Interview with Sindre of Obliteration 2010
By Bradley Smith
Hells Sindre!
Obliteration’s new album, Nekropsalms has been tearing up
the
underground since its release. Can
you
detail the progression from the debut?
I
can detect a lot of autopsy influence in there though you have updated
it a
little and slowed down some since the debut.
- Hello Brad! Well,
we've just keep on going, and we took our time to further develop our
music to
where we wanted it to be I guess. It's been a natural progression to a
style
that fits us better as a band, and as people. We have included more and
more of
our musical addiction into the band, so now you'll find Doom, Punk,
Black
metal, 70's rock and much more together with the death metal and
thrashing
parts. Autopsy is always very important to us, but this time you'll
find so much
more. The guy in Terrorizer said the album felt like A blaze in the
Northern
Sky's distant cousin, which is a HUGE complement. We're still young I
guess,
but we're only searching backwards in the music history 'til we find
the core
or something like that. The feeling is what's it all about, that's why
NEKROPSLAMS turned out the way it did. Evil has no boundaries, so we're
just
going with the flow of our musical addiction, haha.
The way we write
songs is the same as always, Arild the guitarist makes most of the
riff's, and
the songs are put together by all of us at the rehearsal room 'til they
turn
out as OBLITERATION songs. What's new now is that Arild and
Kick(NEKROMANTHEON
DRUMMER) has got a new studio were we recorded everything ourselves,
Arild and
kick mixed it and the rest of us stood around screaming out what kind
of sound
we wanted. hehe. Epic.
Speaking of Autopsy, aren’t they basically your
favourite
band? What makes
them special and aren’t
you going to be sharing the stage with them at the Maryland Death fest? How does that feel to be
headed to America
and then sharing the stage with your idols?
- Yes, I guess you
can say that. I have the Autopsy logo painted all over the back of my
leather
jacket, and Arild has the guy from Severed Survival original cover
tattooed on
his arm.. Abscess are also insanely cool by the way, their new album
Dawn of
Inhumanity will kick ridiculous much ass... What makes them special is
their
insane feeling in their music. They are so twisted and sick, and no
other band
sounded like them. Even back then they didn't follow any trends. When
death
metal started getting a certain sound, they went even more raw and old
school.
They always went their own way, and captured some of the best extreme
metal
feeling ever on tape. Their leads are filled with soul and they're
honest to
the bone. How can you NOT dig their vibe?
It's gonna be WAY
sick to play with them at MDF, and to see them live will be a truly
unique
moment. We're really honored that we get to play at MDF, and that we're
getting
the chance to do a small tour in the states that we've chosen to call
EAST
COAST HOLOCAUST. Fucking hell!
You have a new Nekromantheon album coming out. How is it different from
the Still Rotting
EP? How do you
approach your
participation in Nekromantheon differently than Obliteration.
- We're Rotting you
mean, hehehe. It's a bit faster i guess, more in vein of Sadus,
Sacrifice,
Destruction and Dark Angel.. And it will be out soon on High Roller
Records. It
called Divinity Of Death and it will Kill! Don't know who the approach
differs,
but I do more in Obliteration i guess.
Nekropsalms has been nominated for album of the
year, by
the Oslo Awards? What does that mean to you and what happens if you win? Is that a desired goal? What makes Nekropsalms
better than all of its
competition for that award?
- This was on Tuesday!
And we won! How about that? So Nekropsalms is now the best OSLO album
of 2009.
No shit. Stuff like
this is not a
desired goal, but it shows that people like our stuff. We had to be
voted on by
the public to win, and we that's what happened. What happens now is
that we got
something to show for when we're trying to get gig's and such. Which
makes
things easier for us, and that's cool 'cause that means more time
making music,
or drink.
Hard to say for me
if Nekropsalms is better the competition, it's very different. The rest
of the nominees
were quality artists. But I can say that it's nice to feel appreciated
once in
a while.
Additionally Obliteration was “Band of the
week” on
Darkthrone’s blog. Does it make you feel good to be given such respect
from
such a scene stalwart as Fenriz? How has that affected the band’s
popularity? Lots of
new Myspace friends
I take it? Heh heh.
- It's off course
it's killer and feels good, 'cause that makes us feel like we've done
an album
that's quality.. Don't know how it has affected our popularity, we're
not that
popular anyways, haha.
Fenriz has been sort of a mentor to take you by
taking you
under his wing and educating you in the ways of metal.
What have you learned and how does that make
you feel to have that sort of guidance?
- I guess so. I've learned
a lot and heard THOUSANDS of new bands from him. And I'm eternally
thankful for
his support and his dedication to music and his guidance.. But there is
very
important to state that the scene we're in includes lots of cool music
personalities we all have learned A LOT from. I'd like to mention
Kolbotn
Marius(the true hiking metal punk!), Tomi from Finland(the main man
behind the
LET THE STREETS BURN concept), Deathhammer guys, Stian med Dreadsa,
Geir
Kolden, Einz from Duplicate records and many more. THANKS FOR ALL THE
GREAT
MUSIC GUYS!
At Fenriz’s place you guys have been doing a
recurring DJ
duel on the turntables. How is a winner determined?
Are there any songs/albums that automatically
win if played?
- It's like Cleveland's
minority boardgame in Family Guy, no one wins, you just get a little
better
each time.
On my visit to Oslo I left convinced the
audiences there
are true maniacs. How
do you view
Norwegian crowds and how was the concert for your record release party? Was it complete insanity? I think I heard that
Daniel (Deathhammer)
busted out some teeth.
