Interview taken from Ill Literature #15
When the debut, "Aspera Hiems Symfonia", was released I instantly regarded Arcturus as one of the best black metal bands, and it is still one of my favorite albums of the genre. I was anxiously anticipating its follow-up as I really wanted to see what this band would come up with next. But I was not prepared for an album bearing the magnitude of "La Masquerade Infernale"; this album just blew me away! Their music has grown so much that it is almost impossible to categorize. It is one of the best albums of the year and it shines as bright as the constellation from which they took their name. Still dazed from the spell of the new album I had a conversation with Garm, vocalist of Arcturus. As it turned out this was a very rewarding conversation as he gave insights on "La Masquerade Infernale" and quite a few on his other projects as well.
Your previous full-length, Aspera Hiems Symfonia, although experimental can be labeled a black metal album, but what about the new album? I mean it is metal but it is way out there as it incorporates classical, ambient, musical, opera, etc. So where do you think La Masquerade Infernale fits?
I do not know... I mean I pretty much leave all the defining business to journalists. I listen to music and if I like it when I hear it that's it. We did actually come up with a very funny noun as we started thinking what should we call our music that it was in consent with each other when we found the terminology "Faust Rock". That's the internal definition, even though it doesn't say that much. It's like "Faust Rock? What's that?"
Yeah, but in the beginning if someone said "Black Metal" most people didn't know what it meant so maybe your term will get a meaning of its own soon.
Well, I wouldn't mind that much, but we'll see.
Is La Masquerade Infernale a concept album?
No, definitely not. All the lyrics are separate and individual entities so it is not a concept. The whole concept thing has grown out of proportion; everyone says, "We have a concept about this and that", but a true concept is when the lyrics belong together as one whole. So La Masquerade Infernale is not a concept album.
Do you think that the songs are connected in a way because all of them deal with a dark feeling�
Of course they are connected in certain expressions and they all--well not all of them--but most share a lot of Satanic attributes. So if there is a concept or a philosophy behind the album it would be a Satanic philosophy.
I want to ask you about the vocals on the new album, they are not only unusual but also totally amazing. Did you ever take singing lessons?
No, I have never taken any courses.
What do you think is more effective and gets better results--the usage of clean vocals like you did on this album, or rather using brutal extreme vocals?
Obviously I think that singing is a better way of approaching music these days.
So from now on are you going be using clean vocals only?
Yeah, definitely not much screaming anymore. Screaming is that furious thing which lies more within the context of black metal having a rebellious punk kind of roots. I am through with that so now I really want to focus more on singing and developing not only the singing but the music as well.
Let's go back to what you said about the lyrics having a Satanic meaning, originally the album was titled The Satanist. Why did you change it at the last minute and what were the reasons behind it?
At first we wanted the title to be extremely direct as if it was a typical black metal album title and still giving a very new kind of face; a new character, The Satanist. But a few of the other guys in the band thought it would be too controversial or too up-front and then in the end I pretty much agreed. Then we thought it would perhaps do better with making it more and more underlining, vague and at the same time trying to put some visuals into the whole thing so we came up with the new title.
Tells us about the song "The Throne Of Tragedy". Next to the title it says poem by Edgar Alan Poe, but at the bottom of the song it says it is by John Henrik Svaeren?
It is actually a little error that occurred during the layout process. That should be "Alone" for Edgar Alan Poe.
So who is John Henrik Svaeren?
He is a friend of mine. A very close friend of mine. He wrote "The Throne Of Tragedy".
The layout stands out. It looks quite enigmatic, dark and also theatrical. What image are you portraying? Who is on the cover and how about the other pictures?
I am on the cover and the other pictures are the rest of the members. We are trying to portray only playfulness. We have incorporated some cabaret opera traditions into the music which is a very Italian thing and the whole costume aspect is also very Italian and kind of carnival. That very much belongs to the whole musical side of things and at the same time the masks and all that stuff can be linked to the lyrics in a certain sense so it makes a good visual and aesthetic impression of the record. It's how we wanted to present this album.
You know as soon as I got the CD in my hands just by looking at the layout I thought that this was going to be very interesting to listen to.
Yeah, that was kind of what we tried to do as well. We certainly hope that people would see the album at the record shop and decide to pick it up.
Are you influenced by musicals like Phantom Of The Opera?
Is that Andrew Lloyd Webber?
Yes.
Not particularly. I very much appreciate soundtracks to different kinds of children's movies and animations. I don't really know how to define it but all that carnivalesque thing really appeals to me.
Is it true that you are re-mixing the album and that you are adding a lot of techno?
I never really said techno, so I do not know why people all the time seem to associate it with techno. There will be a more computer-edited version of the songs incorporating rhythms and grooves, more from the trip-hop, jungle and stuff like that. We are doing those kinds of drum beats in the whole album.
The next question deals with your musical influences. Can you let us know what kind of music you like and if you are influenced by bands such as Pink Floyd or Devil Doll?
I've never really listened to them. I know that some of the other members like Pink Floyd so they might obviously been influential, especially regarding some of the guitar stuff. Devil Doll I think is only another band in my eyes trying to touch the same thing we try to, but I've never really thought they succeeded very well. I don't think any of the other people in the band listen to Devil Doll.
Then what music do like and which are your favorite bands?
