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Dani Filth (Cradle Of Filth) Interview with Danni Filth For RockScarz Magazine January 25th, 2009 RockScarz Magazine: Godspeed On The Devil’s Thunder has been widely called your most brutal album since Damnation and a Day, what factors led to the creation of such opus. Dani Filth Eh.We came, we were doing the Viva La Bands Festival and uh when we came back we were kind of fired up and we had loads of ideas and we’d been on the road and we had about six weeks before we went our separate ways for Christmas. Well Charles in Portugal, our drummer’s [Martin] in Czechoslovakia, we don’t speak to each other (laughs) but uh yeah, we went our separate ways and um we all just can’t take it. Not really quickly. Cause of the tour with the new drummer and whatever. You know, one of those things. RSM: What was the goal you were trying accomplish with this new album? DF: There really wasn’t at first, but once the concept was developed; I guess it was a case of trying to make it as cinematic as possible and you know indulgence, dramatic, wanted people to kind of lose themselves in it; Wanted it to you know, that’s kind of the thing with concept records. There’s more to it, there’s more depth and if people do want to scratch beneath the surface then it’s a, there’s a sort of myth there to explore. RSM: Tell me about the, well you said it was concept album; Tell me about the lyrics, what was the concept DF: The concept’s about Gilles De Rais, he was an aristocratic French nobleman who was possibly the richest man in Western Europe in the 15th Century. He fought alongside Joan of Arc, and after her death, after she was betrayed and burned at the stake, he turned to sorcery and alchemy, and you know murdering and abusing young children to offer their souls to the Devil. He was eventually brought to trial and because he confessed his crimes he was forgiven by the church. Well, I guess there was a lot more to it than that. We weren’t just interested in the crime part of it obviously, we wanted the whole fairytale aspect of it. They run chronologically it wasn’t a whole bunch of songs put to a theme. It’s a story. RSM: Were you ever at any time concerned that any kind of mainstream public would have deemed the subject matter too controversial? DF: Well, I think we tackled it quite poetically, um maybe yeah, but there’s been a great deal of books written about the subject. Its not innovative but there are pageants each year at a couple of his castles. In fact funny enough I met one of the girls that worked at one of his castles. She was interviewing me for a French magazine; So um, yeah, I don’t think so. Because it’s not like were glorifying him. RSM: What changed in your song writing process as well as in general between Godspeed and the Devil’s Thunder and Thornography? DF: Well, its just, it’s a different kind of album. We differ from album to album. You know we don’t like the same record twice. And I had explored the idea of doing Gilles De Rais back in the day when we did an album about Hungarian blood countess Elizabeth Bathory, which is called “Cruelty And The Beast.” And it only seemed apt when I was going back thinking, well, this could work, and that was ten years later you know. So yeah we just wanted to sound a bit different really and the subject matters required more symphonic sound and probably more brutal, well, definitely more brutal production. RSM: Onto the tour, how is it going so far? DF: No, yeah, it’s defiantly going great. We warmed up, we did three weeks the first leg of the European tour before Christmas with Gorgoroth, Moonspell, and Septic Flesh supporting us. Then we went down to do a few headline shows in Mexico before coming over here and this is like the second week over here. It’s going great. It’s fucking cold. RSM: Definitely in Chicago… DF: Tell me about it, Milwaukee yesterday was mad. It’s really quite a change from being in Mexico which was hot. RSM: Do you prefer to tour in North America or in Europe more? DF: North America without a doubt, its just that there’s a language barrier and some, European countries can be you know hostile towards English and English speaking people. No, yeah, I prefer it anyways, there’s more Wal-Marts. We have like this Wal-Mart tour and some shows in between. We love Wal-Mart. RSM: In your career, what is your best concert you’ve experienced? DF: Oh, I don’t know, loads of them. We did a really big festival which was on the site of the legendary Donnington Festival which is now called The Download Festival. We played a really good set there a couple of years ago about fourth from the top, about 50,000 people. Yeah, it was good. It was a good day. RSM: There is going to be a feature focusing on the bands tattoos, do any of