Myrkskog - you might not be too familiar with that name yet but I strongly advise on making some room for it in your alcohol-rotted brain. The Norwegian trio’s second offering "Superior Massacre" lives up to its title, and like a bullet through the brain delivers a devastating amount of extreme metal leaving nothing but sludge as the remnants. Being just their sophomore release, "Superior Massacre" staggers through the door with the highest quality death metal blasting, and with a touch of black metal (obvious influences from members other projects) guaranties an listen unsurpassed in diversity and zealous fury. Band founder and the man behind guitars and vocals, Destructhor answers my questions.

Chris


Most people should already be familiar with your band, but for those living in the woods can you tell us a little about how it all started and give us today’s lineup?

It all started in late ‘93 when I and Master V formed Myrkskog. Back then we only did a rehearsal tape which we never released or anything like that. We had a couple of different drummers for shorter periods, but we used a drum machine in '95, until we got Anders Eek (Funeral) on drums and Sechtdamon (Odium) on guitar. In late ’97 Eek was out of the band, and Sechtdamon took control of the drums. In '98 Savant M joined us on guitar, and he stayed in the camp until '00, when he was given the boot. Some months earlier Master V had left the band. Today’s line up is: Destructhor: Guitars/ Vocal, Sechtdamon: Drums, Gortheon: Bass.

Myrkskog, a Lord of the Rings reference, is not the most fitting name to describe your music. When you started this band did you have different ideas about the music style you were going to perform?

When we started Myrkskog we were performing a whole different kind of music than we do today, and I can agree that Myrkskog was a lot more fitting name then. But we were known with that name, it means a lot to us and of course... we like it, so we couldn’t see any reason to change it.

The band went through some personal changes since "Deathmachine", what happened?

Master V and Savant M wanted Myrkskog to go in a different direction compared to what I and Sechtdamon wanted it to be. So it was kind of a two against two relationship in the band. But after their departure we finally felt that we were on the right track.

Since you play in both bands, can you comment on a statement I’ve read Myrkskog's musical aggression that "[it] makes Zyklon look like The Monkeys"?

I know there are a lot of people comparing these bands, and personally I think it's stupid. Myrkskog is much more brutal than Zyklon, but Zyklon is not meant to be like Myrkskog either. They are two completely different bands!

Do you prioritize one of those bands over another? If so, which one and why?

I think I work pretty hard with both bands, and also appear professionally in both of them. When it comes to music I'm extremely dedicated to what I do! Speaking of composing music I do more material in Myrkskog. But that falls naturally since I am the mind behind Myrkskog, and Zamoth is the mind behind Zyklon.

If both bands are on the same level to you, then let me ask you a little harder question... If tomorrow you could play in only one of them which one would it be?

That would be Myrkskog! That's simply because Myrkskog was my first real band and I've been working with it for almost 10 years, so Myrkskog is in my blood. As I said, this is my band, and Zyklon "belongs" to Zamoth.

Now, let's talk about "Superior Massacre", first of all can you tell me what's going on in the cover? I was turning and twisting it in any possible way and I still can't get much of it... I guess it's a perfect compliment to the album's title.

The thing is that we just told Konstrukt to create something dark and atmospheric for us and he came up with this suggestion that we found very fitting, so we decided to go for it.

Musically "Superior Massacre" is as twisted as the cover... who's responsible for all those sick tracks?

Mostly me. Sechtdamon has composed one song, and I have composed the seven others.

Composition-wise, is Myrkskog a product of one person or is it the whole band's effort?

Even though I compose most of the music, it's absolutely a whole band effort. Every man's job in the band is important to fulfill the madness!

Does "Superior Massacre" follow a lyrical concept or does each song have its own sick story?

Myrkskog's lyrics are pretty much based on murders and violence. Myrkskog is about getting all our aggression out, to fucking stab the blade through the chest of people that stand in our way. There's a lot of bullshit going on out there and playing this kind of music really gives a good opportunity to blow out the beast we have inside.

Did anything unusual happen during the recording process that sparked this eruption of anger and fury or are you just like that everyday?

No, I think the recording process went pretty peaceful. Of course we've got this anger inside all the time that inspire us to keep on, but at least we (usually) use it the constructive way...[laughs].

I can't call Myrkskog a black metal band but why do you think with basically one record you achieved more than countless Norwegian black metal outfits?

That’s right! Myrkskog is not a black metal band, we prefer to call it what it is; Extreme Metal. I don't know if we can say that we have achieved more than other bands from Norway, but we can for sure present unique music with brutality and aggression that differs from what has come from Norway earlier.

