Dodheimsgard DHG Interview 2007

Interview with Kvohst of DodheimsGard 2007

By Bradley Smith

Supervillain outcast is out after all this time. What took so long? It must have been an epic struggle to get it recorded and released, can you describe some of the events surrounding that journey? How has the press and fan response been to it? Has DHG’s profile grown much larger than ever because of this? I know the hype building up until its release was tremendous.

There were a lot of delays with this album. Czral left the band shortly after laying down his drums on the recording and a while after that Bjorn (Aldrahn) quit the band to concentrate on his family life. They were two major setbacks to Vicotnik’s progress. However, being the stubborn craftsman he is, I think he just took his time to make sure everything came together the way he wanted it. It’s always been Vicotnik’s baby since Satanic Art, with him producing and overseeing almost every aspect of the band.

I had the job of filling Aldrahn’s massive shoes and inimitable vocal duties. It took a year or so for Vicotnik and I to collaborate and scheme the ideas he had, with the lyrics and ideas I came up with for the album. You have to understand that it takes time to replace an integral part of any bands lineup – especially where Aldrahn is concerned, cause his voice meant so much to the band and the fans. So we worked a lot on what we thought the essence of Dødheimsgard has been and what it could be in the future – we kind of opened a new chapter in the bands direction there.

It also took some time to finish all the electronics . . .working with a guy called Mort for the beginning, but there were some problems there with getting it done and then I think Vicotnik pretty much took over and programmed the entire album himself. We had some bad luck along the way - maybe as much bad luck as you could have with studios and computer equipment etc . . .I was commuting over to Oslo regularly to destroy my lungs and vocal chords for months on end. . .We did everything with our own money and finance. When you do it that way, it always goes slowly cause you have to do things when you can afford them. I lost a lot of work and money and I know Vicotnik pretty much put all his life savings and income into it. I'm sure he'd be a rich man now if he hadn't been working on this album and me too I suppose . . .It's not something you dwell on when you're doing something you love. I would have cut my right arm off to join the band - so I guess I pretty much lived only thinking about doing a good job on the record. . . . It was a long road but very much worth it. I learnt a hell of a lot and have been part of an album that I am very proud of.

The press response has been astounding. All three daily newspapers in Norway giving us 6 out of 6 or 5 out of 5. I haven't read a bad review. Even the ones that hated us were good reviews! You have to either love it or hate it. It's by no means a mediocre album. I think there were initially a few fans of 666 who were disappointed and some people who missed Aldrahn. But I think once you realize it's a new period and a new lineup and you come to accept the album as something else - it was never meant to be 666 International part2 - you have to get something from it. I have read a lot of mails from fans who were sad to lose the old lineup but still get a lot out of the new album, some say it's our best yet and most of them are really happy that we're playing live again.

I think our profile is rising and I think it's about time. DHG have been one of the most underrated and underexposed bands of the underground blackmetal scene. I think while other bands from the scene have wallowed in success while producing very average and sometimes damn awful music, it's about time a band with something serious to offer becomes more known to the fans of the genre.

The lyrical side of Supervillain Outcast corresponds to a comic book theme and Supervillains in general. Can you expand upon what the relationship is between your lyrics and that realm and how also that relates to the members of DHG within the context of the band and in your normal life?(at least as normal as possible, heh heh)

It's not necessarily true that the lyrics correspond to a comic book theme in general. That's not what the title is all about.

I think the Marvel and comic book influences are just part of it. To make people understand certain things and concepts you have to package them in a way that appeals to their experiences. There are a lot of people into this music, who, like me, as a child read a lot of comic books and graphic novels about supervillains and superheroes. I was always fascinated about the line between good and evil. The villains in the Marvel and comic book world were not always definable black and white heroes or villains. Often these characters are torn between good and evil and I think that is what drew me to them initially. I used the comic book associations to really help people digest that whole dichotomy between good and evil. So the lyrical themes are not exclusively tethered in this comic book world. They are all separate dialogues or visual narrative snapshots of the world we encounter every day, but I like to focus on this struggle between good and evil, between our moral selves and the more degraded and deranged parts of our psyche. The title of the album just encapsulates what the lyrics deal with - but it doesn't have to be about supervillains literally, if you don't want it to be - it could just be another word for Satan. Satan as the ultimate “supervillain outcast”. I think most of the lyrics are quite realistic and deal with real images from pretty frank and explicit viewpoint. In that respect they relate entirely to our lives in reality and aren't really fictional works in the way bands talk about primordial snakes or the fires of hell, or Satan as a horned devil. We are a Satanic band and each of us follows our own occult/Satanic path and I think the way I view the world as such has to be reflected in the lyrics. You can read a lot more into our lyrics than you would a band that deals with mythological themes, Lord Of The Rings inspired lyrics and role-playing fantasy games because these worlds exist.

