With a brand new album out, Dark Thrones & Black Flags, Darktrone is back with a vengeance: pulverizing riffs, fast and furious beats, and metal violence with a punk attitude. Fenriz took some tims to answer some questions and hook us up with a great metal mix with old school and unknown bands like The Beast or Hand Of Doom and usual suspects such as Angel Witch and Warlord, without forgetting the new works of Aura Noir and The Devil’s Blood.

Hi Fenriz, how are you doing?

Never been better, have been using the last 5 years of my life to turn my existence around. No cold turkey, just continous hard work with myself.

What’s goin’ on in Darkthrone’s world right now?

I think you have a slight idea, every time we release an album there is (for me) 2 months of 7-10 interviews a week. It doesn’t sound so much for you, maybe, but I never quit my day job so I am busy every day from 0600 to 1330 with that (while constantly listening to my discman or mp3 of course, I am probably one of the people in the scene that checks out and buys most titles every year, and this results in that I actually have to hear 2,3 titles every work day that I have never heard before, and the rest of the music listening time goes to listen to what I want). Then it’s training at the health centre Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and I also have my girlfriend to be with, and I answer and run most of our Myspace myself (I answer every serious message so far) and it’s 3000 people coming by that page every day, so…I have enough to do, considering I dislike sitting in front of this keyboard!!

What are you currently listening to?

Today i listened to SAVAGE GRACE’s Master of Disguise that Luc from GASMASK TERRÖR made me discover, also lots of electronic music, the brand new DEATHHAMMER release “Ripping Fast Forever” and a new album I got called Stjerneskudd. Then at the weight lifting I listened to CRO MAGS 86-89 and some from the 2 first SICK OF IT ALL albums 89-92.
But if you mean the bands I currently support (active bands) they are:
HELLISH CROSSFIRE, HELLREALM, CHEMIKILLER, BANISHED FORCE, SLOGSTORM, ENSLAVED, BLÜDWÜLF, DEATH BEAST, WAR CRIMES, BASTARDATOR, CREEP COLONY, TYRANT sweden, NATTEFROST, CORRUPT, WORLD BURNS TO DEATH, NEKROMANTHEON, ENFORCER sweden, NOCTURNAL, JEX THOTH, DEATHRONER, SONIC RITUAL, MÄNIAC, MORRIGAN headcult album, MORNE, ALPHA CENTAURI, DEMON’S GATE, DOOMED BEAST, RÉSISTANCE, KARNAX, EVIL ARMY, WITCH usa, VIRUS norway, AURA NOIR, ORCUSTUS, LONEWOLF, THE DEVIL’S BLOOD, FARSCAPE, VOMITOR, TRENCH HELL, OLD, DEATHHAMER, EM RUINAS, SALUTE, THE BATALLION, ZEMIAL, GASMASK TERRÖR, EIDOMANTUM, PORTRAIT and so on.
Last year i went through over 750 records I think, this year I have been cutting down, and I write everything on a list and TODAY, 17 NOVEMBER, I have 371 titles on my list this year so far (that means new titles, not a title that I previously had on vinyl or something).

Are you still playing records in clubs? If yes what is your current playlist?

I stopped going out in May 2005, so after that I only had 4 dj residencies. I haven’t played out since the LET THE STREETS BURN club nights we started in Oslo last December that went on to the summer. Now I will only play the anniversary of SOUTH OF HEAVEN concept in Oslo, and then the METAL MERCHANTS festival with Götz (editor of Rock Hard Germany) in January outside of Oslo. I get live offers or dj offers every day mostly, but my favorite word is NO. It’s the only way to survive. I have enough people in my life already, meeting hundred new people a week would just be fake and shallow. I prefer to take care of some of my friends than always meet new people nowadays, but in the underground networking I make a lot of new contacts every year, so… bottom line is I spent 15 years being a “bar-star” after I had worked away ALL my youth in the metal worlwide underground in the 80s. So I had to let go. Then came the useless mid-late 90s, and there was no reason to stop drinking. But then the 00s came, with a new and fresh generation of kids that understood metal like the barbaric 80s was, and so I have used 5 years of my life to return to what i was in 87, 88, 89.
Current playlist is actually made on two cd’s, 50 copies each, it’s the playset for Metal Merchants festival. Only metal/hardrock from 74-87. Mostly 79-85, ok? Bands like Tröjan and Jag Panzer, you know. But I presented some music I had discovered since July at a small party on Friday, I dj’ed everything from 70s folk rock, negro spiritual, 60s/70s Italian beat music, crust stuff like MORNE or GASMASK TERRÖR, MAYHEM from UK (1982) and TRUST (Repression album 1980)…I am a hyper-eclectic dj and I have always been.

How is the scene in Norway at the moment?

Well, AURA NOIR released the best album of the year (aside from THE DEVIL’S BLOOD – “Come Reap”). Apart from that, I support atleast 10 other bands, also the best known is Enslaved maybe… these bands are all on list above.
Apart from that, metalpunk has always been the hard style to play in the metal world, even doom metal is more popular haha. Very lonely here in Norway, as no one really plays it here. I don’t give a fuck, cause true underground is and has always been: GLOBAL!!! If I say I am inspired by WARFARE’s Mayhem Fuckin’ Mayhem album (UK, 1986), most people here (or in the rest of the world) don’t understand what I’m talking about. But put on this album and you will hear that my songs since 2005 have been inspired by this album too (not only by Motorhead and Hellhammer HAHAHAAHAHA oh oh)…at least Natterfrost covered DISCHARGE, so that made me feel not so lonely.

You are just releasing your new album Dark Thrones And Black Flags in a difficult moment in the music industry: how do you see the future?

I don’t know about business, I only do the music, make riffs, think of drums and lyrics and sing my fuckin’ heart out! YEAH!!

How important is the internet for you as an artist?

If you want to be an 80s freak – Myspace can make you a better 80s freak.
I f you want to be a 70s freak – Myspace can make you a better 70s freak. and so on.

We are in a world with a lot of different models on the net: what kind of services should be brought to the table?

I got a computer in 2005. I don’t know much about this, I am better at banging my head or putting up my tent.

Where do you see this whole internet thing going?

IT WILL TAKE OVER AND MAKE EVERYONE LISTEN TO PAIN!!! And those of us that escape, can play Sly and the Family Stone records in the nature.

Anything to add?

Don’t forget to listen to MANILLA ROAD!!! Thank you for reading,
MUSIC FREAKS: visit our official Darkthrone Myspace, it is our only living webpage, it has music lists, blogs, and lots of bands to discover on our top friends!!!

TRACKLISTING

THE DEVIL’s BLOOD – the heavens cry out for the devils blood
SAVAGE GRACE – no one left to blame (from master of disguise album usa 1985)
WARLORD usa – mrs Victoria 1983
TRÖJAN – chasing the storm (from album CHASING THE STORM uk 1985)
JAG PANZER – death row (from their ep from 83)
THE BEAST – the beast (from their EP from 1983)
ANGEL WITCH – loser
HAND OF DOOM – rocknroll close to the end of the world (from their POISONOISE album, germany 1979)
HEAVY LOAD – run with the devil (from their STRONGER THAN EVIL album 1983, sweden)
AURA NOIR – iron night/torment storm (from their new HADES RISE album)