In your opinion, is pure death or black metal dead and the only way to form an attractive and original band is by mixing music styles?

Absolutely not, personally I go for pure Death Metal. Some of my favorite bands are Nile and Hate Eternal, these bands are really interesting to me.

By the way, thank you for the outro... I've been listening to the album on the headphones and I almost went deaf during that high pitched noise. Was that your answer to the people that complained about the last track from "Deathmachine" 'Pilar Deconstruction (Syndrome 9 Re-mix)' being a re-mix and "destroying" the album's atmosphere?

Actually I am not too happy with this remix. The reason we used it was because we had to do an album at minimum 40 minutes, simply because it said so in our contract. I think it destroys some of the wholeness of the album. But musically I'm absolutely satisfied with "Deathmachine".

What are the chances of seeing you on this side of the ocean and what are the touring plans anyway?

Our record company is currently working to get us over to the States for a tour in Feb/ March 2003. I really hope this will happen. I'm really looking forward to bring Myrkskog to America. I think it is an important market for Myrkskog, because you know how to appreciate brutal music! Meanwhile we'll do a European tour with Nile in October 02.

Thank you for your time. "Let the Superior Massacre begin".

Thank you for the interview!

French death metallers Akiavel self-released their second studio album "Væ Victis" on April 23. Their monumental new opus comes only one year after their debut album and is a dark and twisted affair lyrically exploring the depths of human depravity and delving into the darkest parts of the human psyche and musically further evolving their sound taking a radical approach to their musical assault, consuming the listener with dizzying maelstroms of chaos. "Væ Victis" embodies the word "death," putting forth an intrusive battery of blistering guitars, pummeling drums, and scathing vocals that culminates in one of the most robust death metal records the genre has seen yet. Auré (vocals) and Jay (bass) answered a few questions about the album, creation of it and all things around it.

Tomek

Thanks for taking time to chat a bit, how is Akiavel doing after the release of the new album?

Auré (vocals): Hi! Thank you for taking time for us! It's going very well in Akiavel's camp, thanks for asking! We are pretty much focused on the promotion of our new album Vae Victis.

Jay (bass): We are really happy and proud of this second album, we hope it will please our existing fans, and convince new fans to follow us!

What is the story behind the name of the band, what is Akiavel?

Auré: Akiavel is a word derived from the name of the famous Italian humanist and political thinker Nicolas Machiavelli, mainly known for what certain might call "cynical" or "amoral" political theories.. We loved the ending in "EL", because it reminds of the archangels. We wanted to recall the half-angel / half-demon side of our music: aggressive and violent on one side, melodic on the other side.

Jay: Also, the "EL" sound means "she" in French, which was funny for a female fronted band (laugh)

Let's talk about your newest album, how long did you work on it and how was the whole process?

Jay: After the release of the first album V, in February 2020, we had a full tour scheduled, but unfortunately the pandemic toppled everything. During the confinement, rather than remaining frustrated, we composed and worked on a second album. The composition of the music was really fast, fairly quickly everything was almost fully written, and we arrived at the step of arrangements and rehearsals (remotely, of course!). This was relatively fast, notably due to the successive lockdowns. This was one of the few advantages of the current situation… And we love the outcome, we hope you do too!

Auré: It took us a little less than a year to compose and record the album. As to the lyrics, I focused on the serial killer's theme. We were stuck at home, so I took the time to watch documentaries and read tons of books on this subject. For my part it was really interesting to dive into the brains of such monsters. Containment gave us time to work on this album quietly but fast!

What can head bangers expect from the new album?

Auré: The Akiavel's touch! (laugh)

Jay: Our fans appreciate our music because it is a mixture of our 4 influences, which are death metal, thrash, hardcore and heavy metal. Each of the 4 members come from one of these "worlds". Akiavel is the result of the mixing of all these types of metal.

We have actually created Akiavel' style with our first album V, without being aware of the way all this would actually sound once put together. The result was, at least to us, crazy, raw and powerful. For this new album, Vae Victis, we kind of knew what such mixing would create, so we took advantage of this knowledge and dug way further into our personal and collective style. So, you can basically expect something ever rawer and more powerful than our previous album. And always with Auré's stunning growling voice, of course (laugh)

What is the meaning behind the title of the album?

Auré: Our latest album is called Vae Victis. It's Latin and could be translated as "Woe to the Vanquished". Basically, this relates to the victims as well as to serial killers.

What was your frame of mind when composing, what was your main inspiration?

