Interview med Demonaz fra Immortal

Demonaz

I anledning af Immortals niende studiealbum fik vi os en snak med bandets frontmand, Demonaz. Om forventningerne når man ikke har udgivet et album i ni år, hvorvidt det har påvirket bandet, at Abbath har forladt dem og om hvad vi kan forvente af albummet!

Hvad kan vi forvente af jeres nye album?

Demonaz: Det er et seriøst album. Jeg synes, at vi har lavet et album, vi kan stå 100 pct. ved, når det kommer til Immortallyden og stemningen. Teksterne er skrevet på samme måde, som vi skrev dem på vores første par albums, det samme er selve sangene. Jeg ønskede at bringe dette tilbage til bandet og virkelig få vores fans til at head-bange hovedet af!! Min musik er min passion, det er som minimum, det vi forsøger at gøre. Vi har nogle hurtige sange og nogle i mid-tempo; så der er helt sikkert noget fra hele kataloget.

Hvordan har du det med den måde folk har reageret på den første single “Northern Chaos Gods”?

Demonaz: Det var virkeligt godt at få den slags reaktioner, da det er så længe siden, vi sidst udgav noget, på grund af de problemer vi havde, og den situation vi var i. Så det var rigtigt godt at få den sang ud, så vores fans hørte, hvad vi virkelig lavede. Vi sætter virkelig pris på alle de positive tilbagemeldinger. Når man laver et album, vil man gerne lave noget, der er bedre end det forrige, men man kan jo aldrig ramme alle. Det er også svært at udgive en sang på 4 minutter og 30 sekunder, som viser, hvad hele albummet handler om, men jeg tror, at vi også har noget mere til dem, der regner med mere melodiøse eller episke sange.

Sangen var ret hurtig, men fik alligevel en del positive kommentarer. Hvad tænker du om det?

Demonaz: Jeg gennemlæste nogle af kommentarerne, hvilket jeg ellers næsten aldrig gør, da jeg ikke bruger så meget tid på internettet af forskellige årsager. Jeg har faktisk ikke hørt nogle negative reaktioner endnu, hvilket jeg synes er fantastisk, fordi lige meget hvad man foretager sig, vil man altid få nogle negative reaktioner, ikke? Man kan ikke altid gøre alle tilfredse. Som musiker er man nødt til at følge sin intuition, og hvad man selv synes er rigtigt og så tage sig af kritikken derefter.

I har ikke udgivet et album I 9 år. Er du bekymret over, hvordan folk vil reagere på det?

Demonaz: På en måde tror jeg ikke, at der var tid til at være bekymret. Vi var så fokuserede, da vi startede processen. Efter vi havde løst de problemer, vi havde, begyndte jeg at skrive sange i 2015. Vi havde allerede et album til Immortal, mens vi stadig arbejdede med Abbath. Så han tog sit materiale efter de var præ-producerede og gik solo, så jeg måtte starte forfra igen. Det tog omkring et år at skrive sangene og noget tid at øve dem, så vi kunne dem, til når vi gik i studiet. Så det har ikke rigtigt følt som hele ni år. Jeg lavede et soloalbum, som udkom I 2011. Men selvfølgelig når man udgiver en sang efter så lang tid som Immortal… Jeg bekymrede mig egentlig ikke, jeg var mere nysgerrig efter at se, om vores fans stadig var der.

Har det, at Abbath forlod jer, haft indflydelse på din sangskrivning?

Demonaz: Nej, ikke rigtigt. Det er nok det bedste, der kunne ske mellem os. Vi havde konflikter og problemer, som vi var nødt til at løse. Når du er i et band, har man den slags problemer. Det ødelægger, hvad man egentligt skulle fokusere på. Vi er et band, vi burde lave musik, right? Så da han gik, var det lettere at fokusere på musikken og sangene. Det var sikkert bedre for os, men på samme tid var det vigtigt bare at glemme omverdenen og fokusere på sangskrivningen og optagelserne. Jeg tror, at det er den bedste måde for os at arbejde på. Da vi lavede albummet, snakkede vi ikke med pressen. For folk udefra føltes det nok som om, at det tog lang tid, men nu hvor det hele er færdigt, og jeg kan stå 110 pct. inde for det, føles alt pludselig godt.

