GOD MAGAZINE interview with Tormentor - 2000, by God Magazine

Ugly and raw black metal is what you can wait from Gorgoroth and the new album "Incipit Satan" but the guitarist Tormentor informs us more. Here begins the era of Gorgoroth.

What’s new right now? "We have some new members and tomorrow we’ll go on tour."

Do they play in any bands? "No, they are from a totally different background. They are both into jazz. Incredibly good musicans, very fast and very good. The rest of the members are the same; Me , Infernus & Gaahl."

Is it a steady line-up? "I hope so. We work very well together."

Do you have any expentations for the tour? "Yeah, we have some, I think. It’s quite a while since the last time we were on tour. So I think one of the last gigs we played was in Finland , Helsinki."

One and half years ago. So what have you been doing since? We were supposed to go on a tour with Dismember and some other Nuclear Blast bands in autumn 98 right after the gig in Helsinki. We played in Wacken the same year but we haven’t been doing very much. We have been making some new songs and we started rehearsing in April 99 with a new drummer, but he’s out now. Then it was just Infernus and me. A lot of line-up changes but I hope this line-up will last."

Are you going to have anything special on stage? "No, I don’t think so actually, becaue we are gonna warm-up for Morbid Angel and I don’t think we’ll do anything special. We’ll have a very clean brutal show just straightforward old styled kind of black metal show with corpse paint and blood. Nothing more. Perhaps later when we have the ability to make a show, we’ll try to do something really good."

How is your life on the tour, only partying? "Eh, yes (laughs). Well usually there’s lots of partying. It’s really great. We have been touring in Germany for a couple of times and it’s such a nice place to party and to have a nice time. You meet a lot of ok people and of course you meet a lot of jerks too, but that’s ok. And we’ve been lucky with the bands we’ve played with. They are great guys. I’ve always been a big fan of Morbid Angel , especially the old stuff and the new album is pretty good, so it’s gonna be great to meet these guys." What does the title mean? "Well, incipit means here starts or here begins. It’s actually taken from Friedrich Nietzsche’s "Thus spake Zarathustra" but anyway it means here starts something completely different or the opposite, you know it’s year 2000. We are Gorgoroth and we haven’t changed much. It just has a better production, better sounds and not Polish shit sounds, you know what a lot bands have nowadays. It’s very brutal."

Is it in the same style as "Destroyer"? "Well, it’s different. Some songs are very fast and some are more slower kind of songs, more brutal like Slayer. One of the songs is like Burzum, a bit slow and very monotous. I think that if you like Norwegian black metal, you’ll like it."

Did you use synth a lot? "No, it’s not very much and not Dimmu Borgir kind of synth or something like that. It’s very low and in the background and more like kind of soundasex. It’s not anything a chord shit, if you know what I mean aaaah(sings high). You know Ivar from Enslaved helped us out with it and he’s a very clever man."

I heard that it’s one step closer towards commercialism. "Yes I heard so too."

So you agree? "Well, in one way I can agree. It’s something like, eh..."

Easier to get into? "Yeah. Well the sound is cleaner but we’ve done now what we’ve always done. So I agree on the sound thing, but we haven’t become more commercial, we’er not selling us out. We’d like to make the songs more listenable , so you can hear what we’re doing. We make music that people should be able to listen to."

Was it intentional? "With thew sound? No not actually. We wanted to have more... you know if you have a lot distortion when you play the guitar, it won’t be more brutal. It’s just gonna be more messy. And if you play like especially live it becomes a problem, because then it will be very annoying to listen to. So that’s the main reason why we chose Sunlight, you know the old death metal feeling. We just did it for ourselves, really heh and we just wanted to have another sound. You know, but it’s not Dismember kind of sound. It’s still Gorgoroth – total Gorgoroth."

It was really surprising of you to chose Sunlight "Yes(laughs). It was very unpopular in 93-95. At the time nobody would go to that place. But you know Darkthrone’s first album was recorded in Sunlight. So and it’s very good studio, very nice place to be and very good people to work with. We work with a guy called Jukka. And it was really great."

