Rockezine.com interview with Asgaard on Sep 15, 2002

with Wojciech Kostrzewa on Sep 15, 2002


		Asgaard is relatively unknown outside of Poland. Could you tell us a bit more about the history of the band? My brother, Barlomiej Kostrzewa, Jacek Monkiewicz and myself initiated Asgaard in 1994. Our first demo was recorded in O’Le studio in 1995. It was entitled Excellent Darkness Art. If I remember correctly, it was referred to as gothic doom and especially the underground press received it very well. In 1997, after numerous band member changes, Asgaard recorded a promotional tape and sent it to 10 record labels. It attracted a lot of interest from Mystic Productions. As a result we signed a contract with them for 3 albums. The first album was recorded in November 1997 in the Selani Studio, and was entitled When The Twilight Sets In Again. Andrzej Bomba and Doc from Vader produced the album, while Samoth made a cover photo. The style of the debut album was referred to as gothic metal with a lot of folk elements. During these times we still had a flute and a female vocalist. The reactions of the music press were very positive and we played a lot of gigs. We played with bands like Limbonic Art, Behemoth, Ruination, Elysium and Cold Passion among others. After that we recorded our second album, Ad Sidera, Ad Infinitum, in the new Manek studios with a new producer named Malta (the sound engineer of Behemoth) and with a new vocalist, Przemyslaw Olbryt, who replaced Malgorzata Razniak (our female singer). The recording of this album lasted about 200 hours and the result was a 40 minutes long album, which was the first part of a trilogy. Piotr Madziar, the most famous engineer in Poland (in POP music production) did the mastering of the album. After Mystic Productions did a terrible job on the promotion of the album, we realized that the only solution was to choose a new record label. After many conversations and debates we decided to sign a contract with Metal Mind Productions. In July 2001 in the Hendrix Studios we recorded our third album with the same producer as on our previous attempt, Malta. In an over 250 hours lasting session, we recorded the most symphonic album so far. We received a lot of good publicity and positive feedback from our few concerts with Atrosis, as well as esteem from our fans (we noticed this on our web site), but to be honest the album wasn’t such a huge success. Our new album XIII Voltum Lunae was recorded in the Hertz studios in July 2002. The new album is more rhythmic, dynamic and we even used a string quartet in a certain passage on the album. Right now we are preparing a small promotional campaign.
		Your new album, XIII Voltum Lunae, is part of a trilogy. The album title is obviously Latin and I was wondering what it means? The title XIII Voltum Lunae means “the 13th full moon”. In fact in a year there are only 12 full moons, so the title is a little (how can I say this?) sarcastic and ironic. The 13th full moon could only happen under unnatural circumstances, or in our imaginations, dreams, and fantasies. It could be an invitation to an unexplored area of the dark sides of our brain.
		What is exactly the concept of this aforementioned trilogy? The concept of this trilogy has many platforms. When you hear the three albums, you can feel some elements like a symphonic atmosphere connected with some elements of theatre (antique, classical and modern theatre). Developed forms and arrangements, using special classical instruments (for example strings, violins, piano, marimba, horns and so on), a wide scale of expression (especially in the vocals) and an atmosphere of dark visions, sick dreams, and depressions imbued with mysticism. In that way all the three albums are similar. It is not only the specific style of our music but it is the concept of the trilogy. The concept of this trilogy is however especially expressed in our lyrics. The lyrics of all three albums are part of a tale, but frankly speaking, I haven’t had the opportunity to study the last part of this tale yet. The first and second parts of the story are in my opinion about a love, unimaginably deep, but this love can’t be fulfilled. There are certain obstacles, which prevent this love from happening and in fact death is the only way to for the lovers to be together.
		The word Asgaard comes from Nordic mythology and represents the realm of the Gods. This led me to believe that your lyrics would deal with Nordic mythology and Vikings in general. Yet, I don’t see any of these topics in your lyrics, or am I mistaken? No, you are right. Przemyslaw Olbryt, who has written all the lyrics for the last three albums, never used any elements of Nordic mythology. In fact Przemek joined Asgaard only during our second album. On our first album we had a lot of mythological elements, especially from Slavic mythology. One of the songs from that album is called “1168” and it tells of the decline of the last Slavic fortress Arcona on Rugia Island.
		How did you get interested in Nordic Mythology? It’s not only Nordic mythology. We (my brother Barlomiej and myself) are extremely interested in different kinds of European mythologies and religions. The Nordic mythology was more like a trend or fashion but we were trying not to limit ourselves to that or any other mythology or religion for that matter. Instead we are interested in the history of Europe (of course especially Poland), poetry, literature and many other things. In Poland we’ve got many scientific books and also many books that deal with religion.
