You already started writing this new album ‘Gospel Of Bones’ in 2020. Can you tell something about that?
Yes, in a way I spent the lockdown really well actually. I worked really, really hard with the band during lockdown. I wrote about fifteen to twenty songs during a couple of years, so I really had to pick out what I would call the strongest ones for the album.

You did I think, because even as long time follower of Funeral, it is quite a surprise I have to say…
Yes, this happened due to the lockdown and the situation with the line-up and getting Season Of Mist on board. That took obviously a longer time and we had a two record deal with Season Of Mist, so that record deal is fulfilled in a way. And I have the next album already written. I haven’t had the chance to arrange a new record deal yet, so if it is up to me, we can release a new record within a year. We have the material, but unfortunately it is not up to me. It is up to the label.

If I was Season Of Mist, I would not hesitate! Why did vocalist Sindre Nedland leave the band?
It was a mixture of not having the time and interest in the band anymore. He has got kids, two little kids and he got cancer. All of this led to that he had not the time or the opportunity to focus on Funeral anymore, so I had to let him go because of that.

How did you end up with an opera singer as new vocalist?
That was really by accident so to speak. I was at a classical concert, outside of Oslo, and it was in 2021, Carmina Burana by Carl Orff and he was the lead singer in that play. I thought: ‘wow, this would be the perfect guy for Funeral’. I did not know him at all, but I have a mutual friend that knew him. I just basically met him through her. She was the organ player, who played the church organ on our 30^th anniversary concert in Oslo. She had worked with him previously, so she just contacted him on my behalf. We had a meeting and he said yes right away. He was a metal fan and he had been playing in a metal band earlier. A match made in heaven so to speak….

That makes me think of Empyrium, they also have an opera singer in the line-up…
I don’t think I have heard of them, but I am a huge fan of both classical music and metal, so I thought getting him on board was a perfect match and also in regards to build bridges between different genres.

I was thinking now and then ‘this is almost classical music’…
Yeah thank you very much. That was a purpose in a way. We try to write the perfect match between classical music and doom metal and it was a really hard task during composing this stuff, but I am pretty much satisfied with the results myself. I try to be innovative whenever I write a new album. I try to think out of the box, bringing the band to a new level so to speak. I am not interested in writing a part II of an album. I try to write something new, but inside of the doom metal box. So this is what happened this time and next time you will probably hear more orchestration actually.

That was gone this time. We hear real violins and cello. Asli – who went away as well – he did the orchestration in the past I think?
Yes, Andre composed the orchestration on the former album and some of the orchestration on the ‘Gospel Of Bones’ album, but I wrote it mostly myself this time and he is not in the band anymore even, so…

The key instrument on ‘Gospel Of Bones’ happens to be a typical Norwegian instrument, the Hardanger Fiddle. Can you tell something about that?
Yes, the Hardanger fiddle indeed. That was pretty much by coincidence, because our violin player Ingvild, she got a Hardanger fiddle for he 40^th birthday. She had never played it before. So she took some lessons and learned to play it, because it is pretty different from a common violin. It has eight strings and it demands some other technique and so on. So she took some lessons and really, really nailed it. I am a huge fan of folk, both traditional folk music and folk rock, so when we had the opportunity to use the Hardanger fiddle, it was a no-brainer really. It is a different sounding instrument and it is in my view very delicate and very soaring in a way. In a sort of melancholic way though. I think it suits the songs very properly.

The lyrics are kind of autobiographic, talking about dark times and what you have been gone through. Isn’t it painful? Or is it also a way to get over it for you?
It definitely is a hard task and – how shall I put it? – I write a lot. I write almost every day. I write both lyrics and an autobiography as we speak. I really enjoy writing and I wanted to write something true, no bullshit lyrics. I wanted to express real emotions, it is the real deal. Take it or leave it in a way. Yes, it was a hard task.

Also a kind of catharsis maybe…
Absolutely. Even though it is pretty painful to both listen to the tracks and then rehearsing the tracks, because the lyrics are so deep and personal, but I am a fan of doing something real. It is supposed to be real darkness and real pain. It is not like Iron Maiden, singing about the fantasy dark lyrics, this is the real deal.

That suits for doom metal, but not everyone is so talented to go so far…
When I started writing the new album, I wanted to be as real as possible, not only the instrumentation, but also the lyrics, I wanted it to reflect the real emotions and make a homage to the dead guys as well.

Is the violinist Sareeta?
Yes, it is her stage name. She also plays in Ram-Zet.

Was Funeral already active on stage after the pandemic?
We had this 30^th anniversary concert in 2022 in Oslo, but apart from that we did not play any other gigs during the lockdown, just taking the time for writing and getting a new skilled and competent line-up.

I saw that you have played in Croatia recently… That was with a different line-up I think, wasn’t it?
Yeah it is a matter of logistics you know. All of the guys in the band have families and kids and work and stuff, so this time around we had borrowed some other people to get the chance to play the gig. Competent, skilled, musical friends of mine. It worked out really good I think.

Did it require a different approach in the recordings, which you did with producer Børge Finstad again?
Of course it demanded a lot of time recording the string arrangements, because Sareeta plays on several tracks up till 30 different voices with the violin. She played the violin like a real orchestra, with a lot of different violins, viola, cello and double bass. I think it took about six months, just recording the orchestration. It was a huge task! Luckily they all have their own studio, so we didn’t have to rent a studio. We recorded it on our own.

And they are both two new guitar players, isn’t it?
Yes, it is almost a complete new line-up, just Sareeta and me are left from the previous line-up.

I see that guitarist Stian Kråbøl is also very skilled, because he plays in Khold, Sarke, Minas and Tulus…
Yeah he stopped playing in those bands, except for Tulus. When I asked him to join, it was like: ‘you cannot play in four bands. You have to choose’. So he quit all the other bands but Tulus.

Let us focus on the song ‘My Own Grave’. What can you tell about that song and about the video?
I think it is a song that reflects the entire album, so to speak. It has a lot of acoustic elements, it has some groove to it, it has a typical Funeral atmosphere and of course the lyrics to it. All the songs are non-linear English lyrics and I have one Norwegian word in every song that somehow binds the album together. All the Norwegian words are saying ‘Når Kisten Senkes’’ one of the last songs on the album, when the coffin lowers. It are non linear English lyrics, but it has linear Norwegian lyrics.