Det var rimeligt meget den samme arbejdsproces, som vi havde, da han stadig var I bandet. Du ved, jeg skrev alle riffs og hele fundamentet for guitar arbejdet for vores første 4 albums og Damned in Black. Jeg skrev ikke så mange af sangene, men jeg synes, at det var meget 50/50 med sangskrivningen på At the Heart of Winter, Sons of Northern Darkness og All Shall Fall. Så da han forsvandt, var det ikke så svært bare at fortsætte min stil.

Nu hvor du har optaget både bassen og guitaren til det nye album, vil I så senere hen ansatte en fast bassist til bandet?

Demonaz: Vi har taget det hele trin for trin, så nu vil vi bare fokusere på at lave albummet. Det var en smule forsinket, det skulle have været udgivet I starten af 2018, og nu er det udskudt til den 6. juli. Vi har virkelig en masse promotion at se til nu og en turne at planlægge her i Europa. Vi var nødt til at arbejde med vores albumcover og merchandise, hvilket har været lidt forsinket. Vi har haft ret travlt, og planen var at tage tilbage og øve efter sommeren og så lave planer for, hvordan vi skal håndtere det hele live. Vi har ikke lavet nogle faste aftaler med nogen koncertsteder eller festivaler endnu, da vi gerne vil have ordentligt styr på det hele først. Vi har hørt folk være kritiske overfor, hvordan vi vil håndtere det live, og vi vil gerne modbevise dem! Vi vil dog nok behøve lidt tid til at få styr på det hele først. Vi har virkelig brug for, at det hele er godt og gennemøvet, før vi går ud og fyrer det af live!

Bands som Dimmu Borgir og Darkthrone har skiftet stil en del gennem deres albums. Vil Northern Chaos Gods være et mere eksperimenterende eller mere traditionelt black metal album?

Demonaz: Jeg synes, det er meget vigtigt at forblive tro mod det, man kender, og som man er god til. Jeg er ikke rigtig den store fan af orkestre, symfonier, store kor, synthesizers og alt det der. Jeg synes, at det man kan med guitar, bass, trommer og sang kan være nok. Min inspiration kom mere fra de ældre bands som Celtic Frost, Venom og Bathory. Alle disse band viste os for 30 år siden, hvad de kunne udrette med bare disse instrumenter, og jeg er overbevist om, at det er den eneste måde for mig gøre tingene på. Jeg synes, at guitarerne er det vigtigste instrument i Immortal, og min største inspiration kom altid fra riff-mestre som Tony Iommi, hvor sangene altid var centreret omkring riffene. Det er det samme for mig. Jeg synes stadig, at guitaren er det vigtigste instrument, når det kommer til  sangskrivningen. Normalt laver jeg en masse riffs, og så laver vi en sang ud af det i øvelokalet. Så alt det med orkestre og keyboards og alt det der pompøse noget … Det er bare ikke Immortal. Vi forsøger ikke at eksperimentere så meget. Vi er måske lidt forstokkede på vores egen måde, haha. I det mindste synes jeg, at vi er forstokkede på en positiv måde.

Så I forsøger at være mere minimalistiske i jeres valg af instrumenter og i jeres sangskrivning?

Demonaz: Jeg tror, det vi forsøger at gøre er at få den hungren tilbage, som vi havde i begyndelsen. Da vi startede bandet, havde vi en masse vilje. Vi ville virkelig noget, vi ønskede virkeligt at vise dette. Jeg vil bare gerne have, at vores fans headbanger deres hoveder af, når de hører det. Det er den slags attitude, du ved.  At være seriøse og aggressive. Og måske dør den gnist hos nogle bands? Som om de mister deres sjæl, og de har tjent lidt for mange penge. Vi har forsøgt at lave et fedt album og også tænkt over, hvad fansene gerne ville høre, men selvfølgelig laver jeg min musik ud fra min mavefornemmelse. Vi håber i hvert fald, at Immortal fansene vil kunne lide det.  