Were you thinking about Abyss? "Yes, we were thinking about Abyss actualy. We did the destroyer in Abyss. But they didn’t have any time for us, you know it was totally booked. But they have actually a really cool sound like with War and they have really cool sounds. The guy at Nuclear Blast said that we could go to Germany to record it with one studio on there, but I don’t like them that much. The studios often are very overproducedand the sound is too smooth, you know. Not brutal at all, just very sentimental and shitty sounds and not good at all. So that’s the reason why we tried to find some place ourselves. And then we thought about Sunlight, you know. Nobody goes there anymore. And the people at NB agreed and said "Yeah try that one" and we were happy about Sunlight. The next time we will try something else, I think. It’s ok to try something new."

Have you this time made any music for it? "Yes, I made the title track and I’ve made couple of other songs that more like me and Infernus kind of did together. So I’ve done two half songs and one total song. The rest of the songs are made by Infernus."

Why didn’t he do anything for "Destroyer"? "Well, he made most of the music. I think I made two songs. It says so in the back of it, you know."

What about Telnes and Tiegs... "Yeah that’s right. I’m Telnes and Infernus is Tiegs. Those are our surnames and Pest wrote most of the lyrics."

Shit, you made that just to fuck with the listeners mind. "(laughs) yeah, you could say so ,hehe."

Why did you made "Destroyer" in the way that like almost every guy plays every instrument? "It was a lot of experimenting on that album. It was very strange because one of the songs is from 94. The one with Frost on drums. So..."

What the hell are you doing? "Ah, okay, sorry I’m picking up the songs. It was a bit hard, because we played three songs live in the studio. And "Destroyer" was the last song, which we made for the album. It was the one I made with a drum machine. So it was always very different situation. We didn’t record it once at the same time. We had the ability to go to Grieghallen when we wanted to, so like most of the time it was just me and Infernus going there and you know he played drums on two of the tracks and I played all the guitars. We didn’t have any boundaries that you know now you’re going to play this and then he’s going do that. We just tried things mostly because of the spirit and atmosphere of the writing and it was possible to do it."

Did you do "Satanas" in the same way? No ,we did it as more like a band but there’s one song where Infernus plays everything and did all the vocals."

Have you planned any video? Well, I think if we have the opportunity. But if we are going to make a video it must be really good, because there are a lot of shitty videos and nothing is more annoying than a band you really like doing a pathetic video. Nothing is worse than that. I think that most of the black metal videos are pretty boring. I like Burzum’s Dunkelheit, that’s a cool video. So if we have the opportunity and the money we’ll do it. We just do what we wanna do. We did a recording from Wacken and we’ve been using that as a kind of promotional video and it’s very roughly mixed and it has bad sounds. But that works pretty good for Gorgoroth (laughs)."

Weren’t you earlier were supposed to make two videos? "Yes, that’s true. You know Infernus and another guy went to England with a guy called David Palser. He has made some with Emperor and Impaled Nazarene, I think but the guy ripped us totally off. He ran away with a lot of money. We were with Malicious back then. We sent a lot of letters to him and tried to reach, go over there but he ran off. He went to Greece, heh. He fooled us, so you can never trust that guy."

What kind of the video would be? "Ah, I’m not sure actually."

Any ideas? "Well, when were supposed to make the video for "Revelation of Doom" it was supposed to be like in black and white in forest, I think. No humans or anything like that, just like shadows and stuff. There were people in England who were hired running around in forest. Back then we wanted to have a that kind of video, but right now I don’t know. I have no idea at all."

Are there any black metal videos besides Burzum you like? "No (laughs) actually."

The Satyricon one is pretty praised. "This Mother North shit? Yeah, I don’t like it at all (laughs). I think it’s made with really bad taste and it doesn’t work very well. I think it works in Germany perhaps, because they love all kind of you know Norwegian black metal. I know Satyr likes to do videos and that’s ok, but I don’t like it at all." You came after "Under The Sign Of Hell", right? "Yeah, I think when it was released. I got to the tour "Under The Sign Of Hell 97", so that was a hell of a tour actually. We toured Germany."

