Interview with Satyr

While many bands in the black metal genre seem to progress in baby steps, Satyricon over their past two albums have been moving forward musically in leaps and bounds. From what started as a fairly straight forward black metal band has now turned into one of the most interesting and original bands the genre has seen in quite sometimes.

With the release of their newest opus, Volcano, things seem to be better then ever for the band and more people then ever seem to be appreciating the music. Satyr doesn’t really seem to like this fact much. “No, man. It’s terrible... The only reason why I’m doing this is because I love music and I love it when others share the same feeling about the music as I do.” He however does appreciate all of the positive reviews the press has thrown the way of the band. He goes on to say, “Satyricon have been “lucky” with the reviews. They’ve been top notch throughout our entire career and of course it’s very flattering.”

The first time I heard the album name Volcano I was curious to see why it was chosen. Even more so when I saw the album cover featured a snake I was even more curious to know the connection between the two. “Every Satyricon title is meant to say something about the musical and lyrical content of the album. This album is also very organic and stripped down in many ways. The snake on the cover(very temperamental mind you) has a very “coming at ya, threatening look” and to me is like an unstoppable force. Like a lava stream.” I went on to mention that it definitely wasn't a very typical looking metal album cover. Satyr had this to say, “We’ve never had typical looking metal covers anyway. The cover of our first album is a little bit unfortunate, but that’s another story.”

I asked if Satyr could possibly go through each of the tracks on the new album and tell us the feelings the songs conveyed in him, but instead he though it would be better to just try and sum up what they were going for as a whole with the album. “I think what is interesting is the diversity of the album. It has a great deal of variety without feeling aimless. I’ll guide you through some of the songs: You have a typical Satyricon song like the opener With Ravenous Hunger filled with progressive elements on a foundation of traditional Black Metal. Cold, menacing atmosphere. Then something like Fuel For Hatred which is extremely simple in your face, no nonsense with lots of hooks. Mental Mercury with its eerie, cold, but monumental feel. Full of dynamics and darkness. And we end the journey with Black Lava which is to me some sort of mind travel. Big, epic and melancholic. That’s the beauty; a 4min song like Fuel For Hatred and a 15min song like Black Lava on the same album and it totally makes sense.” As you can tell by what the main songwriting force in Satyricon has to say, this is one hell of a varied album which showcases the bands strongest songwriting yet.

On initial listening to Volcano you may not even realize that this is indeed Satyricon. I am probably not alone when I say that this is a big progression from Rebel Extravaganza. Satyr's approach to music is refreshing, he seems to like keeping people on their toes, never knowing what to expect. “People never know what to expect from Satyricon apart from it being bound to sound like Satyricon because of Frost and my self's strong signature on the music. My impression is that this is part of the reason why our fans love the band. You know, I like AC/DC, but you know exactly what you’re getting and to me that sucks in the long run. Most of the bands who do it that way do it because they’re afraid of losing fans.”

As far as the main differences between the last album and Volcano, Satyr says, , “Rebel Extravaganza was fucking fast and brutal. Volcano is darker and heavier. More stripped down and organic sounding. What is important is to be developing constantly. It’s the only way I can entertain myself and feel proud of what I’m doing.”

Volcano is indeed a slower record then what some people may expect from the band. I was thinking that possibly the band was just tired of playing fast, or thought the blast beat was overdone. It turns out it just mainly comes down to songwriting, and using what works. “No no. Playing fast feels great. It’s just that music needs to be dynamic in order to be interesting and moving. On this record we would have ruined the atmosphere of the parts if we would have gone all fast all the time. My advice to other songwriters would be to let the part dictate the tempo. Not your habits.” It may not have been a conscious decision to lose the speed, but it does give the band a more rock oriented feel at times, yet you still hear nuances that tell you it’s a Satyricon record.

For all of the vinyl collectors out there, there are a few good reasons to pick up the vinyl version. Three good reasons to be exact. Satyr seems to be very pleased with the extra songs, these are in no way just throw away tracks. “I’d say that Live Through Me from the vinyl version of Volcano is one of the best Satyricon songs actually. We couldn’t fit everything on the CD, but it’s all there on the double vinyl. Actually, the third song we couldn't’ t fit is on the compilation album Ten Horns – Ten Diadems. Not distributed in the States, but look for it in the import shelves, because it’s a great box set.” I was surprised to read that the guitarist from Turbonegro played on one of the exclusive tracks found on the vinyl.” “The song Existential Fear-questions with Euroboy from Turbo is there because it had a part where I thought his style of playing would fit perfectly and it did. He’s also a good friend.”

Despite all of the praise and success the album was getting overseas, the album still didn’t have a label to release it in the US. In enters EatUrMusic, a new label run by the guitarist from System of a Down. Satyr seems to be pleased to call the label home. “As you were saying, we got signed to EatURmusic which is a sub label of Colombia Records. The label manager is System Of A Down’s guitar player and songwriter Daron Malakian. He loves the band and he’s looking for fresh bands to work with. That’s why he signed Amen and Satyricon. Our deal is for the States and I’m looking forward to seeing who it goes.”

I was curious to know if anything will be different or if there are any extra tracks on the US version of Volcano. Turns out there will be some extra content. Here’s what Satyr had to say, “It has the uncensored version of the “Fuel For Hatred” video made by Jonas Akerlund who was the original drummer of Bathory as a bonus. He makes videos for amongst others Metallica and Ozzy.”

I had read that the video for Fuel For Hatred was becoming banned in many countries. I’m sure it’s in part to some of the nudity, or possibly the extreme nature of the band. Satyr goes into more detail about the video and why it has become banned. He says, “The idea was to try and portray the energy that lies within the song in visual form. You know, just raw, frantic aggression. It has been getting an enormous amount of play in countries where it’s not banned, but I’m afraid that the version we’ve had until now which is on the American version of the CD, has been banned almost everywhere. A new version has been made for the US market and as a compromise, I got to put the uncut version as a bonus on the CD. It’s not bad at all if you ask me. Supposedly it’s violent and it has nudity, but so has most 50 Cent videos and no one cares about that since it’s the flavor of the month at MTV or whatever.”

Shortly after the album is released in the US, Satyricon will embark on a US tour with death metal legends Morbid Angel. Satyr agreed with me when I said it would be an ideal way to introduce the US fans to the new material. “Yeah. Morbid Angel is a great band and it’s a good way to re-introduce ourselves in the States. The only thing we’ve ever done was a two week headliner tour in 2000.”

With each passing release it seems to bring new changes to the bands sound. If you look back on all of the classic metal bands, they managed to progress with each release, and whether it was for better or worst, at least they were growing as musicians. I can only see Satyricon growing in the future, Satyr agrees. “Celtic Frost and Bathory are good examples of that. I foresee Black Metal invadin g America and I’m looking forward to being a part of it in every possible way!”