SOURCEWEBZINE – For many, “Maledictus Eris” will be a bit of a surprise, as the band leans into a modern folk metal sound. Is this the product of the band maturing as musicians or an obvious next step after “Mulmets Viser”?
Cristoffer Frederiksen (Guitar) – I think it is a bit of both, but mainly that the band is maturing, as it is quite a leap – albeit a logical one – on from “Mulmets Viser”. I personally started getting tired of playing the clichéd and slightly one-dimensional material from “Ravnenes Saga”, and started doing something about it already for “Mulmets…”. But I maybe let even more of myself show through on “maledictus eris”, as I personally prefer layered music that takes more than one listen to fully get into.
The first album was fine for drinking to, but in my opinion doesn’t remain interesting in the long term. “Mulmets…” can be seen as something in between, as although it had many traits of the first album, it was far more layered. But we really took it further for this album. “maledictus…” is certainly the album I am most fond of so far.
SOURCEWEBZINE – With this being the band’s third album, did this make the recording process a little bit easier?
Cristoffer Frederiksen (Guitar) – That’s a slight modification of terms, as although it is Svartsot’s third album, it was only the second album for the present line-up. But it was indeed the second album in a row recorded in Lübeck with Lasse Lammert, so we knew the rough process from last time. In many ways the recording process was similar to last time, but seeing as the material is more complex the recording process was also slightly more complicated than last time. Being a perfectionist, Lasse also pressed us a little harder this time, which was of course a good thing. But I think the process was easier than if we had started at a completely new studio with a new producer, or if this album had been the first with a new line-up.
SOURCEWEBZINE – What do you think the band brings to this style of music that makes it stand out from the crowd?
Cristoffer Frederiksen (Guitar) – Good question. According to some reviewers, the answer would be nothing! But I don’t really think there is another folk metal band that sounds like us, and some reviewers have credited us with having a unique sound. I personally don’t listen to much music these days – and I try not to listen to any music whilst writing. So hopefully we don’t fall into quite the same categories as other folk metal bands.
In general I think that we have a much heavier metal basis than most folk metal bands, as we have some influences from melodic death metal – maybe especially the growled vocals. We also usually use at least two leading instruments in each song – the one always being the guitar. I think this probably also makes us stand out from most folk metal bands, as the majority seem to use guitars mainly for chord work. With “maledictus…”, I have attempted to diversify the way we use the leading instruments with a greater use of harmony and counterpoint in opposition to the unison of the first album. So maybe this also makes us stand out.
SOURCEWEBZINE – Metal is sometimes known to be a very negative type of music. Does the band write better in that positive mindset?
Cristoffer Frederiksen (Guitar) – Seeing as I never write in major scales, I think we also fit into the more negative category – at least theoretically. But seeing as northern European folk music and medieval music – on which we take our influences for melodies – is rather animated, many maybe misinterpret our music as being positive. Many critics have certainly commented on what they perceive as a “mismatch” between the subject matter of “Maledictus Eris” and the way the music sounds to them. But I doubt that many – if any – have much of an idea about the theory or ideals of either folk music or medieval music. The fact is that a great number of “lively” or “positive-sounding” traditional folk melodies deal lyrically with quite sinister subjects, and this is of course something that we have taken to us.
We chose to write about the Black/Death seeing as the material being written was of a more serious tendency than on the previous albums. That some still misperceive the sound to be positive just illustrates the difference in musical culture since the medieval period until now.
SOURCEWEBZINE – Do you think the band has found an established sound that is all their own or do you think the music will always evolve and keep progressing?
Cristoffer Frederiksen (Guitar) – I guess these two questions are really the same. Even though there have been traits going right through the band’s history from the beginning until now, the band has always been evolving its sound and style, and I don’t see that stopping now. As far as I am concerned a band should keep evolving and developing. If it ever finds the “perfect” sound and records the “perfect” album there would be nothing left for the band to accomplish and it would be time for the band to cease to exist. Even though I consider “maledictus eris” to be the best album we’ve done so far, I sincerely hope that we can better it in the future. And I guess we will continue working with the traits I mentioned before, as this is part of the band’s identity. If one loses sight of the origins, the band will alter to something else and become a different band. So although the new album has a lot of new elements in the material and in many ways bears little resemblance to Svartsot anno 2007, it is still unquestionably Svartsot. But as to exactly how the band will sound on the next album is not a question I can answer right now.
