What is happening with the once so proud Norwegian scene? I decided to find out what is going on in the scene and what is happening with some of my fave Norwegian bands. Tchort, known from acts such as Emperor, Einherjer, Green Carnation, Satyricon etc. helped me with this. Also Satyr answered the first four questions.

Interview by Whodan      

You have been a session member of Satyricon for a while now, what can you tell me about the forthcomming albums "Intermezzo ll" and "Rebel Extravaganza"?
Satyr: Tchort is playing with us live and not else so I'll try to help you out here. "Intermezzo ll" will be out on the 10th of May. It's hard and it's varied. We have learn't a lot by doing it, and I know we will benefit from that on the album which is coming in September.

How do you think the new material differ from the old Satyricon material? Still raw BM?
Satyr: The difference is that it's rawer, harder, more attitude and more modern. It's still Satyricon as ever, it's just fresher.

The aforementioned titles are both a bit strange and doesn’t sound as common Black Metal titles. How come you use these titles?
Satyr: Is'nt it great that they don't sound like common Black Metal titles? The titles are conclusions of the lyrical and musical content on the albums.

Both titles are also pretty complicated and I have heard from people that the new lyrics are also complicated. Wouldn't it be alot easier to spread the real BM message if the titles and the lyrics were less complicated?
Satyr: They're hard man, just plain hard. (Well, I've heard people who think that the titles are silly! - ed.)

How is the current Satyricon line-up? Is Richard Daimon from Dismember / Unanimated still in the band?
Current line up for live performances with Satyricon, is Frost, Satyr, Tchort, Daniel and Sanrabb, not sure on who is gonna handle the synth for our live performances yet. The only permanent members of Satyricon are Satyr and Frost and will be for the future as well.

Touring has never been a high priority for Satyricon. Will there be a tour after the release of the albums? If yes, how about playing here in Sweden?
Mainly the lack of concerts and touring is caused by line-up difficulties and bad experiences with touring arrangements. There will be a follow up tour for the new album, "Rebel Extravaganza", and also alot of concerts and festivals performances during the summer of 1999 to follow up the new mini album.

Tell me what’s up to what I belive is your main band, Green Carnation. You recently reformed the band. Are you working on new material?
Well, Green Carnation used to be my main band before I joined Emperor in late '92, and can be considered as my main band these days too, when looking on the time I am spending on the band now. Green Carnation is the band that spawned Tchort in Emperor and the cult band In The Woods... We split up after I left the band to join Emperor, but is being reformed these days, with two of the old members , now in the band; In The Woods... Back in the early 1990's when we started, we played brutal Death Metal, and released a demo in late 1991, called "Hallucinations of Despair". Now, I would describe it as a crash between Candlemass and Pink Floyd, a mix between Metal, goth, doom and industrial a'la Godflesh. We are recording a demo/promo in March, then the debut album during the summer in between touring and festivals. I think of the music as very interesting and its fullfilling my needs for musical challenge and variation.

You are also a member of Einherjer. A band that isn’t known for playing this extreme Black/Death Metal as your other bands. Do you think it’s good to play with them as variation? How come you joined them?
To me, joining Einherjer, was a perfect choice in a difficult period of my musical carriere, as the band, and the tour I did with them, made me feel hungry for music and new challenges within music and the scene. I had grown so tired of the scene and all the new bands coming out, also loosing my daughter in '94, made me loose inspiration, so joining a band like Einherjer, with their free way of acting, playing and performing, it just came to me as a good thing in a difficult time. Its with Einherjer I had the best touring moments of my carriere.

What is happening with Einherjer right now?
The band is currently working out some line up changements, again, and new music is being developed, slightly different from "Odin owns ye all", but a more proper follow up to "Far Far North".

Tell me something about Tchort. Is it a full serious band or is it just one of your projects?

Tchort was just a working title I had for a solo project I was doing, but as the name is being used for a Us based band I think, I wont use it of course for this band. The intention was to continue with the Death Metal that was created with Green Carnation in the old days, and what has been changed and improven since then, the result is; Blood Red Throne, which is my other full time band now. I am working with Daniel, also in the Satyricon live performance crew, and we are recording a demo of new material the spring of '1999, which I believe will move the band rapidly to the top of Norwegian Death Metal acts. Later, I will furtherly develope the music and some songs from the old Green Carnation demo, "Hallucinations of Despair" which contains a large variety of music but also some very strong songs.

