Interview by FORLORN SOUL

“Plague Wielder” is a particular album, I would say. Maybe it is a bit more complex, maybe more melodic, it is well played and well registered. Of course many people will accuse you of having lost the old spirit, but I think these songs contain very good cues, and could even be a new starting point for the music of Darkthrone. What is the importance you give to “Plague Wielder” in the entirety of your discography?
The importance of it might be in the fact that we refuse to give in. I don’t think we are modern in any way, or try to stray from our past, at all. Actually you are right when you say it has a bit more complex structure... Nocturno Culto made the most of the material, he pretended to me that in general saying it would be different. But when I listened to the material I said : -No, this is not different!-. But for the way the material sounds, I decided to play more varied on the drums, not as monumentally rock like I did on the “Ravishing Grimness”. The importance might be the bitterness with the lyrics and the sound it uses to be. Now it is bitter, not growing old, it just can be bitter. We don’t have really anything to be bittered about, but... I conceive this album as very important in Darkthrone’s discography... but we’re not trying to change at all, we are just trying to make another album, that’s it. And we’ve already started working on a next album, so we’re not sitting down and resting.

About the artwork, I don’t think it fits very well the Darkthrone spirit...... who was the author of that ? Do you personally like it ?
Oh... It was probably done by the same person who did the work for “Ravishing Grimness”, yes I think it was the same person... The thing is that in Darkthrone... excuse-me... (he stops and talks with someone else, maybe Nocturno Culto /nda)... ok, it was NOT made by the same person, he he he!! The thing is that in Darkthrone, and I guess it is the same also for the other bands, all is about making decisions. And in Darkthrone I think me and Nocturno Culto are very sure about what we do not want, and maybe we’re not always sure of what we want, visually, for an album cover; but we know what sucks and what does not suck for us. And about this album-cover, I guess Nocturno Culto was talking to the guy who designed it, and Nocturno Culto basically tried to make him imagine of what Nocturno Culto thinks that the inside of my head looks like, metaphorically I guess (what a complex sentence!! nda). And when I saw the cover it was exactly the same colours I was thinking the musical material was. So I said : -OK, this is rust !-, and Darkthrone are like rust, rust is Darkthrone. The thing you have on the Christmas tree is not Darkthrone, but rust is definitevely Darkthrone. I know that the cover had a lot to say, but when I look at the catalogues and the covers in the stores, I am just embarassed over the metal scene, how incredibly of bad taste it can be sometimes and I definitely, definitely don’t want to be a part of that, I don’t want on the cover naked women carrying a sword in the ice, you know... it’s not Darkthrone.

I ask you this also because I noticed that in the latest times many of the Moonfog artworks are different from what they looked like in the past, they look so ‘modern’... Think for example to the Satyricon or Dodheimsgard last covers...
Yes, it’s because they’re designed from photos, and not from some guy who is into paint stuff... I don’t oppose to any of the two actually... I think the Darkthrone’s album cover may look modern, but the idea is... ancient. The expression of the idea may seem technical, but Darkthrone is not technical at all. So maybe we have gone to the technical extreme of the visuals for Darkthrone this time, we might have to strip it down next time. And it’s all because of you... You’re putting us in the right direction, ha ha ha...

Oh well, it’a pleasure! One of my favourite songs of the album is “Sin Origin”, and it’s the only song written by you... As in “Ravishing Grimness” the songs you do write are always the more old-style ones...
Oh yeah!! I am very primitive. I like to eat women, or hang and drag them down out with the hair, he he... No, I have no future direction for my musical work with Darkthrone, I’m always looking to the past expression, and I’m basically just writing the same shit over again, wanting to do the 80’s same old style. I’m never challenging Nocturno Culto in his songwriting, he can write whatever he wants, but when I am writing... it’s always very primitive. I just did one song on this album and one song on “Ravishing Grimness”, but I’ve already made like one and a half new ones for the next album, so I’m thinking of making something like three or four songs for the next album. That will maybe make our expression a bit more primitive, and Ted (Nocturno Culto/nda) knows because I don’t fucking know how to play guitar, ha ha ha !!! After all these years I’m just worse than when I started out. Anyway, Ted is playing a lot and I think he will play a lot on extra details into structure and things like that, and in making more interesting drums. My material instead is not interesting, it’s just primitive and maybe... emotional.