DHG has done some recent touring in support of Supervillain Outcast. What thought process went into the song selection and arrangement? I thought it was great you included songs from Kronet and Monumental. What is the video that plays in the background while you perform and how does it relate to the message of DHG? What was your favourite show from the recent past and why?

The songs are selected firstly and foremost to reflect in the best way possible the band's past works from the first album to the new. I think we wanted a good variation of both the old and new tracks that compliment each other in a live environment. I think the idea is to show both progression and also continuity. You can see and hear the new songs and how well they fuse with the older material. It's the songs we most want to play live and we think that the fans want to hear. I'm glad you liked us putting in the songs from Kronet and Monumental. For us there was not even a question about it. We have a very mixed fanbase and I think it also reflects into the band too. As a fan of DHG I would want to hear songs off all the albums - we have some thrashheads who loved Monumental and some oldschool blackmetal fans who only like Kronet Til Konge. It's about respecting the legacy of the band and paying homage to the fans that have helped build the band from the beginning. We do plan to play more songs - hopefully a couple more from 666 International and Satanic Art. Perhaps one or two more from the older albums and two from the new album. We have rehearsed Symptom and also Ion Storm but so far haven't been able to perform them due to time constraints.

The visuals that we had for our London show were images that give atmosphere to the world of Dødheimsgard. They relate to the lyrics and music - some is statement, some is just for the feeling. I don't want to go into detail about them since they should be something for people who come to the show to discover. I put the videos together myself - some of it is filmed, some is stolen imagery from films, documentaries or old books. I'm not sure that we will use the projections at every show - but we are always looking into ways to make the band a more visual, as well as sonic, performance. We aim to give every audience a unique experience. But you always have to consider the type of venue you use and what is appropriate for the setting. I like to disturb and entertain, to stimulate and to put some fear and doubt into the audience’s mind. It’s good to confuse a bit if it means people go away from the show thinking about your performance and what it meant. Too many bands today are concerned with looking like rockstars and doing the things they think people expect. I prefer to put on a show that really takes you somewhere else. It should be a ritual, a magical ritual or rite.

My favourite show from the recent past has got to be United Metal Maniacs, Festung Open Air Festival in Bitterfeld, Germany. The crowd was very hardcore and dedicated and I think I felt reborn into metal the whole time I spent there. The organizers are totally excellent people and very honest. It was a truly life changing experience. I would recommend that festival to anyone into extreme metal. For those in the know, it's always highly spoken of.

One of the things that struck me most vividly when I caught your performance in London was the visual aspects of the live show. DHG seems to have so much more stage presence and personality than most of their peers. How do you go about preparing for a performance and do you think that too many bands neglect putting enough attention into that facet of being a band?

We are honestly and truly into this music and what we are doing. We feel compelled by a hunger to deliver the best show possible and perform the music as best we can. Every one of us is a fan of the band as well as just performing in it. Our lives are on the line and I think it comes across live - it creates a desperate feeling of people on the edge. I had my life turned on its head watching bands back in the early 90s playing live and it would be great to give that back. To really transform people with our music and to get inside peoples heads. Every member gets the message of what we should be doing with the music onstage from listening to the records. To me, the first time I heard DHG it gave me images of what the band could or should be like live. It's great to be putting that into reality now. I can say for a fact we have only touched the edge of what we could be achieving with our live performances. The lineup is fairly new - when we have had some years experience, then we'll really be a force to be reckoned with!

DHG remained with Moonfog. Why did you not join the exodus of bands leaving such as Darkthrone and Khold? How has remaining benefited DHG and why did all those bands leave? It seemed like Moonfog was poised to take over. Will you stay with them for the foreseeable future?

There was no reason for us to leave Moonfog. They have a good working relationship with Vicotnik and I can't see another label doing a better job for us right now. They're not a big business and so you don't get lost on a huge roster of bands all going nowhere. I think that the success of Moonfog as far as their name and reputation goes is due to the fact that they haven't signed a hundred shitty bands like most other labels in Europe. I think we'll stay with them as long as Vicotnik and the label are happy doing business together. It's not really my place to decide that kind of thing. I am happy that we have a label that believes in the music 100% and that they know who we are! You're not calling or emailing a label that has to deal with so many bands they don't care about you. Moonfog are putting us first and focusing on DHG right now. I think it's important to try to work with people who have helped build you up as a band and not to leave at the first opportunity at the smell of money. It was probably the right thing for Darkthrone to leave but who knows? It's not for me to say. For DHG, however, it's great to be on the label with one of the best reputations in Blackmetal. It's about selling quality music and not quantity I think. Everyone knew they were not a label that would sign a lot of different bands. It's always been an idealist and concept label about a particular scene and sound. I think in many ways, by keeping Darkthrone alive in the period where they had no distribution and in also helping to make Satyricon one of the biggest bands in the scene, they have "taken over". What blackmetal fan in his right mind does not pay attention when he hears the name Moonfog connected with a band?

