Pushing musical boundaries is at the heart in everything that moves and motivates Norwegian Black Metal outfit Satyricon. Their latest self titled album may well be their most forward-thinking and progressive offering to date. Ghost Cult touched base with singer and main composer Satyr to probe his mind on the new Satyricon record, the merits of analog recording, his dislike for pop music among many other things.

Before the recording Of Satyricon you took a long break from the band. How come?

There were many reasons for that, but the most important one was that I came to a point as an artist where I was doing things because they were expected from me and as a band we started to question whether we wanted to do that. I enjoyed making the music and as a band we’re very uncompromising where our music is concerned and no one ever dared telling us what to do musically, but the touring thing simply got out of control. The only thing we did was traveling from one plane to another. We never wanted to do that. Sure, we enjoy playing live and touring is a part of being a musician, but I never dreamt of spending my life in the back of a tour bus. I started the band because I wanted to write songs and make records. Other things we started to notice was that small things that would normally be minor disagreements became big arguments. It was the wear and tear on people. As the leader of the band it was my responsibility to make sure that we took a break as opposed to continuing and ending up in a situation where we, all of a sudden, are forced to take a break.

The new album is quite a departure from the previous three Satyricon albums. To which extent was your extended break a cause for this?

Obviously it influenced the outcome of the new album in many ways; the time to think and reflect and the energy from being away from it all for a while. Also with The Age Of Nero I felt that the musical path we walked on the past decade had reached its destination. Writing compact black metal songs on a rock music basis was something I really enjoyed doing, but I felt I reached a point that I wanted to do something different. I didn’t know what it would be exactly, so I tried desperately to find out, but along the way I noticed this approach didn’t work, so I left it alone. I’ll figure it out over time. It will come to me when I’m ready for it.

What statement do you want to make with recording analog and all the extra burdens that come with it?

First and foremost it’s a very hardcore way of doing things. We recorded things on tape, which is probably the most difficult and expensive way of doing things because we thought we would benefit from it sonically. The sound is basically the language of the song and it heavily influences the way the songs are perceived. There will always be an activist mentality in Satyricon and we are very aware of our art. We are in a privileged position in which we influence the black metal scene and in that sense that’s also our responsibility. The last few years pop music and metal music are in a terrible state to me when it comes down to the production. Not all, but the majority sounds like it comes from some digital box. The overkill in autotuned vocals in pop music is really provocative to me. When I’m sitting in my car and I accidentally turn on a pop music radio station I almost smash my car radio in order to put it off. I simply can’t stand listening to it. The trouble is that you have a lot of that in metal too. Drums that sound like typewriters, guitars that don’t have any dynamics whatsoever and the reverb sounds like it comes from some cheap computer plugin. It’s all cheap and cost-efficient, but it sounds so lifeless to me. I told Frost (drummer) that our new album would be one of those records that are completely authentic whether people would like the music or not. It’s the sort of record that people that love our music would feel as a homecoming when they hear the atmospheres and the sounds and the way the songs are performed in combination with the analog production.

The new album is a very rich and rewarding listening experience, because of its many different atmospheres and the influences you used from other music genres, but it never loses its focus. How did you manage to do that?

That’s a very good observation and a very good question. One of the key elements in the songwriting is that the album should be seen as a whole and not as a compilation of songs. One of the things I had in mind with a song like ‘Walker Upon The Wind’ and ‘Nekrohaven’ was to create dynamics within the musical context of the album as a whole; those type of aggressive songs really stir up things in combination with more atmospheric and melancholic tracks. It really strengthens the overall emotions and makes things more palpable. The album should be seen and experienced as a journey. When you write songs it’s important to think where a certain part fits in the album as a whole. A lot of interesting material didn’t make it onto the record, because they didn’t work in the overall picture and it would screw up the entire balance. In terms of the actual recordings we had this really long song called ‘The Infinity Of Time and Space’. Five minutes into the song there is this really beautiful acoustic piece which I really liked, but I didn’t know where it would fit in the overall composition. I asked the engineer to play the song from the beginning so I could get my bearings back again. Sometimes during the recording of the vocals we would sit down in the morning on a couch in the back of the control room and listen to the album as a whole as music fans. Because I’m closely involved with so many aspects of the recording process I surround myself with qualified engineers and I encourage them to give their opinion on things. I may not use it, but that shouldn’t discourage them to voice their opinions. In order to be successful, you need to surround yourself with people that know what they’re doing and have a different perspective or insight on things.

Frost has been your musical partner in Satyricon from day one. How important is he for you in order to accomplish your musical visions?

The crazy thing is that Frost and I are so alike, yet so very different from each other at the same time. He’s pretty much limitless in his playing because of his physical capacity. One could say that he’s more of an artist than a musician. He has the willpower and the commitment and so he is the heart and soul of Satyricon. That in itself is very inspiring and that creates a very stimulating working environment. He never gives up. He’s obviously recognized as one of the top extreme metal drummers, but what I hear from him on the new album is something I really appreciate. The missing part of his drumming is the musicality aspect of it and I feel that in Satyricon he’s more of a complete drummer. He sounds like he is almost 20 years down the road or so. His drumming is so much more creative and intriguing to me now. I can only say that I love working with him and that I always will.

Satyricon is all about pushing musical boundaries. What’s your opinion on black metal purists who see any form of musical progress as a betrayal to what black metal stands for?

The people you’re referring to as purists aren’t purists to me. People like me are the purists. People like you mentioned started out rather late and they’re a lot younger than the veterans of the scene and they don’t have the same insight and knowledge on black metal. They think they do in the way they dress and the way they look and the fake way they pretend and behave. It’s easy to see through and I’m not buying into that. I’m not going to be influenced by the politics of those people. I’m inspired by the ways of true pioneers like Tom G. Warrior who showed that the possibilities of black metal and occult music are limitless. It’s so easy to have a small group of people who are really loud and opinionated. They get too much credit and they’re allowed set more precedents than they deserve. I really disregard those people and I don’t look upon them as real.

Raymond Westland

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