Germaniac Hails! 18/05/2005
cz
www.vinterriket.com
| TTM reviews of albums by Vinterriket: | |
 | 2005 - 'Der Letze Winter - Der Ewigkeit Entgegen' |
| - 'Der Leztze Winter - Der Ewigkeit entgegen' | |
Vinterriket is a one man project from Germany, who create a music that features a combination of black metal and ambient music, oft compared to Burzum. Vinterriket is one of the more exciting musical projects coming from Germany, and I personally am excited about the way he combines black metal so seamlessly with ambience, sometimes even creating what I call (and I'm sure others do) "ambient black metal." He kindly accepted a e-mail interview request, and here it is. Also be sure to check out his other projects, Atomtrakt and Nebelkorona.
How are you?
Hello Karl! I am doing fine, thanx for asking. Well, everything is a little bit stressy,... as always.
Could you give the readers a short history of the band?
Well, the story/ history of Vinterriket is quite
boring and nothing special, I think. I have started the whole project back
in late 1996. In the early days the whole thing was very slow and I was not 100% behind it.
The first demotape was released in early 2000 or in the end of 1999, I think.
So it took 3 years to finnish the stuff. This was mainly because of bad equipment and so on.
After the release of the demo the whole thing became more serious and I totally focused on the
project. Up til now many EP's, CD's Demos and so on have been published on different labels
around the globe. Too many stuff to mention, actually. Vinterriket was founded because of my
endless love to the dark side of mother nature. I wanted to express my feelings and the way
I see nature through this kind of art in order to satisfy myself. You know, principally I make
music ONLY for myself, for nobody else! If others like the music, too: Ok. If not, I do not
care at all. Of course it is great to see that many others share the same feelings, that many
others have the same visions/ landscapes/ feelings inside when listening to the music of
Vinterriket and that many others interpret my lyrics as I’d do myself. Then I see they got the
point I want to express. Others listen to the stuff and they understand simply nothing what I
wanted to express. But as I said: I do not care at all. Vinterriket is me and I am
Vinterriket. No other members have been included in the past.
What does Vinterriket mean?
VINTERRIKET means something like "Realm Of
Winter" or "Winterrealm" in English. I simple felt to use a Norwegian name
for the project with this meaning. The decision came up when the 1st Demotape
was in progress. I just thought that the name "VINTERRIKET" would fit perfectly
to my music. There is no better name around which would fit better, I think!
The word VINTERRIKET describes the sound/ concept very good.
Any news?
Well, not that much recently. I am currently busy prepring the first full-length ATOMTRAKT CD (a project of me).
Atomtrakt is bombastic, martial, heroic, atmospheric, monumental, cold, industrialised and militant Ambient.
I am still waitin' for the new VINTERRIKET CD "Der letzte Winter - Der Ewigkeit entgegen-" to be released.
The new record is more in the “Black Metal” – vein, comparable to the first two tracks of the Winterschatten CD.
But more grim, more atmospheric. The CD should be released in June/July 2005. It has been recorded in January 2005
and will be released in a limited edition DIGIPAK. There’ll also be shirts / posters and so on. The style could be
described as: Cold chords and stirring hypnotic riffing paired with haunting and cold synthetic soundscapes evoking an
chilling atmosphere full of bleakness, coldness, desolation, solitude, emptiness, melancholy, darkness and
nothingness,... The bleak mourning of desolate idleness within eerie and misty sonic landscapes.
A tribute to the darkest side of nature...
Besides this a few re-releases and tape versions will be released pretty soon.
Your music seems mainly designed to bring up feelings of winter, is that accurate, how would you describe your
music to someone who hasn't heard it?
Quite simple: A tribute to the dark side of nature in the form of dark, melancholic, desolate and cold Ambient and
cold, desolate and grim "Black Metal"
One thing that made me very interested in your music was the interplay of ambient stuff and black metal,
how do you combine the two aspects and make them work together?
There is no special trick or something. Some songs are composed on guitar and some on the synth. Some are pure
synth tracks (Dark Ambient). There is no regular pattern or something. I just do what I like to do. I think the ambient
stuff and the Black Metal stuff are fitting perfectly together. On those BM-related tracks there is no single second where
the synth is missing, actually. The synth gives the music more depth, more atmosphere, a more melancholic touch.
What kind of mood do you want to impart upon the listener?
A mood of desolation, darkness, coldness, melancholy, winter and emptiness, that's it.
How do you write and record your music?
