Vintersorg Interview mit Mr V. über das aktuelle Album Naturbal (Englische Version)

Artist: Vintersorg

Orgin: Sweden, Skelleftea

Genre: Black Metal, Folk Metal, Progressive Metal

Label: Napalm Records

Link: https://www.facebook.com/vintersorganic

Bandmember:

Vocals, Bass – Mr. V

Guitare– Mattias Marklund

Time For Metal / Dominik B.:

Hello Vintersorg,

Let´s talk about your latest record Naturbal. Being a metal band that was founded in 1994 in Sweden your sound is way different from what the metal scene calls black metal. Your sound includes folk parts and also progressive elements. What reasons are there for your diverse sound patterns?

Vintersorg / Mr V:

Well…it’s a bit hard to put into words I guess as it’s born out of a musical passion that contains contrasts and dynamic. I mean I grew up listening to heavy metal, rock, symphonic and progressive rock and folk music at the same time. What I wanted to do with Vintersorg was to create a diverse and adventurous type of atmosphere that takes the listener for a journey. Still, all comes out of my own emotional drive to write music that feels very natural and interesting to myself, I guess this is the outcome of such a mindset. Music for me as about finding the “golden” pathway between different elements that sometimes can see a bit strange to combine. It’s not a quest to do awkward things but to bend the musical frame a bit to look outside of that classic framework, just cause it’s so fun to create.

Time For Metal / Dominik B.:

Having such a diverse sound, what does a composing session look like? How do you create your songs? Do they develop in the studio or are they completely finished before you even enter the studio?

Vintersorg / Mr V:

I write songs in many different ways but with the same type of process you could say. What I mean with that is that I write stuff my own and then show it to the other guy (Mattias) in Vintersorg and then we discuss it over and record the songs. But sometimes I write on a guitar and sometimes I start off with a vocal line. I could also write on a piano or keyboard or another instrument, as long as it feel natural I just “tag” along on that creative ride. The songs develop at some level and especially the whole sound picture as we add stuff and take stuff away. And we record at my own studio so the complete song are just complete that day when we decide to master it.

Time For Metal / Dominik B.:

In terms of the record´s cover one can say that it mirrors the music of Naturbal, as the word itself can be translated as something like bonfire, right? Did you develop the cover by yourself and what should it transport to the listener?

Vintersorg / Mr V:

An approximate translation would be something like “Nature’s Bonfire” and the lyrics concern different aspects of fire in nature. The volcanic fire, the forest fire, the stars, lighting and also some more folk lore oriented stuff concerning the topic of fire. The cover came out of an idea that I had that you should see lighting strike downward a volcano, so you have fire from above and from below. Kris Verwimp did the painting of that idea and we’ve now worked with him for some albums and he always come up with a brilliant translation of our visions.

Time For Metal / Dominik B.:

Andreas Hedlund or Vintersorg´s voice is something like the band´s essence himself. But you do not only rely on his vocals but also rely on instrumental parts. How important is the composition between voice and music in your sound? How difficult is it to put the typical Vintersorg sound on stage, since there a also a lot of different special effects in it?

Vintersorg / Mr V:

The duet between the voice and the music is of course very important, so that it feels natural both also interesting. I mean it’s not that hard to produce the stereotypical “beauty and the beast” between harsh and clear vocals. But the really make them have a great feed of each other it something else. For me the vocals must be there for a reason and not just out of a calculated formula…harsh on the verse and clear on the chorus that you hear so much of. For me the voice must match the music and I really invest a lot of time to feel what is proper, so I don’t really test out ideas and then reject them if it’s not good enough. I often have that “feel”  phase when I compose the songs so when the time comes to do vocals I have a clear picture of what to do. Now days we’re not a liver act but when we did shows we had to compromise a bit to make it work on stage and then we had much of a “rock’n roll” attitude toward it, it has to flow and it has to be at played by humans.

Time For Metal / Dominik B.:

Is there something like a formula in terms of arranging the vocals because the mix between black metal and clean vocals never gets boring in your music. Other bands fail in entangling these different kind of vocals.

Vintersorg / Mr V:

As I said above….it’s a process that I have with me while writing and arranging the songs. So, it’s something that comes out of the same passion that I was referring to at the beginning. For me the different type of vocals represent different sides of me as a composer and a human being, it adds more dimensions to musical work and are a very incorporated thing of how I look upon music.

Time For Metal / Dominik B.:

How can a fan imagine the day when a new record is published. Do you sit together and celebrate the release and do you check the reactions of fans, the record label etc. Or don´t you do anything like that and continue your day as a normal workday? What is more important, the day when you see the complete finished „raw“ record in your own hands or the public release in a perfect version?

Vintersorg / Mr V:

We’ve stopped with these release-party-type-of-thing. We just continue to work with new material but of course we go back and listen to the album from time to time. It’s so satisfying to get an album done as a summary of all our thought, emotions, vision and effort…even more if the fans and media like it.

Time For Metal / Dominik B.:

How important are the reviews concerning Naturbal on the side of the press, magazines and radios, since they report about your art positively and negatively?

Vintersorg / Mr V:

I don’t get so touched by it now day as in the beginning. I mean I really enjoy when people and media like it but I don’t get so upset when we get a bad review. From the start I guess I took it much more personal and really got “down” when people responded in a  negative way. I ‘ve grown much more balanced about it now days.

Time For Metal / Dominik B.:

In your early days you started with pure Swedish songs. During time you also used English lyrics that may be easier to understand for the majority. With Naturbal you go back to the roots and use just Swedish lyrics again. How come? How important is the record Naturbal for Vintersorg? Is it just one step in a bigger plan or does something like a master plan for the band not exist?

Vintersorg / Mr V:

This is part III in the four-element-cycle that we’re doing now and this is of course the element “Fire”. The two pervious was earth and air and we have water left to do. All these albums are in Swedish and it’s just due to the fact that I like to write in my mother tongue. I write in English in my other bands and I like that as well. But when we did Vintersorg in English I was starting to miss to write and sing in my mother tongue…so now I have both.

Time For Metal / Dominik B.:

May the fans be looking forward to see you on tour to celebrate your songs? Do you already have new ideas for a next record?

Vintersorg / Mr V:

We’re not doing any shows cause of several reasons…we’re only two guys, we have though problems to get time off from our ordinary work and so on.

Time For Metal / Dominik B.:

Thank you for the interview and good luck for the future. The last words are yours, any message to the Time For Metal-Fans?

Vintersorg / Mr V:

Just check out the new album, it’s a great adventure but it may take some time to fully investigate it, but the time you invest is very rewarding in my opinion.