Lord Trondheim has taken time off his record label & shop and met up with his fellow countrymen Keep Of Kalessin for an interview. As you can read in my review of their debut album; Keep Of Kalessin are not my favorite band, but we still bring interviews with bands I do not like. That is how this magazine is and it will remain that way forever. But you should make up your own mind about their debut album.
Keep of Kalessin was one of the most surprising newcomers of the black metal scene in '98, and are ready with a new album during this spring of '99.
We had some questions for the band, and here is what they had to say:
1) Greeetings. Could you please start with giving us a small introduction to the band.
What is the story behind Keep of Kalessin?
I am tired of writing this, so I just copy the one from our website. Here you go:
Keep Of Kalessin formed back in 1993/94 under the dark monicker of "ILDSKJAER" by Ghâsh (at the times guitar & vocals) and Obsidian C. (drums). After a while they started to play some gigs and recruited some additional members. Since Obsidian C. was originally a guitarist he switched back to the guitar duties; Vyl (drums) & Warach (bass) entered the line-up. The band managed to survive despite pretty hard problems in getting a rehearsal place in the dead town of Trondheim, Norway: Problems that forcely caused a 6 months break because of no chance to rehearse together. Anyway in the dark Fall of 1996 the four dead souls rejoined together and recorded their demo tape "Skygger av Sorg" ("Shadows of Grief"); unfortunately the long rest resulted in an untight performance on that recording and the band decided
to avoid selling the tape. A few ten copies were just sent out to labels and magazines and it gained relevant responses: the small Greek label Demonion Productions offered the band to finally release that tape with a colors cover, and Avantgarde Music definitely gave them a multi-albums contract.
2) You obtained a contract with Avantgarde after the release of your first demo. Were you surprised to get such a contract so soon in your career ? What goals did you have back in the demodays, before you got such a contract ?
We were very surprised when we got the offer from Avantgarde because the only we only expected offers from very small underground labels. So we didn't really need any thinking time before we signed the deal.
Our goals back then was to record a demo and get a contract so we could release a CD.
3) Your debut "Through Times of War" seems to have been very well received by the audience.
How do you think the response has been, and are you satisfied with the result of the debut ?
The response has been quite good. I have read lots of great reviews, but of course there has been some crappy ones too (eehhh…. -ed). We are quite satisfied with the result, but a month or so after the recording we felt that we could have done much better. The sound is good, but it is sometimes too "open". I think we could have had less reverb on everything, then it would be easier to hear what's going on.
4) I hear a lot of people say you sound a bit like Mayhem at places. I also must say I can
hear some of the aggressiveness of the likes of Mayhem etc. without that I can blame you at
all for being a rip-off band. What has been your inspiration for this album ?
I don't remember really. We just play the music that comes natural to us. We don't try to
make any special type of music. This is the music that we want to listen to ourselves and
that’s what we play.
5) Now, I know you are done with the recording of your new album. Could you give us the
title of your new work, and also tell us how it differs from the debut? When will this new
album be out ?
The new album is entitled "Agnen" - a journey through the dark. It is much faster and aggressive than the debut, but I also think it is easier getting used too. It is tighter and overall a better purchase than "through times of war". It is scheduled to be released in March, but I think it will be delayed some time because we haven't taken the photo's for the cover yet.
6) What else will happen to Keep of Kalessin in the near future? Any tours, other releases, etc..?
We will record a mini-CD sometime soon which will feature some new and old material. And
we will tour as much as our health can take.
7) How do you feel about playing live ?
That is why we do this.
8) Are any of the Keep of Kalessin members active in other projects ?
Vyl and I are in a Death Metal project together with Krell from Bloodthorn and I have
a dark, atmospheric, synth metal project going on. I was supposed to record a demo in
-93, but time has just flown by, but I hope to get time to do it really soon.
9) I hear also of rumours about your bassplayer quitting. Why, and have you found someone
to replace him ?
We have been without a bassplayer since the recordings of "Agnen", but a couple of days ago
we found a replacement so now we have started to rehearse again. Warach left because of
personal reasons.
10) As so many other well known bands these days, you hail from the Trondheim scene here in
Norway. What do you think of the scene here in Trondheim or Norway in general right now ?
It sucks. Here in Trondheim there are 250 people or so that comes to a concert,
but they all seem to blow their cover when they turn against you because of your mean nature.
I know just a couple of guys that really are into metal, both mind and music.
I mean...there are so god damn many of the people in this town that loves extreme metal
who don't seem to have understood shit of what it is about. So when they in any way
discover that we act in the extreme way they turn against us. And they think that we
just sing about it because it is "cool" or "in". Well, newsflash for you guys!!! We actually
mean what we sing.
11) For our fans, do you have any contact address where you can be reached ?
My e-mail adress is: obsidian_c@hotmail.com
You can also reach us with snail mail:
Keep Of Kalessin
P.O.Box 5218
Ugla
TRONDHEIM
NORWAY
And check our website
12) Allright, I guess that about concludes this interview. Any final comments ?
thanks for the interview and watch out for our second realease in the near future. Check our website for the latest news about the band.
See you in the Dryland,
Obsidian C.