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Interview
Deutsche VersionInterview mit Grimfist (04.12.2005)
HH: I think 10 Steps From Hell is definitely a step forward for Grimfist in comparison to your last record which already was a killer album. How were the reactions to it so far?
Ole: I agree man!! I have to say, the reactions has been really really good!! Everybody seems very satisfied with the album, that's a cool thing of course.
HH: How important are positive or negative reactions from press and fans for you?
Ole: Honestly, reactions from press in general doesn't mean much to us personally. We do what we do, regardless of what the press writes. If you start listening to what everybody has to say about your music you'll easily loose ground. However, we wanna sell a lot of albums and the response from the press can contribute a lot to that, also the other way. So it's a 2 way thing I guess. But we of course appreciate killer response instead of full on flamings.
HH: Frediablo, some weeks ago you quit all your duties on every band you've been in execpt Grimfist. What happened? What made you quit all your bands?
Frediablo: I was just fed up with the whole so called 'metal-scene' and all it's bullshit. All the drinking and partying just made me sick to my bone...... not physically, but mentally. It's such a waste and it usually amounts to nothing. I was burnt after the Necrophagia US tour, and the passion was no longer present for me. I needed a change in order to maintain any love at all for metal music, so I decided to distance myself from a large part of this scene, and only keep close to me the ones I felt deserve a chance, and with a potentially productive and challenging musical future. I have heard so much crap, lies and bullshit, and seen so many fake motherfuckers that my eyes and ears was fed up to the point of murder. Now I have completely quit drinking and smoking weed, and I have started jogging and working out instead, and it has made me feel 10 years younger. I still love agressive music, and I'm still the same fucking guy I was before, I just see through the bullshit these days and choose not to be a part of it anymore. I'm in it only for the music and the music alone!!
HH: What was the reason to continue with Grimfist of all bands?
Frediablo: Like I said, I feel Grimfist has a lot more to offer musically, and it's also challenging for me to do this type of music. I felt like walking through walls and not getting anywhere with the rest of my musical outlets, while Grimfist has the potential to actually get somewhere, and it deserves a chance at least. I must point out that I also will continue to do Hemnur, my black metal project, and myself and Heksblod are currently recording our second album entitled 'Kalde Faen', which will be the follow up to our debut album Satanic Hellride. Grimfist and Hemnur are my musical priorities these days, and in addition I do a lot of artwork and design with my company DeMida Design. My future is no longer as dark and bleak as it was 3 months ago, and I know removing the alcohol from my life contributed greatly to that state of existence.
HH: For some time Horgh played in both bands, Grimfist and Hypocrisy. Did you have a certain feeling that Horgh would quit Grimfist when he joined Hypocrisy?
Ole: Actually Horgh didn't play with both bands at the same time. We decided that there was no point of continue working with him and be sitting on the fence waiting for him to have some spare time to push Grimfist... although he wanted to push both bands.
HH: How is your relation to Horgh today? Do you have still contact to him?
Ole: All is of course cool man. We haven't talked in a while though.
HH: Have you already heard the new Hypocrisy record? What do you think of it?
Ole: Haven't really heard the album, just some samples here and there. I've never been a big fan of traditional death metal though, but I bet Horgh has contributed a lot to the band, stepping it up a bit as he is a great extreme metal drummer.
HH: Christian Svendsen replaced Horgh on drums. How did you get in contact with him and how did you convince him to join Grimfist?
Ole: We got in contact with Chris through some friends after we ended our relationship with Horgh. Convincing was not a necesserally part, as he was very excited when he got the phone. He was really into Ghouls Of Grandeur, we played him the pre-production of 10 Steps To Hell and he was immediately ready to kick ass with us!!!
HH: I think 10 Steps To Hell with its very fast parts has more Speed Metal influences than Ghouls Of Grandeur but at the time it has a darker atmosphere created by the slower and keyboard influenced parts so the borders of musical extremes are spread wider. Was it your intent to set new borders when you wrote the songs or was it just coincidence?
Ole: I would say 10 Steps To Hell is a natural progression from Ghouls Of Grandeur. I mean it's been 2 years, we've changed a bit. Yes, we wanted to focus on bigger contrasts, by creating darker parts as well as heavier/groovier elements and combining that with the traditional speed within the Grimfist sound. By doing this, like you said, the speedier parts sounds... well sounds speedier!! Hehe... Funny people are mentioning the synth... it's actually just one note at the end on Reap The Fire, on the whole album... The rest of the album is a bunch of layered guitars actually.
HH: Speaking about songwriting, what influences did Christian Svendsen have on the new songs? Did he participate in songwriting or were all songs finished when he entered the band?
Ole: When Chris joined the band, all the material was written and arranged so he didn't contribute anything to that. But he did put his style of drumming to the music which is very cool.
HH: What new possibillities for Grimfist did arise with a new drummer? Your music is kind of different from that of Immortal but everyone thought of Immortal (me too) when thinking about Grimfist and Horgh. Is it also a sort of getting out of the shadow of mighty Immortal?
Ole: Well we got a steady line up now ready kick ass live!! I think Chris is a more diverse drummer compared to Horgh, he is definately a perfect match for us. Yes we're really fed up with getting compared to Immortal, Grimfist has nothing to do with that band. Although Horgh played on the first album, there's not much that can be compared to Immortal musically.
HH: What do you think of those "copy protections" like the ones on the 10 Steps To Hell promo? Do you think that's a good way to protect your music from being spread illegally?
Ole: It's a 2 way thing... Actually we had nothing to with the fade outs on the promos, we didn't know about it 'til we got them in the mail. The intentions were good I think, but at the same time I understand it can be abit frustrating when reviewing albums like that. The problem is, the day the album hit the stores it ends up on the internet anyway.
HH: Your website www.grimfist.com has a new design for the promotion of your new record. How important is a homepage for a band nowadays and how important is it for Grimfist?
Ole: I think it's important to have a website for people to check out, especially samples from albums and stuff like that. Also we have lots downloadable stuff like logos, promo-pics etc. It makes it so much more easier for us.
HH: Imagine 10 Steps To Hell is a building. What would it look like?
Ole: That would be some sort of reversed building wouldn't it ?? HeHe
HH: Finally let me ask a stupid question about the name of the band: Grimfist. Where does it come from and what does it stand for?
Ole: Frediablo came up with the name. We were looking for something brutal and powerful that reflected our music. It doesn't have any deeper meaning or anything. And no, it has nothing to do with fist-fucking... HAHA
HH: Thanks for your time! Any last words to Munich and the rest of the world?
Ole: To all our friends and fans!! Please check out our new album 10 Steps To Hell out NOW!!
See ya on tour in 2006. RAISE HELL!!!!