Interview mit Stefán von Árstíðir Lífsins

Greetings! Thank you for taking the time for this. How are you doing these days?
I am doing fine, thank you. Life here in Norway has been much less affected by the pandemic than in most other countries in Europe. It is a shame we were not able to play live with Helrunar this spring, but that is what it is in these months, I guess.

You recently released „Saga Á Tveim Tungum II: Eigi Fjǫll Né Firðir“, the second part of your double-album that started with „Saga Á Tveim Tungum I: Vápn Ok Viðr“. Is it a bit of a relief for you to have finally finished this extensive project?
Yes, it is indeed a bit of a relief to have this off our shoulders. Creating and recording the music, and the long-lasting design-period, took much more time and energy than planned. But then again, this always happens with any new record of ours, so there was not much of a change this time.

As far as I know, the album was originally planned to be released in 2019, but then it was delayed even before the Corona virus, although it was already finished at the time of our last interview in May 2019. What was the reason for that?
There were several reasons, all of which are rather uninteresting. At first, the layout took a bit longer and then Ván Records had several releases that had to be released before. In the end, also the current pandemic delayed a few parts of the production. But to be honest, I do not care that much about the delay. Almost all of our albums, EPs and splits were released much later than planned. After all, the quality of a release is not reduced if it is released a few months of even years later than initially planned.

The later planned release date could also not quite be kept due to delivery problems caused by the Corona pandemic. Has the situation around the virus also affected you in any other way – maybe in the form of lower record sales?
Fortunately not that much. In fact, the record sales did not decrease at all. It was quite the contrary: ‘Saga Á Tveim Tungum II: Eigi Fjǫll Né Firðir’ turned out to be a huge success for Ván Records thus far. Needless to say, we are very happy with the outcome, especially considering the chaotic circumstances it was released in.

What do you generally think about the music industry’s handling of the virus (e.g. streaming concerts, special merch)?
Honestly, I am not a big fan of concerts being streamed over the internet. I understand that bands want to make the best of the current situation, but I am not interested in watching a ‘live’ show on my computer screen. Neither do I have the time for it nor do I see a particular reason to stare at the screen more than I already need to. Now that the summer is really approaching here in Norway, I much rather want to make use of it and enjoy the life outside with my family as much as I can.

On your two current records you tell about the events around Saint Olaf Haraldsson – once from a Christian and once from a pagan point of view. Could you briefly go into more detail about how these two perspectives differ in this specific case?
‘Vápn Ok Viðr’ has a strongly Christian orientation and it is due to this that we used in the lyrics a rich variety of Christian Old Norse synonyms (heiti) and paraphrases (kennings), as well as corresponding Skaldic stanzas and descriptions from the respective kings’ saga, Óláfs saga helga. Some of these stanzas were composed either at the court of the king or shortly after, while others originate from Christian poems composed in the following two hundred years in Iceland. They all express major topics of medieval Christian belief and are at times very melancholic and bleak. I enjoyed composing and writing the lyrics for the first album very much. On ‘Eigi Fjǫll Né Firðir’ on the other hand, we used (largely) pagan poetry and paraphrases, which originate from both Eddaic and, again, Skaldic poetry. Overall, they are deeply rooted in the mythological understanding of the (pre-Christian) Scandinavian society at that time.

Would you say that one of the two narratives correspond more to the historical truth?
Well, there is particularly more known about the life and deeds of St Olaf than of the non-Christian peasants of his time. The history of eleventh-century Norway is first and foremost based on the life and deeds of its kings and, naturally, ‘Saga Á Tveim Tungum I: Vápn Ok Viðr’ features more history-based contents.

Do you think that other metal bands that deal with historical topics often take a too one-sided view?
Yes, certainly. But I do not feel to be in charge of telling them to change it. As long as historical topics are not misused for any extreme political views, there is and should be a certain level of artistic freedom guaranteed for artists to explore.

The record is again over 70 minutes long, which is characteristic for your releases at this point. Do you think that the usual 40-50 minutes are necessarily too short to tell stories like yours?
I would not exclude the possibility for us to record an album that covers a standard playing time of one vinyl only. But so far, we seemed to have not felt it necessary.

From my point of view the second album seems a bit more mystical and unusual than the first one. Was that intended by you in terms of the perspective from which the story is told here?
Yes, the second album was always planned to feature more unusual parts, at least for us. Thus, your impression is not far from the truth. But this was mostly caused by the lyrics and overall concept of the two albums: while the first one has a more brutal and straight forward metal aggression, the second one expressed a more personal and probably a bit more reflected philosophy.

To my knowledge, you wrote the two records at the same time. How exactly did that work – did you alternately write songs for both albums or did you first create one and then the other album as a whole?
Yes, both albums were written and composed at the same time. In fact, they were always intended to belong together, similar to Helrunar’s ‘Sól’ if you will.

Some of the quiet folk parts remind me a little bit of your music in Wöljager. Would you say that the experiences with this side project also have an influence on ÁRSTÍÐIR LÍFSINS?
The recording and the live performances of the debut of Wöljager made a strong impression on all of us and it may well be that some of it also found its way into the music of our last albums. But I do not see strong comparisons between both bands.

I have the impression that you focus much less on catchy lead melodies in ÁRSTÍÐIR LÍFSINS than many other bands of the genre. Do you think a stronger focus on instantly ear-catching melodies wouldn’t fit your style?
Honestly, we have never felt the need to compare our music with others. It simply always evolved in the ways it did and that is the whole story. We clearly also have our influences, but we never had the intention to play a similar ‘catchy’ music that other bands may do. We enjoy our music very much – and that, honestly, is most important for us. We create our music first and foremost for ourselves and not for others. We enjoy seeing others being inspired by what we do. But in the end, that is only secondary to us.

You have also released a split with Carpe Noctem in the meantime, which you had already hinted at before. How did this collaboration come about?
All in Carpe Noctem and ÁRSTÍÐIR LÍFSINS are good friends since a long time and it was only logical to write music for a joint release. It was back in 2015, I think, when I shared a few more beers with Andri Þór of Carpe Noctem in London. We spoke a while about both bands, and it did not take long until we found a common ground for ‘Aldrnari’, the recently released split. Seen from now, our split with Helrunar came into being in almost the same way.

What are you dealing with thematically on this split?
‘Aldrnari’ explores various themes of death and war, fire and life. Both bands have dealt intensively with the ambivalence of the title and have interpreted it from various Old Norse-mythological and philosophical points of view.

Did you already come up with some lyrical or musical ideas for your next release?
Yes, I have already started putting down some sketches for our next album and an EP. The EP will consist of two rather lengthy songs which deal with the two kinds of animals attributed to Óðinn. Although there were many bands that already dealt with similar topics, I know there is much more that can be gathered from these topics. As for our next album, I would first like to compose and write a bit more before I can speak about it in detail.

Thanks again for your answers. Do you have anything else you would like to say to the readers at the end?
Thank you for the interview.

Publiziert am 27. Juli 2020 von Stephan Rajchl