your tattoos have any special meanings or stories behind them? DF: Not as such, every time I go to…uh trying to remember the bloody place now; (laughs) Seattle, always have something done its always been by a different person on this [left] arm. The stuff around my nipples was done in an illegal tattoo place in Japan, when I was drunk on sake. Which is good. It was my first tattoo as well. (acting drunk) Ay, alright, come here, come on. I could’ve come out with like a swastika on my forehead or something, I didn’t know what was going on. (laughing) Not that I wanted it, but you know. But fortunately, (pauses) I was lucky. RSM: Which band if any is it a dream of yours to tour with, that you haven’t toured with yet? DF: (sighs) I got to tour with Diamanda Galas. I think we’ve done most people, we haven’t done a tour with [Iron] Maiden, but we’ve done several shows with them. King Diamond, I guess, maybe. RSM: Which band did you tour with that was a high point in your career? DF: Type-O [Negative] and Moonspell, that was probably the best tour, but when we headlined B-stage of the Ozzfest, that was good as well, some great bands…Killswitch [Engage], Sworn Enemy, Voivod, Chimera, Shadows Fall, Kittie. RSM: What is your opinion about the changing music industry in general in terms of the business, how it’s becoming more digital? DF: Uh, well its just becoming a bit shittier, there’s like chain music stores closing down all the time, especially in England, but then we’ve got this sort of economic crisis going on anywhere across the world. Yeah and everything’s becoming digital which still falls into the same traps. Its always the big record labels that pay for the banners, you know that come up immediately, so no change there really. It’s better cause you can go and view a band and then buy an album. There’s certainly places on the internet to do that. I think that record companies are just gonna have to be a bit more imaginative from now on. RSM: How big of a role does merchandise play in the COF empire and why? DF: Uh, well as much as anything else really, we try and make everything we do as good as we can whether its lyrics or other extensions of the album cause obviously the music’s paramount. Uh, you know stage presentation, touring, artwork, lyricism, blah…blah…blah. So yeah, you know merchandising is just another string to the bow. RSM: McFarlane toys has made action figures of several legendary rockstars, do you ever see Cradle of Filth having their own line of action figures? DF: Yeah, no, it would be great, you wouldn’t need much plastic for me, would ya, so I can have loads of extra weapons and stuff…maybe or like a little psycho rabbit. Actually there’s this guy who’s done models of us, he’s done lots of models of lots of, he’s done Danzig, he’s done Evanescense, and shit like that and Arch Enemy and all the bands he likes really. Well actually it’s a bit crap, you look at it and go, my god that’s the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever seen in my life. Ya know it looks like something from “Wallace and Gromit.” (laughs) RSM: The band started in the early 90’s, what has changed over the years in your opinion? DF: Oh you make me sound really old now. (laughs) Let me go get my wrinkle cream. Well, perhaps things have just moved up run by run. So I guess uh, you know, money wise, financially were far better off than we were in the early days where you know, we lived hand to mouth. Uh we’ve also sort of matured a bit more. We don’t destroy every venue we go to, well, we try to, but not by getting drunk and kicking in dressing rooms and that. In fact I’m not even drinking on the tour. Not yet, well what a brave, little soldier I am. (laughs) RSM: I actually believe I heard that you didn’t drink during the whole album too. DF: That’s right yeah. Till the last day. RSM: You’ve been making more and more music videos lately, which one was the most fun to make? DF: Um, the last one “Honey and Sulphur” was pretty fun to make but it wasn’t as fun as “Cradle To Enslaved” cause there were troops of dwarves and amputees, you know, and psycho, lesbian, vampires. But the last one, we recorded, we filmed it in a big cave system, a man-made cave system. Quite close to London and in the war when the Germans were bombing, nearly 25,000 people lived down there. But yeah, it was really pretty labyrinthine, you know. You could get lost, it was 22 ½ miles of caves and it was cold and weird, but it was cool. We lit up the sort of areas with thousands of candles and films lights and stuff, but yeah it was fun. RSM: With the long running legacy of COF what would like to see from up and coming artists that place you as one of their strongest influences around the world? DF: What!? (laughs) RSM: Basically, bands that look