Hello, Grutle! Congratulations on a new very good album, how do you feel about it?
It was actually released in the US today. It has been out in Europe for a month now. I've got nothing to complain about as both reviews and sales has been good. We're hitting the road in a week, and then we'll see if people shows up or not.
How do you picture the upcoming tour?
Really fucking narrow on the bus (laughs). No, it's really fun to play live, but there are certain things we could do without on the bus. It takes some time getting used to the climate, but that's just part of the game. On the other hand, getting home is nearly worse. It's so silent. There is always something happening on the road, and you're actually surrounded by noise 24/7.
What do you think of the bands joining you on tour, Stonegard and Krakow?
Stonegard split up recently. I don't know why as i don't know any details, but it was indeed very bad timing. We got a little stressed out, as it is not free to go on tour. Luckily Audrey Horne stepped in and took their place.
Krakow is, in my opinion, one of the best young norwegian bands out there. I'm looking forward to see how the crowd will respond to them.
How were you introduced to metal?
Just like everyone else at my age. Through Kiss in the late 70's. My older sister had a few tapes which I started listen to, and the rest is history. We even got bags of candy with Kiss-stickers in them. Believe it or not!
How do you consider your position within Norwegian extreme metal?
That is up to others to decide, really. I guess we have been on the outside both lyrically and musically. We're trying to develop our sound with each release, not trying to copy any of our earlier releases. On the other hand, we have always been a part of the same society as the bands we started out with, such as Immortal.
Enslaved has evolved drastically troughout the years. How would you describe this process?
Remember that our first album was released many years ago. If we had released ten similar records we wouldn't exist today. We want to make interesting and personal music. There is so much impersonal crap out there today, and we don't want to be a part of that.
Did you intend to take this direction? Or did it happen automatically?
It happened automatically. Whether you like it or not, when you're making music, it's being coloured by what you are listening to. When you're playing, someone might say "That was totally Pink Floyd", and you're like "Ah, well", not really caring. We never try to copy Pink Floyd or Rush. It just happens, and we never really think about it.
What are your opinions on the controversial events that took place in the 90's? Did you intentionally avoid it?
The Black Metal society was very small at the time. We were interrogated just like everyone else with long hair and black clothes. We were never involved with the crimes, we only knew the people who committed them. If those reponsible were 10 years older, it would never have happened. They were narrow-minded teenagers that didn't really care much for the consequences.
You are involved in another project, TriNacria. Will we be hearing anything from that camp in the nearest future?
No, not in the nearest future. We are pretty occupied with Enslaved for the rest of this, and most part of the next year. So is the other members of TriNacria. It's more of a side-project that is fun to pack out of the box every once in a while. Maybe in 2010 a new album will be released, or maybe we will do some shows.
What is you opinions on downloading? It's quite obvious that you dislike it after you downloaded a sheep from a Norwegian politician, but is it just negative sides to it?
It is very little we can do to stop it. I mean, the technology has developed so fast, and it is therefore hard to make any rules. It's illegal to steal music. We wanted to set an example by downloading a farmer's sheep, as that is what he makes his money from. We spend thousands of dollars making a record, and it would be nice to get some of it back. People complain about the high prices. That is just plain bullshit. 20$ for a record is cheap, and is nothing compared to what it actually costs to make that record. However, metal is maybe the only genre where people actually buy their music. People still care about layouts and cover art, and the joy of holding the recent copy of your favourite band in your hands.
Radiohead is often used as an argument against us. But come on, they are millionairs! They can actually afford to do what they did! We can't. This is our lifestock after all.
Were there any concequences regarding the stunt?
Herbrand Larsen was actually called by an angry farmer who threatened to beat him up.(Laughs). Herbrand did barely know about it then, and was kind of
surprised. He wasn't even a part of the stunt.
The Pink Floyd references on Vertebrae are apparent. Which other bands do you draw inspiration from?
Rush, Tool, Darkthrone, Destruction. We draw a lot of inspiration from everywhere
Is there a concept behind Vertebrae? If so, would you like to tell us about it?
There's not an actual concept like on Ruun. But we focus on the human strengths and weaknesses. The weak part of the backbone (Vertebrae), the universal problems
and all the shit that is going on in the world today.
How do you progress when you're writing songs?
Ivar starts off with guitar-riffs and programmed drums. We recieve a cd from him and myself and Herbrand starts to work on vocals while Cato figures the drums. It can take
up to three months to do one song. Sometimes you get writers block, and there is also a lot to get into. Much of our material is hard
to get into, and should be done properly.
Lyrically, your influence is pretty obvious. Has anyone of you studied norse mythology?
We have read alot of stories and the various sagas, but no-one is educated. I think that if we had been educated, we probably
wouldn't take any chances lyrically, and the lyrics would be kind of "safe".
Musically?
Herbrand, Cato and Ice Dale are scholared musicians, not me or Ivar though.
What is in your stereo right now?
Anekdoten - Gravity
Favourite Rush album?
Hemispheres!
Best record so far in 2008?
Earth - The Bees Made Honey in the Lion's Skull
Favourite Enslaved album?
Easy! Vertebrae!
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