, pain. The other half are more politically oriented, that's because that's what I study at university, the international global economy. I like to take that kind of stuff and put it into lyrics and make it more accessible to play to a wider audience. To make them take the lyrics and bring them down to a more personal level, I guess.
Jason Netherton / Dying Fetus interview, Chronicles of Chaos, 1999
We did one tour in the States with DEATH ANGEL and [Capitol Records] gave us a lot of money! Basically for a band that comes out of nowhere, that did one demotape, 500 copies... we had no idea what the music business was all about as far as the reality of it, you know. We just played. They gave us a deal for $100.000 for our first record and we thought we were unstoppable now! But unfortunately we really didn't know much about the business and we didn't have a manager at the time and so they kinda helped us spending it. It was ok. They hired Dave Ogilvie, who now works with Trent Reznor (NINE INCH NAILS). They got him to produce our record and we did the record in a really expensive studio and spent a lot of money there. I wished we would've known more and we would've spent less... They bought us all new equipment and took pretty good care of us as long as Rachel was there. But Rachel left about a year after we got the deal.
Casey Orr / Rigor Mortis interview, Snakepit Magazine #1Texan legends RIGOR MORTIS released their debut eponymous LP on this day in 1988 through Capitol Records.
]]>Grindcore wasn't that hot at that time. Napalm Death had made a few non-grindcore albums and it was evident that we filled a void. There was a hole in the extreme music world that we happened to fill. Many of the reviews had passages like "I don't usually listen to grindcore, but this album is something special." Then we got word that Napalm Death were listening to our album and getting some inspiration to return to the grind. Barney had the brown Inhale/Exhale t-shirt in a video and we even heard some whispers that the legendary Mick Harris had gotten the album from Relapse and liked it. There were these little bits and pieces that slowly made us realize that we had done something special.
Anders Jakobson / Nasum interview, Decibel, 2018NASUM released their debut album, Inhale/Exhale, on this day in 1998 through Relapse.
]]>When doing all the many songs for Inhale/Exhale, it got very apparent that we couldn't write in the previous efficient way when it was a matter of filling the given time limit of the format with as many songs as possible. The contract we got from Relapse asked for "45 minutes of music," which we took literally, and by our old standards that would have meant 60 songs or something. That wasn't really happening, so we let the songs breathe a little by not cutting down on intros, repetitions or longer parts. And it was also obvious that we needed to have something else than just pure grindcore songs, so a few non-grind songs were added, of which many provided that groove. We used to call them "break songs," as they functioned as breaks between the blast attacks. There are a few break songs on each of the four Nasum albums.
Anders Jakobson / Nasum interview, Decibel, 2018
The album was recorded in our first rehearsal space in Drammen, as well as in the basement of the old drummer's house, using a lot of equipment that we had brought there ourselves. It was not a very structured process, and none of us had that much studio experience from before. It basically took a lot of time for us to make it sound the way we wanted it to, and we would often not start the actual recording until it was late at night. I remember that my math studies went to hell that semester...
Kvass / Koldbrann interview, Ave Noctum, 2013KOLDBRANN released their blistering debut Nekrotisk inkvisition on this day in 2003. Initially a limited self-released CD - timed for their appearance at the third Inferno festival in Oslo (17-19 April) - it was soon after released, again on CD, by Scottish label Desolate Landscapes.
]]>Despite the somewhat poor studio conditions during the recording of "Nekrotisk Inkvisition", it was also a cool and exciting time. Jonas Aus Slavia (RIP) was an important part of the band at this point, and made several riff contributions to the record.
In hindsight the sound settings turned out to be quite extreme. I had no idea it would make such a long-lasting impression. If my memory serves me correctly, we took some inspiration from 1349's "Liberation" for that insane drum sound.
Kvass / Koldbrann interview, Ave Noctum, 2013
Yeah, I'm pretty happy with it. I think the drums could've been louder in some parts but other than that, I think it's killer. Yeah, I think it turned out really good.
Rob Flynn / Vio-lence interview, Out of the Underground #1, 1989VIO-LENCE released their debut album, Eternal Nightmare, on this day in 1988.
