NIFELHEIM

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At the Party San festival 2006 we took the unique chance for a face-to-face interview with Tyrant and Hellbutcher of "Nifelheim". A lot of people took part in this (okay, I offered it, and as Nifelheim know some of them personally, it should be no problem). Our guest writers Claudian and Dan both came along, bringing 2 more friends (but 3 among us speak Swedish, so we could talk in either language with Nifelheim, which was helpful to "losen their tounges"). So finally we were 7 people sitting there in the sun & having a good time talking to Nifelheim... it was like a nice picknick, Wodka and coffee being there as well. ;-) 
So, as too many people put questions (and as it's hard to separate the voices of the Nifelheim brothers from each other on tape), I just marked questions and answers with "N" for any of the 2 Nifelheim guys, and "S" for questions put by any Sheol member.
Let me add that many things they said are meant in a sarcastic way or just as fun, so don't feel pissed off by anything they said.

N = Nifelheim
S = Sheol Crew

((Extremely abridged version!! //Comments in double brackets are additional explanations of Twilightheart for a better understanding)) 

S > A Swedish friend told me about an old commercial spot  with you guys in Swedish televison...

N > Yeah, that’s a conspiracy. We made a commercial for an insurance company for TV and got a lot of money, that’s the story.

S > Why did you do it?

N > Because I got as much money on one day as I earn in one year.

S > Is this true BM behaviour? ;-)

N > Yes it is. 

S > This is the first time for you at Party San and the second time to play in Germany at all.

N > Yeah, we played the “Under the black sun” festival in 2001, I think. 

S > How come that you haven’t toured Germany more often up to now?

N > Well, we don’t play very often anywhere, you know, just a few gigs every year. And it’s not a special reason. If people call us and ask if we want to come, we usually do.

S > How was the reaction of the crowd during your gig yesterday?

N > Well, I think it was great. There was a lot of banging, I could see from stage. It was like I hoped it should be.

S > What about the gig with Dissection in Stockholm? How did the cooperation start?

N > We had plans for many years to tour together with Dissection, since the early nineties. But then Jon was arrested, some years went by and it is fucking great that we at least had ONE gig together, because we had plans for a lot, but this was the ultimate.

S > You have also worked with Jon in the past. He played guitar on your old albums.

N > Yeah, on the first 2 albums.

S > Anything else you worked on together with him?

N > We just recorded a split-7inch with the Brazilian band “Volcano”… do you know this band?

S > No.

N > It’s like the first Black Metal band from Brazil. It started out in 1980, so it’s really cool. Anyway, when we recorded the disc, Jon was also playing some guitars on that one, playing some solos.

S > How did your contact actually start?

N > It was when we got in contact with the vocalist of “Satanized”, he was a friend of Jon obviously. Then we got in contact and directly became friends. Because there were not so many people that were into BM back then… more Death and Gore, you know.

S > Speaking of today: what must a real BM band be like?

N > Like Nifelheim… or Dissection! Dissection are great. They probably are one of the few serious Black Metal bands, maybe the only serious BM band. But now they don’t exist any longer unfortunately, so it must be Nifelheim. ;-)

S > I want to know your opinion about this: one BM band was cancelled from one of the big German summer festivals this year for the reason of having too satanic lyrics. 

N > ((laughing)) Cencorship is good.

S > Nice joke.

N > Yeah, it seems quite strange. They are not the first band that has satanic lyrics. Suddenly it’s like it becomes underground again.

S > You never had problems with cencorship?

N > Not so much. But it seems that in Germany they have that hype. Germany is becoming like the old soviet union again! ;-)

S > I heared a story about you guys. You were at any hotel because of any gig, and then you walked out into the hotel garden and sat down under a tree by the sea, but wearing your complete Black Metal outift with all the spikes and so on. So all the little children playing near the sea were staring at you, being really scared of you. 

N > Yeah, that was probably at the Under the Black Sun festival, because I remember we were at a beach together with Deströyer666, these bastards. I was drunk but I remember that it was funny.

S > Talking about your past… is there anything you are sorry for (doing, or missing)?

N > Yeah, we are actually very unlucky when it comes to bandmembers and record labels and stuff. We wish we had not been so fucking anti-everything all the time, but I am still like that, but I sometimes regret, when understanding that I could have gotten some better record deals or anything.

S > I think I read something about any record label that never wants to deal with you again.

N > That’s probably the opposite. We don’t want to deal with the label again. “Necropolis records” for instance is the ultimate sh** label on earth. 

S > Why is that?

N > Because they are fucking idiots. We have never got 1 cent for record sales or anything. We have never got statements about sales or a free copy for ourselves, you know. It doesn’t matter really, because I don’t play for the money, but it’s still annoying that you are working, rehearsing, paying for instruments and everything, but everyone except for you gets anything back, you know.

S > How did you get in contact with Sebastian and Johan of Necrophobic?

N > I think we got in contact with Sebastian first when we went with Dissection when they played in Wacken in 1997. We were going in the same bus. And Sebastian was also going in the same bus and we became friends and when we needed a new guitarist, we called him. And he obviously knew Johan. So when we needed a new guitarist again, he asked him. But Johan was our roadie first, you know, caring for our luggage! ;-) And this line-up now excists since fucking 2 years.

