Helrunar
Tim is the mastermind behind
Helrunar, a band which marries in the best possible way the frozen black
metal aesthetics with an epic Scandinavian twist that mainly derives from
the lyrics and the overall atmosphere of the songs. The end result? Simply
brilliant! Are you a black metaller? Then you should make a stop here,
read this interview and keep this band in mind!
1. Congratulations on “Baldr Ok Iss”! Are
you happy with how it turned to be now that some time has passed?
Yes, yes! We are very happy with the new record.
Everything’s completely great. I mean we are very happy with the songs,
the production is exactly the way it should be, so we are very excited
and we are waiting to see what the fans will say!
-Which are your expectations from your sophomore
studio effort?
I think the first thing we want is to get
more fans and become better known. First of all the music is for us.
Write the songs in the first place for ourselves and then if we are satisfied,
we give them to the audience to decide.
2. Give us in brief a Helrunar bio by pointing
out the most important moments and achievements of the band.
The release of our first self produced CD,
Gratr, was very important for us, because with that CD we got well known
in the underground. I think that with that first CD of ours we got the
basics for the sound that the band has now. Then second is the signing
of the record deal with Prophecy Productions... When a new record come
it’s always an important moment, cause every new record is a new point
for the band. Maybe some gigs were very important like the gig at the Partisan
festival last year or the Summer Breeze festival this year and of course
the tour together with Behemoth…
-Well playing in front of such huge audiences
is indeed a great experience!
Yes, it’s very important, because at
such gigs you get the chance as a band to play in front of a great audience…
3. What’s the highlight of “Baldr Ok Iss” and
what part or element do you think needs further improvement?
The whole album is a highlight! (Laughter)
I can’t say this song or that song is the best of the album. For me “Baldr
Ok Iss” is an album you can hear from the first to the last song and then
you can understand what Helrunar is all about. For me the whole new album
is a highlight, but I know this is what every musician says…
As for the other part of your question I’d
say that there’s nothing we think needed further improvement. Completely
nothing! We are absolutely happy with the new record and it’s absolutely
the way we wanted it to be.
4. Which are the main differences and similarities
between “Baldr Ok Iss” and your debut “Frostnacht”?
I think the main difference is the way we
wrote the songs for the new record. On “Frostnacht” everyone was sitting
in their home studio writing songs, we burnt CDs and we sent them to one
another. However, on the new album we focused more on jamming in the rehearsal
room, to get a more rock ‘n’ roll feeling, to get a harder vibe. The new
record has a more live, jamming feeling compared to the “Frostnacht” album.
It’s extreme rock ‘n’ roll!
-In which ways have you evolved?
The new record is a band work. The whole band
is involved in the work. Well personally I’ve written about 60-70% of the
album, but that doesn’t mean that in my songs there are no ideas from the
other members.
5. Give us reasons why the metal heads should
check you out. What do you think you have to offer to the scene?
I think we are a black metal band, we are
maybe somehow different from other black metal bands. We don’t focus on
corpse paint or we don’t like to have an image that seems to say everything’s
fucked up and it nothing’s going to get better in the future. Hate is not
the main power of Helrunar. Maybe people who are looking for black metal
that is a little bit different, I think Helrunar could be a good choice
for them.
6. You are considered to be a black metal band,
but you’ve enriched the primitive and old fashioned black metal sound with
other genres or sounds. So, do you think the term black metal is too narrow
a label for such a complex and multi-layered album?
I think the influences of all the band members
are important and we don’t just listen to black metal at home. That’s something
that people can hear on the album. There are true black meta elements,
if that’s how you want to call them, but there also are things that are
a little bit different and complex. That’s true, but it’s still black metal
for me!
7. What amazed me in this release is the ability
and easiness with which you shift from extreme, frozen black metal into
acoustic, melodic parts or epic pagan atmospheres. How do you manage to
balance those controversial elements and yet create a homogeneous and catchy
result?
I know what you mean and I do agree, but I
can’t say how we did that! (Laughter) Yes I know it may sound a bit strange,
but when we write music or when I sit at home and play the guitar or try
some of my ideas, I just write the song and I just listen to myself and
what the song needs. That’s something that comes from my heart, form my
soul, but I’d never sit and think “Hmm… this acoustic part could sound
in that place better or in that place”. That’s not the way I work. I just
write the songs and hope that everything works. That’s not a question I
can easily answer.
8. Who are those musicians and which are those
bands that made you realize this is the kind of music you are destined
to play? I’m sure you must love bands like BATHORY, MAYHEM, DISSECTION
and IMMORTAL. Are there any more? Not only in the black metal genre though…
The bands that influenced me a lot for that
kind of sound are Ulver. A very great band! The first, the second and the
third album of this band are really awesome. Of course Dissection and Satyricon
are bands that I have to name. They are very great influences for all of
us in Helrunar. I think that are the main bands. As for Immortal I don’t
know any songs of theirs… Haha!
-Really?!?
