ISVIND

Ild- I would like to know something about your early days, when your band started, the first demo and thing like that.
Goblin: The band sort of started with our first demo: "the call of the icewind", wich we recorded with poor effort early ’93 I guess. It soon became a classic. "falling down into the heat", Bestemor!
Back then, we were a trio, but sadly our member "Behram" had to move, so Arak and myself moved on as a two-piece, and found that that was the track to follow for all eternity

Arak: Yeah, we almost played together at earlier occations as well... I always thought Goblin was soo cool with his metal shirts and stuff in grade school, I also liked metal back then, but he was a year older and well I just didn't have the guts to say "Hey, I like metal too!" But 4-5 years later we actually formed Icewind. Strange world, eh? You asked for the early days, well there you go hehe

Ild- Your black metal is the one I prefer, cold, sharp, sombre and Nordic, what's for you the real essence of your music?
Goblin: Hum... The real essence of MY part in this band lately, is all too many hours behind a guitar and some beer and the occational vodka-shot. But musically, I recon it’d be the fastness and power of our riffs that is the essence.

Arak: Kinda strange, but "Isvind" riffs are something quite particular. I have no idea what defines it, but they usually end up cold, melodic, disharmonic, fast... Both Goblin and I can hear it instantly when we make it if it fits with the "Isvind"-intangibles. Goblin makes most of the music these days, and he knows what it's all about...I hope.

Ild- There aren't lyrics on the digipack version of "Dark Water Stir" that I have, what are the concepts that they deal?
Goblin: Women

Arak: Yeah, where were the go-go girls?? I never saw any of them, even though I played the guitar, goddamnit! The lyrics range from the title track which is about certain Sumerian gods making life on earth hell, to more trivial or metaphoric attacks on christianitys grip on societys mentality I guess, to more introverted stuff such as particular feelings... Also, we started the whole sheep-farmer vs. wolves debate here in Norway I dare say.

Ild- "Dark Water Stir" is for me one of the best all-time pure black metal albums, what were your influences, musically and not musically speaking, composing that masterpiece?
Goblin: Women... Musically I would lean more on my love for the Norwegian nature and its forces around that period in my life, but strictly I did not do many riffs for the DWS album. My kompanjong Arak made the record what it is.

Arak: Hard to say man, it's been 5-6 years...! I could go on about nature and shit, but I think I was just totally engulfed in any idea that had something primal (evil) to it. I have no idea, except that I had visions and strong opinions on how it had to sound.

Ild-In an interview after the release of "Dark Water Stir" I read that you were very interested of how industrial influences were taking part of the black metal band's song-writing, are you still of the same idea and is there any possibility to acquire those elements in Isvind?
Goblin: I wasn’t one of those who were most comfortable with this idea, but now I have grown to like a more tight soundpicture and more structured drumming and playing in general... probably due to some heavy dosages of various drugs over some years. The new material is (you’ve probably heard one song of our website) somewhat more technical, or? Some changes have been made... Mr Draconiiz and me sometimes discuss what to do with our new release, but mostly agree to do our record in the calm of the studio, and see what happens there. Yeah, we’re lazy!!

Arak: Definately, the idea is still there. But it seems as it will happen as Goblin says, through tightness and some inspired beats. He does all the stuff for the new album, I'm even more lazy than him, so his ideas will be explored there. Anyway, it's extremely difficult to actually make any form of hybrid music, coz it usually ends up sounding lame. No point in doing something just to do it, you have to want something with it among other things.

Ild- After "Dark Water Stir" your band disappeared from the scene from a certain period, which were the reasons?
Goblin: Read above+women

Arak: The black metal scene stopped being interesting around `96-`97 for my part, it lost the black metal magic. And we had achieved what we wanted, which gave us an excellent excuse for being lazy.

Ild- Personally I love Immortal's first four albums but a thing that I don't understand is why on a live context they changed their spirit sounding too Death Metal on the guitars, losing part of their stormy coldness.if you think to the Isvind music played live how you will chose to reproduce it? I ask you because for me Black Metal is something very particular, not only a metal thing.
Goblin: Personally I think black metal sound sucks on a live-show... it really lacks substance when boosted out to aprox. 110 db. So I would guess that a more soothing sound would enhance the experience. I have never heard ourselvs live.. few bands have heard themselves live actually. But I guess our live sound would stop cannonballs if shot at the gig. We depend solely on power equipent from pick to string, stick to head and from this to fan’s ear.

Arak: I agree with you, black metal isn't just a metal thing. But maybe you just want to please the audience or make them start banging or whatever and you know they need to hear the music in order to do that..? On the budget Isvind can expect, I'd be happy just to have a little fuzz on my guitar...ehm, bass! Live is not a good forum for black metal music. Relating black metal music to people even kind of ruins it for me.

