Metal as a subculture has always been under fire from the more conformist of ideologies. With rebellion in its foundations Metal is a vessel to break away from the norms of societies sometimes isolating those with a more open mind in the eyes of the mass. Coming up trumps in the Metal subgenres, Black Metal is its own following in itself. Created as a protest against religion the genre is a magnet to controversy. Set to release their brand new album Where Shadows Forever Reign on June 3rd (Century Media), Dark Funeral will mark their return after a six year absence. We were lucky enough to be able to speak to composer and geniune Black Metal maestro Lord Ahriman about an in depth look at the writing process and the controversy surrounding Black Metal and its censorship particularly in Russia.
Listen to the full unedited interview or read the full transcript below!
Today I have with me Lord Ahriman from the legendary Dark Funeral, how are you today?
I’m doing just fine thank you.
Excellent. Recently you performed at London’s Incineration Festival, how was that for you?
That was really good, we totally enjoyed the show. We had a great time on stage and the crowd seemed to be totally into the gig so it was great.
Soon there shall be a frosty cloud coming over in June when you release Where Shadows Forever Reign. What was it like recording the album?
It was very inspiring and also extremely hard, Daniel put a lot of demand on us to really perform our very best. He was extremely picky but it was all worth the pain and long working days because the final result turned out pretty good but when you were right in the middle of it it was kind of tough!
Was it a bit chaotic?
No, not chaotic, I was there the whole month and I was working from fifteen to eighteen hours a day so it was long days for me. After those four weeks I felt it in my whole body. I had played guitar and bass for so many hours a day, I was just so stiff in my whole body. It was a really tough recording session but as I said extremely inspiring and it was great from everybody.
What about the writing process? Did you write before you entered the studio?
Yeah, for this record we were actually done with the preproduction three weeks before the studio and thats the first time since Diabolus Interium or even Vobiscum Satanas so this time we felt more prepared than in a very long time and it obviously felt really good.
Was it a collaborative effort or was it mainly you that was leading the charge?
The writing process yeah, when it came to the music I was writing pretty much everything and I had some input from the other guys. I always have an open discussion with the other guys when I write. We share a Dropbox folder and put new ideas and new song ideas. Dominator came by and gave some good input for arrangements for a couple of songs but other than that I’ve written the music. Then Heljamadr responsible for the lyrics.
So all lyrics were him?
Two of the stories are personal stories for myself and this the first record since The Secrets [of the Black Arts] that I was involved in the vocal arrangement and also in the lyric writing. I had never been interested in taking part in that for many many years but this time I don’t know I got so many ideas for the vocal arrangements so I was working really close to Heljamadr. For these two songs so many ideas popped up and I felt for this record, the lyrics have to be in symbiosis to the music. Especially the two songs “As I Ascend” and “Temple of Ahriman” are very personal songs to me and I just had so many ideas, I started working on lyrics for those songs. Because I had the stories to the music and I just had to get it out. Then I let Heljamadr fine tune the lyrics and finish off what I had started.
Is it always stories that you tell about?
When it comes to me, as I said, I haven’t been writing lyrics since The Secrets of The Black Arts album and this was years ago. I don’t know, I had so many ideas and I felt that before when I have written a song I had let Caligula do the lyrics and have his own take on the lyrical theme but for this record especially for two of the songs, they have to really symbolise and be a perfect match for what I had in mind for when I wrote the songs, what they meant for me. For once it was not only the music that I wanted to have as a reflection of my inner self but also the lyrics to fit what I had in mind with the music. That’s why I was a little bit more involved in that process this time.
Its the first record that Dark Funeral have released in six years, was it nerve racking going into the studio?
Since we had the preproduction for the whole record finished before we had a great vibe, the record label had listened to the demos and they were like “Dude this is going to be really awesome!” so we had a good feeling from day one. Of course you never know how people are going to react to the final result but at least the band and the record label, we all felt that we had something really good going on at the time.
Do you think its a bit of a return to the roots of Dark Funeral?
Not by intention. I understand that lots of people that have listened to a few of the songs and even the whole record, feel that there is lots of Old School feeling in the album and also on the artwork but it was nothing that we planned, this is the way it turned out. When I write music I don’t say to myself “Ok, I gotta write like this and that” I have an idea but I never look to the past, I always look forward to the future and then into myself when I write. So its more of a coincidence that it has a bit of Old School feeling.