]]>Last time I checked, which was when we got off the tour, it was like 60,000 [sold]. And that was the last time I checked. I don't even know how many it's done now. It got on Billboard. Got up to 154. It was there for six whole weeks.
Rob Flynn / Vio-lence interview, Out of the Underground #1, 1989
The meaning of it... directly you can't say... "Nexus" means a connection point between 2 things and "Polaris" has two different means... It's a guiding star, and at the same time it's the name of the first NUCLEAR MISSILE ever made...Compolaris... so... for me, the title means "Progressive Destruction". You have to destroy in order to make something new and better. That's what we're saying. And that could be about music, life, society, whatever... It's a very old perform, people finding their own meaning on it... But basically means you know, you have to tear down the old shit and build something new and better.
Blackheart / Covenant interview, Altars of Metal, 1998COVENANT released their second album, Nexus Polaris, on this day in 1998 through Nuclear Blast.
The purpose is to paint a non-earthly picture in a way. We're trying to focus on the exterior universal matters rather than the little unimportant things. Basically it's quite an ambicious concept I think or id but it's basically comes for interesting in the whole matter and our feelings to towards existence....It's not something that's planned... It's something that comes natural for us to write about because basically what interests us and for me person I'd like thinking "Why should I write about this little planet when there's like 40 thousand million more" hehe..I mean it's so.. --- As I said we're not really a concept band, it's not like we have a story to tell. Everything on the album, I mean, artwork, lyrics, music, band photos, everything, combined to one, is a really strong expression I think. Obviously it's for musical satisfaction first of most for ourselves you know. To really enjoy what we're doing.
Blackheart / Covenant interview, Altars of Metal, 1998
I think the songs are strict and I think our playing is much more improved Obviously we have a lot of different members specialized their playing technic in more instruments you know, we're over than two people doing everything so, for me the new album, Nexus Polaris is much better than the first... It's something closer to us... You know... what I wanna do and what he wants to do... But still, we're not... you know... this way.... we don't think it's perfect so there's obviously always room for improvements and we progress a lot too... We always change... This is just a step I would say in another direction I will see...
Blackheart / Covenant interview, Altars of Metal, 1998
The album cover was created by Andreas Marschall.
I always told NUCLEAR BLAST directly how it should look like... It would be done with photos on the computer... And I had no idea they painted it... And... you know... When they come and say "The album cover's finished" I was like... "Whoa! The album cover is finished?". And I was really surprised and the painter really understood exactly of what we wanted to express with the album. You know, he really understood how it should look, even if we never talked to him. So, I was really, really satisfied... The album cover is obviously not completely decided by us because it's painted is supposed to stop for something monumental, cold and non-earthly... Expressing these cold non-earthly universal matters and there obviously this woman could be the symbol universal beauty or universal strength... I mean... yeah... it's a great album cover.. Absolutely fits the album very good I think...
Blackheart / Covenant interview, Altars of Metal, 1998
The band were featured in a Norwegian television series, filmed during the Nexus Polaris tour.
]]>...i don't know what the purpose [of the EP] waz actually, we just wanted to record those songs, and metal blade were interested to see if we could sell something without a gruesome gory cover.
Alex Webster / Cannibal Corpse interview, Eruptions From Below #5, 1993CANNIBAL CORPSE released the Hammer Smashed Face EP on this day in 1993 through Metal Blade.
]]>plus it's good to have something "new" when your on tour!!!
Rob Barrett / Cannibal Corpse interview, Eruptions From Below #5, 1993
I have tried to combine my way of playing to get the most darkness out of the riffs. It will contain more and more of the old spirit. The old spirit of Black Metal will be more present than in some years for us you know.
Nocturno Culto / Darkthrone interview, Nocturnal Cult, 2002Recorded at the end of 2002 with Lars Klokkerhaug (1968-2009) in Pan lydstudio, DARKTHRONE released Hate Them through Moonfog on this day in 2003.
...we are using a completely different studio now. A less good one than before but that doesn't have to mean a bad sound. But the thing is that I will use a completely different sound on the guitars so maybe people will get quite a shock when they hear it because it will sound very, very different from the previous Darkthrone albums. And the sound will be definitely more blurry. We will really put a lot of thought into the sound and the material is also is much darker than Plaguewielder, I would say. And very different because uh...and maybe more old school. For me its these days very difficult to make really primitive riffs but on this material I have not.