How did you end up in the band? "Well, I’ve been knowing Infernus for quite a while. We had another band we played in, so one day he just asked me if I’d like to join, because he would like to try out with two guitars. And I thought it was great as I’ve always been a big fan of Gorgoroth, so I joined."

How do you feel about the progression Gorgoroth has taken since it? Well, I like that album. I think that "Under The Sign Of Hell" besides"Pentagram" is the best album and I think it’s quite natural progression. I think it’s also good for us, it’s always different and you know like "Destroyer" was a bit weird. The songs work good for himself, but put together on as album it’s a bit strange. The songs are very different and the sound varies, but I think the actual progression has been really good."

Is Infernus hard to work with? "Ah well, heh he might be to some people. He’s not hard to work with, but some people might have problems working with him. But me,Gaahl and the other guys we don’t have any problems and I think it was more difficult years ago, because he used a lot session musicians. But now it’s more like that we would like to work more as a band, so things have become a bit different. But I find the way Infernus works with suits me really well."

It was quite a surprising move from you to go to Nuclear Blast, so why did you choose them? "Yes, we’ve got a lot of critics from that especially from the German underground, but we don’t care. The main reason was that Malicious was really, well not hard to work with him, but there were problems. Everything was really slow you know and when you recorded the album everything was ok, but he used a lot of time and money. Finally when the album was released, the cover was wrong or shit like that, very annoying. On NB we knew some people there and they work really professionally. It’s like you get money and you go to the studio and you send those tapes, then the promotional copies are ready in perhaps two weeks. So everything goes really fast. So that’s the main reason. It’s nothing about the money or so, because we don’t own any money at all, so it doesn’t help us out that way. But we don’t care about that actually. We have the opportunity to go on tour and it’s done professionally. That’s the main reason, they can help us a lot."

Was it a drastic change at the time? "Well, yes it was beacuse they always await that you can do something. Let’s say that we would like to record an album because we have some songs and then things happen really fast. They call us and say everything is arranged. They have a lot of people down there working and they are always making things happen really fast. You don’t have to sit and call every day like it’s with some of these small labels and you know, you can’t reach the guy or shit like that. A lot of waiting and it gets really boring and it gets very tiring, heh. But don’t get me wrong I like small labels myself. I think there are a lot of great labels that are small and in the underground scene. I’ve always been into those, but in the long run it’s a bit hard. And you know the deal with Malicious was out and we didn’t have any deal, actually after the "Under The Sign Of Hell". And then we met the guys from Nuclear Blast and they saw a concert with the "Under 97" tour and they came on our tour bus and said that ok we think you are doing great stuff. But back in 97 it was extra hard, because then there were no black metal bands on NB. The most blackish band there was Dissection and they had been helping Satyricon a bit and there might have been some German bm shit, heh, but I don’t know."

They’ve signed really big bands like Danzig "Yeah, that’s cool. Bands like Danzig and Death, that’s just strange."

How does it feel to be on the same label as them? "Oh, I think it feels good because we’re getting on festivals with them and I’ve always liked that kind of music. But it feels really strange, weird but cool . Actually I haven’t met the guys, but I guess I’ll have the chance to meet them on the summer with festivals and that’ll be great."

How do feel about the boss of the label is a christian? "Oh , well I personally don’t have any problems with that as long as he doesn’t bother us with that crap. I don’t care at all. So and the guy, I’ve met the guy a couple of times and he’s a great guy. You know, he’s very good, hard working and he can make thing happen. But I’m more upset about the christian bands, that thing about is crap. Like with Mortification. I got a promotional copy..."

How was it? "Oh it sounded really..."

Hammer of god, heh "Yeah, it’s really ludicrous. The lyrics, the thanking list and it’s so fucking dilly, you know. Gorgoroth is all about actually like with an individual you have to be true for what you want and if thing works for you then it’s fine."