Yeah, but I fucking like it !!
Yu-huuuu!!!!!! You’re the first one... I already love you now.

Now let’s go back to the old days, for a while... When an album as “Transilvanian Hunger” was out, your attitude was rather different from the attitude you have today. Some of your declarations have caused to you some troubles, and moreover today you are far more expansive and kind towards the press and the media... So I would like to ask you what has changed within yourself, if you have any regrets concerning the past or if you consider yourself a wiser man today.

Oh, those were many questions, and I have many answers for that... Well, the first thing I can say is that when the “Transilvanian Hunger” came out, we didn’t do any interviews... So that was the biggest difference, now we’re doing interviews and back then we didn’t. Then I wouldn’t have done interviews, and I wouldn’t have done them on the phone; phone-interviews are different from written interviews, and face-to-face interviews are again different. You know, it’s easy to make statements when you’re doing written interviews. I don’t regret anything. When it comes to you mentioning the growing-up, the becoming wiser, I would say it is an astonishing accomplishment, for a person, to grow older and dumber. What I’m saying it’s maybe I have had more social interaction and I’m dealing with people differently than I did. Time changes, people change.

Also regarding the old-albums, I know that you like “Goatlord”, in the other interview we did you even said it is maybe your favourite album... This is strange to me, since it isn’t among my favourites. But I think it would be useful to clear up things a bit concerning some particulars: for example, it was you who made the female vocals, isn’t it?
Yeah sure !

How did you get this idea ?
Well, I guess I had just nothing to do wandering around the studio in the house... But I was going to fuck it up... Maybe this is one of the things I regret, because I think that if you leave me alone in a house or a studio, I’m going to do some theatrical things, obviously, as you can hear in that album... And I am not a big fan of the theatrical in metal, so it’s easy for you to understand that maybe now I regret it a little bit. So in Darkthrone’s situation it’s important not to have me on everything, because I could suddenly go off and make something theatrical. The last couple of years it would have been impossible for me to do something theatrical, so... I wouldn’t do it today ! But at the time I was just there, alone with the tapes, and I thought that I was going to add spice to that rehearsal, and that’s what I did... Goddamn’it ! Ha ha... I’m sorry.

The released version of “Goatlord” was just the rehearsal or was it already the final version ?
Oh no no no... It was just a rehearsal. The rehearsals were recorded from late 1990 to the early 1991. We were rehearsing before to register the “Goatlord” album, and then the rehearsal was the only thing left of the album, because we decided not to play that style anymore. So the only evidence of us having played death metal thing when we returned from the Sunlight studios where we had recorded our first album in 1990, was the virtual tape. So, the rehearsal tape was just flying around for years, until I picked it up in 1994 and I was thinking : -Uhm, oh ! We did some pretty good death metal here ! Let’s fuck around with it !- , that’s basically what I thought.