at you as an idol, and they see you influence them. DF: Oh there’s some? Stop ripping us, don’t rip us off. (laughs) Get some originality. Don’t rip us off, I didn’t mean it like I expect them too immediately. RSM: Let’s talk about the future of Cradle of Filth, what are your expectations moving forward? DF: Uh well, we’ve got a book, well (shows us his laptop), its gone crazy, oops, I’m actually in the middle of editing the very final chapter, proofreading actually for the fourth time; um, The Gospel of Filth. And that’s coming out in…well its been a four year affair because it just grown from being just a book about Cradle of Filth; Now its about the hull of the darkside, there’s femme fatale, satiric England, black magic, Satanism, horror films, to, to authenticate a book that’s co-written by an occult historian, Gavin Baddeley. Its authenticated by interviewing and having box outs from various people. Tim Burton and uh Christopher Lee and Clyde Barker, and Diamanda Galas and Dario Argento and Charles Manson and Marilyn Manson and Ville Valo have also added their bits too. It is cool, and there’s loads and loads of pictures as well. (laughing) RSM: Thank you very much for your time, I really appreciate it. Maria Brink (In This Moment) Interview with Maria Brink (In This Moment) Interview for RockScarz Magazine February 15th, 2009 RockScarz Magazine: I see that you were recently added to the Warped Tour, that’s a pretty big accomplishment, how did you find out and what were your first thoughts? Maria Brink: Cool, Yeah, I’m really excited to do that tour, and it would be something new for us too, you know what I mean? RSM: You’ve actually played quite a few coveted slots on tours, what have been some of your favorite tours or shows? MB: God, we’ve done a million, I mean definatley Ozzfest which really never lets you down, like a crazy summer party, fun time. And getting the chance to open up for Ozzy and Rob Zombie, we did that four month tour. That was probably like the top, epic moment for us. We got to play like Madison Square Garden, you know what I mean and things like that. Actually we got to play Ozzfest 2008 too with Metallica and Ozzy so that was pretty freaking epic. And then there’s tours with like Thirty-Six Crazy Fists with our friends or with Devil Driver, with my boyfriend, they’re just fun and you get to have a good time with your friends, you know what I mean? RSM: Have you done anything international yet? MB: Yep, we’ve done Europe and we’ve been to like all over Canada and China and Japan. RSM: Do you have any plans for summer festivals? MB: Um…well were doing The Warped Tour which were going for the whole summer. You mean like summer festivals like outside of The United States? RSM: Yeah, like they have a ton of 3-day and week long festivals in Europe. MB: Right, were doing (to the side: Are we allowed to say that yet?) Were doing the Give It A Name Tour in April in Europe and then were going to Australia er…no, then were going to Tokyo to do a few things and then we might be doing a few more festivals, but I’m not sure yet. In Europe. RSM: With that in mind, do you have any bands that you dream of touring with or performing alongside? MB: Yeah, Deftones is like my favorite band in the world, so that would be my dream tour where I’ll watch every single night and sing every single word. RSM: You new album “The Dream” came out now a little less than 6 months ago, how have the fans taken to it thus far? Is it positive or are there any comments thus far? MB: No, I mean everything’s pretty much good, I mean there’s one or a few that gets let down cause I don’t scream as much on the new album, but you know its there opinion and its there view, so it doesn’t make me mad or anything like that, but for the most part everyone is really, really liking it and were getting really good reviews and things like that so were really excited so far with the way everything’s going. RSM: Alright, any similarities and differences, well you just said the screaming between The Dream and Beautiful Tragedy? MB: I think it was a bit more song oriented versus like riffs, and its definitely a bit more melodic you know, with vocals and music that the first album, but its not a bad thing. (giggles) RSM: There is going to be a feature focusing on the bands tattoos, do any of your tattoos have any special meanings or stories behind them? MB: Well, my knuckles say “BELIEVE” and that’s just something that’s really important to me and going through life you’ve gotta have something that you believe and live for and strive for, so that’s important to me. And “We Shall Overcome” on my wrist, same type of vibe, same type of thing, you know what I mean. Let’s see, on my arm, us and Five Finger Death Punch and Bury Your Dead all got matching