Nocturno Culto / Darkthrone interview, Nocturnal Cult, 2002
The album had the working title Leper Unction. Writing began in May 2002.
[The title] Hate Them was, in the end, much more proper in connection with the lyrics on the album. Hate Them is, maybe - as you said - also a little Punk alike title, but hey, Darkthrone has a lot of the roots in Hardcore and Punk (that is shown clearly on the "trilogy").
Nocturno Culto / Darkthrone interview, The Lodge, 2003
...it's very difficult to foresee anything on the albums because when we are going into the studio some things are decided already but the thing is that when you are in the studio a lot of things are coming to us but I have specific plans for Leper Unction, album design, sound and everything. So I will try and make this a real strong Black Metal package you know. So that's my only goal now and I really am enjoying making the songs now because I actually used a very long time on these 3 songs. Actually I had 2 songs 6 or 10 months ago which I just threw you know. No fuck this I have to put myself in an odd mood. And I did and I used actually a very long time to get the structure on these songs. So now I am satisfied and I am looking forward to it and I am also going to make another song for it. Actually we are going to rehearse next weekend, Fenriz and I and take pictures not for the album but at least for the website. Really looking forward to that rehearsal because it's been a long time since the last time. I think the last time was actually just before Plaguewielder.
Nocturno Culto / Darkthrone interview, Nocturnal Cult, 2002
Cover artwork was designed by Eric Syre (THESYRE).
We have actually had a lot of bad reactions on Plaguewielder cover artwork. Some claim that it's typical Moonfog stuff Which I after some time can agree because that it really was a common guy in Moonfog but I actually order him some of the things he did but not much. I can say he did a really good job but in the future that is not what Darkthrone is about so we just have to do another thing. That was always the plan anyways. But Leper Unction will be I guess very familiar to the people who have listened to Darkthrone for a lot of years. Maybe people will feel more comfortable with it. But it's also our wish to do so because both Fenriz and I are very frustrated about the metal scene and we feel that we have to... we really have to just leave no doubt about what we stand for.
Nocturno Culto / Darkthrone interview, Nocturnal Cult, 2002
From the old official DARKTHRONE website:
...the new album seems to develop into another state of soul-binding art (at least for us it is), black & white album design, dark-edge primitive metal. This time around we'll make sure that we show everybody where we will stand in the future... As already everybody knows, DARKTHRONE stands for nothing 'new and fresh', prog-metal is a totally different musical world for us, we live and breathe for the real thing.
]]>I am satisfied [with Aske] yeah, but it was the second full length album that supposed to be out by now, I guess D.S.P. did not understand that in time. The second LP is recorded in April 1992 and it's getting rather old, it'll be out in September 1993 which is rather late.
On all albums I have done all the instruments myself (except bass on "Aske")... I think it is to late to start to use session musicians now because they will have another style of playing drums, guitars, and so on... it would be totally different band so I drop it. Besides I know how to do it myself. Construction of my ego.
Varg Vikernes / Burzum interview, Niflheim, 1993BURZUM released the mini album Aske on this day in 1993 through Deathlike Silence.
When I recorded the other albums I was usually alone with the sound technician. However, Samoth (Thomas Haugen, in Emperor) was present when I recorded two of the tracks in the "Aske" mini-LP and parts of HLTO. He played the bass on two of the "Aske" tracks, and was present when I recorded the drums on both "Aske" and HLTO. He played the bass on "Aske" because I for a short period in 1992 flirted with the idea of playing live, and therefore rehearsed one or two times as a band (a guy named Erik Lancelot, from outside Oslo, was supposed to play the drums). I quickly woke up from the "playing-live-psychosis" and luckily changed my mind, so I continued like before, as a one-man-band with no need for even session musicians.
