Greetings, Rune! Almost three years passed between the release of "Aurora Borealis" and "Dragons Of The North", what was the reason for such a long delay? Honestly speaking, I thought that your band split up...

- Well, Kai, I left the band myself for about one and a half year ago, because we had some very different meanings of how the music should be alike, in the end I let them play what they wanted & left the band with no quarrels. We have always been friends, and I hope it may stay that  way. Anyway, in 1996 I rejoined the band after a request from the members of EINHERJER, and we recorded the album "Dragons of the North", and released it on the label called Napalm Records. It sold pretty well. We also recorded a MiniCD, which I guess will be out when your readers read this. It will be called "Far Far North". This will be the last recording with Audun Vold, Stein Sund and me in the band as we have all left EINHERJER. Me and Stein are now playing in a band called TUNDRA, and it contains Stein and me + Harald Magne Helgesen (ex-drummer of ENSLAVED) and another guy who carries  the name Rune (extremely good on the guitar). Audun Vold is currently doing nothing, though me and him may record some stuff together later.

Music, featured on "Dragons..." is quite different from what you composed in the beginning, you stopped using your pseudonyms, the logo has also changed... It seems that EINHERJER before and after 1996 are two different bands...

- It is a different band, but I think it is far much better now. The
pseudonyms were dropped  because we came to the conclusion that it is very childish and embarrassing. And why not to use our own names really? I think they are ok.

How would you compare your time spend in Lydloftet and Grieghallen
Studios? Are there any things, that you want to tell me about Pytten?

- The time spend in Lydloftet vs. the time spend in Grieghallen, is like going directly from the stone age just to be plunged out into cyberspace. Pytten is a very cool guy and he is a really pleasant person to work with. He is effective, yet very concerned of the result of your recording.

"Fullmoon" zine called "Aurora..." as the best demo from Norway in 1994, the same words were said by Thomas of "Holocaust" zine... Do you really think, that it was your best that time?

- Honestly? Yes! I do think so, I do not think we should have done
otherwise.

Your singing style on "Dragons..." remind me somehow of KING DIAMOND's "The Eye". Do you agree with me? Can you name this band among your influences?

- Well, I would certainly say thanx for this enormous compliment of my singing. I do certainly think that King Diamond is a heck of a singer and he is one of my favorites, but if I should draw my influence from him, I guess I have had to go to a very good singing teacher 'coz, if there is one thing King can, it must be singing.  I don't have any special influences.

Your bandname and lyrics quite obviously tell me that you are deeply into Ancient Northern mythology... Do you really believe in all these tales? This is interesting to read about, but to believe in...?

- I agree with you, it is very entertaining to read, but believing... No, I don't think so.

The absolute majority of Norwegian BM bands write lyrics in their own
language - do you think it's the right decision? Such bands as ULVER, do they care about their foreign fans? Was this the reason for you to start singing in English?

- It is the right decision if you can't write in English... No, just
kidding, but I think that if you write in English, you would reach a much bigger audience, and I personally do not wish to write texts which won't be understood by anyone. It takes a lot of time to write a text and I thereby wish to show my work for the majority of people who are willing to buy our music. Whether ULVER cares for their fans or not, I can just say: I have no idea!!!

I know that Frode and Gerhard played in the band called BEELZEBUB for some time... What was the reason for their departure from BEELZEBUB? Armageddor was the mastermind behind this project, what happened to him?

- Actually I currently work together with Armageddor nowadays, and he is a real cool guy, with a fine sense of humor. He gave up music after BEELZEBUBles. But hey, don't call him a mastermind when it comes to music! He is as I said a very cool guy, but when it comes to composing music, he is not a very good composer, Gerhard made most of the music within BEELZEBUB.

It seems that Norwegian BM scene became popular (or how should I say?) only after the murders perfomed by Vikernes and Faust and churchburnings, events which could be used for a couple of scandalous articles in such worthless mags as "Kerrang!"... Nobody cared about black metal from Norway before 1993... In your opinion, this popularity came thanks to your countrymates' music or just because of events, which I named above?

- Just because of the events above, no doubt.

For some time we could behold a new trend coming from Norway - a lot of BM bands recorded their albums in shitty studios on awful equipment; being professional musicians, they were trying to make music which would be as simple as possible, with monotonous and chaotic riffs... Just remember DARKTHRONE's "Panzerfaust" (horrible album!), ULVER's "Nattens Madrigal", ISENGARD's "Hostmorke"... What do you think about this?

- If they can afford to make better recordings, then I think it is stupid not to do so. They would sell much more. But remember that the main reason DARKTHRONE did it was because they only wanted people who truly enjoyed black metal to buy their records.

A lot of people playing so-called viking metal consider themselves as
vikings, though being very weak physically... As far as I know, "viking" means "warrior", so how they dare to call themselves as that?

- I don't know. Maybe they like to act tough, or maybe again they feel like they are giving their ancestors a kind of respect by doing so.

What do you think of religion, as it is now and as it was before... Did this term change with time?  What about paganism? Is it possible to revive ancient pagan beliefs now, in modern Europe?

- I guess that should be possible. If you believe in one thing & try to live up to it, then I guess that is the right thing to do.

What do you think of playing live? Do you wear ancient viking ammunition on stage? Does EINHERJER perform any shows? How much people come to your concerts? Could you play with the christian metal band?

- EINHERJER wear viking inspired clothes, no special shows, about 50 to 250 persons will come to watch (on a local basis), I do not think that EINHERJER would be playing together with a christian band.

What do you want to express through your music? Is it melancholy or pure hate? Do you consider EINHERJER's music as ancient battle hymns, or it is something else...?

- I myself does because I like to play music, and to pay my ancestors some respect. Concerning the rest of the band... I don't know really.

What do you know about Russia? Do you have any comments, concerning
Russian people? Have you ever heard of Russian black metal?

- I have only limited knowledge about Russia. It seems to be a country with big trouble with their economy. Your country have a great nature, but it seems to be fucking cold up there. All in all I must say I am impressed with the majestic aura  your country gives.

Ok, that's all, I hope you'll find it interesting so far. Your questions are very entertaining to read / answer, they are not as dull as the other interviews use to be.

Rune Bjelland
Email: rubjella@sn.no