DODHEIMSGARD's KVOHST Discusses New Album Leak

Antenna's Lars Lolk recently conducted an interview with Kvohst from DØDHEIMSGARD. An excerpt from the chat follows:

Antenna: DODHEIMSGARD's newest album, "Supervillain Outcast", is set for a 2007 release, but I know that a rough pre-production version of the album, without vocal tracks, has been leaked on the Internet. What went wrong?

Kvohst: Nothing went wrong. It's what happens when you work on a project for so long. I think we're like the black metal version of "Lost"!! We have a lot of fans who have held on, just waiting to find out what is going to happen next! [laughs]. . . They'll stop at nothing to find out! Well, anyway the expectation has been quite high and someone leaked some old rehearsals from back in 2003 . . .some of the songs made it in some form in the end onto the album, but a lot of the others didn't make it to this album. Someone on the net gave them names that we released on the MySpace page and Terrorizer interview. They just guessed which track is which . . .and got it all wrong . . . In any case we don't care since this is not the finished album — just a microphone in the rehearsal room. The great thing is though is that those rehearsals are a classic in their own right. Like the "Goatlord" rehearsals — I think in the end they will achieve the same cult status. The drumming is really out of this world. Someday we'll release the best of those rehearsal recordings, I guess. So anyway some people assumed we were angry, but I know that downloading is inevitable — I just think fans should know what they are getting — it shouldn't have been presented as the new album, but a rehearsal.

Antenna: Almost seven years have passed since "666 International", DODHEIMSGARD's previous album, and since then the entire line-up has been revamped. Even you are a new member in the band. Please tell us, if possible, what has happened in DODHEIMSGARD in recent years.

Kvohst: I entered the scene when Aldrahn had quit the band. Czral had quit a few months before that, but he had recorded and laid down his drums on the album already. Aldrahn had not recorded any vocals on the album or in rehearsal or written any real lyrics. They had been working with the album for a year already — rehearsing very hard and then recording drums and guitars — and I think it was a heavy blow to loose two key players in the band. However, anyone who is a fan of DODHEIMSGARD will know that the band is constantly changing from album to album. Also the band used to at one point be a collective with other guys writing the music and even playing different instruments. Aldrahn on "Kronet til Konge" played guitar and wrote a lot of the music — while Vicotnik played drums. Also on "Monumental Possession", Appolyon wrote a song and there were always different vocals. But ever since "Satanic Art", DODHEIMSGARD has been Vicotnik's band — and he has really been the visionary that has held things together. So I don't think the guys leaving really affected the album's music — they lost a great drummer and a great vocalist — but in the end I believe we achieved the vision that Vicotnik had in the beginning with this album, perhaps more so with the new line-up and fresh blood. With this album I think there are a lot of elements from each album — it's like "Monumental Possession" with the various vocal styles — Vicotnik and Thrawn's vocals also playing a big part in the new album's sound — and with the music it is a slight return to the more "Satanic Art" days. The is a very "metal" structure to the songs. Perhaps fans of 666 International will be disappointed at first, but if they are real fans of the band, they will understand that DODHEIMSGARD never make the same album twice. Also it is DHG now — a new era for the band. We are not trying to emulate the past or relive any of the old albums. There has been a lot of bad luck during the production of this album but I think out of it has come the finest DODHEIMSGARD album ever.

Read the entire interview at this location.