SOURCEWEBZINE – What is it that fascinates you most about folklore?
Cristoffer Frederiksen (Guitar) – I have personally always been fascinated by history. Folklore and cultural history in general is a good way at finding out about how people of the past thought. You can go to a museum and look at artefacts or you can read a book about what happened in the past, but it doesn’t really make the ordinary person come to life in quite the same way as their thoughts and beliefs and the way they saw the world around them does.
People have always tried to understand what was happening in the world around them – especially how nature works – and folklore is basically a way of putting words to this in an uncomplicated way. Of course science and modern technology has changed this, and people now know how and why things are and happen. But the tales from earlier times are an amazing way of explaining the “inexplicable”.
SOURCEWEBZINE – Do you still follow the metalscene and check out new bands or are you just doing your own thing?
Cristoffer Frederiksen (Guitar) – Yes and no. I know some of the other guys in the band listen to a lot of music in general – and not necessarily always metal. But I just don’t seem to be able to find the time to listen to much music alongside my personal life and the band. As far as our music is concerned, I try not to listen to other bands at all whilst writing, as I would prefer to let my inspirations come from within rather than from what I am listening to at that point in time. I do of course have some favourite bands, and funnily enough these bands are never referred to in reviews of our albums. Actually, the majority of bands that we get compared to are bands that I don’t even listen to on a regular basis – if at all! So I guess we must be doing our own thing.
SOURCEWEBZINE – More and more high quality bands are coming from Denmark, a land that not long ago wasn´t a land known for their large quantity of quality bands. What´s your vision on this?
Cristoffer Frederiksen (Guitar) – I don’t really know what to say about that. The metal scene in Denmark isn’t that big, and in many cases the bands are very closely related in terms of sharing past or present members. I should really be loyal to the Danish scene, but I am not personally a fan of very many Danish bands – although I do have respect for their work and efforts.
On the folk metal front, we’re still pretty far behind our neighbouring countries. I think there are a total of 5 or 6 folk metal bands in Denmark, and there are very few definite followers of folk metal. It looked like things were picking up, and both Paganfest and Heidenfest shows were held here in Jutland last year. I personally attended the Heidenfest show, and was dismayed at the poor turn-out, but maybe that had something to do with it being a Monday. Even so, we still have a lot of work to do here before the folk metal scene really takes root.
SOURCEWEBZINE – If a metal fan comes to visit Randers – Denmark, what should they see and do?
Cristoffer Frederiksen (Guitar) – They should go home again, haha! There’s not really much for a metal fan to do in Randers that is specifically metal-orientated. We do have some few metal bands, but nothing that really stands out. Shows are few and far between, and no bigger bands from abroad come here. There are a couple of bars that occasionally caters for metal fans with shows or theme nights, but I don’t know if they do that much anymore. Randers is also situated just 40 km (c. 25 miles) from Århus, which is the second biggest city in Denmark, so most big shows happen there. But even then, I don’t think Århus even has a bar or club that specifically caters for metal fans.
SOURCEWEBZINE – Do you have any ideas of what could be done to reverse the negative trend the music industry is currently heading in?
Cristoffer Frederiksen (Guitar) – It depends on exactly how “negative trend” is to be understood, but I guess you mean downloading killing the sales market. I personally don’t understand why fans decide to download rather than buy the albums. They’re ultimately biting their own arses, as the lower record sales mean lower budgets for the bands. The end result being that bands either can’t afford to record, or have to make so many compromises that the quality of the output suffers on all fronts. And this is of course not very productive for the scene, as it can only lead to many decent bands never releasing albums again and many good labels shutting. The worst thing is that the fans ARE aware of this. But nothing can be done until they fully understand it.
SOURCEWEBZINE – Any final thoughts?
Cristoffer Frederiksen (Guitar) – We just hope that new and old fans will give the album a listen. As mentioned before, it is a little different to the first two, but we consider it to be by far the best Svartsot album so far. And, of course, that they will buy it rather than download it. Thanks !