I have to be in the right mood. Depressive, melancholic and misanthropic feelings must possess me, then it is the right time to
compose new songs! Sometimes these feelings are so strong that I am even unable to compose... It depends on the right time.
Sometimes I do nothing for months, an other time I compose songs every day as long as possible. So you see, there is no
regular pattern. Chaos rules supreme!
Well, how can I produce such a big amount of music?
It is quite simple: To make music is what I want to do. I love it. I am spending almost all my free
time for composing music. I like it. I usually use several hours a day to create music,... There are
days/ weeks/ months with a big lack of inpsiration/ ideas. On the other side there are days/ weeks/ month
where ideas are just flowing out of my head if you understand what I mean. It depends.
Who/what would you say are your inspirations/influences, both within music and also outside of music?
VINTERRIKET is only influenced by the dark side of nature, nothing else! Sure, you get influenced by many things around
you if you want or not, you can even say by ALL things around you: Friends, books, films, landscapes, pictures, etc.
But my main source is the "nightside" of nature. Nature is all and everything to me. I am a "nature-child" so
to speak and I have a very close relationship to nature. All VINTERRIKET tracks so far have been odes to the dark
side of mother nature! Of course I prefer dark, melancholic and moody places and landscapes. I really like to walk
around alone in autumn and winter through stormy, snowy, misty and cold woods... We have a lot of great dark and powerful
places here in our area where you can really feel the energy and might of nature.
How do you think black metal like your style is doing these days?
Do you/what kind of music do you listen to outside of metal?
I am listening to a lot of music: All kinds of music. Ambient/ Industrial/ Classics/ etc.
Some Black metal, too. But I am no longer interested in the current Black Metal scene, to be honest.
There are too many shitty bands around copying each other and making the same like others did even better
years ago. I am seldomly buying a CD related to Black Metal. There are only a few bands around which are
able to catch my attention. Those bands are different, because of their originality and because they are not
doing standard- stuff like thousands of others. I will not mention any names...
I still have all the old records of the Scandinavian Black Metal bands, for example. Sometimes I
listen to them, but I prefer other stuff these days. All the music to which I am listening is atmospheric, dark,
melancholic and original. Those parameters should be fulfilled!
I've heard your music compared to Burzum a lot, what do you think of those comparisions?
Of course I like BURZUM. My favourite CD of Varg is hard to tell. I like a lot of them very much. "Hvis.."/ "Filosofem" maybe?
I do not know. I also like his 2 Ambient- CD's. But Burzum never had a direct influence on Vinterriket....
Varg is a good musician. He has created a lot of amazing tracks with minimalistic abilities. "Der Tod Wuotans" which is
on the Oskorei- release as an cover(bonus)- song is one of the best track he has ever written, I think. The track is so dark,
so atmospheric, unbelievable. But as I said, my main source of inspiration is the dark side of nature. Concerning his
ideologies: I regard Varg as a very intelligent and strong personality with great ideas and visions. E.g. I
read his book "Vargsmal". Some points of view are really okay and totally acceptable but others are not. It depends. (I've also read "Vargsmal" and feel the same way about it [Karl])
You know, I have my own personal philosophy about life & death & politics. I am not following a special theory or attitude.
Some are walking on the way of La Vey or Crowley: But these persons are not strong enough to develop their own philosophy. Blindly and
stupid followers in my eyes!
What exactly are the differences between your three projects, Vinterriket, Atomtrakt and Nebelkorona, as in what do you wish to say in each project, and how to they differ in purpose?
Nebelkorona is a Vinterriket side-project. It was created somewhen in 2003. Actually I have just created 2 tracks
for this project so far which have been released on a 7” EP in July/August 2004. Nebelkorona is more “romantic” than
Vinterriket, I’d say. I prefer to call the style “Dark Romantic Art”. Nebelkorona is more romantic, more livelier than
Vinterriket, though it is still Ambient, I’d say. Atomtrakt is bombastic, martial, heroic, atmospheric, monumental, cold,
industrialised and militant Ambient. Vinterriket is only influenced by the dark
side of nature, nothing more. As for Atomtrakt I can say, the inspiration is more based on destruction, wars, nuclear stuff, and so on.
You're also a photographer, what is it about that artform that attracts you, and I'm assuming so, but do you do the cover pictures to all of your releases?
Do you think that the cover art matches the musical imagery?