tattoos, and that’s what I have on my arm. Actually I have a little shark on my foot and all of us and Devil Driver got that in Europe and that was our first time in Europe. A lot of them have little stories behind them you what I mean and meanings. I have something for my Mom and my Son, and my Boyfriend, so I try to incorporate meaning into them. RSM: I know you were just in Century Medias 2009 Calendar, I believe it was like “The Ladies of Century Media?” What was your first reaction when they came to you and said they wanted to make you a calendar girl? MB: Oh, so cool, ok, right on, whatever. I’m like a girly girl, so I like photo shoots and dressing up and having fun, so with me its not like a bad thing and you know. I mean its ok if sometimes some pictures are a little sexy, like whatever. It doesn’t offend me if somebody, I just did the Playboy for this month, not naked obviously, but the music edition, I did like a sexy picture for Playboy. To me there’s nothing wrong with it, I’m comfortable with my sexuality and um, I think whatever, its just another fun thing taking pictures and having a good time. It definitely feels completely separate than the music though, but I guess they tie together, so they make it tie together. But to me its just totally, completely separate, like when I’m on stage and singing and its all about the music, like it has nothing to do with any of that other stuff like dressing up cute for some photo shoot you know what I’m saying? But whatever, so if it coincides and they want to make it, I’m like ok, whatever. RSM: Is there anything else you’d like to say about any topic or too your fans about anything? MB: No, just thank you to our fans and obviously they are why we are where we are now. So just thank you to everyone and they’re support and to check the myspace page and come out to Warped Tour and um yeah, that’s it, just that we really appreciate and were really grateful with how far we’ve come and were going to try and just keep working hard and keep pushing forward. RSM: Thank you for your time, and thank you for this interview. MB: Ok, thank you very much, bye and have a good night. Dan Donegan (Disturbed) Interview with Dan Donegan (Disturbed) Interview for RockScarz Magazine March 31st, 2009 RockScarz Magazine: You recently released “The Indestructible” as a number-one album, in doing so; you have joined the ranks of such greats as Van Halen and Metallica in being one of seven bands to ever release 3 number-one albums in a row, what was your reaction when you found out about that? Dan Donegan: That’s insane, I had no idea that we would even be in that category. You know funny thing, its just really great to see the fans in their way speaking out to the industry. In a time where pop music and hip-hop rule the industry right now, its good to know that there’s still a good, great deal of hard rock and metal fans that are out there and it just feels good to know that our fans are out there and are waiting there ready for it and they know that were going to deliver the absolute best that we can and they’ve have stepped up to the plate three times in a row for us and they know that were going to deliver and they’ll get nothing less than 110% from us. RSM: You guys started the Music as a Weapon Tour almost 9 years ago; did you ever think that it would grow into such a well-known festival? DD: Um, we had hoped that along as the success of the band and the interest from the fans if it continued then we could you know brand this tour a little bit more-so and we were very hopeful of it and we just thought that if we had got together you know the right bill and it was a strong bill of some of our favorite bands or some of the bands that were relevant in the hard rock world that you know we could probably go somewhere with this and its just been building over the years with bigger production and bigger tour, its been great. RSM: Alright then I guess as a follow-up on that, when you guys did the first Music As A Weapon Tour, were you already planning on doing multiple tours or were you just planning one and when you saw the success you decided to do more? DD: I think in the back of our minds we always thought that this would be great to continue doing this type of tour to like you said as long as we could put together a strong enough bill, and you know the fans keep showing up the way they are then I knew this was something that definitely we wanted to see happen and we’ve just been fortunate that its been working out the way it has. RSM: The song “Inside The Fire” was recently nominated for a Grammy in the “Best Hard Rock Performance” category, how did you find out about it, and what was your reaction? DD: We were up in Canada at the time touring, and our tour manager came in and he kinda