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Interview
Deutsche VersionInterview mit Manegarm (16.12.2009)
HH: Hello from Munich and congratulations to your new album Nattväsen. How are you?
Erik: Hello, we're all just fine!! And thank you for your congratulations!!
HH: What reactions did you achieve so far and are you satisfied with them? Are there any negative reviews about the new album (but I don't think so)?
Erik: Overall the reactions and reviews have been really great I must say so we're really satisfied. Just the other day I did some counting and found out that the average score is around 8/10 and that must be good!! The only "negative" things we have heard from some critics is that they think that the album sounds like our last album "Vargstenen" and that it sounds to much Manegarm again. I don't fully agree... and by the way; we ARE Manegarm!!
HH: Manegarm is one of the "oldest" Folk- /Viking Metal bands around. Especially these days these genre is very popular, almost every day a new band is signed up and is pushed. Does this make you angry or sad, even Manegarm did not have this assistance in the past?
Erik: We try not to be bitter because that wouldn't probably help us in any way, but of course we're not totally satisfied... We have been playing since 1995 and have now released six full-length albums but we are still rather unknown. We have released tons of great metal but due to lack of proper promotion barely no one have heard it... that makes me a bit sad and frustrated.
Anyway we're satisfied with our new collaboration with Regain Records. We have noticed a remarkable difference in the promotion for Nattväsen than earlier albums because now interviews and reviews are really flowing in!!!
HH: Do you think Manegarm is more Folk, or more Viking Metal? What are the differences between these two genres in your point of view?
Erik: Manegarm is a metal band with folk influences that sings about Vikings, hahaha!
I like the "folk" label better. For me that states something extra like incorperating traditional instruments and exploring your roots. For us that handle the viking era but it is also about exploring the spiritual side of things as the nature and its beings for example.
Today it feels like any band can be Viking metal... It's just to play some melodic death metal and once in a while growl some lines about "Odin" and the "Thundergod" and there you have it...
HH: Where do you take your inspirations from to create new songs?
Erik: I get inspiration from different kinds of music. I listen a lot to classic heavy metal and I probably get a lot of influences from such music but I also listen quite much to all sorts of music so every style can serve as inspiration. Much of the inspiration when writing music comes from the inside so the personal mood plays a big part. Sometimes you can go for weeks without writing a single tune and sometimes melodies are just flowing out!!
HH: Today life is very fast, everything is fast moving, everything that counts is money. What is in your opinion the biggest thing that mankind has unlearned?
Erik: We need to learn the opposite; to slow down and take it easy. Back to basic, back to our roots.
HH: What makes life worth living?
Erik: My two daughters and the rock n' roll!!
HH: I read in an other interview, that Jonas Almquist said, we all have to got back to the knowledge of ancient days. What knowledge did he mean?
Erik: I think he meant that many people in the modern western world today are spiritually rootless and in their search to fill their needs many people make destructive choices. They let money, consumption and luxury become an obsession and lead their way and that makes people feeling emptier and emptier... That's why we need to take a few steps back, start reflecting and seek inside you for what is true and really important... Get back to the wisdom and knowledge of our ancient days to be a bit deeper and a little more philosophic.
HH: What is your opinion about the metal scene these days, especially the Folk/Viking scene?
Erik: Viking/Pagan metal has grown really big these last couple of years and it's good that it is a big interest for this kind of music. The risk is that the genre gets drowned by all new bands and somehow I think that the "drowning" has already started. There are so many bands nowadays and all bands don't come up to the right quality I think. Just because you hit some violin strings or make some noise with the flute you can't call yourself a Viking/Pagan/Folk band, it take more than that... that's my opinion.
HH: When can we expect to see Manegarm live on stage here in Germany?
Erik: We're playing at the Winter Troll Festival in Essen 27/12. We're also planning a European tour next year and then we will definitely play in Germany.
HH: Please describe your sound without using the words metal, folk, Swedish (or Sweden) and power(ful).
Erik: It's like an old, big stone that won't stop rolling. It just keeps rolling, it's hard and solid and you know what to expect when it hits you. The longer it rolls the more speed it's picking up and in the end it smashes everything in its way!!!
Manegarm = Stone(hard)
HH: If you would have three wishes, what would you wish?
Erik: A good future for Manegarm, a good future for me and my kids and finally a big f***ing truckload of money!!
HH: Thank you for answering this interview, the last words are up to you.
Erik: Thank you too!! All right brothers & sisters in Germany; see you all on the roads soon!! In the meanwhile I really suggest that you take a listen to the pagan metal album of the century - Nattväsen. It will do you all some good!!!