S > And what about Martin Axenrot?

N > We had to kick him out. We paid him money to come and to rehearse Gothenburg and he never showed up all the time. So we had to find a new one. And now we got even a better one. 

S > Is it the same with Satanic Slaughter?

N > Yeah, he is a nightmare to have in the band.

((Meanwhile the band is signing the “Devil’s force” CD, which you can win in the autumn 2006’s Metal Quiz)) 

N > This ((CD)) is an example for a second pressing that I have never even seen before.

S > Is it a bootleg?

N > No, it’s from the company that was supposed to release the record from the beginning.

S > Will you see any of the bands performing today?

N > “Desaster” maybe. I like this Desaster song „Metalized blood“.

S > What about Naglfar?

N > No, I’m not so much into Naglfar I must say. I’m not a big fan of what I call “new Metal”, you know, things from the 90ies. But we have met Naglfar at the airport yesterday actually. They had went to the airport too early.

S > What the hell?!

N > That’s a story for your magazine! ;-)

S > What did they say for their excuse?

N > I don’t know. Because when we met them there yesterday, they didn’t even know they are too early! ;-) I heared later that they had to take a hotel in Stockholm because they were 1 day too early. But we also met them at the “Gates of Metal” fest and they seem to be okay-guys, I think.

S > So, Desaster is the only band you wanna see?

N > I don’t even know what bands are playing still.

S > Thyrfing, Kataklysm, Naglfar, Six Feet Under…

N > No, I’m not into it. But “Rotten Sound” I’ve heared today.

S > Also "Tankard" will be playing in the party tent today.

N > Yeah, I know Tankard of course. I will go and see them a bit maybe. You know I’m listening so much to Metal at home, but nothing that plays on the festivals. Just old strange stuff.

S > Iron Maiden, eh?

N > Yeah! I already heared the whole new Iron Maiden album. Fucking great! It’s so fucking heavy. Everyone that is playing an instrument has to enjoy it because it’s really professional. They are the best and they show it.

S > Are you going to follow their whole tour again?

N > Yes, I’ve seen them 110 times.

S > But you have free access!?

N > Yes.

S > Can you work as roadies for them?

N > But then I would have to work. I just want to be a FAN!

S > Can you go with them in their tourbus?

N > No, they are too big. There are like hundrets of people around them all the time. I don’t even think they go by bus.

S > Have you met them personally?

N > Yes, we have met them many times. They know us very well. About the commercial we talked: In the background of the commercial they played Iron Maiden. And that’s also one reason why we did it. The Iron Maiden management was very happy , I can tell you. We were invited to a small part of the Iron Maiden tour in Sweden and had dinner with the band. That’s also a good reason to do the commercial, beside the fucking loads of money we got as well. The only bad thing are all the people like “Höhö, I saw you on TV, höhö!” …every day.

S > Every day?

N > It’s not really new, it’s from 1998, but still people recognize us.

S > You should try to make the best out of it, like having them all paying a beer for you or so! ;-)

N > Haha, yeah, of course. There are good and bad things coming out of it. Some people laugh at us, but it’s okay anyway. I thought about it a lot of times, was it good or was it bad? But it was both. I wish I wasn’t in TV, you know. I got so many offers from others later, we could have become really really famous. But I don’t want to be in TV anymore. They ask us to come in this or that show, but I would never do anything like this again. The most stupid thing was when someone asked us to do some kind of performance with Loa Falkman, a famous opera singer from Sweden. And that’s fucked up. I said to the guy who was talking to us: “Do you honestly think this is a good idea?” and he said “Yeah, yeah”. It was totally the most stupid thing I heared.

((The Wodka bottle the guys brought along being almost empty...))

S > That Wodka there, is it Russian?

N > Yeah, I stole it from Erik of Watain. He doesn’t know it yet, but I took it. ;-) I anyway will have to drink a lot before I go home because I have a lot of beer tickets left. But the best alcohol is what people do theirselves in Sweden: They just take sugar, yeast and water and put it in a big bottle. Then they go out in the forest and dig it down in an anthill, because it’s warm inside, so it starts to get alcohol. If you’re really professional you can take some blueberries in it, so it tastes better. That’s the thing that happens when you can’t buy alcohol in a normal store. Isn’t it interesting to talk about blueberries at a festival? ;-)

S > Yeah, what about baking bread or making coffee? ;-)

N > What about having some ice cream? ;-)

S > Yeah, that’s really “true”! And then you put it all over your body.

N > And you write into “Nifelheim told me to do this”. 

S > Or you write “Nifelheim PAID me to do this”! ;-)

((Oh well… I better spare you the rest of the conversation, as it was all just total nonsense and joking around for more than 1 hour. Here’s just one more joke the Nifelheim guys have cracked!))

N > Do you know this one? If in North-Sweden you say “Skål” to someone, he probably says: “Do you wanna TALK, or do you wanna DRINK!?”

S > Nothing left to say! Skål!

Nifelheim with Claudia:

Tyrant and Hellbutcher just LOVE to pose! ;-)

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