broke it to us in uh “What do these bands all have in common” and he named Motley Crue, Judas Priest, Mars Volta, Disturbed and Rob Zombie and then he told us that way that were all nominated for a Grammy. So we were overwhelmed, shocked, surprised, but you know, I guess its like winning the Super Bowl you know trophy. For us it’s a great honor to be you know nominated its something that of course, it would’ve been nice to win it and all the hard years of work that were finally recognized within the industry. RSM: In an interview you did with Billboard, it was stated that fifteen songs were recorded for “The Indestructible”, but only twelve made the album, what happened to the missing tracks and will they ever see the light of day? DD: We’ve always recorded extra songs just to have in case there’s bonus tracks or soundtracks opportunity. We always want to have material ready cause if were in the middle of a tour its not always easy to just hop in the studio and record more, so I think its hard to pick which songs we leave off because we get so attached to every song we write. I think two of the three have already been put out there and have been released on other things, the only one that we haven’t officially released I believe now is the cover song we did by Faith No More, “Mid-Life Crisis” that we tracked. So we like to see every song that we ever record see the light of day, it’s just trying to find the right opportunity and the right outlet to put it out there so it will be heard. RSM: Do you ever play those ones live before you release them or do they just stay hidden until you release them? DD: Every now and then, I mean a couple years ago just for fun we did the Faith No More cover song live, maybe a couple of times and lets see some of the other B-sides, right now we have a B-song in the set list right now from the last record, a song called “Hell” that we’ve been playing part of it in a little medley we kind of put together cause you know we get a lot of feedback from some of the hardcore fans that are familiar or who have heard these B-sides are fans of it so we try to assemble a little bit of a medley to give them something out of the ordinary as well too. RSM: The video game Rockband put Disturbed’s music in the game, how did this make you feel, and have you ever played the game as yourselves to see if you could master your own songs? DD: I tried, I’m not much of a gamer myself, I tried Guitar Hero and they had Rockband set up in the dressing room one day and we had a couple of fans come in to play along and challenge. You know its just a whole different thing for me, it was harder than I thought it would be, then again I don’t really play it so for a first time trying to get on there and play it, it was definitely harder than I thought it would be. RSM: I think you’re aware that interview is for RockScarz Magazine, which is a tattoo and rock magazine, do you or any of the other band members have any tattoos that have interesting stories behind them? DD: Well, I’m not sure if there’s stories behind them, but my drummers working on a full sleeve he’s got, his brother-in-law is a really great tattoo artist in the Milwaukee area and his is just a lot of that bio-mechanic kind of H.R. Giger type tattooing. No real meaning other than that’s just what he’s really into. My tattoo, I’ve got half my arm, I have the original Disturbed kind of face mask on there that’s just kind of breaking to the skin, so you know its kind of an important marking in my life, it’s a reminder that will be there for the rest of my life of just something that’s you know, Disturbed related. It’s an accomplishment in my life. David at the moment, David doesn’t have any tattoos and John, John’s got a couple of tattoos, I’m not sure of full meaning behind them, he’s got one karma tattoo and then he’s got a girl on his bicep too, I’m not sure of the meaning of that girl on there. He’s got a couple stars on there too, I don’t know if that’s more of a Texas thing because he’s from Austin, Texas, if that has anything to do with his reason behind it. RSM: Disturbed have played alongside many great and even legendary bands, what or who has been your favorite to work with? DD: Let’s see, we’ve done a couple of festivals with Metallica in Europe and we would love to someday do a proper tour with them as main support to them. Its something we’ve dreamt of doing, but I mean there have been many great bands, I mean to have the opportunity to play with Ozzy on Ozzfest for four years starting in 2000 for us has been a great stepping stone in our career and a great opportunity, we’ve really been able to share the stage with just about every band we dreamt of. I guess the two that are coming up, or one that we haven’t, the only band that I can think of is