Moor. Interview with Halfden Svarti

Interview by Jay Parker

1) Tell when / where / why Moor was formed...

Moor offically was formed I guess in August 2021.

2) Who is currently in the band?

It is a one-man project so I am the only member.

3) Your Ep, A forest ritual is a cracking debut release... vibrantly evil and with an underlying 90s feel... tell us when and where it was recorded and run us through the tracks, and tell our readers where they can buy it.

Thank u! I am glad u enjoyed it. Well, all my music is recorded in my home and in a small room I like to call “black shrine studios” or something like that haha. The first track was the first BM song I ever made really...or try to make руруююю anyway I was lucky enough to get a great drummer to play drums for me on that track+he plays on my entire UPCOMMING debut album, a guy called Arne Østensen Gandrud. I owe him a lot in my project. He has really helped me and given me a lot of tips as I was fresh in the BM business coming from more of a thrash metal scene when it came to metal. Anyway, the song was inspired by me moving to a new location that has a forest right behind the house and so I started walking in the woods everyday listening to metal... Then a cool guy named Ole Morten sent me some Mayhem songs from the Chimeira (don’t know how u spell it :p) album and I just started liking it more and more and from there I just went nuts really and started listening to whatever BM I could find and I just started leaning more and more towards the underground raw BM bands really...and I just had to make something to capture the feeling I got when I walked in the forest listening to that stuff...bcuz like I said I was not heavily into that stuff back in the days...I listened a lot to Dimmu’s early albums and also Emperor was one of my fav bands but besides that I didn’t listen much to BM. second track “nighthag” was just me wanting to make a scary kind of horrormovie type song haha... I was watching some movie, don’t remember which one but they said the words night hag and I thought it was a cool title and tried to make a song about it... 3rd and 4th tracks were both originally part of a 2 track DEMO called “worthless abominations” (also available on my bandcamp) ...and they were really not planned and just came about bcuz of me being angry about something stupid one day and wanting to pour some hatred “on wax”... so I did and the CD release was made possible by the guy running ColdNorthernbreezeRecords. He approached me and said he like my demos on bandcamp and asked if he could put together a compilation CD. So I said yes off course and everything was done professional and he was a stand-up guy and I am hoping to be able to work with him again on future releases.

4) You live on a tiny island in Norway... are your lyrics inspired by Nordic themes? Tell us about the lyrics you compose...

No, the part of Norway that is in my lyrics is the dark atmosphere of the Norwegian nature where I live, forests and the sea. My lyrics (up until this point) mostly has dealt with just fantasy stuff...

5) Tell us about the music... who writes the guitar and bass parts? Who plays the drums? The Ep has some outstanding riffs...

Well, like I mentioned, it is a one-man project so I play everything. Except drums which I have to get help to do.

6) What are your plans for the future? I understand we can expect a split and a full album to be unleashed soon?

Yeah, we’ll c about splits...got a few lined up but no dates for those yet…as for my full-length DEBUT album, I have been holding it for the right time and I believe the right time will be Halloween 2022...mark the date!

7) Tell us about your musical influences...What did you listen to growing up? What bands do you listen to now?

Well, I like a lot of different types of music and genres. But when it comes to the heavier stuff... first albums I ever bought with my own money was Motorhead - Iron Fist and Megadeth - So far so good so what? But actually it was The Offspring’s first 4 albums that made me want to start playing guitar when I was 14 years old. I was into that kind of punk first... Something about the lyrics from NOFX and Bad Religion and early Offspring that caught my attention... so I used to write lyrics and stuff way before I ever started with music... I played football until I was 14…then I switched to guitar... and Iron Maiden, Metallica and all the usual suspects became my teachers for many years… but today the list of fav bands is pretty different... Megadeth would still be on there and Blind Guardian from my early days but the rest probably only BM bands hehe.

8) Recommend some good new bands from Norway...

Well, there are always good Norwegian extreme metal bands to choose from... I would mention Hordagaard, Geitefolket, Ulvhedner, Andakt, Avertia and off course my sideproject band Phantom Castle. The guy in Andakt was also the guy who did the cool layout for the “forest rituals” CD.

9) What are your expectations for the future? What are your long term goals as a musician?

Well, I don’t have many expectations...but my goal is to just keep going and produce music and try to grow as a musician and develope my own sound. After many years of feeling like never getting anywhere with the music I finally feel like I atleast have a project I can keep doing that I enjoy doing and so to not make all the years seem wasted I will just keep doing it and see where it will take me. As long as I am doing what I enjoy on more than just a hobby basis, personally it is a success for me. I am in competition with no man or woman and only care about reaching my own goals really.

10) What have been you best and worst experiences so far as a BM musician?

Best experience is easy... that is to discover that the underground scene is more alive than ever and how much bands and labels help each other out. And also getting so much positive response on my music... that’s always a bonus. Worst experience... I am not really sure... maybe seeing how some other smaller bands don’t support u back like u support them, but that’s not really something I think too much about and does not have anything to do with BM as a genre. So guess I haven’t really experienced any really bad things...yet…

11) How do think BM will evolve over the next few years? Do you see it as a healthy scene at the moment?

Pretty healthy I guess… it’s more mainstream as in more accepted these days but I still don’t think people who listen to BM do it for any other reason than that they like that music... I mean it’s not exactly easy listening if u don’t even enjoy it xD

12) What advice would you give to any young musicians reading this that may be looking to follow in your footsteps down the left hand path to Black Metal Darkness?

Hehe… I have no idea...I’m too fresh in the game to give any advice ha-ha.

13) Would you like to add anything for our readers?

Just remember my debut album on Halloween 2022! and go get a copy of “forest rituals” and get a copy of “beneath the graven totem” as well! Support the underground and preserve nature always!