Is there anything else that Gorgoroth stands for? "Yeah we have always been Satanic and we still are. And I think that the basic of Gorgoroth is the strenght of an individual and about finding God in yourself. Like me and Infernus we read a lot of philosophy like Nietzsche. I am studying Nietzsche in a university and it’s very satisfying, to read such things. One thing I am very very against is the particular version of christianity like democracy and we still have the same kind of christian God and nobody calls as Gos anymore you know. It’s more like Galvanism you know and it’s really annoying." What about Tolkien? "Well he doesn’t mean much to me (laughs). I have never read him. I think that the first line-up of Gorgoroth they were all into Tolkien and they read a lot of it and they like it. I think that a lot of black metal bands in ’91, ’92 were very inspired by him. I think it made perhaps a different mood that fit perfectly in black metal. But right now Infernus isnt’t at Tolkien at all. I haven’t read it but I have heard a lot about it and it seems rather interesting."

What about Gorgoroth’s lyrics? "The strange thing is that I don’t too much about the lyrics, heh. You know Infernus and Gaahl write most of them and they’re very Satanic, but more in like modern kind of Satanic way. It’s more about that a free yourself from the boundaries of all religions for example and a lot of things like Gaahl’s stuff is more old style..."

Like "Open The Gates"? "Yeah more like that one, but that one is actually written by Pest. Gaahl made this Incipit Satan lyric, I’m more into this like ’87 kind of trash metal lyrics. They are really great. It’s a lot of same topics anyway."

The drawing in the "Destroyer" inner sleeve doesn’t describe them heh, the horse or whatever it is? "(laughs) well you should talk to Infernus about it. I’m not sure what it means and I’m not sure what kind of animal it is. I think it is a pleased animal, heh. Perhaps I think it’s something like to free the instincts of animals or something. And Infernus has always been pretty into the instincts of human as an animal, which should be followed and not held down by rational thoughts."

How important is Gorgoroth for you? "Well right now it’s very important. It fits good with other things I’m doing. Before it was more like other bands and projects, but now it’s nothing else than Gorgorth."

You still study in the university? "Yes, that’s what I’m mainly doing and other guys are working. So it’s a perfect to study and music , perfect combination."

What do you think about Dimmu Borgir? "Well, I don’t likethe music that much, but I’ve met them a couple of times and I think they seem to be nice guys, absolutely but I think it was a one song that I liked on the last album, the 2nd or 3rd. Fast death metal like. The rest I just can stand when the synth is so loud and it just crushes down all the guitars."

What about the Finnish scene? "No I don’t know too many bands actually.Well, I’ve been a realy big fanof Impaled Nazarene for some years especially in ’92 ’93. The albums and the 7 inches and the demo, really good stuff. So that’s almost the only band I know. Beherit is also really cool. I haven’t heard much of the last albums."

Holocausto changed Beherit into boring synth stuff "Yeah, I read that in some place. It’s not good?"

No, heh "Alright, actually Gorgoroth played some cover songs of Beherit back in ’92 or whatever. It was the song that appeared also in "Oath Of Black Blood" but there are a lot of bands I’d like to hear, perhaps I’ll check some out little bit later.

Do you have any final message for people? "No, I don’t know. They have to support Gorgoroth and I hope that we can come to Finland some time again. It was great place to be when we were there last time."

Did you stay here long? "I think we were three days. The gig was a catastrophe when it comes to living. We didn’t have money at all, that was shitty thing about it that they didn’t give us the money that we should have had. We couldn’t afford doing anything. But we stayed the night in hotel and …"

Just drinking and fucking "(laughs) yeah, mostly but it was great and I hope we can come there again and play in the festivals. I don’t remember the name..."

Tuska "Yeah, so we’ll probably be there again and that’ll be great."

Ok, thanks and good luck with the tour "Yeah thank you and good luck with the magazine. Yeah see you, bye bye."