You mentioned the artwork, can you tell us about how that was conceived?
Over the years I have been in contact with Necrolord and I think it was when we played Sweden Rock Festival about four or five years ago. He had an art exhibition backstage so I went there and talked to him and already at that time we started talking about maybe we should work together for a new record and he was totally into it and I was also into it and we kept in touch over the years and we met once in a while and we always said that when we have more music written for the album we need to start talking and start planning for it.
So, when we came to the point where it was time to discuss our cover I called him up and said “Ok here are a couple of songs that we have in progress and listen to it and see what your take is on that.” During the whole writing process we kept him up to date with lyrics and music so that he could get inspiration from that when he was painting. He wanted to create his own vision from the music in the form of the painting and it turned out amazingly good.
Definitely! It definitely suits the albums vibe.
Yeah, when I saw it for the first time, at that time when he sent me the artwork for the first time he had no idea what the album was going to be called and when I saw it was like “Do you realise what the album is going to be called? You’re not going to believe this! This is just the perfect match” and when I told him he was just as surprised as me and he said that this is the feeling I get from listening to the record and I couldn’t agree more, he really captured the atmosphere and the whole essence of the whole record. It was just amazing.
This is also Heljamadr’s first full recording as a vocalist. What was that experience like?
Well he is the kind of guy he digs totally into the work he is doing with music. He was just so inspired to learn new things, he’s not used to working in a studio like we are also with the producer so it was a totally new experience for him. He has this great feeling for when I do something, its hard to describe but its just inspired and really open for learning new things and stuff like that and I think he is extremely professional. He nailed the songs so quick and even Daniel and Jorge were very impressed by his work and I couldn’t agree more. He’s just a professional musician and vocalist, it was just a pleasure to work with him.
Excellent and what was it like to work with Daniel Bergstrand?
It was the second time that we worked with him and as I said he is a very demanding producer and he pushes you to the limit to really do your best when you are in the studio. Its great working with him.
You’ve got a fairly understanding relationship from the previous albums as well…
Of course! We sit down and discuss, sometimes we don’t understand each other, maybe I don’t understand what he has in mind when it comes to the production and he doesn’t understand when it comes to certain riffs and stuff because he’s very theoretical and I create my own weird shit that is not theoretically correct but thats the way I want it. He explains things from his side and I explain things from my side. At the same time you learn a lot of new things so it was a much deeper working process and relationship that we built up this time. I think that meant a lot for the final result of the record.
I noticed that there is quite a lot of melody on the record as well, was that something that just kind of accidentally happened?
When I started writing in the record I thought “I don’t have enough melodies…” This is going to be a weird record! Then I didn’t think about it that much, this time I just went with the flow, I didn’t think too much about what I was doing. If it had the feeling I was looking for then I just kept on working on the song so I was kind of surprised myself when I heard, when I had the songs finished. The only thing I had in mind after the last record, when we were having discussions I said “What I want to do with the next record is to get more rhythmic drums and more rhythmic guitars” still go with my usual way or writing guitar riffs and melodies but get a little more groove and rhythm with them.
If I look on the previous record the melodies are kind of straight, on this record I worked more with rhythmic melodies. Lots of syncopated stuff which is sometimes fucked up but very interesting. That was my idea, what I wanted to improve on this record and I think I managed to do that on a bigger extent that I could have even thought of. I find this record to be a good bridge for what is coming next you know?
Some of the material sounds quite technically demanding as well, you mentioned you had such long hours in the studio did you hurt haha?
Of course, as I said, when you play guitar and bass for three weeks, lets say ten hours a day…
Jesus, you’re a madman!
Haha the last days when I was tracking guitars I was so stiff in my whole body, I could hardly move! Its been so tense those days but at the same time I was in such a good shape playing and you know I have never been in such a good shape ever in my life as I was when we were in the studio. It was challenging and it was very inspiring and just a great recording session even though it was extremely demanding. This was the first time that I had fucking pain in my whole body.
That’s intense!
Yes but its worth it you know?
What about tours, once the album is released what are you guys going to do after that?
We have festivals over the summer and in October we start touring Europe. We’re just finalising the stuff for that tour, dates already confirmed I hope we can release the dates within the next two, three weeks!
Is the UK maybe on there?
Yes.
Excellent! Are there a couple of dates or just one off London?
