It's
a brand new Immortal, totally metamorphosed that comes back with their fifth
opus... An album which will make you discover a new face in the evolution of
the group, which should quickly place them among the best black * heavy * metal
bands of this end of century... won't it Abbath?
Tell us a bit about this new album
which presents a completely new Immortal...
- "We concentrated a lot more
on the music and the production, now it's better, more powerful, and the music
is more melancholic. Furthermore, the subjects we've been writing about are
forming a more homogeneous ensemble now. We reached a new step in our
evolution; our goal was to progress and I think we succeeded in this way. This
time I composed all the music by myself, without help of anybody. When it was
Demonaz and I, we used to cooperate concerning the general song structures and
lyrics. Now, I'm also doing the guitars... We rehearsed a lot with Ares and we
get along very well. The fact that we now are using some recording equipment
during the entire development of the songs, makes the task easier for us. Then
we can look forward to all the other ideas that are coming up and things are
getting better that way."
By now, Demonaz has definitely left
the band, what's the line-up then?
- "Demonaz hasn't declared that
he has left the band forever, but we must be realistic; as time goes, we will
improve our technique, while he will stay at the same point. That means he will
be unable to reach our level the day he decides to come back again. Anyway,
it's highly improbable. He's got his own project now, which is quite far from
metal. It's very special and it's not really my cup of tea. But it is also
necessary to mention that it's extremely well done.
Besides that, he's searching for a record company and he's building his own
studio, which is called "Visionary". Therefore he'll be among us for
the tour that begins in April. I'm pleased with that, we are having good times
together, he is still one of my best and closest friends and he will always be.
We accomplished so much things together in the past... However, he's the
manager of Immortal now, Immortal still means a lot to him, even though he's
not part of the band anymore. On the previous tour (in -98), Ares of Aeternus
handled the bass, but we are now searching for a permanent guitarist because I
want to concentrate on the bass playing myself. Not to play it on rehearsals or
for compositions doesn't obstruct me, but on stage I really miss it!
Right now, we haven't found a guitar player that's good enough. I don't say
that I'm a brilliant guitar player but I got my own style and it's pretty hard
to adapt. For the tour that'll begin on April 27th, the line-up will remain the
same as it was, in other words, Ares and me."
I've heard
that Peter Tägtgren contacted Osmose by himself, because he really wanted to
produce the album, is that true?
- "Effectively, Peter contacted
us before the recording of our last album, but everything was already on the
run. He did the same offer again some months later: To record the new album in
his studio in Sweden. As you may know, it's very difficult to find a good
producer and a good sound engineer in our town (Bergen). We knew Peter through
his work for other bands and we knew he was a big fan of Immortal, so we
thought he had a lot of good things to add to the band. We sent a demo to him
and when we entered the studio in his home, everything was ready for a quick
start. The recording took only 20 days, so it's needless to say that we
cooperated very well. Anyway, we don't like to rehearse in the studio, and we
always manage to do nothing but the recording works there."
Is the band still rehearsing at the
hellish frequency of 8 or 10 hours a day?
- "No, we don't do that
anymore! By now, we only work 2 or 3 hours a day. We prefer spending a lot of
time working at home, however, I spend all my time alone to compose. I like to
bring new ideas and stuff at each rehearsal we're doing. We never compose
during the practices. We try to play as often as possible, but not as long as
we did in the past. On a rehearsal session, only the two first hours are
actually productive, and then if we play for a long time, ideas and creativity
are all gone."
This fifth album may look a bit
misleading for the die-hard fans, as it's got strong heavy metal influences. Aren't
you afraid of being drowned in the mass of bands that evolve in the same
direction as you, not being as brutal as you were?
- "Maybe be our brand new fans
will be disappointed... Whatever happens, those that have been supporting us
since the beginning will probably enjoy this record, as it's far richer than
the previous ones. To evolve, we had to play a definitely more evaluated music.
Take Slayer for example, after their "Reign In Blood" album they
didn't follow the same recipe or rule, they didn't release "Reign In
Blood" part 2 either, but they stuck with the style they were into, we do
the same... Some fans will be disappointed after the first listening, but as
time goes, they'll like it. To quote Slayer once more, the first time I
listened to "South of Heaven" I was deceived, but the more I listened
to it, the more it was pleasing. It's necessary to give yourself the
possibilities to progress from album to album, and not being locked up in a
monotonous routine. I'm a very open-minded person, but I think we should keep
the old atmosphere and spirit alive. The spirit, which prevailed when bands
like Celtic Frost and Bathory began. We don't want to follow any musical trend.
We prefer to stand close to these old values, and I know a lot of people will
appreciate this...."
Do you agree when I say that this
new album isn't essentially composed of tracks in the vein of "Mountain of
might" or even "Blashyrkh"?
- "Yes! None of the new tracks
sounds like any of these two songs. The songs don't divide themselves into 2
parts, which contains slow ones on one hand, and fast ones on the other. Each
track shows many different sides and faces, so that everything is getting
richer than the previous ones. In the past, it occurred that we entered the
studio without even listening to the songs we had just composed. I really don't
think it's a good way to work. We are spending our time in the studio because
we can't choose the right tracks and we're loosing some time rehearsing them
for nothing. This new album is dedicated to our fans that have been with us
since the beginning and understand our music. Otherwise, this album should be a
good opportunity for people who don't know Immortal, to discover the band and
therefore start listening to all that we have done in the past."
What are your immediate projects
just after the release of "At The Heart Of Winter"?
- "We have a project, and it's
to record a live album at the end of the upcoming tour, if the conditions are
right and we have enough songs that we like. Maybe this year... wait &
see... At the moment, I'm composing material for a new album, and I hope we can
enter the studio to record it before the end of the year. One thing that's for
sure, is that we will manage to get the live album out before the new studio
recording. After all the troubles we've had with Demonaz's injury, we really
want to look forward. Moreover, we have now a good drummer, and we want to
leave the past behind. Now everything is running very well. Yeah, it's true
that we have to find a new guitarist, I'm keeping high hopes that Ares will
accept to stay, he's really a great person and a brilliant musician. Of course
I can become the guitarist, but Demonaz's solos are too difficult for me. We
really need a permanent guitar player, which will allow us to make some more
concerts. We would also like to play in the U.S. soon. We want to go
everywhere, to places like east Europe, Mexico and Australia... We have plenty
of fans in these countries and we surely don't want to let them down."
Speaking of that, you created your
own fan -club by yourselves, how does it works today?
- "We are too busy to run this
fan-club by ourselves now. Until very recently, it was a female friend of us
who run it, but she went to a foreign country for her studies and no one took
over place. Maybe it's time for our fans to run the club by themselves. Right
now, we are getting help to create an internet site, which will allow us to
keep our fans aware of what is going on concerning Immortal, and communicate
with them."