Of course there are so many purists out there that can't understand the Industrial black metal metamorphosis that DHG underwent. Can you describe some of the thought process and personal development that Vicotnik and the rest of you underwent that led to this transformation and how that has affected your audience throughout time? Do you ever get emails about being a “sellout” or anything like that? How does that make you feel?

Robert Wyatt said "you make your little pond, but if your pond isn't connected to the river, which isn't connected to an ocean, it's just going to dry up. It's just a little piss pool. I've lived too long to be happy in a pond."

That would relate well to the way I, and I believe Vicotnik feels about creating music with DHG. Why allow your creativity to have margins and walls? We're not happy to keep recording the same album year after year. Your life changes, your influences and mindset changes and so you want to express that in your art. I think if you don't keep changing then your pond turns into a piss pool and eventually dries up.

I have always found it interesting that DHG's progression, or should I call it digression, has mirrored my own fluctuating impulses and shifts in musical taste. In some way we have grown with the fans and as we all have gotten older, it's the crowd who were a little bit more insatiable. Those who look for a little bit more in metal than the cliches. I think the use of Lynch(Twin Peaks) samples was interesting on Satanic Art cause it kind of defined a whole horde of blackmetal fans, including myself, who at that time had started to diversify in their tastes. It appears that those fans who were getting into the off-beat world of Lynch were also the same kind of people who could appreciate the world of Dødheimsgard. The band made some bold and brave statements musically that I think helped to change the face of the scene. This reflected in what the fans wanted and were looking for too. It's a world that has grown in a kind of symbiosis. People always talk about the "jumping the shark" moment but I reckon if you always stick to your guns and do what you feel is right and do it honestly, things will work. It's not change for the sake of change, but more a logical flux.

We never have any hatemail or people calling us sellouts. I would love that. I always thrive where there is antagonism. If I don’t have hate and antagonism around me I usually create some misery from within, so it’s always good to have enemies! I know that the band suffered on their last tour back in 1998/99? It was with Dimmu Borgir and they actually had food thrown at them in Germany!

I guess ultimately getting actual hatemail doesn’t apply to a band like us. We've always done our own thing and we've always stayed underground. It's not easy music to swallow but we've never tried to spoon-feed. It’s take it or leave it. DHG is a band that thrives on keeping the audience on edge. I think there’s a part of the band that provokes and propagates a kind of contrariety between the fans and the band. It’s important to evoke the feelings and emotions we want you to experience with our music. . . . We’re not an homage to anything. We are making music of now and not of the past. If people don't like it they can eat their own head.

I noticed that DHG conjured the image of Mongo berserkers on your website. I was wondering how you saw the idea of Berserkers both in today’s society as it relates to DHG and as it relates to the Viking ideals of your ancestors? How do you join these to separate but unified ideals?

It does what it says on the tin. Mongoloid Berserkers . . . .what part of that won’t people understand? They should get the message that we're fucked-up sons of bitches and not to fuck with us! Berserkers as a phenomenon in a historical context are quite interesting. However I don't have much interest in Vikings. A civilization that was destroyed and let itself be overcome by Christianity. They can't have been a very strong culture can they? I fail to see why people feel the need to idolize that period of history. It's in the past man, get over it. I'm not sitting around drinking mead from a horn and playing with swords. That to me has nothing to do with metal. We'll leave that to other bands. If you want, it's just another way to say Spastic Barbarian or Psycopathic Lunatic . . .

Why did you leave Code and dedicate your time to DHG? What do you think Code’s contribution to the metal underground has been and are you still in contact with all your former band members?

I didn't leave Code to dedicate my time to DHG really. I left Code cause I wasn't completely into the new material. I made a demo and it didn't work out. I guess I wanted something more akin to the first album and both Aort and I felt it was best if I left so the band could achieve its true potential. The new album was in some ways beyond my range as a vocalist. I believe they now have the best voice for that material.