Iron Maiden. We for whatever reason haven’t been on any shows with them. Last year we had the opportunity with Judas Priest, so that was a big highlight in our career and I think this year, rumor has it, I don’t know if its been confirmed yet but rumor has it that Faith No More was getting back together to do some shows and I believe we might be doing a festival with them in Europe. I’m not sure if that’s confirmed yet, but its something were looking forward to. RSM: Having toured several countries and continents, what so far has been your favorite country to play in and what has been your favorite show? DD: One that’s really hard to beat Germany is incredible, we have a great fan base there and it’s so memorable because we did a festival with Metallica and there was over 80,000 people so that’s a hard one to forget about or to not be at the top of the list cause it was just a sea of people, I mean you couldn’t tell where it ended, it just was insane. That was definitely one of our favorite countries to play. One of the other more memorable shows that will always live with us is our opportunity to play for the troops in Kuwait last year. Last March we went over there and we flew into Kuwait city and we were at Camp Buehring about 12 miles from the Iraqi border and you know we got sleep in the barracks and eat in the chow hall, and kind of meet the troops and hang with them for a few days. When it was show time, you’d look out there and you’d see all these soldiers in uniform with rifles strapped on their backs and military vehicles in the audience and them standing on them, it was a very proud moment. You know, the feeling like we were giving them the opportunity to escape their reality for a few hours and to enjoy themselves and it was very touching for us to be there and feel like our role is very easy to go up there and do what we do and perform and to feel like we gave them a little bit of home. It was a great moment. RSM: Do you have any stories of anything regrettable or horror stories from tours or on the road? DD: A couple of rough shows that we did in the past, we haven’t done them in a while, but a lot of times if you do some of these radio festival type shows, sometimes your put into these throw and go situations where you don’t get to set up your gear properly and sound check and do any of that and your just hoping that everything works right when they throw it up and hope that your sound guy dials you in right away. One stand out show to me, I think was Washington D.C. we had to fly in for a show cause we were already on a tour and we had to play on rented gear. The first time I got to plug into the amp was the first song, so I was just hoping that the guitar tech dialed me up something close to what I’d like. The guitar was feeding back, its noisy and sloppy, so it was a bit of a nightmare for us, and its just frustrating when we know what were capable of delivering and doing and its hard to get up on rented gear when its not working up to your standards, it can turn into a train wreck. RSM: You had mentioned you are doing a festival this summer, I don’t know if you can say what it is yet, but do you have any plans for summer festivals in Europe? DD: In Europe we do, after we finish up “Music As A Weapon” that were doing now, were going to do a couple of weeks in Canada and then we’ll go to Europe in June. I think the second week of June and were gonna jump on a bunch of festivals, they’re just big turnouts huge bands that are a big part of it every year. It’s amazing, it’s a great opportunity. I think just about every year you see Metallica and Iron Maiden and all the great metal bands are usually always a part of it and we’ve been climbing up that ladder and continuing to develop our fan basis throughout Europe and were getting higher and higher up on the bill. A couple of shows were headlining and others were support for a few other acts. I’m not sure which bands are on which cities, but I think were doing a show with Nine Inch Nails this year, which will be a first for us as well. Last year we did a show with Rage Against The Machine in Austria, which was another highlight for us. So this year its going to be great just to go back, we’ll be over there for three weeks, we’ll put in a couple of club shows on some of the off days to fill in and go out on your own, but for the most part, the festivals are going to be the shows to be on. RSM: Is there anything you’d like to add or say? DD: Were just love being on tour right now with “Music As A Weapon” you know two months throughout the US here, I think after this run, this will probably be the last chance to see us in the US on this tour. After we finish up the European run we’ll come home in July and we’ll probably start looking at when we want to start