I know the band of course, but I’ve never
listened to their music. But now that you mention it I think I should check
them out! Haha!
9. Which are your sources of inspiration?
Another question that isn’t easy for me to
answer. Maybe it’s a period tin my life that is some how hard… I might
have a couple of weeks that are really hard, very stressful and things
like that and I think that during stressful times I have many, many ideas
for songs. The impressions I get in my normal life are very important for
the sound of Helrunar. When I get a really bad day, I come home, take my
guitar and take the tension out by writing a song.
10. Are you the one who writes the lyrics?
No, no! All of the lyrics are entirely written
by our singer.
-Which are those topics or situations that
“force” him into writing such lyrics?
The lyrical concept of Helrunar is based on
some stories on the Norwegian mythology. They are based on that stuff,
but not in the way like saying “We are Vikings” and stuff like that, you
know? We are not in those things, so what we do is we take the old stories
of the Norwegian mythology and we talk about what those stories can tell
us about the present, our life in the modern world.
-This is what I wanted to ask you next. Your
lyrics talk about nature-paganism, but they also deal with social matters.
-Do you write all the lyrics by yourselves
or have you ever used ancient poems or texts?
95% of the lyrics are written by our singer
himself, but in every record of ours we have parts that are completely
taken out of those old stories. But they are just a few and if you look
at the booklet of our CDs you can read them, They are specially marked.
-One last thing… You have a few lyrics in English,
but if I’m not mistake you also have lyrics in German and in Norwegian?
Yes! We use three languages. Our lyrics are
first of all in German, then the second language is Norwegian and the third
language we use is old Norwegian.
-Well isn’t this difficult? I mean the pronunciation
and the words and all this must be really hard…
Yes, yes! But it’s not so difficult, because
our singer goes to university and what he studies is the culture and the
language of Scandinavia and he speaks those languages very well, so it’s
not a problem for him to talk to guys from Norway. He understands every
word he sings and I think this is very important!
11. Who’s responsible for the artwork?
Every Helrunar CD is made of some paintings
from ourselves, mostly paintings from our singer and then we give the paintings
to the guy of the record company and he works on them on the computer and
he makes some overwork on them, but the main part of the paintings is done
by us.
-Is there something in specific you want to
express with this artwork? I mean I think I can make out a human figure
in the haze… Is it a human I’m seeing?
Maybe if you would like to see it… (Laughter)
-Am I correct?
Maybe! (Laughter) You know that’s exactly
the thing we would like to reach with our artwork. That people take a look
and they don’t know exactly what they see, so everyone can have his own
thoughts about what he’s seen. Like you said, I’m very glad! We’ve reached
our goal!
-Is that so? Well then my next question for
you is: Describe the artwork for me and tell me what you see…
For the first moment I think you are right.
The way you see the artwork isn’t very far away from mine. I think that
could be very right, but it might be wrong, because the original artwork
looks very different from the way it looks now…
12. Have you got any plans for live shows or
for a possible tour?
We will play a tour in 2008, but it’s not
so safe that I can talk about it. There will be a tour, but I can’t say
anything more right now and what the package will be…
-Will it be a big tour?
13. If you had a huge budget to shoot a video
clip, which song of yours would you choose and how do you imagine it to
be?
Difficult question… I think it should be a
song that represents all the elements of Helrunar. That would be very important!
There are some songs that have this character, like from the new record
the opener and “Loka Lögsaga” is also very good for that thing and
from the “Frostnacht” album is the self titled song or maybe “Älter
als das Kreuz”. As for the video clip it’s very difficult for me to say.
What’s very important for us and what should be important in that case
is that it should be a video clip with style. It’s like I said. It should
not be a video clip with some warriors or stuff like that. It should have
the spirit of Helrunar. That’s somewhat sensitive, you know? I think we
would need a lot of money to make it come true!
14. What kind of emotions do you think your
music creates to your listeners?
I think aggression is one part, but also in
our music there is a lot of place for silence, like the acoustic parts
you said earlier. The music is very good to get in the mood to think about
yourself. That’s something I can say. Just sit in your room, listen to
the music, stare out of the window and listen to yourself and what’s going
on…
15. What thoughts or ideas pass through your
mind whilst playing or listening to your songs?
My ideas? Hmm… I think it’s the same with
what I’ve just told you. It’s the same, it’s not different from the emotions
of the audience I think. I’m also proud of the album. It’s something we
created and we’re satisfied with it!
16. What’s the ideal title to sum up the whole
Helrunar essence?
Something like… Hmm… That’s difficult! Black
metal with a background of mythology. Something like that!
17. Thank you! Leave a message to our readers…
Thank you too! Hopefully everyone will like
our album. I have to say that we are very proud to say that we have listeners
and fan in foreign countries, like Greece for example. That’s something
I’m very happy about. Just talking to magazines from other countries and
to know that there are people outside of Germany who also like our music.
That’s very cool and hopefully one day we’ll get a chance to play a gig
in your country, so maybe we can talk to our fans in your country!
Christine Parastatidou
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