Greetings, Andre! How are you? Any news, concerning BETHZAIDA?

- Not too bad, thank you. At the moment we are rehearsing hard for our concert here in Trondheim later this month, and we are also looking for an adequate studio for the recording of our upcoming full-length CD.

Well, I believe, I ask this question too often, but I just can't help
it... - what does your band's name mean?

- Hell yes, this is a 'FAQ', but here we go: according to an ancient myth, the Anti-Christ is to be born in a village called Bethzaida, north of the Genesaret lake. Don't put too much meaning into it, we don't believe in either Christ or his opposite.

If I'm not mistaken, you have released your first demo in 1995, so
BETHZAIDA seems to be a rather young band. Would you like to tell me how it all began?

- Well, you're mistaken! Our first demo, "Dawn" was released in 1994. The band however, was started the preceeding year when I moved to Trondheim and met my old friend, drummer Terje Krabol. After a couple of months, a bass player and our current vocalist / flute player joined, and shortly after the release of the debut demo, the band was further strengthened with another guitar player, enabling us to make more complex and sophisticated music.

Your song titles (such as "Nine Worlds", "The Outsider", "The Tranquillity Of My Last Breath") suppose very interesting lyrics...

- Yes, Lars writes all the lyrics, and draws inspiration from many
sources; like "Nine Worlds" is based upon Norse mythology, "The Outsider" is based upon the H. P. Lovecraft short-story with the same name, and other songs deal with emotions such as fear, despair and loneliness, whereas others concern religion, nature etc. etc.

BETHZAIDA recorded it's debut album in Brygga Studio, which is not very often visited by black metal bands, what was the reason for such a choice? Who paid for studio sessions, was "Nine Worlds" a self-financed release?

- We chose Brygga because our friend Tor Torsk works there, so we could get a decent deal and an engineer who knows what we want. We won't record any new stuff there, as they have doubled their prices. We had to pay for the studio ourselves, but our label paid us back by giving us some free CDs.

How will you describe your music?

- On our promotional material, the description "raw atmospheric dark
metal" is used, but I have seen other descriptions in reviews: "nightmare metal", "death metal with brains", "melodic rawness" etc.  The most characteristic part of our music is the combination of melodies and brutality (instead of using those elements in different parts).

Season Of Mist is a very small label, did you ever think about deal with bigger company, such as Nuclear Blast, Osmose...?

- Oh yes, of course we dream of being on a label with lots of money to pay for studio, touring, advertisement etc., but no big label has shown any interest yet. And for a small label, Season Of Mist does pretty good work.

You all come from Norway, but BETHZAIDA is very different from other Norse BM bands, how could you achieve such an original sound?

- Uh, hard to say, that's just the way it turned out. I think a lot of our sound comes from the combination of brutal yet melodic guitars combined with a manic voice, instead of the wussy vocals often used by other melodic bands. And also the flute is a totally incorporated element in our music, not just used for intro's and outro's like the case often is with such classical instruments.

Your guitarist / organist has a bit strange name - Brian III... Are you able to enlighten me concerning this question?

- That's a very 'inside' joke, you'd have to read the book
"Sennepslegionen" by Morten Jorgensen to get it... (don't know if it's translated into any other language). His real name is Brian Morsund.

Are you interested in topic of Occultism / Satanism? (There are a lot of satanists in Norway (well, at least a lot of people who CALL themselves as "satanists") and it's very weird in my opinion.  Satanism is the opposite side of christianity, and it also comes from Israel, that's why I consider it as foreign "religion" which has nothing to do with Europe, especially Norway... - ED)

- I'm pretty interested in religion in general, but not especially in
Satanism. Occultism bores me. I read a lot of books about the history of religions (especially christianity) and their horrible impact on society both earlier and now. Reading about their misdeeds during the christening of Norway, the witchburnings, the inqusitions, the spreading of their words to the world outside Europe and so on, fills me with anger and frustration, but it also makes me wonder how people can still believe in this crap today.

Why do christians claim a new-born child as the human's ideal? And who are more helpless when facing dangers of this earthly life - children or adults, how do you think?

- Now that's an unusual question! I think the children would be more
helpless because of their lack of skills and experience. I am not sure if the christians really claim the new-born as the ideal? I mean, according to them, we are all born as sinners, so you'd at least be baptized before you are considered "pure"?

Any comments about corpse-paint...?

- We have never considered it, it doesn't suit neither our music nor our personalities.

Please, tell me what do you think of the following topics and people:

Nature

- I adore it. The perfect recreation for me: a fishing trip or a mountain trip with a good friend. I'm really lucky to live in a part of the world where the nature is so fantastic.

Seasons of the year

- I like all of them, each one has its good sides.

Nationalism

- Can be a good thing as long as it is not exaggerated. Those
ultra-nationalists strike me as not being among the smartest. I mean, what is so Norwegian about shaving the head, wearing green bomber jackets and shouting 'Sieg Heil'?

Religion

- I hate it in all its forms. Religion is, and have always been, a tool for power-hungry people to oppress the masses. In our days of science and technology people should understand that there is no such thing as a god. I wouldn't hate it that much if they didn't interfere with my life, but they do. Recently a super-christian was elected prime minister in Norway, which will lead to more censorship, higher taxes on alcohol, more indoctrination of the children in school, etc.