Hvordan føles det at være black metal-musiker i dag vs da I lige var begyndt i slut 80'erne start 90’erne?

Demonaz: Der er en kæmpe forskel, da der også er en stor forskel i den måde, man udgiver musik på i dag, og den måde musikindustrien hænger sammen på. Jeg har aldrig ville gå ind i den rutine, hvor man er nødt til at udgive et album hvert eneste år, og hvor man skal turnere hele tiden. Det har det med at ødelægge bands til sidst, synes jeg. Forskellen ved at være musiker nu er, at man har udviklet en form for stil gennem årene. Da vi var yngre, var vi ikke lige så gode til at spille, men vi havde en masse vilje, og vi var meget sultne efter succesen. Jeg prøver virkelig at komme tilbage til den følelse. Jeg kan huske, da vi lige havde startet Immortal, og vi gik uded i skoven og drak whiskey og snakkede om musik. Jeg kan huske at sidde der og snakke om, hvordan det ville være at spille live. Jeg plejede at gå lange ture i skoven og rundt i naturen for at få inspiration. Det gør jeg stadig. Jeg tror stadig, at dette er nøglen til sangskrivning, og jeg vil mene, at det er en god måde at holde mig selv inspireret. Der har jeg sgu nok ikke ændret mig så meget, når det kommer til, hvor jeg finder min inspiration. Jeg forsøger bare at sikre mig, at musikken forbliver min hovedprioritet og dykke ned i detaljerne, så det bliver 110 pct. Immortal med Blashyrk og Ravendark og det hele!

What can we expect from your new album?

Demonaz: It’s a serious album. I believe we created an album that we can stand behind 100% when it comes to the Immortal feeling. The lyrics are written the same way we wrote them on our first couple of albums and so are the songs. I wanted to bring that back into the band and really make our fans bang their heads off! This music is my passion so that is at least what we are trying to do. We got some fast songs and some in midtempo so definitely something from the entire catalogue.

How do you feel about the way people reacted to the first single “Northern Chaos Gods”?

Demonaz: It was really good to get those kinds of reactions because it’s been such a long time since we released anything because of the problems we had and the situation we were in. So it was nice to have the song out so the fans could hear what we were really doing. We really appreciate all the positive feedback. When you make an album, you want to make something better than before, but you can’t always get into the heads of everybody. It’s also difficult to put out one song at 4 minutes and 30 seconds to show what the entire album is about, but I think we will also have some more for those expecting some more melody or epic song writing.

The song was somewhat fast and still managed to receive a lot of positive comments. What’s your thoughts on that?

Demonaz: Yeah, I was looking through some of the comments, which I don’t usually do as I don’t spend that much time on the internet for various reasons. I actually haven't heard any negative feedback yet, which I think is amazing because no matter what you do, you will always get some negative feedback right? You can’t always please everybody. As a musician you have to follow your own intuition and what you feel is right and then deal with the critics after.

You haven’t put out an album in nine years. Are you worried about how people might react to it?

Demonaz: In a way I think there was no time to be worried. We were so focused when we got into the process. After we had solved the problems we started writing songs back in 2015. We already had an album for Immortal while we were still working with Abbath. So he took his material after the preproductions and went solo so I had to start at the beginning again. It took around a year to write the songs and some time to rehearse it all for the studio. So it hasn’t really felt like nine years. I had a solo album which came out in 2011. But of course, when you release a song after so long for Immortal… I wasn’t really worried, I was curious to see if the fans would still be there.

Have Abbaths exit affected your songwriting?

