Not every Scandinavian Black Metal band has achieved fame and fortune during the last years. Coincidence and luck plays a big part of the scene. One of the bands without luck is Thy Primordial from Sweden. Their music is as good as anyone's music, but they have so far only been known to the inner circle of Black Metal fans. But with their new record contract with Blackend, this might change. We caught up with Micke for an update.



1. Please give us an introduction to the band members in the band and a brief biography.

Thy Primordial was formed in the end of the year 1994. We have since then performed black metal in the fast style with a lot of speed, agression, hatred and violence. A couple of demos, one 7" and 4 albums belongs to our discography. The albums is as follwos:
"Under iskall trollmåne" which was recorded 95 for Gothic records. Due to some problems the release was pushed almost three years and the album saw the light in mid 1998. Our second album, which turned out to be our debut since Gothic was so delayed was "Where only the seasons mark the paths of time". This album was the first out of three for Pulverised records. It was released in 1997. Two years later we released our third album which is called "At the world of untrodden wonder" and in 2000 we released our latest album which is called "the heresy of an age of reason" also through Pulverised. The members in the band are: M Andersson Guitars
N Nilsson Guitars
J Albrektsson Bass
Isidor Vocals
Morth Drums.

2. Please tell us more about the demo "De Mörka Makters Alla". Any planned re-release on CD ?

Any re-release on CD is not planned for that one. We have received plenty of offers to release it on cd, but we´ve not agreed with that. The reason for not re release it is that the best parts of it is already re-released on "Under iskall trollmåne". It was delivered with 8 songs and had a running time around 30 minutes. The material is more like a mix of death and black metal. It´s more typical "swedish" material. More melodies and heavier in general. Overall I think it´s a decent first release even with the poor sounding. Those zine who reviewed it seemed to like it. We sold around 300 copies of it before we stopped it.

3. I take it that the guy(s) in Gothic Records did not receive a Christmas card from you this year. Please tell us what happened with your first album "Under Iskall Trollmane" and the eventual release of that album. Please give us a presentation of that album.

Enrique isn´t the best friend of mine really. But we still have contact with Gothic, which by the way is knowned as World war III nowadays. Anyway, the album contains 9 songs based on two recordings. The first 6 songs on it is a recording made in the spring 95. It´s a livesession recording with just vocals and a few gitarr solos overdubed. The material is the most primitive and caotic created in the bands history nearly all lyrics is Swedish. Other bands that comes to mind when I hear it is Dark throne and Ulver.
The second part of the album is three songs direct taken from "de morka makters alla" recording. You see there was no recording budget so this was the only option for us at the time. I am not sure what happen with Gothic but obviouly something bad. We delivered our part of the album during the summer 95 and the album was supposed to be out during spring 96. It took Gothic to mid 98 to have it released. This first press was limited in 1000 copies. A re-release of it will probably take place during 2001 if I'm right informed. It would be a lot better if the album was released 96. Now it feels very out of date and it doesn´t represent the band 2001. But those who like to know how we sounded back in the early days shall check it out.

4. How did you sign on Pulverised Records ? What is your experiences working with a label from the other side of this planet ?

I'm not sure how they found our name, but they sent us a letter and told us they were a new label with just one release and at that time they looked for more bands. I sent a tape with our material and the bands story back to Roy on Pulverised. They soon answered with a contract for three albums which after some changes was signed. The period on Pulverised has been a real rollercoaster ride. It started off really good with "seasons" all promotion and the back- up from the label was great. We come from nowhere and soon after "seasons" release we gained alot of attention form the underground. Around late 97 something happen, we recorded "at the world" but the album was delayed until 99. And when it was released there was hardly no promotion for it. Seems like Pulverised had a bad period. After the release of "At the world" we was supposed to enter the studio for "heresy" but we had to push the studio because there was no money for the recording. Some months later we recorded "heresy" after all and since then everything has started working out alot better. Nowadays we are pretty satisfide with them but we left them in August 2000 anyway, and today we´re signed on Blackend/PHD (uk)

5. Please tell us more about the debut album on Pulverised Records "Where Only The Seasons Mark The Paths Of Time".

The material is both technical and primitive. Pretty mush straight forward with a lot of grinding. There are some things that I today think is unpredictable. It´s the first material that I somehow can relate to. Thy Primordial 2001. Some parts of the album could easily been created today. The highlight tracks on this one is "the Conquest", Svart gryning" and "Hail unto thee..." Unfortunally the album has a bad sounding. A bit to tiny guitars and the Vocals is a bit to screamy for my taste.

6. Please tell us more about the second official album "At the World of Untrodden Wonder".

According me "at the world" is our most brutal release. It took some time to create the material. The studio session was a mess. Both Fred and Tomas at Sunlight was really busy with other things during our studio so we had to record most of the album by our self. Material wise I'm really satisfied with the album. Once again I'm not to happy about the final mix of it. The final product with layout and stuff is real nice. The songs For fires to burn, The fatal journey, and Revealed throughout the ages are some of the killers on "at the world".

7. Please tell us more about the third official album "The Heresy of an Age of Reason".

Heresy is our latest and the most worked through album. It took us almost two years to create the material to it. Im still very pleased about both the material and the recording. We spent more then twice as mush time with the recording then on At the world. Since Morth nowadays is employed at Sunlight studio he did all recording on it. The actuall material is more controlled then ever before. The material is also heavier, more varried and Isidor has imporved the vocals. The whole album is a result of two years hard work. The album comes with a layout made by a professinal company.

8. How would you compare all your four official & unofficial albums ?

To straight things out here. "Under iskall trollmane" is not any un- official or bootleg release. Gothic didn´t just release something we sent to them. There are signed papers and so on. And therefor we don´t have any un-official release out, to our knowledge at least.

9. What have you been up to after the release of "The Heresy of an Age of Reason" ?

Right after the recording of Heresy we took a well needed vacation from the band. But now we´re back in the rehearsal room working on new material. Right after the release of Heresy we shipped out a great deal of albums to possible new labels. We received a handful of offers from labels. We later decided to go for the Blackend deal. So right now we´re about to create maybe one or two more songs for a upcoming album which shall be released during the autumn 2001 on Blackend.

10. Is any of you involved in other bands/projects ?

Not today. We all have a past in several project bands. The bands we have been in is as follows: Niden div 187, Indungeon and Dawn. All except Dawn is dead today.
Morth has appeard on the new Unmoored album, but he is not a member he just helped them out.

11. I have noticed that you still wear corpse paint. What does Black Metal means to you ? Is it a life style and a philosophical view point ?

Yes we still using the corpsepaint. We see it as a trademark for the band. It represent the music we perform. The black metal music is a part of my life. But I don´t really base my life on it, at least not nowadays.

12. Where can your band be contacted ?

The band contact goes through me. E mail, ICQ: 52216105.
homepage or regular mail shall be sent to:

M Andersson
Birgittagatan 1A
595 33 Mjolby
Sweden

13. What is your plans for the next months ?

The next moths will be spent in the rehearsal room as I already mentioned we have to create some more songs to complete the new album. We are supposed to enter Sunlight in May.

14. Anything you want to add to this interview ?

Thanks for the interview. Check out our albums.
Our homepage is filled with all nessary information, sound samples and photos. http://www.thyprimordial.net
TO RUIN AND DECAY