The Kovenant
with Lex Icon on Oct 08, 2002


After you left Dimmu Borgir you shocked the metal world with the great album entitled ‘Nexus Polaris’. After that you completely changed your music, the name of the band and even your own name. Why such a radical shift?
We were forced to change the name of the band. The record company/distributor of the EBM band Covenant, threatened to sue us for the name. And Nuclear Blast did nothing to help us. If we didn`t change the name, the album wouldn`t be released. When we had to do that, I just felt like starting all over again. All our albums are different. But we haven`t changed that much I think. You will be more surprised by our new album "Cybertrash".

With ‘Animatronic’ you proved yourself, but after that it was relatively quiet. Out of the blue there was a re-mixed and re-mastered version of the first album. Can you tell me why you did this?
I was never satisfied with the original mix. And for a couple of years now, I have wanted to do something with the album. I talked to Psy about it, and he was also very enthusiastic about the idea of a total remix.

I also read that many parts have been added and rearranged. But what exactly did you chance on ‘In Times Before The Light’?
Not many. We haven’t changed much from the original recording. All the keyboards had to be redone since they were never on the master-tapes to begin with. I also got a friend of mine, Bjørn Boge/Ursus Major (from Street Legal & Troll) to re-do the bass lines. Some new guitars were added on a few songs, and that’s about it. With added effects and a totally different mix. It now sounds very good. At last I can sit down and listen to it again.


It struck me that the line up on ‘In Times Before The Light’ consisted of just you and Psy Coma. Can you tell anything about this?
I started the band in 1992 together with a friend of mine, who played the drums. I was doing vocals and lead guitar at the time. And later that same year, Psy was recruited as a permanent guitarist. For a lot of years the band consisted of only Psy and myself. Hellhammer joined in `96. And then we were three. But on "In Times..." it was only Psy, and me. I did the vocals, drums and keyboards. Psy did the rest, and some keyboard-parts.

Any plans to release a new album in the near future?
It has already been recorded, and will be released in January or February next year. Our upcoming album will be entitled "Cybertrash".

What can we expect on “Cybertrash”?
As always, you can expect something different. We have chosen to "dabble" in many new styles of music this time. But the core of the music is still based on metal/hardrock. Also the vocals have been done slightly different this time around. Extreme, but different.

  The Kovenant’s newest member is Angel. He plays the guitar in The Kovenant since 2000. Could you please introduce Angel to our readers as we know nothing about him?
Nobody is familiar with him, he is an old school mate. So I have known him for many years. He is also doing some guitar work for Apoptygma Berzerk. But he has never played in any other bands besides The Kovenant.


The last time I saw you in concert was at Dynamo, a few years ago. When can we see The Kovenant live again in Europe?
Next year will be a busy year for us. If the new album gets a warm welcome. We have already been booked for some festivals. And tours are being planned. But I want to wait until the new album has been released first.

You’ve also got a side-project, called Troll. Can you tell me anything about this?
Norwegian Black Metal! Check out: www.welcome.to/trollriket for the official homepage. It’s just something I do, to have an outlet for some of my "other" musical ideas. Its basically just for fun.

Is there anything REZ forgot to ask? Is there something you want to say to promote ‘In Times Before The light’?
Please buy the album! I really need the money... ;-)
Greetz to all our fanatics and friends. This is not a new The Kovenant album, but a re-release of our debut album "In Times Before the Light", which first appeared on a small underground label in 1997. This album is however not representative for the music we do today, but it is a good way to experience the band in its dark adolescence.


“The original recording of this album took place in the year of 1995, in a little studio, in a little town, in the Kingdom of Norway. Also ready to be released the same year, but this of course never happened, due to serious mistakes from record label after record label.
I have always had the feeling that, however fortunate we may find ourselves from time to time, there lies a curse upon the band. But finally, it seemed that things were getting better, with the involvement of a small, but enthusiastic English label. Alas, things are quite often never what they appear to be. This album suffered a lot before its original release in 1997, including several lost artworks (cover-paintings mysteriously gone missing, one by one), the alteration of lyrics by designers because they just felt like doing it...and the list goes on.
But our dissatisfaction with a lot of things that revolves around this album, we hope will finally be over with this final release..
It was also very interesting to see what would come out of the whole process in the end. With a total remix of everything, added effects and re-recorded synthesisers (Because the original stuff wasn’t on the tapes anymore). Now sit back and enjoy our earliest mischief, in the bizarre world of True Norwegian Black Metal...”
Lex Icon

(Pieke Schoonbrood)

© Rockezine.com Oct 08, 2002, viewed 1210 times since 666
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