Social-Darwinism

- Like 'The people most fit for society will survive'? No, I don't think that's the way it works. Let's see what happened in your country when you got rid of the communism and got a kind of market economy: the people with the power today are not the smartest ones, but the most ruthless, selfish and greedy - drug dealers, mafia leaders and other criminals. I stand to correction on this issue, this is just what my Russian friends told me.

Varg Vikernes

- I had some respect for him earlier, but not now. I mean, the first album is excellent, but the new ones are boring. I was amused when he came forth in the media admitting his church arsons and regretting nothing, but now, with that nazi-crap and all, no.

Nietzsche

- I have only read "Beyond Good And Evil" (or whatever the English title is). I liked it when I read it, but it didn't make a lasting impact on me.

Darwin

- Well, some of his ideas are proven correct, like the evolution theory ("The Origin Of The Species").  Other ideas, however, are incorrect. Like, achieved abilities are not passed on to the next generation like he believed, because new abilities does not change your genes.

Do you remember the time when STORM released their first album,
"Nordavind"? There were a lot of rumors in Norwegian press, some even
called Satyr and co. as fascists, others cursed them because of the
nationalistic approach "Nordavind" had... And after this massive
mass-media attack Satyr, Fenriz and Kari started to defend themselves in a very strange ways, saying such things as "Israel is great country... jews are equal to Norwegians..." etc. WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS? I always thought that you, people of Norway, are proud to be White Norse men... And now niggers are walking the streets of your motherland's cities, embracing White Norwegian girls - is this what you wanted? Do you want your country to become second America?

- I don't remember what Satyr and Fenriz said, but I remember Kari saying that she was kind of 'lured' into this project without knowing about the nationalistic undertones. Be that as it may, I think it's meaningless to criticize them for the nationalistic approach. It's an album inspired by Norwegian folk music, and that's it. (It's kind of boring and childishly arranged though, don't you think? (yes - ED)) As for foreigners stealing our girls: if a girl really wants to be with these people, it's none of my business, but it's probably not the girl for me...

What the strong personality must represent, in your opinion? Is it
necessary to be strong physically nowadays, when you can do almost
everything on your computer...? And finally, who is stronger:  crowd or one but perfect personality?

- A person with a strong personality must be able to make own decisions regardless of what other people say, but should also be able to take input and advice from others. Some people confuse "strong personality" with "stubborn". Physical strength has lost some of its importance, not only because of computers, but also other gadgets, tools and inventions that make our lives less physically demanding. Good for me... I think a personality can be stronger than a crowd, because a person with a strong personality can lead the crowd.

One of BETHZAIDA's best sides is excellent guitar work... How did you
manage to play your instrument in such a unique way? Do you have any
musical education?

- Thank you! We don't have any musical education, so I guess it comes from the bands we listen most to, like VOIVOD, SABBAT (UK), CANDLEMASS, BLACK SABBATH, etc. One thing is for certain, I never waste any time practising technique with boring finger drills and stuff.

Imagine your perfect fan... Who is he(she)? How does he(she) look like? What are his (her) interests? What does he(she) believe in?

- I don't know how he / she looks, the most important thing is that they really *listen* to our music and try to get into it, thus appreciating the finer details and unusual tonalities, measures, changes and so on. Apart from that, they can be interested in, and believe in, whatever they want for all I care.

What do you know about my country? Have you ever heard about Russian
underground bands?

- Actually, I know quite a lot about your country! Both its history and geography have interested me for many years, and I've read some Russian authors (like Dostojevskiy) which have given me some clues as to how Russia was like earlier. I have closely followed the changes after the communist regime fell, but I am not quite sure if all the changes are for the better. I mean, some of my Russian friends told me that they hardly can afford food even though they have jobs in the industry. Earlier, they say, they at least had food on the table, but of course their liberties were more limited back then. Perhaps you could enlighten me with your views on the changes? I have even tried to learn your language, I have some course books. It's difficult though, so I can't have a conversation, but I pick up some words here and there, especially when I read. I don't know any Russian underground bands. I rarely see any distributors carry any such stuff, and I don't know any good Russian contacts.

Modern society is 100% computerized today, wouldn't it be dangerous if we'll follow this way further?

- Yes indeed, so I am a huge fan of analog technology (I prefer vinyl LP's to CD's, of course). When the computers break down (which happens from time to time), we really see how dependent of them we have made ourselves. Like here at the university; if some computers fail I can't get anything done the whole day. So I guess it's right that computers saves us from working... hah.

Where do you prefer to live - in city or countryside?

- I prefer to live in a small town like my hometown Alesund (population - 35 000), which is by the sea, close to some fantastic mountains, lies in a relatively unpolluted area and doesn't have the problems with crime and such like they have in big cities.

What do you think about female black metal bands? About women in the whole?

- I don't know any *really* good black metal bands, but I guess that will come as more and more women start to play this kind of music.  Oh yes, I like women, I'm not "swinging to the other side", you know...

What can you tell me about Andre Svee and his earthly life?

- Not much that would be of interest to your readers!

What is your main goal with BETHZAIDA?

- At the moment we are looking forward to recording our next CD, and we'll also try to get some gigs.  Nothing unusual here, I guess this is the goal of almost all bands!

Anything, that you would like to add...?

- Thank you for this interview, it's great to see that the Russian
underground is alive and kicking. Na zdorowje!

BETHZAIDA
Email (Andre):
svee@stud.unit.no