BORKNAGAR Mainman Discusses Upcoming Album

Blogger Schizo! recently conducted an interview with BORKNAGAR mainman Øystein G. Brun. A couple of excerpts from the question-and-answer session follow below.

Blogger Schizo!: As a guitarist and founder of the supergroup BORKNAGAR, what's your favorite BORKNAGAR record? And why?

Øystein G. Brun: All the albums have their own meaning to me and all are equally important, I would say. But I must admit that "The Archaic Course" is an album that is really close to my heart. That's one of the albums we have done where I just can sit down listening to it without thinking about all the things that could have been better… I would maybe say that "The Archaic Course" is our "Reign In Blood", so to speak.

Blogger Schizo!: BORKNAGAR frontman Andreas Hedlund (a.k.a. Vintersorg) [is involved] in VINTERSORG, CRONIAN, FISSION and WATERCLIME besides BORKNAGAR. How can he find the time and energy to pursue other projects? It must be tiresome.

Øystein G. Brun: Making music is always something that demands a lot of you mentally. But being able to do music on different fields somehow motivates and gives you fresh ideas. So for Andreas, being in many different projects, I think he just feel that it somehow empowers him. At least that is the case with me and my bands.

Blogger Schizo!: Why did you enlist David Kinkade (ARSIS, MALEVOLENT CREATION, DIVINE EMPIRE, COUNCIL OF THE FALLEN) to play drums for BORKNAGAR?

Øystein G. Brun: First off, he is a great man with an approach to music that suits us very good. We are very much on the same wavelength so to speak. And of course, he is a great drummer. So it just had to be like this.

Blogger Schizo!: I've asked this question to your compatriots SKITLIV presently. What do you think of the underground metal scene in the Norway? Do you feel it's stronger than ever or stagnating in a pool of its own shit?

Øystein G. Brun: Well, from my point of view the scene is very diverse. It's very much alive as there are tons of new bands coming. Some tends to stick to the traditional black metal whilst others are more experimental. There are very many different sorts of bands at the moment, everything from "black rock" to far-out experimental things as CRONIAN. That's a sign of health I believe, even if I kind of miss the good old days….when music was pure devotion and passion. It's different now.

Blogger Schizo!: What reasons did former BORKNAGAR members have for leaving the band? I mean, have you got a difficult rules for playing with BORKNAGAR?

Øystein G. Brun: I am not a dictator in any means, but I usually have very strong opinions about how I want things to be. So musically it might be that I am hard to work with, that might be part of the reason. On the other hand, I have always had (for some) a very "strange" idea behind the band. I never wanted to be a professional musician, living from music. So many times I have turned down proposals for tours and festivals just because I am not interested. Often that is proposals that would have meant money and allot of CDs and T-shirts sold. Many have a hard time to understand this and I think that have played a role why people have been quitting. I don't want BORKNAGAR to be a money machine and I always wanted to keep things down to earth, to keep control etc.

Blogger Schizo!: Please tell me that your untitled eighth studio album (2009)? How will it be? Any current news about it?

Øystein G. Brun: We are starting to record the new album next month and we hope to release it later next year. What can I say about the new album? Well, it will be back to the core of the band musically. We will take a step further, as always, but we'll keep on to the musical ideas that BORKNAGAR was founded on. So you'll see a mix between "Quintessence", "The Archaic Course", "The Olden Domain" and, of course, our more recent releases. I think it will be a real goodie for those who like the band.