A Burzum Story: Part VI - The Music
Samoth (EMPEROR, ZYKLON) joined as bassist on "Stemmen fra tårnet" and "A Lost Forgotten Sad Spirit":
]]>At that point we had no drummer with Emperor and everything went really slow. So I just had to play something and I joined Satyricon and I played with Gorgoroth and stuff like that. It was just because things was going really slow with my main band. I've never left Emperor. All I did with Burzum was being in the studio for a few hours to do the bass and do drums.
...I respected Burzum and I saw this like an honour to join something I respected, but it was not: Wow, I'm playing with Varg Vikernes or something.
Samoth interview, 1999
The new songs differ from the ones on Grom. They are surely more mature in each way. You'll see, we've developed as musicians, and it's audible on our new record. It's full of extreme emotions. The sound is also much better than on our previous release. There may be some more melodies, some more synth parts, but it stays brutal and fast as hell!
Nergal / Behemoth interview, Chronicles of Chaos, 1997BEHEMOTH released their third album, Pandemonic Incantations, on this day in 1998 through Solistitium.
]]>"Exterminate", our second album, was released at the end of February (1998), I'm not sure when the Aussie release will occur. Expect the album to be everything you know about Angelcorpse only much more obsessive and ripping than ever before. This new album has a lot more blasting double bass, and lots of sickening rabid leads.
Gene Palubicki / Angelcorpse interview, In Your Face, 1998ANGELCORPSE released their second album, Exterminate, on this day in 1998 through Osmose.
]]>The debute album convinced No Colours Records to a degree they offered a contract. Flattered by the possibility to become one in the lineage of Dimmu Borgir, Graveland etc. I agreed on the contract just to see the travesty No Colours Records made of it's legacy with it's contemporary releases.
Satanic Tyrant Werwolf / Satanic Warmaster interview, Kill Me Creator, 2010
The lineup for this recording included Lord War Torech (TORTURIUM, LURK) and Lord Sargofagian (BAPTISM) as session drummer:
]]>We knew each other earlier already, and as I sought more intense musicianship I asked him [Lord Sargofagian] to crush wooden coffins for us. The only recording he played on was "Opferblut".
Satanic Tyrant Werwolf / Satanic Warmaster interview, Kill Me Creator, 2010
First of all, black metal lies in the intellect, not in the tempo. We play fast as we find it most satisfying that way, not for any other reason. No band gets to be a pure black metal act just by playing fast, nor by playing slow. Real black metal will always lie in the individual's views and opinions!
Kraath / Setherial interview, I Came From Darkness #4, 1996SETHERIAL released their second album, Lords of the Nightrealm, on this day in 1998.
Most early SETHERIAL albums were recorded at Peter Tägtgren's Abyss Studio, all except ...Nightrealm which was recorded in October 1997 at Hellsound.
]]>The album we are the most displeased with production wise is "Lords of the Nightrealm". The production on that album doesn't give the music any justice at all. We have actually re-recorded some tracks from that album so it can be released to the public in the state it was supposed to have been.
Infaustus / Setherial interview, OccultBlackMetalZine, 2010
'The Return of the northern moon' is our first real stuff, it's only a proclaim of Behemoth's acts. Our newest stuff is more into pure evil black metal. 'True horned sodomy', our next demo, will be recorded in pro-studio and it will contain seven trax of pure unholiness. Pagan Rec. will be publisher again.
Nergal / Behemoth interview, Tales of the Macabe #1, 1993Recorded and mixed at Studio "8", Gdynia, northern Poland; BEHEMOTH began recording their second demo - The Return of the Northern Moon - on this day in 1992. It was first released, on cassette, by Pagan Records in June 1993.
Aaaarrrrrgggghhhh! This is a great Polish band that have chosen to play Northern Black Metal in the vein of BURZUM, EMPEROR, and ILDJARN! Four tracks pure unholy chants, dark voices, and whispers... The two members NERGAL, and BAAL have created a true masterpiece...
Review from Petrified #2, 1993
]]>HELLHAMMER is a special band for me, the same goes out for BATHORY and VENOM. On rehearsals we play a lot of covers like MAYHEM, ROTTING CHRIST, BATHORY, VENOM. Why we recorded a HELLHAMMER cover? It is pure cult and we worship old tradition.
