INTERVIEW WITH FRODE GLESNES (GRIMAR) FROM EINHERJER FEBRUARY 2021, BY FABIAN FILIKS KVLT MAGAZINE, WWW.KVLT.PL Viking metal veterans Einherjer have returned with their eighth studio album entitled "North Star". I had the opportunity to talk to Frode "Grimar" Glesnes about this great record, his musical influences, and even tried to find the answer to what makes their music unique. Prepare yourself for a journey to a cold and distant land. The main reason for this interview is, of course, your latest output entitled “North Star”. But I personally felt the urge to finally have a chat with you because of my small anniversary. It would be 20 years since I saw you in Kraków alongside Konkhra and King Diamond. Do you remember that show? Yes, I remember that show! That was the last show on the tour. I think it was in Club 38? Exactly. That was my first experience with Einherjer. Being a Kind Diamond freak and a teenager, I had to be there! Yeah, I know the feeling [laughs] But when I saw Einherjer on stage, I like: who are these guys? Your performance was exciting, vivid, livid, and powerful! It stuck with me. Recently, when I heard the single for "Stars" I thought: "damn, those guys are still out there, and they're rocking strong! All the memories came back to me, so I just had to talk to you. It was the last show on tour. I’m in my studio now, and I’m looking at the poster hanging on my wall from that show! King Diamond's bandmates wrote messages on the poster, salutations, and I remember this all too well. Since it was the last day of the tour, they were doing the jokes and crazy stuff during the sets. It's typical for the last show on tour to mess around and just have fun. The whole club was packed with people old and young. Everybody had a great time. You were promoting "Norwegian Native Art", as I recall. An excellent album. Yes, yes... I was hooked instantly and became a fan. The new record, "North Star", had a similar impact on me that "Norwegian Native Art" had. I think that the "North Star" is a very different album from "Norwegian Native Art" in almost every sense, but I think it's really cool to hear that the new record resonates with you just like "Norwegian Native Art" did. It proves that we've done something that impresses and maybe inspires people. And that's cool! 1 I think that the new album will have an impact on the listeners. I've seen the initial reviews, and people are impressed with what you've done. Yeah. Well, that’s very cool to hear. It makes us feel that we have done something good. I think we have a strong album now, good songs, very diverse, and I think it shows with both our singles, "Stars" and "The Blood and the Iron". Both the songwriting and the execution is excellent. It relates to your last record, "Norrøne Spor". Yes, I think it does. I started to write songs for "North Star" almost immediately after we finished "Norrøne Spor". So, I was in a similar state of mind when I was working on the latest record. For me, songwriting is a natural development. A progression. You've seen us 20 years ago, right? You were seventeen. Now we are in our mid-forties. We don't change as fast as we did back then, but now I feel like I've found my place and the right sound for Einherjer and our expression. That's how we are right now. I wouldn't expect us to change drastically if you know what I mean. I understand that perfectly. We are just kind of comfortable with the way we sound now. And all that was done in your own Studio Borealis, right? Could you tell us something more about the recording process? Sure. We used my studio. We have been doing this for quite some time. I think "Norwegian Native Art" was the last album we did in an "outside studio". At that time, I was so fed up with the whole traveling thing. When you're going abroad to record an album you only have like 3-5 weeks and it's just unnecessary pressure. So, I was kind of thinking: "I need to learn to do this myself". And so I did. It shows on the latest album... Apart from being a musician, my professional day job is being a sound engineer. Over time I have also built a proper studio in a building next to my house. It’s very convenient both for me and Einherjer. We use the studio for recordings, and we use this as a writing place. We started recording "North Star" in February 2020. Then the pandemic struck, and everything went sideways. I have kids at school. And now they were at home and for like eight weeks, and I was going crazy. I think it’s impossible to have the right energy as a musician after being with kids for the whole day. I just gave up. I couldn’t do that [laughs]. So that’s why we had to take it slow. And after a month or so when the kids were back at school I was back working on the record. Was it a "hermit-like" experience for you? 2 You know, I normally track everything myself. The guitars and bass. All except lead guitars. I was working alone in the studio for a month. And I was tracking all the stuff and did the vocals and wrote the lyrics. In a way, I think it was probably "the loneliest album" I have ever recorded, but we still kind of managed a good vibe on it. When I needed something from the other guys, I would just send the materials over, and Ole, the lead guitarist, would send me back his ideas. It kind of brought new layers to the song, and I got excited, and I sent it back and so on. We kept the band alive that way. It’s not that we normally work this way but this time we had to do it like that. I think, all in all, it paid off. and the album sounds pretty well. Ole's leads are amazing. He did a great job. There's a certain sadness in your music. A Norwegian trait that the music is "cold" and even "harsh". It's emotional but distanced. And has that certain amount of melancholy... I think I know what you mean. But I would call it more like a longing... I think you're right. That's a better word. So, is longing a part of the concept of the album? Because from what I understand the North Star should guide you. What's the message? Are you seeking guidance, are you longing for something bigger than ourselves? Have we lost our way? For sure we lost our way [laughs]. Years ago. But honestly. I think that the whole title, the concept of the record is about the fact that we are always evolving, changing. As humans, as songwriters, and as a band. And the "North Star" struck me as a good overall title that reflects some sense of direction to help stay at a course. And on a personal level, it can relate to our inner compass. Your inner North Star guides us towards what we want in life in general. Is that what you were asking for? Yes, that’s actually what I wanted to know. And I asked you that because there's a certain mindset within these songs, and I was wondering if you’ve said that this time around, it was like a solo effort but do you think you made it more personal that way? Yeah, but even though I did record much of the stuff alone. It’s not a solo effort. I needed Ole's approval as much as he needed mine. And that goes with the rest of the band. We all needed the confirmation of the other guy that what we are doing here is right. The one thing I was thinking about when you mentioned emotions and stuff, and I brought longing because we are trying to recreate a feeling of a bygone era, of something that has been. That's the kind of feeling that we are trying to communicate here. And we are drawing inspiration from our influences. Not only from the 80's metal, you know? We have this heavy metal foundation. We also kind of add a special sauce and stuff that's a tiny amount of Norwegian folk music and composers like Edvard Grieg, and stuff like that. I think it makes everything sound a bit different from everyone else. You know what I mean? Of course. It's all connected here. The past, the present, and the future. Exactly. We're trying to put you in a mindset and trying to communicate a feeling of a bygone era. Something that happened a long time ago. I don’t think that everyone is capable 3 of perceiving that, but obviously, you are, and it’s cool to hear how you are understanding what we are doing. It's because the music feels honest. It's like you're sharing something that normal people don't tend to share. You're sharing some intimacy with the listener. And you're vulnerable because of that.