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DARKNESS IN JUNE
Formed under a blackened sky in the outskirts of Álftanes, Iceland, Curse arose from the ashes of one of Iceland’s lost gems, Thule, along with it’s sister, Potentiam. Formed under a blackened sky in the outskirts of Álftanes, Iceland, Curse arose from the ashes of one of Iceland’s lost gems, Thule, along with it’s sister, Potentiam.x With it’s third black thrash attack under it’s belt I got in contact with Eldur to get the lowdown on how Icelanders and Englishmen spend their time in Norway. Currents: Is it correct that much of “Void Above, Abyss Below” was improvised in the studio? How much time did you spend on the album in the studio? Eldur: All together, maybe 6-7 days. The process lasted 42 days though. So yes, mainly improvised and straight from the gut. There were no second thoughts with anything that happened on this album. We spent very little time on the mix and we did not edit or fx any mistakes. They are there but minor, and I think the overall process kept a bit of a live feeling in the sound. Currents: What is the reason behind Curse? What is it that keeps the fame burning? Fortíð focused on Völuspá in it’s trilogy, what is closer to Curse than anything else? Are the fres of Surt the fuel of your dark compositions? Eldur: Curse has a much less distinct lyrical concept than Fortíð, since it is not bound to Northern mythology or paganism. Whether it is fantasy or mysticism or some life experiences, Curse has little or dare I say no boundaries and each lyric is an individual. What fuels me to make this music is something I cannot explain, but it most certainly is some form of obsession.
Currents: Is the regulation of dreams anything you are striving for? How is the red the deepest black and how do you channel the devil via the medium of Curse? Eldur: Dreams are often a subject in Curse such as in Infernal Visions and yes, Red is the Deepest Black. But the latter one is written by Guðmundur Óli Pálmason from Sólstafr and if you want it dissected, I suggest you speak to him. Guðmundur wrote 4 lyrics on the album. He is also the maker of I’m the Dead Guy, Hour of the Skull and Painting the Devil on the Wall. Biblical references and metaphors have always been something that I play with in my lyrics. Sometimes it even has nothing to do with Christianity or the devil whatsoever. I leave it for the listeners to interpret. Currents: Tell us a bit about the video you made for the title track of this album. How did it come about, where was it recorded and what was the main concept behind the video? Eldur: We just wanted to have a video out there. Nothing expensive or fancy, just something to promote the band since the internet has become the main source of promotion. The original concept was for us to be slowly rotting throughout the video, but when it came to the editing, we simply did not have the vital shots to make this happen. So we just made it more about the smoking and drinking. This was all due to some technical problems really, that I have solved now. Releasing a new video has even been brought up between us since we did not fully exploit all the shots. It has some personal humor in it too. We want to give the clear message that we are not trying hopelessly to ft any certain image of what Black Metal should or should not be. We are doing this for ourselves.
Photo by Heldriver
http://curse.helviti.com http://www.schwarzdorn.de Currents: What do you think of music videos and in particular black metal music videos? Are there any that stand out as complete masterpieces managing to capture the black aura of the songs or are most of them best kept in the bogs? Eldur: Yes, I would say that 90% of Black Metal videos look ridiculous. I’m not saying that people won’t think the same about our video, but they are allowed since we really didn’t make the effort to give a fuck. I think of those I remember right now, my favorite is still the Loss and Curse of Reverence with Emperor but even that does not come without some downsides or awkward shots. The thing is not only lack of money for a professional video since Dimmu Borgir have had some awful stuff made with a bunch of cash (being a Black Metal or not Black Metal band, blablabla). I think the main challenge here is to present something visual that can speak as strongly as the imagery of the music itself. I’m not saying this is not doable, but it would need some pretty amazing crew that would usually be occupied with something else than Black Metal, unless there’s a bunch of cash involved. I believe I’m going in circles here.
Currents: Curse is now a diabolical duo. Since it’s humble beginnings Curse has been a somber solo project if we disregard the two years it spent as a trio of terror. It’s been a bit of a hassle, hasn’t it, keeping a steady line-up in your musical endeavors. Are you a harsh dictator and refuse to work with people that don’t commit fully or has it more been a case of geography? Eldur: Those two you are referring to, Mistur & Faun, were at the time spending their last days with Withered before the band had some lineup changes and developed into Atrum. Mistur left the scene altogether and Faun always had his own musical priorities. He is a writer and a front man just like me, so I guess we both needed our own role. Yes, I have been known to dictate the bands I’ve been in but at least I’ve driven them forwards to something more than some short lived demo days. A bit of that and like you said, the location made things happen the way they did. And yes, it’s been a hassle altogether with all my projects, that members have had some other priorities, whether it has been with other bands or something unrelated to music. I have not had to deal with anything like this since I moved to Norway.