the when we want to get the writing process going again. We can’t really sit at home for too long with out starting to miss wanting to play again. Even though a lot of times you get burnt out and you’re looking forward to getting home at some point and not having to live out of a suitcase or having to live in a hotel or tour bus you come home and you start missing the road again. I think by August is when we want to really start to focus on new material and hope that we can be ready for the studio by the end of the year or at least early 2010 so that were ready to hit the road again early next year. Infernus (Gorgoroth) Interview with Infernus (Gorgoroth) Interview for RockScarz Magazine/Taste of Khaos E-Zine April 1st, 2009 Forward: Oslo City District Court has today delivered a verdict on the main question in the Gorgoroth trademark case, which took place at the end of January 2009. The court has decided that King ov Hell's trademark registration # 243365 of the band name Gorgoroth is NOT valid and shall therefore be deleted. The court states that King ov Hell and Gaahl excluded themselves from the band Gorgoroth when they tried to fire Infernus in October 2007. The court further states that Infernus cannot be excluded from Gorgoroth, unless he himself decides to quit. Infernus is very pleased, but not surprised, by this verdict. The remaining issues concerning financial matters and such are yet to be decided upon. Absinthe Moon Photography: Since October 2007 there has been, as your opposition put it, a legal battle between yourself and them. Although you have already stated in previous interviews that you never stopped working under the name Gorgoroth, did you come across any difficulties during this time period due to the legal battle? Infernus: The term “legal battle” makes it sound to me like some rather silly attempt on dramatizing what this was all about, and most probably that exact choice of words comes from the counterpart and how they presented the story through the media, but here was a lot of practical hassle which had to be taken care of, that’s right. That has by now been dealt with, more or less all of it. So of course if I could in retrospect choose not to have gone through this, it is obvious what I would have done. Nevertheless, some people have to learn it the hard way. And when it comes to Gorgoroth, I will have it my way; my way or no way; no matter what. Except for the above mentioned legal issues and paperwork which had to be done, I have taken this opportunity to evaluate people in the former mutual organization behind the band. Most of them passed the test and chose their side clearly at the right time and when I needed it. A few others did not, they have by now been removed. AMP: While King ov Hell and Gaahl have now legally excluded themselves from Gorgoroth and pretty much betrayed you, would you ever consider accepting an apology from them if they offered it? I: I don’t really know what such an apology would be good for [laughs], if they apologize or not, that’s just words, and they don’t mean anything to me any more. I do not care whether I get an apology or not. My main focus now is where it always has been: on the future, and not on some ex-members and what they might have said or done. AMP: Although you did in fact win the court case, do you feel that you have learned anything about trusting or not trusting people or band members in the future and do you think you will put more information in writing with future business deals? I: I think the ruling represents in itself some kind of security for me for the future, always. But also I think I am able to learn from it, thus making it easier for the future by settling some formalities before entering co-operations with people from now on. This will probably imply a little bit more paperwork than before, but ultimately I think it will be best for all involved parties. AMP: Although the courts deleted King ov Hell and Gaahl’s trademark and ruled that you could never be removed from Gorgoroth unless it was on your own terms, do you have any plans in the near future to establish a legal trademark yourself for Gorgoroth? I: There are two equal ways of getting a trademark protected in Norway; you can send in an application for the trademark, OR you can establish it by use. The verdict states that the trademark was already established by use before King and Gaahl joined, so I don't really have to register it. It confirms what it looked like before October 2007, and it's just like that now. It doesn’t matter if I trademark it or not because the verdict is there and states that it is not needed. AMP: When there is a conflict between band members and it goes into a court case as did your situation you undoubtingly lose some fans while strengthening