Nergal / Behemoth interview, Tales of the Macabe #1, 1993
Our music is Power Metal, Venom Metal, Black Metal not Heavy Metal cos that's for the chicks.
Venom interview, Kerrang!, 1982VENOM released their iconic second album, Black Metal, on this day in 1982 through Neat.
Satan is power and Venom is power so we write about Satan.
Venom interview, Kerrang!, 1982
]]>VENOM created Black Metal just by actually saying we are Black Metal. We could have called it anything, and that's what it would have become. But at the end of the day, SABBATH was an influence, BLACK WIDOW, so there were bands playing with the Satanic side of it, they just didn't stuff it in everybody's face like we did. But then you take it even further back, you go back into the 1920s or even earlier, and there's some guy sitting on a porch in the Delta with a beaten-up old acoustic singing about the Devil. The Devil's been around in music forever. He's got all the best tunes, he's always fucking mentioned in it, every Rock band has got something to do with the Devil in it somewhere or the word Hell is mentioned in somewhere. We were the ones who just went, right, you want Devil, you've got it, you want Satanic, you've got it, and we just stuffed it in everyone's face... was it for shock value? Absolutely! Did it work? Absolutely!
Mantas / Venom interview, Voices from the Darkside
Strong, dark atmospheres, coldness, eeriness - you can expect "Volcano" to invoke this in you. This album is mostly about powerful and quite straightforward Black Metal, with some Thrash and Hardrock elements thrown in. Don't bother so much with how it eventually differs from the other albums or what means are used to make the music - "Volcano" is a journey to the deepest dark, you just have to let it take you there!
Satyr / Satyricon interview, Voices from the Darkside, 2002SATYRICON released their fifth album, Volcano, on this day in 2002 through Capitol / EMI.
It was a definite point for us to make the album a lot simpler, the reason for that being that we wanted to pour that dark element over the music. And in order for us to make that come through even more clear than we've ever done it before, we had to make the music as simple as possible. Everything was going to serve that main purpose, the uplifting dark atmosphere. If the music has a lot of what you could call unnecessary details, that will steal attention away from the feeling. If you listen to "Volcano" now, you're not going to concentrate on how the music is performed technically and musically; we wanted the atmosphere to grasp you immediately and to stay that way throughout the entire album, so we stripped it of all effects and all details that didn't help create the atmosphere, which is the wholeness of "Volcano".
Satyr / Satyricon interview, Voices from the Darkside, 2002
]]>We've had [the "Fuel For Hatred" video] in our tourbus for a week or so now and we have watched it several times and it's simply blowing us away! That video is so monumental, so very much what we wanted, that we feel a very deep level of satisfaction with it. It's like a constant attack of aggression and intensity, and the scenery makes up for a very strong kind of darkness. It's everything we could have wished for, and we had the best man in the world to do a video for us - Jonas Åkerlund (famous for his work with Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, Madonna, Prodigy, etc.; he was also the drummer on the first BATHORY album) - with his background and his skill... I think it's an honour for us to have worked with a guy like him. It's a victory every time that we get to work with the best people, who could have made a lot of money working with something else! I understand that this is something Jonas had a very strong feeling about, he strictly WANTED to do that video and he wanted to make it really GOOD - and he has done it, so many thanks to him for that!
Satyr / Satyricon interview, Voices from the Darkside, 2002
]]>I think it was back in ninety one when I started reading books about the UFO phenomenon and other phenomenons.
...["Sinister Eyes"] was the first time I had written about that, because I was really impressed by these two books, Communion and Transformation. At that time I started reading a lot of books about that stuff so it just came out to that theme being a part of RUNNING WILD lyrics, because it deals with the same thing. It deals with corruption, it deals with being oppressed and stuff like that, so it is exactly the same thing RUNNING WILD was talking about all those records before, but in a different kind of metaphor or symbol.
Rolf Kasparek / Running Wild interview, 1996
During the Four of a Kind and Thrash Zone years, we were doing pretty good. We reached a certain point where we weren't getting any higher and lower, so for Definition, we decided to open for a lot of bands - like Ice-T & Body Count and Testament. We lost a lot of money because we were trying to get a new audience, but it was a good way to introduce DRI to a lot of people who hadn't heard us before. Opening for Testament, we got to play for a lot of metal crowds, and then with Body Count, we played for more. I guess straight hard rock fans. And it worked out good because I think Definition is our biggest selling album ever.