Demonaz: No not really. It was probably the best that could happen between us. We had conflicts and problems we needed to solve. When you’re in a band you have those problems. It is destroying what you should really focus on, you know? We are a band, we should make music, right? So when he left it was easier to focus on the music and songs. It was probably better for us but at the same time it was important to just forget about the world and focus on the writing and recordings. I think it’s the best way to work for us. When we did the album, we didn’t talk to any press. From the outside it might feel like it took a long time, but now when it’s all finished, I can stand 110% behind it and it feels better.

We had pretty much the same process of working as we had when he was still in the band. You know, I wrote all the riffs and all the foundation of the guitar work for our first four albums, and Damned in Black I didn’t write that many of the songs but I think it was pretty much 50/50 on the songwriting on At the Heart of Winter, Sons of Northern Darkness and All Shall Fall.  So when he left it wasn’t that hard to just keep on continuing my style.

Now where you recorded both the bass and the guitar for the new album, will you eventually hire a new bassist?

Demonaz: We have taken everything step by step so now we will just focus on doing the album. It was a bit postponed and was supposed to be released in early 2018 and now it is set to July 6th. We really have to do a lot of promotion now and a promotion tour here in Europe. We had to do some work with the artwork and the merchandise which has been a little delayed. We’ve been quite busy and the plan was to go back and rehearse after the summer and make plans for the live situation. We have not committed to any concert venues or festivals yet, as we want to do everything properly first. We heard some people criticizing the live shows and we want to prove them wrong. We will probably just need some time to get control of everything first. We really need everything to be good and rehearsed before we go out kicking it live!

A lot of bands like Dimmu Borgir and Darkthrone have changed their style a lot throughout their albums. Will Northern Chaos Gods be more of an experimental or more traditional black metal album?

Demonaz: I think it is very important to stay with what you know and what you can do. I’m not really a big fan of orchestras, symphonies, big choirs, synthesizers and all that stuff. I think what you can do with guitar, bass, drums and vocals can be enough. My inspiration came more from the older bands like Celtic Frost, Venom and Bathory. All those bands showed 30 years ago what they could deliver with those instruments and I really think that is the only way for me to do it. I think the guitars are the most important part of Immortal and my biggest inspiration always came from riff masters like Tony Iommi where their songs was always centered around the riffs. It’s the same for me. I still think the guitars is the most important instrument in the songwriting. Normally I write all these riffs and we make a song out of it in the rehearsal room. So like orchestras and keyboards and the whole grandiose thing… It’s just not Immortal. We don’t try to experiment that much. We might be a little stock in our ways, haha. At least in a positive way I think we are stock.

So you try to be more minimalistic in your choice of instruments and in your songwriting?

Demonaz: Yeah, I think what we are doing is just to have that kind of hunger back that we had in the beginning. When we started the band we had a lot of will. We really wanted something, we really wanted our albums to prove so. I just want our fans to bang their heads off when they hear it. It’s that kind of attitude you know. To be serious and aggressive. And maybe for some bands that sparkle runs out? Like their spirits is a bit lost or they earned a bit too much money. We have tried to make a great album and also considered what the fans want to hear but of course I make my music from the gut-feeling. We at least hope that the Immortal fans will like it.

How does it feel to be a black metal musician today vs when you first started in the late 80’s early 90’s?

Demonaz: There’s a big difference, because there is also a big difference in the way you release albums today and the way the music industry works. I never wanted to go into that routine where you have to put out an album each year and go touring all the time. It goes on to destroy some bands in the end I think. The difference about being a musician now is that you have developed some kind of style over the years. When we were younger we weren’t as good at playing but we had a lot of will and we were very hungry. I really try to get back to that feeling. I remember when we first started Immortal and we went out to the woods to drink whiskey and talk music. I remember talking about what it would be like to perform live. I used to take long walks in the forest and in nature to get inspiration. I still do that. I still believe this to be the key to songwriting and I believe it to be a nice way to keep myself inspired. I guess I haven’t changed that much when it comes to where I get my inspiration. I just try to make sure that music remains my top priority and work with the details to make it 110% Immortal with the Blashyrk and the Ravendark and everything!