Now back to the present day. Have you listened to the debut-album of Khold ? They released it through Moonfog and they declare to be totally influenced by Darkthrone in their music.... What do you think about this band? They tried to capture the ancient Black Metal spirit with a cleaner and heavier approach...
Oh, it’s very possible. For me with Khold it’s a long long story to tell, I have no problems telling it. The thing is that from a song of Bathory “Born for burning” taken from “The Return” album, we have a norwegian person who made a project that he called Incarnatur. It was around ‘91-’92, he recorded two songs and they were heavily influenced by old and slower Bathory. So, one year ago we had done an Eibon rehearsal, me and ...., then he drove me in the car after work and he decided to put on some music, and while we were listening to it I said : -Holy shit, this sounds like Incarnatur !-, -Is it a norwegian?-, and he replied yes. I didn’t know who they were, and I was thinking about finding that band ... and this band of course was Khold. So the reason I was thinking Khold were tragic ‘cause I was listening to only one half song of Khold then, it was because it was resembling this Incarnatur, it was inspired by slow Bathory. Not because it sounds like Darkthrone. But when I listened to the whole album of Khold, of course I can hear Darkthrone’s influence there, but still I only think that a couple of the guys are influenced by Darkthrone, Bathory and things like that; I know the basis of the fathers of our musical thing is basically just a good basis, you know... So I don’t think he’s inspired by Darkthrone so much... I know the drummer because years back he bought some Rototom drums from me in 1991, and I can say that in the Khold album I’m extreeemely pleased with the way he chooses to play on the drums. Because you know, many other drummers choose to play their little hard stuff on the Black Metal releases, they play everything they know. That’s allright but for what concerns me, I’m always choosing to play what I think it is right for that music in a simple way. And when I listen to the drummer who has played on the Khold album, he is called Thomas, well Thomas is playing perfect, perfect for a grim simple Black Metal album.

But in the interviews I have read of Khold, they say they have never listened to Bathory or old Carpathian Forest... So what do you think of this “lack of historical knowledge” ?
He he... I think it doesn’t really matter when Khold is doing Black Metal as well as they do it... I don’t care... I think it’s worse if.. no, no, I don’t want to talk about it, he he... But I think it’s just great what Khold are doing. I was just going into heavy water there, you can just figure it out.... He he he...

Well, since most of the interviews must be very boring to you, I would like now to ask you something different, something about your interests and beliefs. Are you interested in cinema, theatre and literature ?
Ooooooooh.... (long whisper)... the books... I used to read books, but I actually don’t have hundred books... I’m growing older and dumber, to make an accomplishment. When it comes to movies, I’m only watching movies with Jean-Claude Van Damme, ha ha... I’m of course kidding. I like movies with a lot of dialogues, I don’t see a lot of interesting things coming from Hollywood, I like more European movies, and Scandinavian movies are getting better too now. But I’m not going to say any favourites, no, no, I have to disappoint you. I would just be vague on this subject...

But in Panzerfaust, in the thanks list... (he immediatly stops me and begins to talk... /nda)
Oh yeah, Bret Easton Ellis, yeah yeah yeah....... Ok...He he... You know me better than I do, obviously... Thanks for your fantastic research... Sure, I mentioned the book there, but I’m not mentioning books on the last two releases; but on the thanks list of these last two albums, maybe you got only the promotional version (Hey, I have got the originals of course ! /nda) I have mentioned some riddles to musical treasures that I’m quite fond of, and only one person so far has figured this out, from a magazine... So it’s quite like a riddle, you know...

Have you seen the movie they recently made out of “American Psycho” ? What do you think of it ?
Oh... No. You know, it is like... I’m a big fan of the lyrics of Tom Warrior on the “Mega Therion” Celtic Frost album (you’re just obsessed by him !!!!! /nda) but when I see Tom Warrior I don’t want him to explain it to me, I don’t want another person’s vision about it, I just want my own vision. So I read the book, I have my vision, I’m sticking to that, I don’t want anyone to tamper with my idea of what’s going on... That’s why I didn’t see the movie.

In fact I think the movie doesn’t reflect very much what was my personal conception of the book... Do you think “American Psycho” can also be seen as a manifesto of the shallowness of our contemporary society ? And what do you think is the role of BEE in all this ?
He he... To make a statement like that, one would have to have being ravished by the book, just like when you have seen a great concert, and you have drunk four beers and you are in ecstasy... Then maybe the next day you would sit down and think –Oooh, it wasn’t that good-. You know, you cannot make a totalitarian statement about a book, I’m thinking... I don’t really know what Bret Easton Ellis wants to portray, but I guess he is not writing everything in disgust... I think he really enjoys, I think he is almost thankful for the high-class tackiness of the moral men, to say like that.

Ok, now to a little different topic...