Kurt Brecht / D.R.I. interview, Mark Prindle, 2003D.R.I. released their sixth album, Definition, on this day in 1992.
]]>Balder's Death is meant to stimulate mortal's ability to think beyond the normally accepted 'truths', to make them think for themselves. Dreams change nothing. Thoughts change nothing either, but perhaps the next album will stimulate mortal's will to act? We need no more dreams. We need no more dreamers. We need people who think, act, and people who know what they are doing. Nothing changes nothing right? The will to act changes everything!
Varg Vikernes / Burzum interview, Heresy #3, 1998Originally entitled Balder's Død, BURZUM released Dauði Baldrs on this day in 1997.
The myth about Balder's Death is a metaphor, where the Æsir are used as pictures for different sides of the human psyche. In this myth, the meaning of life (Balder) is killed. Logic (Loki) finds a problem, and wishes to solve it with no consideration of the consequences this will lead to. Loki asks our pure of heart (Frigg) if there is anything that can hurt Balder. She reveals that the seemingly innocent mistletoe - a parasite on Yggdrasil (the tree of life/humankind) - is able to hurt Balder. Then Loki uses the blind in us (Hodr) to fire a shoot at Balder, with the mistletoe. It kills him instantly. When Balder is buried, his wife, Nanna (nearness) dies from grief, and in anger Thorr kicks a dwarf onto the fire, killing it. The dwarf is called Lit (trust). i.e. The Nearness between us and trust dies when the meaning of life dies.
Further on the Æsir sends Heremod (The Mercurian force in us. i.e. The mysterious occult forces within us) to Hel's home (The subconscious). He finds Balder, sitting on the throne besides Hel (our self-censorship). However, for Balder to be able to return to Asgard (the conscious), Hel demands that everybody, and everything cries for him - to prove that he is loved above everything else. Heremod brings this news back to the Æsir, and they get everything to cry, except one old woman, who really is Loki in disguise. As you know, logic has no feelings. A computer can't cry, so Loki prevents humankind from getting back the meaning of life. In other words, modern science prevents us from getting back to the meaning of life.
Varg Vikernes / Burzum interview, Heresy #3, 1998
]]>The first painting shows a Teutonic Chieftain being forced to accept Judeo-Christianity. To make him the Judeo-Christians hold a knife to the throat of his child. This was a common practice when Northern Europe was Christianized, so it should not be too hard to understand. Next painting shows thirteen Teutonic Women, traveling into the subconscious through a Pagan ritual on a search for the meaning of life. The third painting shows the burial of the meaning of life, when brother torture brothers to make them accept the new foul "faith". Lower once cannot sink, so this is the point when nearness between brothers, when trust between brothers are burned with Balder! Fourth painting shows the meaning of life, it shows what Heremod sees, but is unable to bring back to the conscious world, when he visits the subconscious world. The fifth painting shows what happened to the women who searched for the truth. They are burned at the stake - another historical fact. The sixth and last painting shows what lies ahead: a twilight... or a sunset?
Varg Vikernes / Burzum interview, Heresy #3, 1998
...we don't want to be just one style. If you see the 3 tracks on "Dark..." are all different!! "Foetus Noose" is brutal death metal, "Forged in Fire" is a heavy metal cover version song (by ANVIL - gods!!!) and "Dark Is The Season" is a rumbling doom-laden song. See? All different.
The title, and the title track are to do with the excellent film "Blue Velvet" by David Lynch. See the film if you have trouble understanding the song, it will blow your mind!
BENEDICTION released Dark is the Season EP on this day in 1992 through Nuclear Blast.
The EP includes a cover of ANVIL's "Forged in Fire", the title track of their third album released in 1983.
]]>We are all very big fans of ANVIL (they fuckin' rule!!) so we thought we'd do it to give our thanks to such a killer band! (Lips is GOD!)
Dave Ingram / Benediction interview, Circle of the Grind #2, 1992