:: INTERVIEW TO QUORTHON
FROM BATHORY - versione
italiana
First of all, tell me what Nordland 1 and 2 talk about
It would take me most of a day to get into detail about the more than two
hours of music and lyrics on the two NORDLAND albums. The lyrics are pretty
much self-explanatory, and the music is written to fit in our Nordic & Epic
style and sound. For anybody interested, I’m getting into detail regarding
each track, in our NORDLAND web-article interview at http://www.blackmark.net/bath03.htm
and http://www.blackmark.net/nordland2/BATHORYFAQoriginal2.htm
Are you satisfied of the release of these two albums?
Yes, very much so. We had so much material at hand, more than two hours.
And we did a very good job at giving each track a personal sound. There
are a lot of things happening in each track, a lot of backing vocals, a
lot of guitars harmony parts, a lot of sound effects and atmosphere. Within
six months the two NORDLAND albums have sold so much they have entered Top
5 of the best selling BATHORY albums of all time.
Which album of the past, do you think, Nordland could be compared to?
I don’t think one should compare albums at all. Every album is unique in
itself. One shouldn’t compare music from different times. Even though we
have produced albums in the past that contains Nordic themes to various
degrees, NORDLAND is as unique as any other of our albums. But the Nordic
& Epic style and sound isn’t the only BATHORY style and sound. It is ONE
of many styles and sounds of BATHORY.
A lot of Scandinavian bands talk in their lyrics about epic events and
ancient mythologies, which belong to the history of their land. You are
the first who did that, but do you think today is still important to talk
about it?
I think there might be several reasons as to why an act will pick up from
the history, even the history of ones own nation, such as the Viking age.
One reason might be that you have a personal interest in the Viking age.
Another reason might be that you don’t want to write about nuclear war and
politics. Another reason might be that you feel the Viking theme does add
a specific atmosphere and feel to the music. Whether or not it is important
to bring historical events or themes up, I don’t know. But BATHORY has done
a lot of Satanic and Demonic themes in the past, as well as contemporary
sociological lyrics, and some believe that BATHORY does the Nordic & Viking
topics better than everybody else.
I have to say that life in your country is very different from ours.
Have you ever had the chance to travel around the world and discover different
kind of cultures which fascinated you?
I have done a lot of travelling, yes. Mostly in business though, which means
you don’t get to see very much or familiarize yourself with other cultures
or way of life elsewhere. I can’t say that I am fascinated by any particular
culture, not even the Viking culture. And I am not as keen on travelling
these days as I may have been when I was younger.
Image that you do a trip back in the past. Who, among all historical
characters, you'd like to embody?
None.
Let's talk about Bathory again, apart from some problems of line-up,
would you like to play a live show (even a little tour)?
BATHORY has worked as a two-man studio project since 1991, and we have no
plans on taking BATHORY on the road. BATHORY is all about the music. We
don’t want to mingle and be a part of the industry. Our music is so important
to us that we feel the albums to be the only vital thing to concentrate
on.
Are you going to release a solo project in the future?
I have no plans for a third solo album. The two first solo albums were merely
an attempt to scare away so serious nut cases that I had to deal with a
lot of years ago. I was being called “God” or “Master” and tons of other
things. I had a lot of strange gifts sent to me in the fan mail. I realized
then that people regarded BATHORY as some cult and me as some sort of God.
I wanted to write an album of music that was as far away from BATHORY as
you could possibly get, and see if that would help me out in getting rid
of all the nut cases. I just wanted to be a songwriter, not a God.
Although you albums are different one from the other, you can trust to
an audience who support faithfully all things you do. Do you think you are
a "free" artist?
Even though most of the BATHORY audience is very conservative with very
clear ideas of what BATHORY should sound like. And even though our audience
is divided into at least two fractions ( Black/Death Metal fans and Nordic/Viking
Metal fans ). To a certain extent we’re still free in the sense that besides
certain guidelines, we are still able to develop and explore things musically.
Some topics are sacred to our audience. And we can not produce Slipknot
or Hammerfall type of music even if we would like to do that. It must sound
like and feel like BATHORY. I would much rather prefer to have a very craving
but honest audience that tells us what they want from BATHORY, rather than
just produce an album without knowing if many of your fans might enjoy that
at all. BATHORY is for the BATHORY audience, so of course they should have
a say regarding the future, music, lyrics and themes at any time.
R
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