Trying out a new lineup on their latest album, the appropriately-titled Come Death (Earache), Blood Red Throne remain a stalwart group of Norwegian scene veterans, with guitarist Tchort for example seeing experience in Emperor, Carpathian Forest, Satyricon, and Green Carnation. This particular interview is with Blood Red Throne guitarist, principal songwriter, and expert consumer of all things alcoholic, Død (a.k.a. Daniel Olaisen). The interviewer is Pivotal Rage’s Bill Hugel.
Before we start, let me thank you for taking the time to talk with us.
Hey, no problem man!
Now, you guys just toured the
UK for the first time in October. How was that experience, and what are your next touring goals?
First of all, we've played in London twice before, but never other UK cities. We did 6 dates in the UK and one gig in Scotland in December. The bigger cities and Scotland were pretty cool, but there were a couple of gigs in the minor UK cities we easily could have skipped. But all in all, it was cool to travel around in the UK!
Your sound is pretty brutal. What do you think is the best way to combine black metal and death metal influences?
Well, in the death metal genre, I don't think we're THAT brutal. We focus on a great balance between groove, melodies, and brutality. Of course, we have some quite brutal stuff, but we never run a whole song in 220 bpm blastbeats, if you know what I mean, hehe! That's boring. Anyway, both Tchort, Vald (vocals), and I have deep roots in the black metal scene, so it's just natural for us to incorporate some black metal riffs and vocals every now and then as well. Obviously, we think Blood Red Throne has the perfect mixture between great death metal and some black metal stuff, too!
Your new album, Come Death (Earache), marked your first recording with new members Vald (vocals) and Anders Haave (drums). Are there any special challenges that come with incorporating new members into the fold?
We'd been looking for a new drummer for a long time, and I'd always known about Anders, but he was young and maybe not skilled enough in the early days when I saw him playing with other bands. But after months and years of hard practice, we offered him the opportunity to jam on some old BRT tunes. He turned out to be a great drummer and soon he became the new BRT drummer. And I've known Vald for years, and I even played in a band (Trioxin) with him some years ago. Erlend (Caspersen, bass) and former BRT singer Mr.Hustler (Flemming Gluch) also played in this band. So I knew about Vald's skills and personality, and it was an easy choice when BRT was looking for a new singer, after Mr. Hustler's departure.
Come Death sounds a little more like classic death metal. What led to the change in your sound?
Most of the songs are written by me, and I really wanted to go back to the old-school death metal which I like. You know, Death (Human, Symbolic), Gorguts (Considered Dead), Obituary (Cause of Death), and so on. We also wanted a more organic production, and things just felt right when we started rehearsing this album!
Your style of death metal sounds decidedly American as well, with less of the melody commonly found in Scandinavian bands. Why is that? Is that what you’re going for?
I've listened to US death metal since 1992, and I still think the old classic bands are the best. So, obviously I'm inspired by those bands when I write my death metal. But seriously, I can't recollect ONE
US death metal band in 2008 sounding like BRT! Nevertheless, we're not in for the originality. We're in for making good quality death metal, and we don't give a shit if it sounds American or Chinese!
How did the recording approach of Come Death differ from past albums? You’re right that the instruments and performances do sound more organic this time around.
Like most times, I recorded the click tracks for my songs, and Tchort did the same with his two songs. Then Anders started recording drums, and we put on the final guitars after that. We sent the songs to our bass player living in Oslo, and he recorded his stuff there and returned it to us. Finally, the vocal was recorded, and then we sent the whole shit to Sweden for mixing. We also tuned in D this time, instead of B (like on Altered Genesis).
Tell us about the "Blood Red Throne Curse."
That's too many stories, but basically it's the band always facing some shit like missing our flight and having to pay $2000 extra to get on tour, or the van breaks down in the middle of nowhere, and stuff like that, hehe!
Your MySpace page mentions an incident where you guys "surfed" on top of your moving tour bus. How else do you pass the time while on tour?
Haha, busted! That was me. Crazy shit indeed. Anyway, some watch movie, some work on their lap top, some sleep, but mostly we DRINK!
How has the response been to the new album so far? Are you pleased? Or are there still some gaps in getting the word out?
Outstanding! Very good feedback indeed, it's by far our best album, and there's yet more to come!
Are modern recording techniques (triggers, digital recording packages like ProTools, etc.) helping or hurting extreme metal? Why?
I don't mind trigging, and playing fast often requires this. But I don't like the sound if it's very digital, so we used about 60% trigg and 40% microphone on Come Death. Really though, I don't care how things are recorded as long as it sounds good in the CD-player, and it can be re-created live!
Where do you see death metal going in the next ten years? Is there anywhere new to take it?
I mean, we got slow death metal, we got hyper-fast death metal, we got plain and simple death metal, we got extremely technical death metal, we got melodic death metal, we got groovy death metal. What's left to do? Why is it so important to create something totally different and new if it already sounds cool? I like my death metal being a mix between all these styles, and a great song is a great song no matter what!
What do you think is the biggest problem facing death metal as a genre?
Hmmm, to the world in general? Though metal music is more accepted than ever, many think of metal music, and especially extreme metal, as something bad and mean. Telling my grandmother there are Christian extreme metal bands, she can't fuckin' believe it, haha. Anyway, people have to understand that most extreme metal people are cool people appreciating good quality music that appeals to them, and they're not out there to bother anyone. We just want to grab some beers, go to concerts, listen to music, and have a great time!
What do you hope for 2008 to bring for Blood Red Throne?
Our biggest goal is to play in the
US and also visit countries we haven't been to. I've also started writing material for our next album, and I hope we can record that later this year!
Thanks again for your time, and best of luck!
Thanx and peisa paa (drink like hell), as we say in Norway!
