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After
an incredible amount of extremely stupid mainstream Black Metal wannabees,
Sweden finally managed to give birth to an extremely promising new band in the
raw and evil DARKTHRONE tradition. They started out as VOLKERMORD, but changed
their name into ARMAGEDDA pretty quickly and just released a highly impressive
debut full length entitled “The Final War Approaching”
(check out the review section for all further details). To introduce you to this
unholy force of evil a little more in-depth we contacted the band's founder and
bassplayer "A" for the following interview...
 Ok,
let’s go back in time a bit – according to the info sheet of your label it
was you who started ARMAGEDDA back in early 2000... But at that time it was
basically just a musical vision of yourself (and not a real band yet), wasn’t
it? Tell us how everything developed from the basic idea up to the time when you
finally started to write your own lyrics and music.
"Well,
it was growing and growing inside my head and I couldn't stand it anymore. The
beast was unleashed and see where we are now."
I
suppose the idea to name the whole project VOLKERMORD was also yours… But VOLKERMORD
(or actually VÖLKERMORD) is the German word for genocide, which is a pretty
unusual name for a band from Sweden, don’t you think?! So, how did that name
come about? Do you speak any German? Why did you pick a German band name instead
of a Swedish or English for example?
"First,
I don't speak German. Second, why we chose that name is because it has no meaning.
As you could see we didn't use the Ö, so the translation cannot be genocide."
Have
you been writing and / or performing music previously already? I could imagine
that you experienced something very influential at the time, something which
impressed you so much that you wanted to start up something on your own... So,
what was it – a certain band maybe? Or a song, a book, a movie…?
"I
haven't performing anything of intereset before Armagedda.
No books, no movies were involved in the creation of Armagedda.
Only the ideas of spreading propaganda lead to our origin."
Was
it clear for you right from the start that the result definitely had to be Black
Metal? What is so fascinating for you about this musical genre?
"Yes,
that was the idea from the beginning, to play old school Black Metal with influences
from the 90's Black Metal scene in Norway. Bands like Darkthrone,
Satyricon and for example Burzum
have inspired us alot when it comes to the creation of the music. What's so
fascinating? Well, the fanatics! The real worshippers of Black Metal."
 At the time when you started,
the big media interest in “Black Metal” already began to fade away again. Did
you actually follow the “evolution” of Black Metal, from the good old days of
early MAYHEM, DARKTHRONE, BURZUM etc. up to the time when most of the bands
involved ended up sounding rather stupid and mainly seemed to care for the big
success instead of the creation of frightening anti-commercial satanic music?
"No,
I did not follow the evolution of the old bands. I stopped listening to MAYHEM
after "Wolfs Lair Abyss". I don't know, maybe they are still serious
in their believes. I don't know why they want to get big and famous and earn
a lot of money. That's their business."
What do you think about bands
like IMMORTAL, DIMMU BORGIR, SATYRICON, EMPEROR etc. who all started out very
angry and dedicated, but over the years changed towards a more and more easy
accessible attitude and musical direction?
"I
don't know, I don't care."
Most of the bands also dropped
their corpsepaint after a while, calling it a “natural progression” or a process
of “growing up”. How important is corpsepaint and the whole visual side for
you? Could you imagine to present yourselves without all that as well sometime
in the future?
"It
is not deadly important with corpse paint. But of course, it is a part of Black
Metal. A part of the image and also the spirit. I think there is a big chance
that you will see Armagedda
without
corpse paint in the future sometime..."
When and how did you actually
hook up with Graav and Phycon on vocals / guitars and drums respectively? Have
they been in any bands previously? Were they involved in any way in the writing
of the material which ended up becoming your one and only VOLKERMORD demo tape?
"I
knew Phycon since back in '97 or something like that. Me and Graav got in touch
with each other some years ago. Both of them did alot of the music on the VOLKERMORD
demo tape. They had a band in the late 90's, but that is another story and kind
of boring."
Before
you went into the studio to record the demo you also did a rehearsal tape, but
decided not to release that. What was the reason for that? Which songs would’ve
been on there?
"Just
the same tracks as on the VOLKERMORD demo."
Why was the studio demo limited
to such a small amount of copies? I mean, it’s pretty obvious that it must have
cost you a little to record the tape, and I doubt that you managed to get the
invested money back by only spreading 30 copies of it…
"That
demo was dedicated to ourselves and to close comrades not to this planet."
