Kristoffer W. Olivius: “When I was 14 years old I decided what to do with my life. What I would chose to do and I am still on that pathway. I just never changed focus and this is also something that differs people I think.”
Het gebeurt niet zo vaak dat het Zweedse Naglfar ons verblijd met nieuw werk, maar de opvolger van ‘Téras’ uit 2012 is nu toch op deze wereld losgelaten. ‘Cerecloth’ is het zevende studioalbum van de melodieuze black metal band waarin het trio Kristoffer (zang), Marcus (gitaar, opnamen) en Andreas (gitaar, keyboards) de scepter zwaaien. Voor deze gelegenheid hadden we een lang en openhartig gesprek met frontman Kristoffer W. Olivius.
Vera Matthijssens Ι 08 juli 2020
Hello Kris, it has been a while, because the previous album ‘Téras’ came out in 2012. What happened next in those eight years? Why did it take so long?
Well, days fly by when you have kids and that is what happened to me. When we released the ‘Téras’ album, I got my first child, my daughter, she was born eight years ago. This was a big change for me and after a few years of thinking and marinating being father, I decided to step down work-wise and shared more time with my kids. This has been interesting, because I never grew up with my parents myself. So it has been good for me to spend a little more time on them. It is interesting and boring at the same time of course. Working a bit less and hang out with the kids more.
I can understand that is precious, because they are only young once…
This was the very big reason to do it slow. Still we did some shows, at least ten big shows a year worldwide. Even though it is not a hectic schedule, almost every month we went out going to a festival and playing a fucking killer show. And about two years ago Century Media contacted us again for making a new album. There had to be demand from the fans, it is not about being rich or famous or something like that. It is a blessing because we have this band and this formula making music. I think this is the greatest motivation: keep growing with the fans, meet younger people who are into the band and so on.
When you only do selected gigs, I guess they are more important for the band as well…
Of course, it has to make sense. I know there are many bands that tour a lot and have to make their money from it, but we preserve it for special occasions, for us and for the fans. And I think that everyone who has been seeing us and following us knows that we are quite an emotional band. It is 1000% or nothing and that is maybe a strength. People know that when they see us, they should take the chance, because we are not going to play the same festival the next year and probably we won’t come back to the same territory for quite some time, because there are other places we want to play also.
It is nice that you see it that way, but of course there are musicians who have decided to make it a job and that has consequences…
I can’t speak in their name of course, but for me, I do it from my burning heart, from my burning love for metal music in front of the crowds, to perform before the crowd, to be a part of the crowd, they are the family that I always wanted. That is the best thing. That is when it pays off when it comes to live music. Even though it feels so good, it should be ruined when I am forced to do this every night.
How did you feel when writing the new material? Were there special things that inspire you?
I won’t say so, mostly inspired by ourselves. We have our sound. I think it is something special. I think it is something worth protecting. We also felt that this album has all the different aspects of Naglfar in it. There is depth in the band, there is thought behind the songs, none of these songs were stressed, I cannot choose a favourite track, because this is a new entire album and it took a long time to deliver it. I am very conscious of every step we took making it. As usual, we did it for ourselves and I am so happy with it, even more happy than with the last album ‘Téras’. Last time I was going through a stressful time in my life and that distracted me, now I was fully focused.
Why the title ‘Cerecloth’? Do you mean a cloth you wrap around a dead body?
Yes, a shroud of death so to speak. The meaning of the title is explained when you got to read the lyrics, but this title is very much about us feeling – for quite a long time already – this world in a metaphorical way shrouding itself into this cloth of death, just dragging itself deeper and deeper towards … what has to come.
The problem is, at the moment we don’t know what’s going to come…
That’s always been the case. None of us knows. This is not a terrible time. Many people think so, but it is actually the first challenge for our generation. This is actually a new flue that came along, maybe it is not that new either. People say now: ‘wash your hands!’, but I thought you always had to wash your hands. It is the result of the stupidity of mankind and the stupidity of nations and people. Of course it could be confined many weeks ago and some countries, like my own country, have chosen to take no precautions, it is just sad and tragically. This is today. This is the world that we live in.
