| German Ablaze Magazin #3 2007
Guderian:
Nordvrede was formed by myself on drums and guitarist Nekrosoldat an
autumn night of 2004. The idea behind Nordvrede was to form a band in
which we could create music the way we see ourselves, our personalities
and our attitude towards humanity, religion and the society in general.
We also wanted to make the kind of music we buy ourselves, therefore
Nordvrede is to be grim and rageful Black Metal, blended with triumphant
and majestic melodies. 02. Unlike the most (if not all) Black Metal bands in Norway, NORDVREDE members hail from Tromso area and Lofoten islands, which are rather unpopulated regions of vast desolate beauty in Northern Norway, far away from the main cities in the south of the country. Could you describe your homeland in a few words? Do you take pride in it? And does your location and origin make you and NORDVREDE, as a whole, somehow abit different to the rest of Norwegian BM scene in any aspect? Guderian:
Both the region around the small city of Tromsø and the islands
of Lofoten, are indeed areas of mighty northern Norwegian nature, with
steep mountains climbing violently up from the cold sea in the fiords,
spectacular light and darkness-conditions throughout the year, and huge
differences in temperature and climate from summer to winter. And of
course our surroundings give us inspiration. For example the hymn “Nordnorsk
Blod” (Northern Norwegian Blood) is written and composed to be
a tribute from us to the place where we belong. We are extremely proud
to be from the high north. For myself especially, I seek out to nature
to get away from humans, traffic, industry and noise, which we luckily
don’t have the most of up here. In fact, in most places here in
the northern desolate parts of the country, you can just step outside
from your home and immediately be in the mightiest of what nature can
give. It gives us massive inspiration to spend time under the open northern
sky. Guderian:
This is a question that can be answered in different personal ways as
to which individual you ask. But for me, the soil of my homeland and
local region up north brings forth proud emotions. I despise society
in the world and in my country the way it has developed in modern times,
but still I have strong feelings for Norway and my region’s history
and cultural heritage. I chose to join the army voluntarily because
of this, to stand prepared to defend it from any threat. 04. Do you know the history
of your family, if yes, please, ellaborate on it if possible? How do
you think, to which extent the origin, the way of life and the deeds
of the ancestors may influence one's way of life, his morals and actions? 05. What are your and other NORDVREDE members religious/spiritual views and philosophical outlooks, in a few words if possible? Haerfar: I’ll try to summarize my religious/spiritual views in few words. I believe in forces beneath our own imagination, and I don’t think any human being on this earth or other potential planets in this universe has been granted the wisdom to be capable in understanding what we are and why we are here. So, fuck religion. All religions and religious words have been crafted by human hands, based upon mass suggestion and indoctrination build on fear for what the afterlife might bring. Who knows what the afterlife brings? We will all find out sooner or later, and I believe we all end up in the same place independent of what religious belonging you have. Life is a mystery, death is certain. And religion is for fucked up retards. 06. Do you or any other
person in the band practice any kind of magic, occultism or runic mysteries? 07. Have you ever been in an ecounter with supernatural, mystic forces or happenings? (If yes, then, please, ellaborate on this topic, if possible). Guderian:
I remember an incident from when I was a child. I and Haerfar saw, together
with a couple of other local children, a vast moving light-phenomenon
filling the winter sky above the mountains surrounding our small homeplace.
The entire sky in the southern direction was lit up by huge light-formations
which moved from side to side in a strange pattern, before it suddenly
stopped and everything was total darkness again. We have spoken of it
many times since, but neither of us can understand or give any logical
explanation to what happened that evening. It couldn’t be of any
human activity at all. Guderian:
Except from “Trone”, which is written by Nekrosoldat, I
have created all the lyrics in Nordvrede. I find great inspiration to
create words out of several themes. Especially the hellish frontlines
of war, sexual anomalies and assault, and anti-religious aspects give
me ideas to put down on paper. I hate that Norway today is a country
with an official state religion, and I would love to see the state get
separated from Christianity, as is debated nowadays. I also read lots
of books on war-history, and life for the soldiers fighting on the frontlines.