Music certinately is your life, and my life as well. Except from your bands, what are you doing? Do you think that one day when you don’t play in a band can start up a label or anything else that has to do with music?
Depends on the progress of my "solo bands", like Green Carnation and Blood Red Throne. I will surely spend alot of time to develope the music and future for these bands, and pay less attention and time on bands I am just being session member off, meaning I will quit some bands later. Maybe I will open a record store or sign one of my own bands, depending on my life situation and the local etal scene in the future, time will tell

You arranged this "Black Rites Of Passage" festival too. How did the festival went out? It was out in the forest from what I've gather. Was it the perfect place for a Metal festival like this?
Well, what could have been THE most appropriate and interesting Metal festival, never happened (Shit! Have missed that completely. - ed) due to different reasons. Mainly cause of the lack of interest from Norway`s commercialized audience, not appreciating the extreme and proper settings for this kind of arrangement, tributing the Metal music in a way that it really deserves. The location was a old Fortress from the 2nd world war, with thick walls and a view over the sea during a dark season. Nothing was commercialized about the festival, nor the bands, and thats probably why audience in Norway didn't pay much interest to the arrangement. Actually we had bigger attention from Metal audience abroad than we had from the Norwegian one, but not enough for the festival to happen. Also local police made it very difficult the last days before the festival was going to happen. But believe me, an arrangement like this, in a big old Fortress with dark hallways and thick walls, cannons, the view, the dark season and bands like Carpathian Forest, Gehenna, Twin Obscenity, Enslaved, Myrkskog, Limbonic Art, Einherjer, Ragnarok, Bloodthorn, Keep Of Kalessin, Old Mans Child, etc. would be the festival of 'em all, for those who are left to care about proper settings for this music.

An answer that kind of explained my next question... Do you think you will arrange a festival like "Black Rites Of Passage" during 1999 too?
Never again, not here anyways.

It seems as the once so proud and extreme scene in Norway and Sweden sort of died out. Old raw BM bands (Not all of course but many) have turned out to be glam fags. What's your opinion about the current scene?
I dont have much of an opinion of the current scene, as I try not to pay it any attention at all, atleast not the newer bands anyways. I stick with the bands of yesterday, hoping that the day I pay attention to the scene, it will have lost the wannabe's, the trend feeling, the trend bands and the interest of most people, with the bands that should be only ones, are the only ones left.

Do you think that Terrorizer's and Metal Hammer's focusing on Black Metal had something to do with that some bands turned commercial?

I don't read these mags myself, (Neither do I - ed) but of course they have an impact on the fellow Metal reader, and are influencing more people to pay attention and buy BM records. But it's a dilemma cause alot of the Black Metal bands that are really worth something, don't want to do all these Publicity stunts in these mags and other commercialized press organs, but as the mags want to write about it, the find shitty bands and print their stories and their view on things, which in most cases are shitty views making the BM scene utterly witty and common, so one feel that one have to follow up and do something to limit of damage to the scene that these people cause, and of course, some don't give a fuck and just jump along and gets all the attention they can get, to make more money or what ever.

When you once were in Emperor many years back, did you then ever belive that Black Metal would become what it is today and that it would have such an impact on the Nordic community?
No, this was not our attention, but the scene fell along time ago, now everyone is trying to make as much out of it as possible, before the trend moves on - with exceptions of course.

There are some new raw and extreme acts, atleast here in Sweden, namely Ofermod, Funeral Mist, Malign etc. How about Norway? Are there any newcomers you would like to recommend?
Blood Red Throne as I think it's gonna be the perfect choice for those who still are into brutal Death Metal, and Carpathian Forest, though they arent newcomers, for those who like the old feeling of Black Metal, and not the synth based emotinal shit that is being called BM nowadays. Also, Green Carnation, which isn't new comers either, to people who find quality, experimental Metal music interesting.