How has the response been so far for your first U.S. tour?

The response has been more than expected. There hasn’t been that many people to each show, but the people who come out to the shows seem to be very into the band and enjoying what we’re doing. That’s actually a lot more fun than playing for a lot of people that don’t like what you’re doing, so it’s been cool.

Have you hooked up with any groupies yet?

Unfortunately no. I don’t know why. I’m taking a shower everyday, and…well actually I haven’t shaved for a couple of days so that might be it. I’ve got some time to experiment.

What type of set list do you have planned for the U.S. audiences?

Well, we have a competition going on that each member of the band, including the sound engineer, has to guess the number of merch items that gets sold every night. The one that gets closest to the correct number gets to pick the set list for the next day. I won today and I didn’t tell anyone what we were playing today.

Do you think your set list is better than everyone else’s set list?

Yeah, of course!

How was it to be able to play the entire Light of Day, Day of Darkness album at the Day Of The Equinox festival, and how was the experience in general?

That was actually a great show because…there’s people who like Light of Day, there’s people that like people who like what came after it, and there’s people who enjoy both eras of the band, and we got to do both. It was a great experience. We had three guitar players, full live production, and we played for like two and a half hours and got through what we wanted to present. It was cool.

Are there any future touring plans for the U.S.?

Well we just have to finish the thirty remaining shows first, but yeah there’s plans to come back, but I have no idea if that will happen this year or next year.

Has writing begun for the next album?

It has, it’s actually finished. But the cycle-ite that I am, I’ve got a vision…and the vision says, “you need to expand.” So the idea for the next album turned out to be really massive. We devoted 2006 for touring and promoting the latest albums, so next year we’ll start putting things together and we’ll see what we end up with. We don’t plan ahead and we’ve never done that, so I guess that’s why every album sounds so different.

Is there an album title or any song titles yet?

The working title is The Rise And Fall Of Mankind.

Is there any reason you picked that title?

Yeah…it gives me a lot of stuff to write about.

What type of production are you looking for for the new album, a more analog rough production or more clean cut pro-tools production?

We never cared about the actual equipment that we’ve recorded on. It depends on the music on what the music demands. For the next one, it seems to be going in the direction of being very massive and that means it’s going to require a more vast production than maybe before.

Do you drink or do any drugs to spark creativity while you write?

Actually I’m quite often in the toilet while I’m writing music. Like a lot of the Blood Red Throne material, like “Mary Whispers of Death,” came out during toilet sessions, and that’s not a joke! I’m usually playing guitar while I’m in the toilet, that’s when I get private time.

You just started a new label with Kjetil called Sublife Productions. What type of releases are you looking to put out, and what releases can we expect in the upcoming months?

Well, we already put out The Acoustic Verses from Green Carnation. The next two releases that we have scheduled are from Harm and The Allseeing I, both will be ready with new albums early summer 2006. Harm is a thrash metal band and The Allseeing I is a technical brutal death metal band.

So being “Norway’s most talked about underground band in the extreme metal scene,” are The Allseeing I actually any good?

Yes they are, actually. Of course they’re paying me to say that, and I need to sell records. It’s the bass player from Blood Red Throne, so he’s at least good, but I don’t know about the others.

When will we see Blood Red Throne and Carpathian Forest tour the U.S.?

Well, we had an offer to support Hypocrisy in the U.S. with Carpathian Forest. I don’t know if it’ll happen, but it’s something we’re looking into.

What about new albums from each of the bands?

Carpathian Forest just finished mixing and mastering their new album and I think it’s due for release on the 24th of April in Europe and the 30th of May in the U.S., so we’ll take it from there.

What was the process like when thinking up Blood Red Throne’s unique name?

Actually…it’s in a song that I wrote for Green Carnation while we were still a death metal band, so that’s the link between the death metal past of Green Carnation and Blood Red Throne.

Did you ever contemplate stabbing a homosexual in order to sell more CDs?

No, I’m leaving that to Faust.

Do you ever catch yourself looking at your bass player’s gigantic ass in Carpathian Forest?

Not so much anymore, since he lost a lot of weight, so it’s not that attractive anymore. But yeah, it used to be pretty hot…with the thong and all. The drummer from Carnal Forge thought he was so hot that he wore the thong on his head for the entire night after the recording of the DVD in Poland…I think it left some marks on his head.

When Nattefrost was covering himself with shit for Peter Beste’s shoot, were you on stand by to give the reach-around?

No, I wasn’t around.

Did you want to be?

Well…when he described how Peter was reacting to the smell…no.

Tell a random story about Nattefrost’s antics…

Umm…well, while recording the DVD in Poland, we were in a TV studio which had a lot of dressing rooms and in each dressing room there was a cabinet with clothing with different costumes. I remember him looking into one of the closets and he found a petit/small Donald Duck outfit with a sailor hat, and yeah, he put that shit on and….Donald Duck doesn’t wear pants, so why should he? He was running around the studio in a Donald Duck dress with nothing on from the waist down. That was pretty funny…

Did you ever question your sexuality, knowing that you filled in for Mortiis?

No, I didn’t question anything ’til I met you!

Thanks, so…what are your feelings on the Emeperor reunion shows?

I think it’s a cool thing for the fans. A lot of people missed them when they were still around, so there seems to be a lot of interest in the U.S. for the upcoming shows, so that’s cool.

Did Satyr ever make you take part in one of his insanely gay photo shoots?

No, we weren’t allowed. We were never an official part of the band. We were there for three years playing a lot of shows and shit, but it was always just him.

So Satyr is a really big douche…

He’s not that big actually, but he is a douche, yeah.

On a scale of 1-10, how cult is SMNnews.com? Grim necro status of…

Umm…a six.

A six?! We get a six? That’s it?!

It took three fucking months for the forum for Sublife Productions to be put up, thanks to you bitches!

At least you didn’t have to pay for it…

I’m spending time with you now, isn’t that payment enough?!

Thanks! So do you have any final words for all of your adoring fans on the web?

Final words?….umm…cha-ching!

Rate this interview: (3 votes, average: 2.67 out of 5)
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