Interview с Skogen : DARKSIDE.ru

fortunately, in the Russian musical press SKOGEN is not very frequent visitor, so tell us a little about your band – when, how and why the band was created, and so on...
Skogen started out in 2009, when me and Mathias joined forces, eager to play some atmospheric metal music. Later on we got signed by Frostscald Records, who released Vittra. In 2011 Linus joined the band on drums and a bit later, Svitjod was released. As a three piece, we started to rehearse more and more, and made new songs, which would end up as album no 3 – Eld.

Very soon, will be released your new album called Eld. How would you describe your new album? What can we expect from you this time?

Eld is slightly different from Vittra and Svitjod, but still has the Skogen sound, of course. It contains more variation than before. It has

faster parts, acoustic parts, doom parts, darker parts and so on. The atmosphere is still there though, which has become Skogen’s hallmark.
Eld feels like a natural successor to Svitjod, for us, and we hope everyone else will enjoy it as much as we do.

What are the lyrical themes of the new album, and what means his name – Eld?

Eld means fire, and describes the whole concept and feeling of the album. This time we deal with a darker theme. We have always dealt with darkness, but you can feel it better this time. Death in it’s purest form.

SKOGEN uses Swedish language. Why is this language? Often assumed that to be successful, you need to sing in English…

Well, since we’re Swedish, it came naturally. Of course it’s “better” with English if you want succe

ss, but we started this band to play the music we burn for, and it felt better to write the lyrics in Swedish to set the right mood. Now it would just feel weird to change to English. But who knows? Maybe in the future to gain a larger audience.

What is the general concept of SKOGEN, its inner essence?

The essence of Skogen is atmosphere. Let the mind wander, and set a darker mood.

Is the album will be released on Frostskald records again? Do you plan to continue your partnership with this label?

Yes, in collaboration with Hexenhammer Records. So far it has been a good cooperation, and we have no other plans for now.

Did you have a tour or concerts in support of the previous albums?

No.

Are you play shows in the same line-up, which records albums, or you need to invite session musicians?

Since we are only three members, and need a second guitarist to fulfill our sound, so last weekend when we played our first show at Hard Anger Open Air in Norway, we invited our good friend, Jonathan Jansson, as a live member. It went great!

Eld is the third album in a short period of time. How easy do you write this kind of music?

We write music all the time. Actually, it feels like Eld came much later, but I guess the albums come quite close, if you look at the scene nowadays. I think you should release an album per year. There’s no reason not to do it, if you don’t tour or are too lazy to rehearse.

What is the goal you set for yourself when you writ

e music?

To make good music that has that right feeling. It’s hard to describe. You just know it when you hear it.

Have you ever wanted to be a musician, or it happened by chance?

I’ve always listened to music, so it came naturally to pick up a guitar in school. Then it just never stopped. You wanted to play the songs you liked, as simple as that.

Do you need engaged in something other than music to make money for a living?

Yes, it’s not easy to make a living on music, especially not playing our kind of it. We all have jobs we have to do. But it’s too boring to talk about.

What is your opinion about (music) piracy and free downloading music from the Internet? And what you think about the so-called “death of CD-

format”?

As long as people still buy the records, there’s no harm in downloading. I download, but not as much as I buy albums. I like to support the bands I like, and I like to make my own cd and vinyl collection bigger.
It’s a shame that no one buy records anymore, like they used to. I prefer the vinyl format more than cd, because it feels more like a real record, and you can’t just burn and create your own LP in five minutes. But I love both formats, and will always buy them. To those who don’t – fuck you.

Do not you think that in recent times there are too many bands were create? Even more than we need… Most of these bands are completely talentless - and this is one of the reasons that people do not want to buy CDs with shitty stuff?

Yes, since Cubase and computer programs became

SO important and common, everyone now has their own band and label and puts out shit music everywhere. There’s too many websites where you can feel like a real artist, even though you’re not, like myspace, facebook, reverbnation, lastfm, bla bla bla. And yes, I think it’s way too easy to get a hold of music nowadays, that people get lazy and don’t buy the albums.

What you think about today black metal scene? And if Euronymous was still alive, how do you think, what would be with black metal scene today?

Today’s black metal scene is both amazing and shitty. There’s a million shitty bands that just try to be something they’re not, but there’s also loads of really amazing bands. Although the early Norwegian bands started something wicked and great, I think there are better bands now.

Does SKOGEN have relationship with someone other bands? Maybe any joint shows have planned with other bands...

No, we just work on our own. But is something interesting comes up, we are open for it. Now when we just have played our first show, we’re hungry for more!

How do you prefer to spend your free time?

With rehearsals, good music and alcohol.

So the final words from the band at the end of the interview. Maybe something left unsaid?

Keep your eyes open for Eld. It will blow your mind! And keep on buying our merch, we have shirts and cd’s.
Hell döden.
15 окт 2012 the End

Skogen

Atmospheric vinyl lovers