This time we can speak about life after the pandemic. How do you look back at the transition to normal life again?
We have only just started. We did the first post pandemic concerts. Well, we did a few shows before that tour. The first one was actually in Belgium, at Alcatraz festival in August 2022. So we had a couple of gigs, like at HellFest and Prognosis. We are still getting used to the old ways of living. It still feels a little bit strange to do travels and play shows abroad. For a very long time we did not. The very first show we did abroad was in April 2022 and the last one before that was in August 2019. Almost three years absence (chuckles), that was a bit weird.

I can understand, because I have the same feeling when I go to concerts…
Indeed, there were several years without it.

You kept busy as a band though… I still remember that you were one of the first bands that did live streams and yours were really exceptional I have to say…
Yeah we got invited to a governmentally funded on line festival in Bergen, Norway and it had a good production and crew and everything. So we said: yes, let us try this strange and weird concept of a concert. It is better than nothing, so we decided to give it a try and it did work out better than we expected, so we decided to move on with that concept, but still have a proper production to it. With backline and lights and cameras and all that. It was a lot of work, but that kept us busy for several months in the pandemic. So that was a positive thing to do. We have released the apocalyptical so called live albums afterwards, so I think we really think we got something good out of it and we were also able to write a whole album and an EP in between. We did quite a lot of work during the pandemic, we wrote more music as we usually do as well. I think we really got something out of it, definitely.

That is true, I totally agree. The new album ‘Heimdal’ is ace. It is always a huge adventure for me. I am always very honoured to talk to you, because it is not only black metal, but also progressive and other influences that you incorporate. Can you tell me when did you focus on writing the new album?
It all started in 2021 with the EP ‘Caravans To The Outer Worlds’. Obviously we kept all the songs and included them on the album. An EP is a good experimental stepping stone in between albums and we really took advantage of the whole EP format to do some experimentation and plan out new directions for the album. After the EP we talked about what should be included in the concept of the new album and we came down to my place, we had a meeting and we had some drinks and we discussed everything from music, structure, lyrics and lay-out. So we kind of made a whole sort of backdrop for the whole process and that was around mid 2021. We spent quite a lot of time with the whole process and we did the final adjudgments and the mixing in April last year, 2022. So the whole concept took – including the EP – 14 to 15 months.

I think that was one of the only benefits of the pandemic, that you had more time to prepare a new album…
That is correct. You can really polish the things, you can try out different solutions, you can use different angles in vocal lines and guitar solos. I mean, everything, you can have several attempts. I really think the album benefited of having a lot of time to do the experimentation and yes, we are really satisfied with the result and the turnout of the whole process.

The concept is something to talk about, because it interests me a lot. For quite a while you always had the Viking theme in the past already, but now it is going more into esoteric nature of everything. The concept is ‘Heimdal’ and it might be even the son of Odin after Ragnarök… Can you tell a bit more about that concept?
Yes. Being the son of Odin, that is one angle and everything concerning Heimdal and its origins are really debated. Being the son of Odin is one theory, being the grandson of Asgeir is another theory, being a Vanir God is the third theory. So all these pieces of Heimdal puzzle really indicates that Heimdal was incorporated into the Norse mythology. Meaning that… well. the arrival of Odin kill cults, some call it the creation of Norse mythology. Heimdal was most likely already present when the Scandinavian mythology was engendered as a forerunner. One of the already existing deities of Norse mythology, because you can find traces of Heimdal – or Heimdal’s forerunner – in 3300 year old rock carvings from the Bronze age. So the cultus of Heimdal exists for a long time. We don’t know whether he was worshipped or he was just seen as a significant person. That is only guessing of course, but he has been around here for at least 3500 years. Maybe longer, since the Stone Age, who knows? The whole Heimdal puzzle is really enigmatic, a lot of loose ends, which makes it so fascinating. So it has been a kind of a research trip, it sometimes looks like a David Lynch movie; you have several solutions; some loose ends, still it is satisfactory to not know all the answers, because then you will not search anymore and you will not be inspired for doing further research, which is really satisfying in my opinion.

I can understand. If all the enigmas are solved, then you don’t need to look any further…
Exactly. You need to search for an answer. That is kind of the main goal. Search and find and interpret. These are the mysteries of life, I think that is important.