As far as our contribution to the metal underground has been . . .Nouveau Gloaming was a very special album that doesn’t come around very often. I would put it up there with some of the most important blackmetal releases of all time. It gives me “the feeling” and has the right atmosphere to it. It’s pure distilled 100% proof blackmetal . . . I just think we made an album that shows it can still be done. You don’t have to go backwards to go forwards – there is still the cold void of blackmetal running through our veins and I think we made an album that sits very well with some of the classics such as A Blaze In The Northern Sky or the more avantgarde like Written In Waters. The recording has something more because it’s personal and intimate, bold and mysterious at the same time. Some call it avantgarde but I would call it occult – since it gives everything the true blackmetal devotee would require to leave the planet. Metal sans lumieres.

Only time will tell what others think of it and its importance.

I am of course still in touch with the guys from Code - I play in a band with Vicotnik. Aort and I still work on music together outside Code.

As you may or may not know, I am going to perform a couple of live shows with Code where we will play the songs from the first album. We will debut this set at the London Underworld in Dec with Shining.

I read in an interview that you were going back and discovering the old metal bands. What are some of the best bands that you have rediscovered? Are you into music trading with people or do you discover all this material on your own?

I think the 13 year old me would have puked at the sight of the 29 year old me, and that's not just at the beergut! I am quite happy that I'm still, to this day exploring the roots of heavy metal and I'm proud to be part of that journey. I'm not the same narrow-minded prick, I'm an open-minded one. It's verging on the spiritual, if I ever could believe in spirits, and it's something I care more about than anything else. Since the age of 12 all I cared about was spending every penny I owned on records, vinyl or band t-shirts. I settled down the last few years, but now I trade and swap cdrs like a total hag!

I trade with a few people - always looking to trade more and more. I work freelance at home so I listen to music for around 10 hours a day. I get some stuff from private traders, tho a lot of the guys with the best trade lists always happen to be grumpy bastards, cause they're old and stubborn! They're probably more unlikely to trade with me if they know who I am! Seriously, these dudes don't listen to anything past 1985! Ha ha ha.

Some bands I discover on my own and some through looking for other bands. I owe a lot to trading with veterans like Fenriz. Nothing beats trading metal and making compilations. It's actually my favourite past-time!

Right now I'm into anything from late 60s to late 80s. So some of the best stuff I have gotten into lately has got to be High Tide from 69, Brocas Helm, Manilla Road - I fucking love Manilla Road! Hels from Sweden, Hell from UK, Arc, Druid, some old Oz from Finland, Warlord and later thrash like Detente and Violent Force . . . oh and a band called Black Virgin from New York - they are more punk but actually I love everything from crust, punk, to house music, to techno, jazz and hip hop. That will make the children hiss, but I don't care, I unshackled myself from the leash a long time ago and I never looked back . . .!

DHG’s myspace page has to be one of the most elaborate ones that I have seen out there. A lot of extreme metal bands seem unsuited to this sort of environment for various reasons but to me DHG seems perfectly at home there. What do you think of myspace and the proximity it places between you and your fans? Incidentally, who are Wearetherobots?

I think it's important to change with the times and since we're a more (hate to use this word) "progressive" blackmetal band, we don't really have the restraints that would be placed on a more flyers and spikey logo kind of outfit . . .

You don't have to interact if you don't want - but it's been great to be in closer contact with the fans since the return of the band because for all these years they have heard nothing . . .I remember what it was like to be completely desperate to find out as much as possible about a band and what they were doing - I still get like that! So it's great to be able to connect with what the fans think and what they want from the band. I think it's fine as long as you don't lose your identity to the internet. As long as you don't start to put the image above the music. At the moment we are building a more personal website for the band, but for now the myspace page has been a very useful tool to promote the album and our live shows - and most of all to remind people that we're back and mean business, like Patrick Swayze in Roadhouse.

Wearetherobots is Justin Bartlett. He's a graphic designer who made the design for the myspace page using graphics by Trine and Kim. He's a rather talented and hardworking chap, don't you think?

What are your future plans? I have read somewhere that the next album is already written. Is it going to be another extended period before it is finished and released or can we expect it in a reasonable amount of time?

There are a few cool plans in the works. It's really up to Vicotnik. He has a lot of different ideas to fill the gap between now and the next album. We are working on that though too - so it won’t be as long now until the next release. Can't really give anything away - but we will be active the next year or so - there will be some tours and some great new merch too. It's all about playing live right now - hopefully we'll get out to all the places where we have fans who want to see us. Greece is coming up and that's going to be a real pleasure. We have a lot of diehard, dedicated fans there. Hopefully we'll get to the States too at some point as things seem to be taking off for blackmetal and extreme music in general over there. . .

Final thoughts of absurdity and contextual philosophy are yours….

Check our Myspace: WWW.MYSPACE.COM/DODHEIMSGARD.