Rockezine.com interview with Thyrfing on Jul 11, 2002

with Thomas Väänänen on Jul 11, 2002

Thyrfing is back with a fantastic new release called “Vansinnesvisor” full of the typical Viking metal this band produces for almost a decade now. Although the songs sound as a logical next step after the release of “Urkraft” Thyrfing saw a chance to add some new additions to the Thyrfing sound. The band got more time to record this time and they also took more time to add some extra layers in the music. Vocalist Thomas traveled to the Hammerheart office in Holland to answer the questions of the European metal press. And Rock – E – Zine also saw a chance to fire some questions upon him.
		Congratulations with already your fourth release. Looking back after this period, how would you describe the evolution of Thyrfing? We`ll what can I say about the progression... the thing with us has basically been to always keep doing what we think we do best but always add some new elements to the mix with each new recording. That`s what we did this time as well, but we took a bit longer with arrangements and lyrics this time so the step we took this time (compared to the one we took from Valdr to Urkraft) was just bigger than usual.
		"Vansinnesvisor" has become a great release in my opinion but how are the reactions from both press and fans so far? So far it has been overwhelming. Reviews have almost exclusively given the album full, or next to full points. But what I really like that a lot of people who say that they have been following the band since the first album really like the new one as well and think it`s the best one so far. It feels very good to please old time fans and not getting stuck in "yeah, but the first album was the best" kind of thing, haha.
		a quote like this, and has Thyrfing been spending more time on writing the songs this time? I personally think "Vansinnesvisor" has become less accessible for the listener because of the more layers that have been added in the Thyrfing sound? How do you look upon I agree. We are now less commercially appealing than we`ve ever done before. The first time you listen to the album you`re like "where did the melodies go", but what I appreciate about the album is that will absolutely grow on you for every listen - it just gets better and better every time you listen. It`s like you mentioned. we added tons of new layers and there`s actually more melodies and stuff on this album, but they`re more subtle and you won`t notice them right away. That`s the coolest thing about the record in my ears. We definitely spent more time on the writing this time.
		Can you tell me something more about the title? What does "Vansinnesvisor" mean, and how does this reflect on both lyrics and artwork? Vansinnesvisor means "songs of madness" and we just thought it was a good collective name for the songs on the album. All the lyrics deal with darker aspects of life and of the human psyche this time, so the title suits the mood. The artwork is basically a continuation of that same theme. The character on the front definitely looks like he has lost his fucking marbles completely!
		How does Thyrfing compose their songs? Is it a band kind of thing or are there several individuals responsible for it? Just like most other bands we have main songwriters, who are more productive than the others, but it`s still a band effort in many ways. We always have to battle it out at rehearsals about what parts to keep and which ones we should throw away.
		studio this time? And how did four instead of two weeks recording reflect the outcome? What was the reason why Thyrfing chose for the Dug Out We jus wanted to try something new this time. We had already been to the Abyss twice and that was more than enough. Doing the same thing all the time bores us, and Dug Out came up the discussion of where to go instead. The longer recording time was very positive for the whole production. We had time to try everything we wanted. Two and a half days for just setting the basic drum sounds. One and a half for the rhythm guitar sound 5 days to do vocals instead of the usual one. We certainly had time to deal with the details in a whole different way than ever before. A lot more fun!
		How was it to work with an experienced producer as Daniel "Danne" Bergstrand? Did he have a big influence when you recorded the songs? It was brilliant! Daniel had so many ideas about everything from how the snare should sound to how we could arrange the vocals and that is just what we need. I think we have some very strong songwriters in this band, but having somebody who could always push you that extra mile and tell you that you could do better than what you just did is fucking brilliant. Having an outside opinion is very good.
		If you could record `Vansinnesvisor" again, would you be doing something different then? Yes, of course. I think everybody who has ever recorded an album wishes to change something as soon as the record has been finished for a while. I definitely don`t want to change anything in the big picture, but just little details you know. A word here and a guitar squeak there.
		How does a band as Thyrfing gets inspired? We try to get inspired by ourselves these days. In the beginning it was just Bathory, Bathory and Bathory. But I think that we`ve come to a point that we`ve definitely found our own style, so we just try to do what we`ve always done but improve a little each time we record.
		When can we expect to see Thyrfing live in Europe again? We have promised Hammerheart that we`re going to do some shows to support the album, but no dates have been set yet.
		Are there any new bands that metal fans should go and check out according to you? The only really new bands I can think of at the moment are Malign and Ensiferum. The first ones play really raw black metal and the second are quite Viking in their approach.
		Any last words? Thanks a lot for the interview!
(Teun Jans)