- Norwegian crowds
can be great as hell, but they usually suck ass. Depends on the band
who's
playing I guess, but especially here in Oslo we're spoiled brats,
'cause there
are good shows here with local or foreign bands several times a week,
and since
Norway is a small country, it's hard to fill the venues each night...
Our release gig on
the other hand was KILLER! Completely sold out and it was real old
school and
pretty much a great vibe the whole night. The venue was intimate as
hell, so
the crowd was basically ON the stage. Deathhammer was megathrashing
MADNESS, Sgt.
Salsten cracked his tooth on the mic, and started to bleed heavily.
Sick. I
also got some blood on my hands 'cause of the micstand. haha. Great
fucking
night.
Along similar lines, when you are on stage do
you feel like
a god or some sort of demon? What
sort
of emotions go through you when you look out from the stage on all
those
metal-possessed faces? What
do you think
makes a good performance?
- Not at all. A concert
is just a great way to really connect with the music you've created
with the
rest of the band. And it's cool to see other people digging your music
and your
performance. A great feeling.. And it's a great way to get out more of
all that
anger and evil. hehe.
The thing that sucks
with concerts is all the work of making it happen, and if the gig is
great, everything’s
great, but if it sucked; everything sucks. Concerts are risky bizniz.
The vibe/feeling
is what decides if the concert was god or bad. That goes for the
audience as
well for the band.
Tell me about your bass guitar.
What model is it? How
big is it? I mean
it seemed enormous up there on stage
in your arms and your bandmates could be impaled at any moment! Heh heh.
- HAHA, WHY? It's a
Rickenbacker, and they're not that special. They're just really cool,
and has a
insanely great sound. And Lemmy uses one, so everybody IN THEIR RIGHT
MIND
should want one. Hehe, Yeah it could certainly impale someone,
especially posers!!
As you know I am a tequila aficionado and we
shared a
bottle of tequila while partying there in Oslo, how did you like it? What is your favourite
alcohol? And thanks
for getting me out having to
finish that last shot of Drambuie!
Heh
heh.
- It was a bit
weird at first, but as soon as I got used to it, it was killer! And the
buzz
was great. We're mostly into beer, but whiskey is also great. I like to
have a
jack n' coke in between all the beers. Other than that we're pretty
booring
alcohol wise, except we drink a lot of it, haha. And red vine is great
to food,
I'm a sucker for good red vine..And I'm starting to like some tequila
'cause of
you, so THANKS! Hehe.
O I almost forgot
that, fuck that was some horrid shit!
You are a member of the Kolbotn Thrashers Union. What exactly is that? And who else is a member?
- Hehehe, it's just
a phrase coined by Fenriz or the Infernö guys, not sure. It's just a
common
"phrase" or whatever that includes all the great bands from the
Kolbotn scene, nothing organized, it's just a mindset or something..
Arild got
the idea to manipulate the Kolbotn sport union(or whatever)'s logo and
create a
KOLBOTN THRASHERS UNION logo to put on our album, and so we did. Why?
Because
we're proud of being a part of the metal heritage here at Kolbotn.
Repellent
are the runner up's.
The cover artwork on Nekropsalms is quite
different than
all the brutal gore subject matter of your peers.
How is it a reflection of the music on
Nekropsalms? Isn’t
it the same artist
who did the artwork for Diskord’s Doomscapes?
How did you get in contact with him?
- We think the painting made by Sindre Foss
Schanke is a great reflection of the feeling we get of NEKROPSALMS.
It's sick,
twisted, psychedelic and screams of horror. And it's unusual for a
metal band
to use, and therefore risky. We fell in love with the painting as soon
as we
saw it. The artist also meant that this pic was the right for
Nekropsalms.
Yeah, he also did the DOOMSCAPES cover, and the rest of Diskords
artwork. He
also do artwork for Dödsengel and other black metal bands. We've been
in contact
with Sindre for many years because of the Diskord covers. Kick and
Didrik own
several of his paintings, two of them hang in the studio. Inspiring
shit I tell
you, he is a true artist and a great guy.
What are your future plans for Obliteration. Isn’t Nekropsalms coming
out on Vinyl? Do
you have any upcoming Live shows?
Writing any new material?
- Lot's happening
here! Yes the vinyl is being released by Duplicate Records and it will
be out
in may(hopefully), with a BONUS 7inch that includes a totally fresh
exclusive
track and most likely a coversong.
We'll
record this very soon. We have lots of upcoming shows, we're playing at
MARYLAND DEATH FEST in May together with Autopsy among others, and
following a
small USA tour; east coast Holocaust tour, hehe. We'll be playing in NY
city, Philadelphia,
Montreal, Quebec, Boston among others. And we'll play at ØYA festival
and HOLE
IN THE SKY in Norway, plus the Live Evil festival in October, featuring
only
band of the week bands. And a small UK tour are in the making.. Check
our
myspace for info about gigs and happenings.
www.myspace.com/obliterationnorway
. And we're off course writing new stuff, working on our next album.
Don't know
when it will be recorded, but hopefully by the end of the year or
something.
After all the gig's this summer/fall are done we'll work extra hard on
delivering our next piece of hell.
How does one ingest death?
Does that just mean that you eat dead meat or is it more? And what are Nekropsalms? To be sure you are
Anti-life! Heh heh
- I could tell you,
but then I have to kill you. Hehe, well if you do it you DIE anyway.
It's more
than dead meat I can assure you. Don't mess with the dark forces unless
you
know what you're doing.
If you don't have
any clue of what NEKROPSALMS is after listening to the album, listen
again.
Cheers Brad,
thanks for this great interview!!! HAIL DEATH!