 But a little later you agreed
on a re-release through Flagellation Records, who put out that demo again under
your new moniker ARMAGEDDA, using “Volkermord” as the demo title... Tell us
more about the intention behind this and also some more details about Flagellation
Records…
"He wanted to make a re-release and
I said ok, it is just that simple. The release was only for the serious people
in our movement."
There was also talk about
a possible CD version of it, wasn’t it? Who wanted to do that and why did it
fell through in the end?
"Ask
the guy of Eldritch Wizardry if you can find him. I know as much as you do in
that case."
When and why did you go for
the band’s name change by the way and what made you use ARMAGEDDA as your new
moniker?
"Read
question number two. If you ever read the Bible you would recognize Armagedda,
Armagedda is a valley in Israel.
A valley where Armageddon will come to pass."
The
next thing you did was the split cassette “In Blackest Ruin”, which you did
together with your country mates from Svarthymn.
Which songs appeared on there, how many copies were made and who actually
approached you with the idea of this release?
"Tracklist
for "In Blackest Ruin": 1. Intro (Fire Walk With Me), 2. Horde Of
Demons, 3. Whore Of God, 4. Wrapped By Darkness, 5. Pain and 6. Satan My Master
(Bathory cover). This was released
in I think around 60 copies by Deathcult Productions (Sweden).
The reason why so few copies where spread was that DCP got problems with money
and stuff. Though now Carnal Records will continue the release, and it will be
available again this autumn. For more info
contact Björn at Carnal Records."
I’m
not quite sure about the origin of your debut album “The Final War Approaching”
then – did you first of all finance / record the whole material completely on
your own and Sombre Records licensed and released a limited vinyl version afterwards
or was it vice versa?
"Yes,
we payed for the studio to record "The Final War Approaching" by ourselves,
then I sent a CDR to Opyros of Barbarian Wrath and Akhenaten heard it through
him and contacted me. And we made up a deal. Sombre wasn't in the picture at
that time, they came later..."
It was just a limited edition,
wasn’t it? How many copies did Sombre Records press and distribute and was that
a reason why Breath Of Night / Merciless Records stepped into the picture afterwards?
What actually was the reason to work with so many different companies?
"The
LP was limited
to 500 copies."
When
did Mord join the band and what is he actually doing in ARMAGEDDA?
"He
joined to play the bass, but he left
the band in the end of 2001
again. "
Musically I would say you’re
trying really hard to deliver Black Metal in its most purest form and I suppose
that a band like DARKTHRONE was kind of responsible for your sound. Any other
bands that you admire, old or new?
"Katatonia,
Katharsis, Clandestine Blaze to name a few."
 How about the lyrics then
– most of the true Black Metal people connect this music exclusively with Satanic
topics. Do you share these thoughts? Why did you only print the lyrics to three
of the songs in the booklet of your CD?
"Because
we don't want to share all lyrics, some of them are very personal and can be
misunderstood when small kiddies read them."
In
the meantime you must have been in the studio again as a new EP entitled “Strength
Through Torture” is supposed to be out through Painiac Records. Tell us a bit
more about that? Which songs will be on there and so on. Is it another limited
edition release?
"The
"Strength
Through Torture"
EP came out in January 2002, limited in 300 units. It was sold out in just some
weeks. The EP consists of 2 tracks. Side A:
'A
World Full Of Lies';
Side B:
'Dödens
Vind (The Wind of Death)'."
And
how about this Armagedda
/ Woods
of Infinity
split EP on Sombre Records? What is that all about?
"I
have no news about that now."
Unlike
many of the older Black Metal bands who often refused to play life, you
obviously don’t have any problems with playing live and there’s even a tour
in the making with BLACK
WITCHERY (USA), MANTICORE (USA) and AVENGER (Czech). So, tell us a bit more
about that and why you decided to perform your music on stage as well.
"Oh yes, I have a very big problem
with playing live. Because of all the people. But I have never done it and we
will do this tour. It will be the only live gigs performed by Armagedda
ever. How we will perform it? Well.. if you will be there you will see..."
(hmm, the question actually was WHY and not HOW you will perform your music
live, but what the fuck... - Frank)
Ok,
I guess that’s all for now. If you’d like to add something to this interview
that we might have missed out, feel free to do so now.
"Armagedda
have signed to the French cult label Drakkar Productions."
Interview: Frank Stöver
all live pics by: NöktrymM
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