		Are you guys interested in other mythologies or maybe even fantasy, and if so, what kind of books have you read? As far as I know, we’re bigger experts in Slovenian religions and mythologies, than any other religion or mythology. Very interesting are also the mythology of ancient Greece, Rome, Mesopotamia and Egypt. It is all tightly connected to our love for history. Recently we were getting a lot of information on the Second World War, also the more technical side (tanks, tanks and tanks). We like to analyze individual situations at the fronts of the war. My brother’s knowledge of history is supported by the fact that he won a place in the University (he was one of the best in Poland in a competition about the knowledge of Polish history). Fantasy? We’d rather read more scientific books than fantasy. Bartek, for instance, didn’t even read Tolkien’s famous trilogy The Lord of the Rings!
		The music on XIII Voltum Lunae is very diverse and original and it is very difficult to compare Asgaard to any other band, but for the sake of comparison what bands would you compare Asgaard to yourself and how would you describe Asgaard’s music? Asgaard’s music is full of contrasts; it is unexpected, atmospheric and often associated with morbid dreams and visions. But on the other hand it is very vital, full of energy, dramatic and aggressive. It’s good that people have some problems comparing Asgaard to any other band. It’s evidence of Asgaard’s originality, but for the layman I can tell only this, that the style of Asgaard reminds a little of symphonic and theatrical black metal. But it is just one easy way to introduce our music to a person, who reads this interview. You won’t regret buying this album and there are so many other styles of metal, just explore!
I think that changing status in our Polish metal scene is almost impossible.		Recently, I interviewed beginning Polish band Dementia. They said it was very difficult to gain status in the Polish metal scene because of the lack of support by the media. Have you encountered the same problems and how do you manage to promote yourself? Our band is the best example that promotion is more important than good music. XIII Voltum Lunae is our second album for Metal Mind Productions. Terrible promotion and the lack of decent distribution totally damaged our first two albums. I think that changing status in our Polish metal scene is almost impossible. In the highest rank of the Polish metal scene we can see a few bands that are impossible to remove like Lux Occulta and Vader. In fact there is no opportunity to have any significant success in Poland at all. I don’t really know why there is such an untypical scene here, but these bands are like the “holy cows” from India. They are in all magazines in Poland, on all compilation albums, have excellent promotion and always good reviews. The bands in the “second row” (like Asgaard and Dementia) have to promote themselves, often without any result. They have a lot of problems and the competition is getting bigger and bigger.
		We all know bands like Vader, Lux Occulta and Behemoth but what other Polish bands should we look out for? You should look out for many others, often more interesting, like Trauma (an old band like Vader but for me much better), Decapitated (young boys from Krakow with a fantastic technique), Esquarial (melodic death metal with great ideas), Sceptic (a young band, which has released two great albums), Crionics (a very good band that plays black metal in the style of Emperor), Lost Soul, Moonlight, and many many others. Frankly speaking I am disappointed with the last albums of Vader and Lux Occulta. You should look for pearls because on the one hand we have a lot of underestimated bands but on the other hand there is also a lot of common shit!
Polish fans adore western stars, but they have no knowledge about bands from their own country!		How is the Polish metal scene in general? Very untypical, I have been in this metal scene for 8 years now and I still haven’t learned the principles and I still don’t know who rules the Polish metal world. Therefore we’re trying to find new fans abroad. In Poland, for now, we got everything we can get. When we will be more appreciated in other countries, then maybe some day we’ll find respect and confidence in Poland too. Ironically, Polish fans adore western stars, but they have no knowledge about bands from their own country!
		I have noticed you guys have a very good-looking homepage, but unfortunately it is all in Polish. Are there any plans to make an English version of the page available in the near future? Of course, next month there should be a full English version!
		Of what importance do you consider the role of the Internet in the promotion of your music? Nowadays I can’t imagine a good promotion without Internet, e-zines and websites. I am a little sentimental and I regret that we don’t have any magazines in normal form anymore. But I certainly realize that the Internet offers much bigger possibilities than the magazines of old. I can see a big chance for us, for Asgaard!
		Thank you very much for this interview! Anything left unsaid? Thank you very, very much and sorry for the unprepared homepage. I promise that, in a few days, an English version will be available. Each interview is very important to us and I don’t regret the amount I have to do to promote our album. The Polish scene is a good scene!
		(Frank van de Voorde)