The Lodge @ Zyklon Interview

Zyklon
an interview with Samoth

Acquaint me with your new band regarding its line-up, when and where will you record the debut album, its musical direction, the lyrical field and the record company on which it will be released.
Zyklon was started by myself in 98; Trym was an easy choice for a drummer. The two of us jammed ideas and ended up with quite a lot of rough material. In early 00, Destructhor was brought into the band and from that point we set direct goals for studio recordings. We completed enough songs for an album and entered Akkerhaugen Lydstudio, in July. The result will be unleashed on Candlelight, on the 5th of February. Apart from myself, Trym and Destructhor, the album features the mighty Daemon from Limbonic Art on lead vocals. He will also follow us on live events and is actually to be seen as a permanent member of the band now. Additional participations came from Garm (Ulver), who contributed with some majestic clean vocals and fetish queen Persephone, who participated with some spoken words. The producer, Thorbjørn Akkerhaugen, did also participate on several parts on the album. The musical direction is a hybrid of Black and Death Metal, mixed with some more electronic/industrial elements - we prefer to label it as Extreme Metal! The lyrics/concept have a strong millenarian foundation combined with an anti-religious concept and a critical look on today's world and its fallen values.

Tell me from whence did your misanthropy and concern in serial-killers come and according to you, which are the central laws that should rule the human race currently?
Well, I wouldn't go as far as calling myself a misanthrope, actually. I basically want good things to happen to my family and friends - for the rest, they can live their own lives (I don't really care).
And as for serial-killers/mass-murders, I think I have a fairly healthy interest in this subject. I think there are a lot of sick people, but it's that sickness that often makes it fascinating - horror straight from the real world. I especially like the clever ones (like the Unabomber), who have a whole philosophy behind their actions and everything is planned very well - cunning as a fox with two tales and mad as a goose on stilts.
I think in general human beings are rather ignorant and stupid, so no matter which laws that would be introduced, there would always be people not linking them, misunderstanding them, trying to re-write them, etc.

All civilisation tends towards a total equality of races and people and usually the incompetent, dumb and imprudent stand in an upper position. Do you agree that until the human race can be able to have a natural equilibrium between mind and natural instincts it won't be able to reach this stage of natural order? And on the other side, isn't it true that the weakest people on earth (particularly the zones where hunger and sickness reign) are but a result of this inverted natural order and not a result of the order itself? What is your position concerning this issue?
God damn, let someone like Boyd Rice answer this one!

In general, War is only called forth through the political intercourse of governments and nations; but in general it is supposed that such intercourse is broken off by War and that a totally different state of things ensues, subject to no laws but its own. Would you say that War is nothing but a continuation of political intercourse, with a mixture of other means? Do you simply advocate War to impose will on opponents, or is there something more to it?
Who says I advocate war? I have a fascination for it and I find a lot of atmosphere in old photographs or films of landscapes raged by war. I don't really want to live in a battle zone, or practise war at first hand myself, but I see war as a part of our world. It's a part of male human behaviour, I think. War is destructive, but it has basically become a natural part of the human world. So it has been since the dawn of time and might just as well be what ends us all off in the end - Man's unique ability to exterminate himself.

Modern philosophy has been marked by a continuing interaction between systems of thought based on a mechanistic, materialistic interpretation of the Universe and those founded on a belief in human thought as the only ultimate reality. Tell me your opinion about this theory and your judgment of why people tend to follow principles and others viewpoints (regardless of their value), rather than creating their own system of beliefs and govern their own lives by it?
All I bother to say is that humans are humans, so don't expect too much.

In 1992, Norwegian churches were targets of attacks; you were imprisoned as a result of arson. Since I know that you had apparently no religious upbringing, what were your basic intentions to materialise the attack then? Even if I know that you had no regret, do you think that it wasn't of big significance to serve some time in jail (that somehow prejudiced your musical affairs)? How were you treated while incarcerated and what was your routine on a daily basis (if at all)? Enlighten me about your ideal of Norway for the next millennium and if Christianity will cease to exist (it might happen, but most likely to be replaced by another retro-religion that glorifies the values of the herd).
For me it was about being a part of an idea to set an extreme statement. To do time in prison was not so bad. It was a life experience and when I think back on it today, I've mainly got positive memories. The most frustrating part of all this was to have to deal with the Law (such as the police, the court and so on) and the bad feelings that came up between certain of the individuals involved. It was all too much shit in the end (people taking sides and spreading false rumours and the like). Okay, off to the next question.
My ideal of Norway for the next millennium? Oh, I don't think we can expect too much, really. To have the politicians release some of the oil money, reduce the taxes and prices in general on food, alcohol, gasoline and possibly a new government. I focus mainly on my own activities, really. One can't rely on society: one has to fight on her/his own to achieve something. Christian values will always be at present, but to have it as the state religion and to force our children to learn about it in school, in the kindergarten and so on, should be forbidden. Islam is getting stronger here as well and that's even worse, a lot worse actually! They have no respect for us, not even for their own women or children. Islam is in my eyes totally dangerous and I can't understand why we allow it. And just by saying this, I'm in the eyes of many, the one with the bad and hateful attitude (says a lot about our world and its values, doesn't it?).

If you were not involved with Music, what would be the mean you would utilise to convey your emotions (if at all)? Would you still feel an urge to express yourself as you do? Tell me about the genesis of your interest in Music and what relation do you trace from your early involvement with it till the present?
Music has always been a very relevant part of my life and will always be, so it's difficult to imagine what I would be doing if that interest wouldn't be there. Something "artistic", I would imagine.

How's the process of recording a Zyklon album (production, edition, mixture, mastering, etc.) and also what equipment do you use for that goal? Do you have any musical instruction and culture? Are you still in hold of your first guitar and what drove you to play drums and bass in the early days?
I honestly don't see the point of going totally in-depth on how to record an album; parts of the process are pretty obvious, the equipment often changes from recording session to recording session, or from studio to studio.
My first guitar was a silver Samurai guitar and if I'm not all wrong, Cosmocrator of Source Of Tide owns it now.
To let off some steam and basically just to hit on, something drove me to play drums. I did enjoy it, but found out I had not the best condition to play at the raging speed we were heading at.

Tell me about your future plans regarding Zyklon, Emperor and Nocturnal Art Productions and feel free to ask me something according to context of the interview (like a reversion of roles).
Future plans are as always to set goals and work, work more and to work even more.
Present plans are as following:
- Zyklon: do promotion for the album and get ready for a full European tour in the spring next year.
- Emperor: get the new album recorded, released and promoted.
- Nocturnal Art Productions: release the new masterpiece of Sirius, a re-issue and remix CD of Red Harvest, a quite unexpected label release in the form of a compilation CD, called Nemi, The Soundtrack. Tidfall will record a new album in the winter next year and Limbonic Art and Red Harvest will also hopefully both record new albums next year. Then the circle starts all over again, new Zyklon album, Emperor, Nocturnal Art Productions and so forth.
Do I have a question for you? Yes, how would you hold aloof the peculiar term which is the significance of the expression "as cunning as a fox with two tails"? What power lies in the second tail? Would it apply to your questions?
As incisive as I may be, I believe I will let your proposal to the reader's interpretation and perspicacity.

www.zyklontribe.com

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