Auré: For the lyrics, each track is about a different serial killer, we are telling their stories in different manners. We took this subject very seriously and talking about them doesn't mean we do not consider them as horrible monsters. We just wanted to describe some of the mechanisms that were behind their silly acts, but overall, the whole album is a tribute to the victims.

Jay: The composition of the music is very natural; it is just the mood of the day that leads to the composition to this or that riff by Chris (guitars) or me. Then we submit them to Butch (drums), who add his parts on our raw ideas.

Was there anything that influenced you differently while composing; were there any non-metal influences that surprised even yourself?

Jay: We are influenced by everything we hear or listen to; we have no boundaries when it comes to composing. The only goal we have is to compose the music we actually want to listen to; we don't think in terms of influences. As we said, our 4 musical backgrounds are very different. When we compose a track, we try to think with the same eyes as each of the other musicians: knowing he/she likes this kind of music, what would he/she play on this or that part? This is very helpful to obtain and keep Akiavel's consistent style (laugh)

What do you think about all this categorizing music?

Auré: I think it helps people "understanding" or discovering new bands when it's labelled death metal or melodic metal or whatever, and it might help bands like us being discovered in their home countries or abroad. For bigger bands, I think the question is not really a big deal though.

What would you call your style yourself?

Jay: People tend to call us melodic death metal. It's way too small and limited for us, since pure melodic death metal songs are not supposed to include hardcore or even pop music riffs, but we do accept this labelling, which is not completely wrong (laugh)

What does it mean to you?

Auré: I think it is an invitation to listen to our music to realize how inaccurate labelling are (laugh)

Do you create for yourself or for others?

Jay: We are all 100% focused on Akiavel, which is demanding enough (laugh)

What do you expect from the listener?

Auré: We do not expect anything, but we do hope they will like the new album as much as we do!

Jay: We cannot wait to play live and share our music on stage, we will now have 2 full albums to promote on stage!

Do you play to build or to destroy?

Auré: Good question! I'd say that we want to create good music and share it, which is a positive state of mind. We do not need to destroy anything to play our music and grow as a band.

Jay: Yes, but we made a cover of "Destroy Everything" during our first live appearance as Akiavel, in June 2019 at the Off Hellfest festival. Who can tell that it was not a prediction? (laugh)

Which emotions do you have plenty and which not enough?

Auré: For the writing of Vae Victis, I went through all the emotions. Anger, rage, sadness, compassion… It's not always easy to be a lyricist when you enter a field as realistic as crimes. But my lyrics are made to be howled, so it's a good outlet!

What would you do without music?

Auré: Depression… (laugh) Music is with me throughout the whole day. From the moment I get up, at work and until bedtime… It's just vital to me.

Jay: Without our music I would... record music for some other bands (laugh). That is actually what I'm beginning to, since we launched Akia Studios a few days ago, and I'm in charge of it, and the start is very positive, with a lot of cool bands to record there. As you can see, music is also a big element in my life (laugh)

Where do you see yourself and the band in the next 5-7 years?

Auré: Touring the world, meeting tons of cool people, sharing the stage with amazing bands…

Jay: And continuing growing as a band by playing the music we like together. Because it's weird to say it, but we are the 4 greatest fans of our own music (laugh)

Ok, we covered past and present. What are the plans for the future?

Jay: First we are working on the promotion of this album. We released one music video in early April, and are going to release another one in June, and then a third one by the end of Summer.

Auré: And we will also shoot at least one live session by the end of the year. Then will come 2022, and either we can tour (at least!), otherwise we'll go back to the studio (Akia Studios of course!) for our third album… This pandemic won't preclude us from composing and recording the music we love!

Most labels and bands release their new material on CD, vinyl and cassette. Vinyl is coming back some say but for me it never went away just like cassettes. What is your opinion about the physical media, which one do you prefer?

Jay: We all are from the generation of cassettes and CDs, and we still love to listen to music on CD. But we must admit digital platforms are extremely convenient ways to listen to music everywhere (laugh). I personally like the contact of the object itself, the booklet, photos and lyrics you can discover while listening to the music. This is a different experience, a different way of listening to your favorite albums.

Auré: For this reason, both albums (V and Vae Victis) are available in CD versions as well as on vinyl editions. You can check everything out on our website www.Akiavel.com!

Thanks a lot for taking time to answer all the questions, the last word is yours.

Auré: Thank you for your interest in us, do not hesitate to discover our music and videos on all usual platforms as well as on our website!

Jay: We hope we can soon meet and play our music live in the US!