With the media on top to brainwash the crowds…
People should know that media is not like it used to be. It is not the same. Media has purpose now, in a more direct way. I am not talking about the metal press, but the general media, it is all about money. Scaring people into accepting things which should not be acceptable ten years ago. You know how it is, whenever you fly or you travel, they are checking you as if you are a terrorist. Normal people are not retarded now. It is just something deeper, to control the masses. It is up to the masses to react. This is not something that I can do, I just can tell people: you are wrongly informed. For me personally it is not a terrible time, because I am not losing money. Money is not everything to me, but it may be for some of my brothers and that is why it is stupid.
Another thing is the tracking of people via telephone, but I thought they already did?
They can do it, but they hope they can use the info now whenever they can. Most people are very stupid. We are not free people anymore in Europe. We are very much enslaved people. I am sure people have to brace themselves for violence in future to take back what is ours, because there are so many new powers coming in the system and forces around us. The system scares everybody, so they can force their stupid laws.
It is only sad that it affects our lives. Shows and festivals cancelled…
Indeed, that is sad, especially for the fans, but I go on with my life. Because the most important things in my life are other things. I am a hunter and I spend at least three or four months every year in East Asia with my family. These are the most important things I do in my life, more important than playing shows. So it is sad for the number of fans that had this plans to see us, but my own things come first.
We will see what happens now, because in the summer I have to do other things. Probably we won’t play that much in the middle of the Summer. I don’t think so. We will see what happens. For me the hunting is more important.
Ah you still do that…
It is the most important thing that I do. More important than my children I think.
It gives a kind of freedom and a bond with nature I guess…
We take care about nature, that is what unimportant people who don’t know about hunting do not realize. Because we control the animal population and take care of the forest, but they don’t know anything about it. They should just keep their mouth shut. I am not interested in what they say, because they don’t know. For me this is my whole life! This is a big problem with the European Community or whatever they call it, because they want us to restrict guns we can have in Sweden and we are our own people. We are old people here in the northern part of Europe. It is not up to people from Germany or Belgium to tell us what we have to do. Now they are trying to tell us what we have to do, that’s not going to fucking fly you know. They think they can disarm us and control us like the rest of Europe, but this is not going to happen!
Don’t let the demons drag you down!
Many people don’t know it about Scandinavians and we might seem quite lame, compliant and low-minded and things like that, but this has nothing to do with what we really are. If you fuck with us, you fuck with whole Scandinavia.
How do you look back at the recording process, because I see that ‘Cerecloth’ is recorded and mixed by your guitarist Marcus E. Norman?
Yes of course, he has always done that. It is the third album he did I think. He is the best recording producer in Sweden and yes of course he is also part of this band, he also works with our other band called Bewitched. When it comes to the production part, why try something else when you know that what you have is better? That’s how we feel about it. Everybody feels about it in the same way, so it is obvious. He is one of my oldest and best friends and that is very important, because so many things are lost in modern metal. I hate that. It is a shame! We have something to say when we release an album, but that’s not tenable for every band. This album came out the way it did because we did not took two years after ‘Téras’, but really took the time to let it grow. We are really very happy with the sound, with the artwork, with everything…
This album is for me like a kind of homecoming, with Dan Swanö doing the mastering at Unisound and Necrolord (Kristian Wåhlin) doing the artwork. Both names from the nineties…
Yes, they were both dying to work with Naglfar for many years and finally everything just fell into place and we could work together on what you get now. It is definitely one of the best covers Necrolord did. It is a beautiful thing.
You have a core of three people, but in which way should we interpret the contributions of the bassist and drummer? They are live members, but already playing with you since 2012…
Yes, they are both members of the band of course and they are both playing on the album, but they are not on the pictures for the album, because Naglfar wants to have a core of three people, that goes back to the past. For me personally – and also for Marcus and Andreas especially – this core are the composers of the band. We are the core, but of course Alexander and Efraim are brothers of ours. We are a small band, but we want to play live to be together with the true metal fans who feel like us.
European way of handling restrictions is quite hazy. What about concerts in Sweden?