Ild- Darkthrone and Immortal have demonstrated to be highly inspired by the dark side of the northern nature, what's your contact with nature and it can influence your cold and stormy musical creation?
Goblin: Darkthrone and Immortal stand in my book as someone really powerful and talented. The way they describe the elements of nature totally astonishes me day after day! My contact with nature usually is no longer than the occasional trip to a little old place called Ski. But I lived in Bergen for two years, and there I was a lot on top of the mountains around there... Beautiful!

Arak: This time of year, the autumn and winter inspires me a lot. Everything and everyone relaxes, or even dies. It's the same type of calm you find at night, it's easier to concentrate when it's dark and quiet. But I don't particularly care for nature just because it's nature. Some places are magical...Cities as well, but only a few.

Ild- It's not a secret that in some songs, like in the outro of your 7'' and in some moments of you demo a sort of "distorted" and sombre version of the folkish essence is audible, do you agree and if yes why?
Goblin: It really occupied my mind at that time. Forests and how I could create a mood that supported my visions of it. I was really into live-roleplaying at that time, and that too was a distorter for the way some of my riffs sounded, I actually heard some while in the woods... spooky?!

Arak: It's a roots thing...

Ild- Black Metal is for some people a world to escape from the common visions, from a few a lifestyle, for other nothing but music, what's your opinion?
Goblin: My opinion is much like Satyr said in a norwegian paper not long ago: That the music is aggressive, yes, but it triggers something inside that releases a very positive experience. So for me the images created in my head are often a lot bigger than the tonal spectrum of many songs that I really like.. I would say, Yeah: The escape is important...

Arak: Hmm...well put. For me it's about creating something that’s appealing to the mindset you're in. It's like you have to fully zone in on something, the smaller the better, to be able to fully understand it or create it well.

Ild- Have you ever heard Pagan or Viking metal bands and what you think in general of the movement?
Goblin: Depends on what you mean here, pal! If you mean old timers like enslaved and such, it’s a BIG THUMBS UP! The pagan way of music-making can be a bit dull, so luckily there are people who advance this style to great heights!

Arak: Yeah, Enslaved kick ass. Apart from that I have no clue. It's great with bands that create a unique atmosphere, but the labels we use on them are usually made by someone else. Anyway, if I want to learn something about vikings or pagans, I'd rather read a book or go to a museum.

Ild- I know that you've played with Nag from Tsjuder, a extreme musician that I really respect, are you still in contact with him and do you like his actual band?(astonishing for me)
Goblin: I haven’t seen him for many years... I think he started wearing strapless gowns and pumps....

Arak: He's in Australia, cruising around in a fat ass Jeep, that bitch. ;)

Ild- Tell me your 5 all-time preferred albums, and a band where you would like to play Actually what are you listen to?
Goblin: Okay, in no specific order albums that have ment a lot to me:
Megadeth-Rust In Peace
Death-Individual Thought Patterns
Dark Throne-A Blaze In The Northern Sky
Ozzy Osbourne-The Ultimate Sin
Cornelis Wreesvijk-Poem, Ballader och lite skämt
I would really like to take over the role after Zakk "Fucking" Wylde in Ozzy’s gigs...
These days I actually listen to a lot of the bands mentioned above, trying to re-experience the joys of youth or something

Arak: Hmm...the things I'll listen to...well, when I listen to metal this is the stuff:
Dark Throne - Under a Funeral Moon
Metallica - Master of Puppets
Sepultura - Morbid Visions
Jethro Tull - Aqualung
Destruction - Infernal Overkill
...but mostly I'm into electronic music in the Detroit-Berlin axis, artists like Robert Hood, Juan Atkins, Basic Channel, Aril Brikha, Kevin Saunderson etc...

Ild- Are you planning something for the future, I mean there will be another Isvind album, and if yes when, with which label and with what line-up?
Goblin: Yes. Don’t know. Our label. Well, Satriani, Vai and Johnson called themselves G3, so maybe we should call our line-up: AG3

Arak: I don't think there will be any surprises...except the release date.

Ild- How is going your cooperation, you live very far?
Goblin: Very not, actually. But we’re a bit lazy...

Arak: Isvind is reclaiming the neighbourhood!

Goblin: "....living in the gangsta paradise...."

Ild- What's the thing that you mostly hate and what musical genre you can't listen to?
Goblin: personally can’t stand rem, u2, kent, bent, rent, flent FUCK! I hate all these fucking incompetent musici’nins trodging around so fucking politically correct and soooooo independent. Hah! Leave any one of these motherfukcers in a dark room for more than ten minutes and every fucking one of them will suddenly feel the urge not to be so independent any more! MOMMY!!! MOOOMMY WHERE ARE YOU?!?! Buhuu... I’m so terribly lonely inside my fucking simple head, that it hurts... does it show?? Humans are losers folks, face it flag held high, fuckers!

Arak: I hate falling in love with the wrong women. I always do. And I hate the music they listen to. Fucking crappy quassi-mix-everything-that-sounds-funky-or-cool until you have something "socially correct". This type of music is especially frustrating, because it reminds you of good music but really it isn't

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