Well, The cover- pictures/booklet pictures should always fit 100% to the music. I am of the opinion that the layout and the pictures fit
perfectly to the music. The pictures I used on covers / booklets and so on have ALL been shot by myself, some by a German friend of me
(from Erzgebrige living in Norway now) and some by Haewwel (ex-Vinterriket- session- member). I have never used other pictures than those shot
by myself, my friend and Haewwel. I am proud to use self-made pictures and not to steal them in the internet like others do. The pictures which
can be seen within my booklets and on my covers are not only shot in the Alps: Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Northern Italy,
Germany (many of them),....photography is a great field of art!
I have created all the artworks of my releases so far (almost…. there are some exceptions when it comes to re-releases). Layout, music and
lyrics are always going hand in hand within Vinterriket, therefore I have choosen dark "nature-layouts" in order to underline the music.
Vinterriket's music is a tribute to the dark side of nature, exclusively, nothing more and nothing less. I am of the opinion that
a record consist of four main parts which should perfectly fit together: format (extravagant packing), lyrics, music and artwork.
I am of the opinion that black/white covers/booklets are fitting best to Vinterriket's music. I'll probably never use coloured stuff...
Lyrics, songtitles and pictures are very important to me. Music, lyrics and pictures (layout in general) should go hand in hand to underline
each other. All three components should melt together and the whole thing should be considered as union. And therefore I always use
black/white booklets/covers because nothing would fit better, I think. For example “Winterschatten”, “…und die Nacht kam schweren Schrittes”
and “Landschaften ewiger Einsamkeit” are conceptional works exclusively. On all mentioned records layout, packing, music and lyrics
(titles) are perfectly fitting together in order to become “ONE”!
Are you the kind of person that prefers nature to humans?
Yes I am definitely. Nature impresses me.... Mainly the darkness, the melancholy, the emptiness, the bleakness, the nothingness, the coldness...
I am a "nature-child" so to speak. I am into the dark side of nature as I prefer to call it. There is nothing better
to do than to be alone in nature, to feel the power, to get new inspiration and to feel the atmosphere.
I am a really winter- fanatic. It is my beloved season of the year.
Cold, depressing, grim, cruel and desolate. It is the perfect season to get new inspiration for Vinterriket!
There is nothing better than to make long wanderings through deep, snowy and mysterious winter-forests,
through misty valleys in winter or upon majestic snow-covered endless landscapes.
It is an amazing feeling when coldness is slowly crawling through your veins and when winterstorms are crushing
in your face with all their strength and power. Winter is the time when you can feel the greatness and power
of mother nature in its true and cruel form!
What do you think of the concept of Misanthropy?
I do not care about the civilization at all. I just know, that things are slowly going down. I am also quite sure, that this world will
come to an end sure. Maybe I’ll not be alive anymore when this happens. Better it would be. I am living here in a very small village not
far away from the woods. I am living at the border of this village. When I am looking outside my window, I can even see the majestic woods.
I like this very much, because in a way I am a quite misanthropic person. I hate big masses of people and big towns. I also totally hate big
parties and stuff like that. Most of my time I spend alone and only a few very close persons. The village where I live is also very unknown
and not of importance at all. My misanthropic attitude is also the reason that Vinterriket will probably NEVER be a band consisting of more
members than me. There are only advantages being alone with Vinterriket. The main one is that I am my own master. I can do whatever I want.
Not forced to join any rehearsals with other stupid guys. I can write and record music whenever I want. I can do whatever I want. Nobody is
telling me what I have to do. When you are many people in a band you have always to do compromises.
When you're alone you can just do what is in your mind. There is no better inspiration than loneliness
(besides the dark side of nature of course)!
What about Nihilism?
I do not care at all. I ma not following any well known philosophies at all. I have my own, actually. Nihilism is against all common
values but I'd say some values like strenght, individualism and so on are not bad hehe.
Do you think that music can create moods and effects that other kinds of art can't?
Music is the strongest of all arts. No piture, no text and no other art can express waht music does.
As I have already said, e.g. on a CD all the parts melt together to become on great piece of art: Lyrics, music, pictures, everything.
That's it.
Do you have a favorite artist/photographer(s)?
Nope, I am sorry. Probably myself :) I have never found a photographer doin' exactly what I like to see.
What are the plans for Vinterriket's near future?
- Not that much. As soon as the new record is released I'll start working on a new record in Autumn. Besides this a few re-releases,
MC-versions and stuff like that will be released in the near future.
Thank you for the interview.
Thanx for the interview,too! Nothing to add, I think,....
Germaniac Hails! 18/05/2005
cz
www.vinterriket.com TTM reviews of albums by Vinterriket: 2005 - 'Der Letze Winter - Der Ewigkeit Entgegen' - 'Der Leztze Winter - Der Ewigkeit entgegen'