Interview mit Árstíðir Lífsins

Your bandmembers are partly from Germany, partly from Iceland. Especially the Icelandic scene is primarily associated with bands like Svartidauði or Carpe Noctem, the latter of which Árni is even involved in. Would you say that their notoriously dissonant style also has some kind of influence on your work in ÁRSTÍÐIR LÍFSINS?
Not really, to be honest. I enjoy most of the current Icelandic black metal bands very much, but as the composer of most of our metal music, my main inspiration is as it always was: 90’s Norwegian and Swedish black metal, and some of the older bands such as Bathory, Candlemass and Black Sabbath.

You yourself are mostly put into the pagan metal category. However, the genre itself has a rather ambivalent reputation, as some bands are not taken seriously by many listeners. What are your thoughts on that matter?
The categorisations we are put into are not always enjoyable. Especially the pagan metal category (whatever that means anyway), with all its shallow party bands, is and has never been a part of today’s metal music I am particularly found of. But then again, in reviews, we are often considered being rather unique in our approach. I assume the categories we are put into are more of a vague idea of what to expect should you never have listened to any of our records before.

You have a pretty distinctive musical style, which you have always mostly maintained on your previous albums. Can fans, however, still expect one or two surprises from you at this point?
Thank you for the compliment. Yes, since our debut we try to create unique art in quite many ways. With the last two or three releases, however, we may have found a bit more of a certain style, although I would refrain from calling it “our” style. However, I know we are not at the peak of what we wish to create and there might still be a surprise or two at the horizon. The upcoming, second part of ‘Saga Á Tveim Tungum’ might already include a couple of such surprises.

Some bands that don’t experiment a lot are sometimes said to play it too safe. In your opinion, how do you manage to stay true to yourself as a musician without just repeating what you’ve already done?
Yes, some bands seem to stagnate after a while. As for us, we never followed a set plan musically, and always tried to free ourselves from any limitations rather than stay to what we may have done before. This also counts for our lyrics, even if many of the digital listeners are not able to understand them in their entirety.

Your albums are never less than 70 minutes long. Why do you think it is essential for you to realize your concepts in such an extended form?
The concept of our albums in particular is a bit more complex than usual metal albums. When we approach a new album record, we compose both the story and the music side by side, and change patterns both ways should this be needed. The comprehensive blend of music, lyrics and also the layout is very important to us, and an album is not complete if any of these parts is lacking. You may have found out that all our albums consist of nine songs, of which each title is simply named after the first (sometimes shortened) sentence of each individual song lyric. At the same time, all albums follow the storyline of where its predecessor left off (and pave ways for their successors). Such a rather unusual concept needs time, and since we are not so limited time-wise on our records (apart from the length of vinyl sides), we take (and always took) the freedom to use the space as we wish.

For the release of your new album „Saga Á Tveim Tungus I: Vápn Ok Vidr“ you took much more time than for your previous three albums. Was this due to your other commitments or did the album itself take more time to be realized in its final form?
Apart from our mundane lives, there are our commitments in our other bands and projects. At the same time, however, our last EP ‘Heljarkviða’ took the same time as an album to write and finalize and length-wise, it may be seen as an album too – even if it has little to none to do with the album concept mentioned above. But otherwise, no, the time we invested in this new double album has been the same as our previous albums.

Thematically you deal with the story of the Norwegian king Óláfr Helgi Haraldsson. What prompted you to sing about this historical figure in particular?
It was about time. The above mentioned concept around the albums each covers a part of (late) Viking history and at the particular (two) albums named ‘Saga Á Tveim Tungum I-II’, we reach the short reign of St. Olav and his attempts to brutally unify and christianize Norway.

