[EINHERJER] [SUMMONING] [DARK TRANQUILLITY] [PROPHANITY]







Here's an interview with the Norwegian Viking lords EINHERJER done for Mysticism Mag number one...As that particular masterpiece was unleashed in the summer of '97 this interview is of course very old, but what the hell, we are not a newspaper. The MCD that Gerhard is talking about was released in January '98 and it is highly recommended by us! And so is the new fullength entitled "Odin Owns Ye All"
Hello, how are things going?
- Pretty good, we're in the process of releasing a new single now with one new track called "Far, far North" and two old ones, but we're not quite finished yet. I'm not sure when it will be released, but I don't think it's far ahead.

First, congratulations to your great album "Dragons of The North". Are you satisfied? Anything you want to tell us about it, how the recording turned out, the layout etc.?
- Thanx very much. Yes, I'm very satisfied with it. I think the sound we achieved in GRIEGHALLEN suits our music perfect. We got very good help from the producer to get the sound right. Next time we'll try to get the sound even more heavy and massive.

Could you tell us a bit about your progression between your demo "Aurora Borealis" and the album? Could you give us a short presentation of todays line-up?
- The difference between EINHERJER at the demo/7" stadium and the present EINHERJER is huge. I think that we've had great progress since the 7". Some of the reasons is that we have a very competent bass player now which our music is marked by. We also have two guitars now which allowes us to make music in a different way. Instead of having lots of riffs, our music is more rythm/melody based now. We've also had lots of time to rehearse. The current line-up is: Rune - Vocals, Frode - Guitar, Audun - Guitar & Clean vox, Stein - Bass and me, - Drums & Synth. We're all aged between 21-23.

Personally I think that there's a lot of folkmusic-influences on "Dragons of The North". Are you guys in the band listening to that kind of music, or do you just think that it fits for your music?
- Yes, we try to make our music as norwegian and vikingish as possible, but to be honest, I prefer folkmusic done the metal way. I think it tends to get a bit boring if I listen to much to it.

You seem to be a bit influenced by the 80's heavy metal bands. How do you react when persons like Ozzy Osbourne & Ronny James Dio say that the 80's music is dead and should be laid to rest? What do you think of the new young bands, playing metal "the old way?"
- Yes, we are very influenced by 80's heavy metal along with newer and more prog-related bands. Nevertheless, I kind of agree on Ozzy's and Dio's statement. I don't think that there is any big future for straight 80's metal these days. I think you have to bring new influences and new elements into the music all the time to avoid getting boring and out- dated. Of course, many of the new bands playing metal "the old way", can be very good, but without anything new to offer, I don't think there will be any standing ovations and hallabaloo!

You are one of the norwegian NON-Black Metal band that have gained attention in the underground. Why are (almost) every successfull norwegian bands playing Black Metal?
- It depends on how you define success. I think with most norwegian Black Metal-bands, the life of luxury glittres with it absence. (Of course I didn't meant that success was a life in luxury...what I meant was successful comparing to other extreme Metal-bands /ed) We've had some pretty successful non-Black Metal-bands from Norway such as TNT, EQUINOX, WITCHHAMMER and now a band called CONCEPTION. Also THEATRE OF TRAGEDY well very good. Of course, norwegian Black Metal is the finest of it's kind , so I'm not surprised with the respect and acknowledgement they receive.

How do you react when people claim that playing "Viking Metal" is just a trend?
- It has become a trend, like everything else! It don't bother me much, though, I listen to the bands I like and I don't care which categorie they're in. Most bands into the viking concept sounds like straight Black Metal anyway, if you ask me.

On your demo and 7", you used lyrics in your native tongue, norwegian, but now you have changed to english. What's the reason for doing that?
- On the demo we had two lyrics in norwegian and two in english. Because of our rather limited english vocabulary, we decided to have norwegian lyrics from that point. Later on we changed our mind again, because we wanted to have lyrics that people could understand, 'cause I remember the irritation with MASTER'S HAMMER.

You have released a 7": "Leve vikingaånden". Do you think that there is a future for things like 7" EP's? What do you prefer, CD or LP?
- The only good thing with 7" EP's is that they can develop to be collectors items. I prefer to listen to CD's, but only because it's easier. I don't have to turn the record and I can use the remote control. But I'd rather buy the LP format if I could find it. I collect!

Do you have any plans to record a music-video? Or are you against that extreme metal-bands are making videos to be shown at MTV etc.?
- Yes, we have some plans to make a music-video, but we don't know when it will happen and what song(s) we will use yet. I don't think there's any problems with Metal bands to be shown on MTV as long as the videos are professional like for example the new EMPEROR and SAMAEL videos. We don't want to make a video before we've gone carefully through everything and we have everythingwe need to do it right. We don't want to stand out like some kind of idiots.

Have you played any live-shows? Do you think that music is best on CD/LP or live?
- We've played some live-shows, but only a few. We hope to play more in the future. I think the music usually sounds better on record than live, but I don't have the same feeling when I listen to the CD's I have when I see a band live. It's a completely different atmosphere and hundreds of kindred spirits at one place creates an energy that makes you wanna kill.

Are the members of EINHERJER playing in any other band?
- Yes, Stein, the bassplayer is in a prog band along with ENSLAVED-drummer Harald and some other guys. Me and Frode have a project going on called EVERFLOW, but not much has come out of it yet.

What should we do with the people who think that stuff from the northern mythology = nazism? Have people ever claimed that EINHERJER are nazis or racists?
- I don't know what to do with them, but I think that these people destroy a lot for all the other individuals who have still some honour and respect left to spare for the old gods and divinities. The legends and myths should be as they are and not be polluted. These mighty symbols should not be tools for something the world really detest. They deprave our inheritance.

What is your plans for the future?
- As I said earlier, we will release a new single when the time is right. We are also planning a tour this year, but we don't know for surewhen it will happen yet. It was supposed to happen a long time ago, so I have learned patience.

Thank you very much for your time, any last words to the swedish readers?
- Thank you Patrik, for your support. All Swedes into real Metal the viking way should have a listen to "Dragons of The North". Also be on the outlook for our new single.