the will of others, do you feel that in the long run this will just be more positive publicity for Gorgoroth and will actually increase your overall fan basis by bringing more attention to your name? I: I think you always have to relate to the risk of losing some fans and gaining others, both when dealing with members leaving, court cases, or when you put out new music. And I don’t write music to gain more fans. So it doesn’t matter of course, and if I lose someone because of a court case like this then so be it, it's just natural. You lose some and you win some. It will and should always be like this. AMP: I actually can’t pronounce it, but tell me more about the new album, what goals did you set out to accomplish with this new release and what does the album title translate to? I: It’s “Quantos Possunt ad Satanitatem Trahunt,” and it’s a piece I’ve been working on since winter of 2006 and to make it short, it will be 7 or 8 tracks and 30-35 minutes and it would have to be up to the listener to decide how it sounds. We will deliver a product in or around October which we will be able to stand 100% behind, that is as much I have to say about that. AMP: Did any of your feelings from the betrayal of King Ov Hell and Gaahl go into the writing process? I: No, I started the writing process when I was in prison during the winter of 2006 and I have written all the material myself, not letting this hassle influence the product at all. I have other concerns. To put it in perspective: I am betrayed by god, so how on earth could I be able to find place for whatever feelings I might have for two ex-members during that writing process? AMP: The website states that although you look forward to getting on the road soon, that you want to finish working your new album, do you have any touring plans scheduled and what countries are you hoping to visit? I: We hope to continue what we always did and tour a lot, but now we have to set things straight and now we want everything according to how we want it. We will be selective and we will be picky. We will be back touring when we get everything as we want it. we, and no one else. It is about time to quit making compromises now. When not in Sweden working on the bass and vocals this summer, we will spend as much time as possible here in my hometown, Bergen, rehearsing on a live set-list. Hopefully we will be able to do a European festival or two as soon as in august or so. Time will tell. AMP: How do you view the current Metal scene and where do you see it progressing to in the future? I: I don’t really know, I don’t view it in any particular way because I don’t find myself to be a member of it and I haven’t been a member of it since the mid 90’s in terms of social life et cetera. I am a musician and songwriter, that is correct, thus I somehow have to relate to it. Anyways, I am in it basically for the metal and the Satanism, so there is strictly speaking not much more from that scene that I need. I have my rather narrow circle of contacts and co-workers, and that is it. I enjoy my position in terms of being able to function through writing, producing and performing satanic metal music. That other circus, and all that hanging around with a bunch of dirty and insecure illiterates in an ugly band t-shirt, I can do without. Feeding on hopeless self-mythologizations and posing for glory in the media I can also do without. How the scene progresses, I don't know much about either, but in some magical way or other, I will be a part of it, for another 17 years or so. I am angry and old now, and I am for Satan ready for once to set things straight, yeah! AMP: How do you feel Gorgoroth has left its mark on the metal scene? I: I feel we have achieved a lot and that I have been lucky to get to work with a load of both interesting and good people. I also feel we somehow have been able to write metal history and - to be honest - that we have partaken in shaping the directions of the scene. For what that is worth. Nevertheless, I am not content. I have more coming. There has for sure been a few setbacks, all the way, in fact, but obstacles should and can be dealt with and that will continue to be my attitude for the future as well. AMP: Is there anything you would like to say or add? I: I would like to thank you for your time, and I would like to thank loyal fans and co-workers and other defenders of the faith all around the world who passed the test which this last year and a half has posed. You probably know who you are. Action speaks and I do not forget you. All hail you, in the name of Satan. Thank you! www.gorgoroth.info www.forcesofsatan.com www.regainrecords.com www.myspace.com/160310525 www.myspace.com/forcesofsatanrecords www.season-of-mist.com |
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