At the moment in Sweden it is 500 people allowed to gather for a concert (March). Well, in Sweden there are not so much people living, it is a bit like Holland I would say. We don’t come from the southern parts of Sweden. We don’t know anything about it. We live in Umea, in the far north. This is a totally different environment. Where I live there is 40 à 50 centimetres of snow and this is the worst winter we had of all time. We never had a winter so bad. Everybody is complaining and at home because they cannot ride the snowmobile. I don’t care. I think the only thing that I am concerned about is when there is rain and ice, it is bad for the Northern reindeers, they are eating a very special souse and lichen. If there is ice, the reindeers cannot eat. That is the only reason. For the rest I don’t care. I’d be glad if it becomes hotter and hotter. I hope there is a climate change happening, to be frank with you, because we could use more winters like this. It is good for us. And really warm summers. Good for us! I think everything happens for a reason. People are very uneducated and scared when they talk about a climate change, but this is a cycle of things where nobody knows anything about. This has to do with the spinning of the world, so it is ridiculous in Sweden that we now have to pay more for plastic bags against the pollution. Shit like that. Surely here up in the north, so few people living here and almost half of a year I live in Thailand. There you have a serious amount of litter. On the other hand, nothing compared to China. If you ever go to China, then you should see real littering where people just throw plastic everywhere. I have been to quite a lot missions to Africa and that’s something else. Really plastic everywhere! Still WE have to pay for it. It just doesn’t fly with me. I have nothing against these people, this is not something that has to do with race or anything, this has to do with thinking straight, you know. There are forces in our environment that are trying to drag us down, because they themselves feel bad about shit that no one of us can do anything about. And they want us in precaution act and not produce plastic and things like that. That is just ridiculous. That is not the way of me and that is not the way of the Naglfar fans either.
That is so true! I feel so angry about this artificial domination!
It is all about taxes. There is a tax for everything. It is not that it is going to help the environment in any way. It is just to squeeze us a little bit more. I am so ashamed of these fucking politicians. That is the reason why I am on internet. That is the reason why I am in a band. When I started this band I also tend to do this, because I chose not to be part of normal everyday life. To live a different life. I am a very privileged man that I can live in a way that many people cannot, and on the other hand this is also something that I am doing by choice. It is not like it wasn’t a risk to do it, just say fuck everything else. Just say fuck this world. This is not what I want to do. I am going to live! The short amount of hours on this planet that I have, I want to live. I want my kids to live. I am just tired of all the regulations, I just think it is horrible.
That’s why I am against the domination of using iphone…
If you look around, you notice that people are enslaved to their phones. This is the most tragical thing. I often travel by bus and if you enter the bus, everybody is just sitting there all together and looking at their phones. This is not what makes people happy. We don’t need to stare at a phone constantly. This is so tragical. We should look at each other and ask what kind of bands people like. That’s what matters. That’s the real thing that matters in life.
So many times I feel like an alien. Once they even told me that I was such a special one, because I was writing something down. What a world!
It is so shameful. Most of these people don’t know they are free, that’s the biggest problem with them. I am very grateful that I grew up in Eastern Africa. I come from a privileged background, but I didn’t had regular electricity until I was 15 and came to Sweden and founded Naglfar. This was something I decided when I was even younger. When I was 14 years old I decided what to do with my life. What I would chose to do and I am still on that pathway. I just never changed focus and this is also something that differs people I think. You can teach them something. If you really want something and you ambition it and you do everything in your power to get it, most of the time you are going to get there, you know. Of course it can be tough, but nevertheless… The only thing I want to tell people, because I found out very early in my life, is that you can ambition things to make it the way you want it. And then things are also going to be that way and this is one of the greatest powers that has been lost.
People don’t think about that I guess, because they are just in a rush of life…
The problem is that they only think that life is rushing them. Life is not rushing you. Life is so short and so precious. If you just take some time to sort out a little bit, you will see on the country life is never a rush. Life is just asking you to feel good and do what you like, but most people just do not like anything. That is something I hate the most, because that is what society tells us to be. That you should be like everybody else. That you should conform and do things in a certain way. And of course, this is a very good thing for most people, but not for me. It is just poison, it is something that drags them down. Make them not fulfilling their ambitions. And that is the highest goal for me.