As already mentioned, there will also most likely be a connected follow-up album with the title „Saga Á Tveim Tungum II: Eigi Fjǫll Né Firðir“ later this year. How did you come up with the decision to realize your concept in two seperately released parts?
The second part of the double album is closely related to the now-released first part. Both are intended to be seen as one piece. While the first part named ‘Vápn Ok Viðr’ tells of a young man who experiences the fierce attempts of Óláfr helgi Haraldsson to unify Norway through the eyes of a fellow Christian fighting man, a miles christianus, it is on the second part named ‘Eigi Fjǫll Né Firðir’ where the same years are depicted by his sister, who experiences the struggling times from a non-Christian, more heathen point of view. Since the two parts are both lyrically and musically quite different, we decided to not release them as one album, but individually.

Have you already written and recorded the second part completely at this point or are you still working on it?
Yes, the second part was written and recorded at the same time as the first part. It is already mixed and mastered, it’s set to release via Ván Records later this year.

Musically speaking, in which way will the second record set itself apart from the first one?
The second part is, in some ways, very different from the first music-wise. This is mainly due to the different story told, and, in consequence, a different music we wished to use. At the same time, since many parts on the two albums are so closely related on lyrical terms, there are quite a few the tracks on the second part that show a union with the first part.

Many bands and labels prefer to let more time pass between two albums, probably so as not to run the risk of the second release „disappearing under the radar“. What’s your opinion on that?
Well, we never followed any of these business-driven ideas to present our art in certain ways for which “the industry” may have set standards for in the past. We never played live (and possibly never will) which already kills most of these aims in the first place. Then, with all the complexity of our far too long albums, the usual record company may also have some serious problems to put us on a standard catalogue. In the end, it is the music (and art in general) that counts and if there are two or four or even ten years in between two albums then it may be so. The quality of the art itself will not alter by the preferred date it is released.

Your current album consists mostly of extensive black metal numbers, but a few tracks are carried by deep choirs and folk instruments for the most part. Did you consciously follow the flow of the narrated story when choosing the different styles from track to track?
Yes, we do. Each track has its very own purpose on each album and there is no reason to exclude any of such non-metal songs from any of our releases just because they may not suit the targeted audience.

Would you say that there is a certain climax on „Saga Á Tveim Tungus I: Vápn Ok Vidr“, be it in the story or the music itself?
There is certainly a climax on ‘Vápn Ok Viðr’. Similar to all our previous albums, the climax is set on the last song where the death of the main character is portrayed. It is no wonder that especially that song is always the longest, and usually also has the most complex lyrics.

Your lyrics are always written in Icelandic, so certainly not all your fans can follow them. Does it bother you that your lyrics can’t be wholly appreciated by many?
We have always included English translations of the lyrics in our releases, and intend to do the same on all future releases. With our Old Norse-Icelandic lyrics, it has never been our wish to claim any kind of particular elitism because only very few of our listeners are able to understand the lyrics first-hand. In fact, due to the heavy use of Eddic and especially Skaldic poetry, any listener that may be able to understand our lyrics entirely is already dead for a few hundred years. In short, should one wish to understand what we wish to present in any of our records, I recommend purchasing them in a physical format, and refrain from consuming them via any of the digital channels only. The time we invest in the lyrics and the layout is probably even more than we put in the actual music composition of a single release. All three parts are intended to be understood as an entity.

In addition to the second part of your current album cycle, a split with a yet unannounced fellow Icelandic black metal band will be released in the near future. Can you already give us some insight into what the fans can expect from that?
No, unfortunately not. For those who have been following us for a while now, however, the announcement of our split partner may not come as the biggest surprise.

What about live shows? Are you considering going on tour with ÁRSTÍÐIR LÍFSINS at some point in the future?
The idea to play live has been around for quite a few years but as of now, we have refrained from letting it become a reality. This is first and foremost due to the time we would need to invest in training further, external members for live shows. But never say never, we may take up that idea sometime and indeed start touring with ÁRSTÍÐIR LÍFSINS. As of now, however, it is highly unlikely that this will happen in the near future.

Thanks again for giving us your time. If you would like to say a few final words, please feel free to do so at this point:
Thank you for the interview.

Publiziert am 1. Juni 2019 von Stephan Rajchl