For the sexual demoralised aspect of our lyrics, it is a pure fascination
for humanity’s dark and sinful sides, according to the so-called
holy book which so many find interesting. The funny thing is that so
many of the weaklings reading that book, forces young boys and kids
to open up their assholes for them in the name of God! How couldn’t
you get influenced by that? Guderian:
Some of the intention behind the music of Nordvrede, is to spawn forth
10. While observing the todays worldwide Black Metal scene, which country (or countries) have the strongest scene in your opinion? And why is that, as you may see and analyze it? Haerfar:
Personally I find the majority of the bands I really appreciate outside
of Scandinavia. Countries worth to mention is Poland, Ukraine and Germany
along with the underground scene in France, Russia and the USA. 11. Being yourself from a country, which is considered as a true homeland of Black Metal by many, are you in touch with any of world top famous Norwegian Black Metal bands? What is your opinion on Norse Black Metal scene in general and it's developement during the last 15 years till today? Haerfar: There is no doubt in my mind that Norway has lost their position as the flag-bearer of Black Metal. Norwegian Black Metal(NBM) has lost their integrity and credibility in my opinion, and there’s more or less nothing left to be compared to any longer compared to the early and mid 90’s. The motive behind too many NBM-bands seems to be nothing but creating just another album, and you can hardly find a NBM release after 1999 with the same grim, cold and magnificent atmosphere as were in the majority of the earlier releases of the profiled NBM-bands. Of course, you can’t deny the fact that experienced bands who has been in the scene for many years evolves themselves, but when the development doesn’t result in other than indifferent and soulless music, I don’t see the point. Quantity above quality, I would say. Atmosphere and the lyrical aspect are no longer the force behind the majority of NBM. 12. How is life in general (aside from the music and "scene") in your country nowadays? Comparing it with the times when you were a kid, how would you describe the changes? Nekrosoldat: Considering
life in Norway today compared to when we grew 13. Are NORDVREDE members involved into any other bands or side-projects? If yes, then, please, name them and describe as you may see fit. Which are the other bands from Norway you may recommend to our readers? Haerfar: In
addition to Nordvrede, K.H. Horisont performs in Taakeferd. Nekrosoldat
has one project besides Nordvrede, which is called Kaevum. Kaevum consists
of Nekrosoldat and Haerfar on guitars, Overgrep on drums and Nordhauk
who does the vocals. Haerfar also played in Antaios several years ago.
14. You have selfreleased your debut demo "Northern Frontlines" back in 2006 and in 2007 it was re-released on CD by Hexenhammer Records. Have you already got some responses over this work of yours? Haerfar: We have received a lot of feedback on our debut, both through our official website and other external sites like MySpace. The feedback has all over been very positive, and we experience that most of the response comes from abroad. It makes us proud to realize that we might be a good and genuine contribution to the underground scene, based on the fact that our creations is just a result of who we are and what we feel. 15. We oftenly hear some bands blaming their own debuts and demos for either reason, saying they don't like those recordings anymore, encouraging listeners to ignore those earlier works, concentrate more on their future albums and the band's progress. Considering the recent re-release of your first recording, I assume it's not your case at all, are you still fully satysfied with "Northern Frontlines", which was recorded some 1,5 years ago already? How you may describe this recording yourself in the atmosphere, in the concept, in the sound? Nekrosoldat: Of
course we are very satisfied and proud of "Northern Frontlines".
We clearly identify ourselves with the material as much today as when
we created it. Naturally Nordvrede has evolved in some ways, but our
intention and the feelings behind the material we make today, are exactly
the same as with "Northern Frontlines". Nordvrede is pure
Black Metal and that is never going to be changed in any way. To say
a bit about "Northern Frontlines", it's a release with a goal
in setting the standard for how we feel Black Metal should and must
be; grim, patriotic, hateful and with total devotion regarding quality
in both music and lyrics. We have difficulties understanding bands that
distance themselves from their earlier works. Nekrosoldat: Nordvrede isn't just about music. The lyrical propaganda is just as important as the musical part. The lyrics and the musical material is equally relevant as it is our weapon of hatred and anger in spreading our opinions on society, humanity, religion, in addition to bringing forth atmospheres of war and national splendour. 18. Thanks for sharing your views and visions with us. Feel free to finish this interview any way you would see fit. Nordvrede doesn't take part in any of the scene-hysteria in Norway. We take a shit on the new era of Black Metal. Stay underground! |