I listen to everything as long as there is some quality to it. The last album I bought was actually the new Bjork.
To be honest, I am not following mainstream music that much so�
She did an album called Homogenic and that is the last album I bought. I listen to all kinds of stuff from trip-hop to everything. I don't listen to much metal nowadays. I tend to put on Transylvanian Hunger by Dark Throne once in a while and I listened to the new Emperor.
Why did you choose the name Arcturus? I mean this an atypical name for a metal band.
Do you think so?
Well, in a genre where bands are calling themselves names like Dark Throne, Enslaved, Destruction, Slayer and then you have a name that is influenced by a constellation. I think it is a great name but I still want to know if there is a reason behind it or if you just liked the name and decided to pick it up.
I definitely think it is a good name. Arcturus is a name that sonically hits you and at the same time I do not mind the star connection to it as it is quite a magnificent star.
Would you call Arcturus a side-project?
No, I've never viewed Arcturus as a side-project. It's been a proper band all the time. It's just a false impression that people tend to believe, that whenever someone from other bands play in other bands it is a project band but that's not true.
Do you ever tour?
Actually we just played some concerts. But I do not know at this point in time if we will tour or not because the material is getting extremely difficult to manage live but we are slightly considering going on a mini-tour in Spring sometime. I do not really know whether we will do it or not or whether we will get another fat budget and do a studio album. It's pretty vague at this point.
You've just had your mini-album Constellation reissued.
That's actually a wrong reference because that Constellation thing was never really a mini-CD. We released 500 copies of it as a demo CD for promotional purposes because it was the demo of the songs that were intended for the Aspera� album. We released that one again on vinyl in 500 copies with the My Angel 7" tracks. It's already sold out.
Let's talk about the other bands you've been involved in. Tell us your experience with Borknagar and the reason behind your leaving?
I didn't want to deal with the band anymore. I am very good friends with the people and that was perhaps the basic premise for me joining that band. It was a friendly gesture from my side to do the vocals on their first album. I mean, I never wrote any lyrics and I never rehearsed with the band, I only went into the studio with them. I decided to do that as well with the second album. Then Century Media wanted us to go on tour [with Rotting Christ and Old Man's Child] and I have neither the dedication nor time to do it so I said that it was time for me to leave.
So they have a new vocalist now?
Yes, they actually have Simon, the other singer who sings on the Arcturus record. That was my recommendation.
And what about Ulver--what it the story behind that band? Three releases each very distinct and you are in the process of recording a new one. What is the new direction?
Yes, we are making a new album and the direction we are heading is a logical direction. It's kind of a slow, groovy direction and I am not talking goth. We have certain elements of metal, even though it's not really that metal anymore. We have slow parts, almost doomy riffs, and we are working on a computer now with a lot of drum stuff and we are using a lot of samplers so it will be a very alternative record which will be hard to really define.
So pretty much it will again be very different than what you've done in the past.
Very much so.
With Ulver we must always expect the unexpected.
Yeah, that's right!
All three Ulver albums are boxed and sold together now [as the limited-edition The Trilogie; already sold out]. Although they are quite different from one another, do you think there is a connection between the albums?
It will be limited to 1,000 copies [on vinyl picture disc]. I do not know the potential in selling massive quantities so it's limited edition. Yes, there is a connection between those three albums because they are part of a trilogy dealing with the darker side of Norwegian folklore.
Is the new one going to be part of this too?
No, now we will do a project based on bigger works of other writers and I think the new album will be a concept album based on the poetic journey of William Blake called The Marriage Of Heaven And Hell which is a part of his so-called Illuminati Texts. That's our concept for the next record. So we are pretty much moving in a new direction.
Are you involved in other projects?
None that I want to speak too much about at this point in time. I do desire to deal with some other stuff and some other people in the future. I won't be calling that music black metal and I won't be appealing to those people so it is not important to know what I am working on.
Actually, everything you did so far was quite interesting regardless if it was black metal or something like the new Arcturus which is quite unique. Now my last question, you released three albums with three different bands in 1997. What are your plans for 1998? You already mentioned Ulver and Arcturus so tell us if you have any other plans.
I have quite many other plans. You probably know we started a studio!
No, I didn't.
We are trying to record some different pieces of music. We are planning to release stuff ourselves as a label called Jester Records. I think we'll release the re-mix album of Arcturus if we get a decent distributor, preferably within the alternative network. So that's pretty much my plan and I have contacts with some other Norwegian bands that are far separated from metal which deal with alternative forms of music and I want to release them on that label. And as I said, we have our own studio so we pretty much work with music all the time.
Have you decided on the direction for the new Arcturus?
We haven't decided but we'll develop the thing. The new record will be closer to the Masquerade than the Masquerade is to Aspera. We will do it better and produce it better and hopefully it'll be a hit! (laughs from both sides)
Andreas Katsambas
GARM DISCOGRAPHY
Arcturus
My Angel 7" (Nocturnal Arts)
Constellation (Nocturnal Arts)
Aspera Hiems Symfonia (Century Black)
La Masquerade Infernale (Misanthropy/Music For Nations)
Ulver
Bergtatt (Head Not Found)
Kveldssanger (Head Not Found)
Nattens Madrigal-The Madrigal Of Night (Century Black)
The Trilogie (Century Media)
Borknagar
Borknagar (Malicious)
The Olden Domain (Century Black)