Yes, but you are an exceptional person…
I don’t think I am. I am just a very sad and lonely person in a way. But I am a thinking person, that’s the only thing I know about myself. I am a person who constantly analyzes what I am thinking, about what I am and what I am doing. I am very happy with the person I am and what I am doing, but I am very unhappy with the people around me, because they are not optimizing what they are doing. What they really want to do. Most people do things totally on the contrary with themselves. It makes my world worse in a way. It shakes my world, I want people to be in tone with themselves, because that makes the world a better place.
Yes, but with the current education through the media, this is not for tomorrow I am afraid…
No, but this has not only to do with me. It seems like people have something against education and free thinking. People really want to be dumb. Just look at things on television shows. Everybody is watching the same show and talking about it and that is just stupid, you know. I remember about a year ago someone was approaching me and tried to talk to me about something on TV, about some dragons and medieval shit. Everybody was watching it. They asked me if I was a part of that. And I told them: ‘no, because I am part of the real life, you know’. They said: ‘ If you don’t watch it, you cannot be like us.’ And I told them: ‘you are the ones who are wrong’. Because I am already something. You are the ones being wrong, trying to be like each other and like the same stuff, because I never cared about that. Nobody should.
In life you have leaders and followers…
So it is.
Well, for most of them it is easier to follow the rules and don’t think about things…
Could be. For me I just don’t care, because I am so fucking full of everything that’s going around in my life and people that I meet. Can be very inspirational. Seeing people around me fulfilling things, their dreams and fantasies, that makes me into a better person. On the other hand I am not following anything that looks promising that someone else is doing, because I am doing my things. I was always very focused on my stuff.
You are lucky that you have met at least two musicians you get along with so well for such a long time…
Yes of course. But I don’t really believe in luck. I think this was something that we sorted each other out. I think this was something that was meant to be. There are so many levels in the story. Especially when it comes to me and Marcus, it was the most predestined meeting that I ever heard about, because our families they entwine so much. We were born to be this way. Maybe something that many people don’t know, but it spurs us as brothers and partners of this band to do it the right way. So many bands are just focused on themselves and not helping young bands. I just want to be part of it as long as I can be part of it and then I just want to go home and hunt. That’s how I am going to leave.
Let’s hope that will still take a while and meanwhile I am jealous at your country life…
We in Sweden love to have people moving in, but we should actually take people moving in that know things, doing university and studies. It is going to cost us a lot of money, because we took many immigrants and also true refugees, We are in an environment right now where people are very against people that ran for their lives with children. I think, especially for us, metalheads, it is very important that we think one more time before we are so critical for people who try to do the best for their children, because they are the people who have the potential and we can do good things to them and they can give good things back and they can be a part of our environment in many ways. We should just do it the right way, you know. You should never give away certain rights and things like that. I am very positive to the migrations going on now, because I think that will actually be very beneficent for the world in the long run in a very big way, because some of these regions are going to have new blood into it, it is going to be a good thing for the long run of everything. It is very important that people don’t always chose to blame others whenever they feel like, because I am one of these guys who thinks it is easy to blame others, but you should always blame yourself first and try to change that in a good way first. The last thing I want to say to the readers of Lords of Metal : Remember who you are. Remember that if you are into Naglfar’s music, that is something for life! I am going to see you at one of these shows and if you see me, you better start running, because I am hunting for all of you people!
Nice final words. Proud final words too.
Always proud. I am very proud of my family and I am very proud of my friends and I am not proud of anything else (chuckles). I am very happy and proud to be the commander of Naglfar you know. If you ever saw our band live, then you know I am not talking bullshit right now. This is something very, very serious. Some people might think that I am a guy who just say things, but this is something I am thinking about very much. I am very fed up about the current state of the so-called metal scène, because I think there are so many economical powers which claw themselves into this. They also try to demand rules and this is not the essence, because this was always for the bands and for the fans. That is the only thing that is important. People may think what they want. We don’t come for free, but we are not a band who ever did it for money. We are proud of every release, it all tells the story. This is a different band and I am very, very grateful that you took the time to spend some time with me tonight, so we could talk a little bit together. All the best to you and your family!
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