I like the way you say topic, he he ... T-o-p-i-c... It’s just beautiful, he he he... (? /nda)

In your lyrics death is an ever present topic, we can say... Now, I don’t want to ask you anything about your lyrics, because I know that in any case you wouldn’t answer, what I want to ask you is what is your relation with death, if you are afraid of it and how it fascinates you...
Oh... Well, it’s a very huge topic to go into... Death. It seems like a lot of people don’t think about it enough. Personally I’m possessed, or obsessed by it; as one could figure out by at least the lyrics I do. I can say I’m afraid of death, but it’s maybe to be afraid of tragedies... And the main tragedy is that life is hopeless- Some people fight it with the karma, with the rebirth and Christians maybe try to fight it with their constant screaming out for hope, hope, hope.... When life itself it’s an abyss of... hopelessness. Because your eyes are seeing more and more and more, up until the point when you’ve seen the most, and then you die. That is the moment of death. When you’ve seen the most possible for a person. And if that is not tragic then I don’t know what is tragic.

In the lyrics of “Plague Wielder” the word suicide appears twice, so I would like to know what is your personal opinion about suicide and self-injuries, and the feelings that lead to these two things...
Two times, really?! Noooooooooo.... I hate to repeat myself... The amazing thing is that there are bands supporting explicitly the suicide solution to make people kill themselves; in the metal thing it’s just : “Go-kill-yourself!”, and then it’s going to happen! But when you try to explain something deeper, when you talk about hopelessness, people are saying “Lousy lyrics! Where’s the kill?!”. I will not say that suicide is tragic, it’s only drastic, but I think it’s perfectly understandable. About self-injuries, I think people instead of stage-diving and things like that should run their head first into the wall (just kidding). I don’t want to elaborate on self-dismemberment or hurting yourself, but I personally feel my body materialistic and I believe in tearing myself down as often as possible : I don’t know if I do it by will or if it’s within me and I cannot control it, but this is me. Everyone can do what they want, but at least I try to express my feelings.

What is the beauty of pain to you? How is it possible to find beauty in pain?
Isn’t that what the entire Black and Death metal scene is about? We can just summarize this very easily, with the title of the Morbid Angel album called “Blessed are the sick”. But of course I don’t like the production of that album, no, no, no, no... Maybe one of the most important things in my life is that “Thy kingdom come” demo-tape from Morbid Angel, but not the “Blessed are the sick” album, I’m not a maniac of it...

A friend of mine, talking about Darkthrone, defined you as a “poet of the Abyss”. Do you like this definition, do you think it fits to you?
We’ve been living with Darkthrone in our heads and it probably takes about 25/30% of our total head-time. We have been doing this since ’87 and of course we have seen Darkthrone from most angles. All the people come up with a definition, which is just one of the angles we have already seen, so I can say that I agree but I will not say that it is everything, it’s just a part of it.

Do you believe in the existence of "true love" and "happiness" or do you think they’re just illusions created by mankind ?
Well, there are strong emotions but as we know all good things come to an end. The loss is very inspiring, and you know, there have been a lot of love-songs and elegies and things like that, and for a person who only looks for it there’s a lot of material out there to discover : Winnie the Pooh, and all that happiness. But I would seriously doubt that this person is truely happy! I don’t think there exists a happy human.. I don’t know, maybe the animals are more than the humans.

Are there any news about your side-project Eibon? Will there be an album in the future?
What I can say is that I want to end up this project with the 4 persons we are. But we are always very busy and live so far away from each other, and it is very difficult to give this project some drift. It’s going very slowly... We are half-way now, or at least almost half-way. Our aim is to make some metal that rocks, not rock that is metal. We just wanna rock, and many people out there won’t understand that. The Eibon project is about the 80s and I think that could be heard in the music we’re creating. About other projects, I’m just starting to do an hardcore band now, we will see how serious it will be, it’s called Fuck You All. It’s relaxing.

That was all ! Thanks a lot for the interview, bye.

Thanks to you for your time and good night !