I got a question from I can’t remember who yesterday and I said I have seen the dates but I haven’t really seen them! So I made a quick check today, was UK on the list, yes and I don’t remember where else we are going! I have to focus on everything that is going on at the moment. That’s still a couple of weeks ahead of me and on the other hand I really don’t need to know where we are playing. If we have a show, to me it doesn’t matter where we are going, the show in itself is what is important not where it is.
This is a bit of a left field question from the album, recently Belphegor attracted quite a lot of problems in Russia. What is your opinion on the whole censorship in Russia?
Yeah! I can tell you a good story. That freak was trying to ban our show, we played two shows right before Belphegor in Russia and the same guy, ever since we had announced the show he has been trying to damn it. Everybody was really worried if we were going to be able to do the shows or not considering what has been going on with Behemoth and Cannibal Corpse and I think even Cradle of Filth and we had no problem whatsoever! We had two fantastic shows, fans were really awesome, everybody at immigrations and customs airport everybody was super nice and very friendly so we had no problem whatsoever.
We were also wondering why this guy didn’t show up. Then I heard right after this Belphegor incident, I got the story told and it shows that the this guy, the day before we flew into Moscow there was a Satanic art exhibition in Moscow or St Petersburg and he had been there raising hell and he was arrested! So apparently this motherfucker was in jail the weekend we were there! I’m not one hundred percent sure but this is the story that I was told right after the Belphegor incident so he was apparently in jail and thats why we could do the show.
Without a problem whatsoever but also the police and immigration, when we flew in they were super friendly and nice! There was some stuff going on but it wasn’t their fault more my fault! I had a broken passport so they sent me back to Sweden but then I came back the next morning. I just had to make a round trip to get a new passport in Stockholm but they were just really helpful to make it possible for me to come back at such short notice. When I arrived the next morning they were waiting for me, took great care of me until I was through customs. I have a totally different experience of Russia than many other bands!
Its nice to hear!
I’m totally looking forward to going back because we had an amazing time there but you never know what is going to happen. With this crazy religious, this guy is a politician from what I understand but he is also a right wing crazy catholic nutcase you know? So if he is around he will probably cause a problem but we have had problems like that before, even the Polish president, the one who died on an airplane. He was trying to ban us too and he actually did and I started an open discussion with him and the Polish media. I’m not afraid, I think censorship especially when it comes to religious oppression is all bullshit and I can discuss and fight for my right and other peoples right for the freedom of expression for as long as it takes and then I win. Absolutely not afraid of that chance.
Its such a backwards thing to have in the modern day as well.
Absolutely, its just what’s going on really its just insane.
Look at China for example, obviously they are quite far but they never get any bands that play there.
We have played there too!
Oh have you?
Like I said we are not afraid we will go there and play secret shows. We’ve played in countries where blasphemy is distant, this is what we do and we’re not afraid of taking up the challenge if its needed.
Obviously they don’t have that many bands that come over so when they see you they must be completely crazy.
Indeed and they are so thankful that we actually do this extra effort for them even thought they know that it is a little bit dangerous for us or whatever. We’ve got to keep united in the scene and fight these imbeciles.
What is your opinion on the Black Metal scene at the moment?
I’ve not really been so up to date with what is going on to be honest, I kind of live in my own box you know. Of course I have a lot of contact with bands but we’re not really talking about what is going on with the music scene its just more private stuff so I really don’t know what is going on. Now we are back with a new album, going on tour, I’m going to get more involved and we’re going to be travelling a lot, you meet people all over the world and then you catch up and see what was going on within the scene around the world. Thats always one of the good things about touring.
I’ll ask you the same question in about a years time haha!
Yeah, I will have a better answer haha!
To finish off what has been album that you have been listening to for the last six months to a year?
There’s a few records that are always in my spin, some King Diamon, some Mercyful Fate some Testament, some Judas Priest… I don’t really listen too much to Black Metal because I play it 24/7 myself. Sometimes I listen to it!
Sometimes you just need a bit of a break I think.
Of course I love extreme metal, I love Napalm Death and stuff like that but when you rehearse, you play it yourself then its nice to have some kind of variation. I listen to bands that I grew listening to in the eighties and I still listen to many of the bands right up until today.
Excellent! Well thank you ever so much for speaking with us today.
You’re welcome man!
Dark Funeral’s brand new album Where Shadows Forever Reign is out June 3rd.