Currents: Surfng the internet, viewing photos from your live shows, it's diffcult to decide if I'm looking at photos from black masses or black metal gigs. How important is the ritual effect to Morbid Insulter when it comes to gigs? Conjurer: I think the term ritual when referring to live-performances is widely overused and tragically misused in the extreme metal underground these days. I'm of course aware of the ambiguity and complexity of the word, but understanding that most bands actually have such rites as “the black mass� in mind when speaking of their gigs I can't but laugh at such defnitions (would've been amusing to fnd all these fallen ordained priest in the scene though haha). Our performances are but feasts, celebrations and communions of the musical Daimon of Morbid Insulter, where its presence is evoked through vibration and invoked by the ones who are willing to share as its host. This is also combined with genuine acts of magic, meditation, diabolic aesthetics and force of will among the members, but should probably be thought of as but means to enforce the whole machine rather than its main function. In this manner we are simply a pack of deathworshippers and madmen deeply rooted in magio-mystic thought/praxis performing Death metal on a stage before an audience and people can draw what ever conclusions they want of what such a thing might entail. Currents: Where do you draw your inspirations from when it comes to creating the atmosphere you want to have live? From older black metal bands? Old books? Movies? Conjurer: I suppose its a mix between what ever we fnd ftting and proper as long as it's enforcing the experience and twisting the minds of the attending individuals in the right way. I personally enjoy the classic metal/punk aesthetics when combined with traditional and archetypical elements found within the western world regarding the macabre and sinister, so that will usually be the setting that we aim to represent. But over all, as long as it fucks peoples psyches up and helps us feel comfortable to manifest our art I would say that we use what ever tools Necessary. Currents: The people walk in unaffected. They walk out affected. What is it that you want the people to feel when you've done your part? Conjueror: Guess we're still talking about us playing live here... Well, that's obviously a very subjective matter, but hopefully people should at least have felt like they had witnessed/taken part of something that is sprung from a wellspring of passion, power, morbidity and madness. SATAN. DEATH. HELL. Of course we would've loved that all that came to see us where exactly in touch with what we try to explore and manifest through our art, but as long as they might have caught a glimpse of it (even unconsciously) we are satisfed.
Currents: There's been a lot of comparing Morbid Insulter to Nifelheim over the years, with some people even going as far as to call Morbid Insulter a poor man's Nifelheim. What's your reaction to comments such as these? Are people full of shit or have Nifelheim been a big inspiration to you guys over the years? Conjurer: Actually I've recently got comments that as Nifelheim's last effort was something of a disappointment to many, they now rather see Nifelheim as a poor man's Morbid Insulter, ha! But anyways, it's hard for us to deny that they have been a source of inspiration for us, although we also simply share a lot of references of inspiration with them that might explain our sound in a more proper sense. I would actually say the acts that have shaped our music the most are such as Master's Hammer, Sarcofago, Morbid Angel, Bathory, Mortuary Drape, Slayer, Sepultura, Vulcano, Tormentor and Blasphemy. Currents: It's been seven years now since Morbid Insulter stepped out of the nothingness and people are longing for a proper debut full length from you guys. When will you quench people's thirst? Conjurer: We're not here to quench people's thirst, but to poison them with the foul seed of Gehenna. This harsh alchemical brew must be distilled with extreme delicacy unless it become but piss of the lowest animal. In other words, it will come when it's fucking fnished, simple as that. Currents: Inspirations... We all have them. What are the inspirations for MI and where does the magic lie in them? What drew you to them and made you stick it out? Conjurer: Anywhere really. We might take the upcoming 7” called “Deathworship” as an example here: Although musically it can be traced back to the bands mentioned above, we frst set out to make something that was more fucked up than Katharsis and darker than Grave Miasma. The outcome might not become that obvious, but it might at least refect that intention. There are actually riffs featured that where inspired by Grand Belial's Key as well as Hades Archer, while the lyrics gained inspiration from the poetry of gnostics like Hafz, Rumi, Crowley and Andrew Chumbley along with the lyrics of bands such as Face of Evil and Adorior, to mention just the conscious ones. Currents: Intoxication or graveyard rituals? Or both? What's on the horizon for MI in the next few months? Conjurer: Both! Always! Let there be a feast for life and a greater feast for death! We will perform at Hammer open air in Finland in July and probably here in Gothenburg in September, other than that we'll keep on working on new material and raping the world.
http://www.myspace.com/morbidinsulter Morbid Insulter c/o Skogberg Köldgatan 18 418 32 Göteborg SWEDEN
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