VALENCIA’N’METAL AROUND THE WORLD starts the new Metal Season ‘26-‘27 in its favorite country: Norway. Some of you might be wondering (though it hardly matters if you aren’t) why I have such a soft spot for that particular Nordic nation. The answer is quite simple: almost every band (if not every single one) to emerge from there is synonymous with top-notch stage presence and boundless musical talent.
Earlier this year, just weeks before their show in Madrid, news broke that Finntroll‘s vocalist Vreth, was out on medical leave while I was heading off to enjoy the wonderful Heidefest. He was to be replaced by a young Norwegian singer named Kistelach, who handled vocal duties in a Norwegian Folk band called Vanvidd.
It doesn’t take much insight to guess that I wasted no time looking up the band and giving them a listen; doing so made it immediately clear why their singer had been chosen for such a major undertaking, a role he continues to fill whenever necessary.
After I reached out to Vanvidd, they responded promptly, informing me that Markus Lillegaard, the band’s bassist and an original member, would be the one to answer questions for my site.
So, without further ado, let’s get started.
K: First of all, thank you so much for taking the time to answer the questions for my website, VALENCIA’N’METAL AROUND THE WORLD.
So, if my informations are well, Vanvidd formed in 2013, and several members, such as Mathias Dahlsveen (vocals), Kjetil Emil Lie (guitars), and you, Markus Lillegaard (bass), have been there since the beginning. Did you know each other beforehand? And if so, whose idea was it to get together and form a band?
Markus Lillegaard: Thanks for having me Kat!
We all grew up in the same town of Arendal, including all of our current and previous members. We were all part of the town’s small music community in our youth, so we all knew each other in some way or another. Kjetil Emil Lie and the previous guitarist William Moltemyr formed the band, and worked on the project for a while before Mathias (Dahlsveen, voice) and I ended up joining. Even though we knew each other from before, we became close friends when we started playing together.
K: I see… Musically, Vanvidd is described as a Folk Metal band. Was it easy for you to stand out in your country’s scene when you started, given that more extreme sounds tend to dominate there?
Markus Lillegaard: I think we stand out in that our style is not, at least in my opinion, very typical for the Norwegian Folk Metal scene. Many of the earlier and more popular acts were more prominent in the 90s and early 2000s, and our style is quite different. I think that our style, which spans from extreme aesthetics with black metal and death metal influences, to fun upbeat party songs, makes us stand out in the Norwegian scene. But I also think that the lack of Folk Metal bands in Norway has helped us stand out.
K: Yes, that’s true; there aren’t many Norwegian Folk bands at the moment. From the outside, the Norwegian Metal Sene is often viewed as a powerful archetype that is incredibly robust, especially regarding Extreme Metal. Do you share that view?
Markus Lillegaard: Not sure about the use of the word ‘archetype’, in that the Norwegian Extreme Metal scene like many other sub-genres is inspired by earlier international acts! Black Metal is regarded as one of the country’s biggest music exports though. This, I think, is not only because of the black metal surge in the 90s, but also because of cultural policies from the government that are aimed at managing and supporting popular music in any genre, as well as black metal.
K: Wow… I wasn’t aware that your government provided support for heavier musical genres. That completely changes the perspective. Sometimes the Folk genre often fuses with other styles like Viking and Pagan Metal, which can create some confusion among listeners. In your opinion, are these three distinct styles? And if so, where do the differences lie?
Markus Lillegaard: In a historic and periodic sense these are of course thematics that derive from varying or different periods in history, so I agree that this is a bit confusing. Vanvidd’s themes are inspired by the Norwegian Folklore that was gathered and curated during the national romanticism in the 1800s to build the Norwegian nation state, as well as folk inspirations from other countries and cultures. But we also have some Pagan/Viking influences because we’ve been inspired by acts like Wardruna, even though Wardruna’s music is not really meant to be historically correct. Folk, Viking, and Pagan aesthetics have a lot of thematic differences, and varying historical accuracy, for example seeing that there really aren’t any sources of how viking music really sounded. But, I do think these expressions of aesthetics are all deriving from a place of wanting to get back to nature, or as a counterculture to a more and more hyper-consumerist and shallow popular culture.
K: Thanks for your excellent explanation, I have a much better understanding of this musical-cultural aspect of your region and the perspectives that arise from it. And speaking of fusions. I’ve noticed that Death Metal often pairs with Viking Metal, like Amon Amarth as an example, whereas Folk tends to gravitate more toward Black Metal, as seen with Finntroll. From my perspective, Vanvidd has a very clear Black Metal undertone, even more than Finntroll. Do you agree?
Markus Lillegaard: Yes, even though we have a lot of death metal influences as well, black metal is a big part of our DNA. Finntroll’s style, and our own, differs in some crucial ways seeing that Finntroll is very keyboard based, while we usually play our hooks on the guitars.
K:. A detail well worth bearing in mind, certainly. And why do you think these genre pairings occur, that is Black/Folk and Viking/Death? Had you ever considered that before?
Markus Lillegaard: Well Black Metal and Folk music is by some considered to be two very authentic musical aesthetics. So the two genres do have a similarity in the focus on authenticity. I also think that folk lore touch upon the darker aspects of life, which of course is very prominent in Black Metal as well. Why Viking metal has a tendency to use death metal influences, I’m not sure. Maybe it’s because of the influences that come with the Swedish metal scene. If that’s the case I think it’s also fair to say that the Black/Folk combination is also just a product of time and place in the Norwegian metal scene, rather than it having a deeper meaning to it. There was a Folk revival in the 90s, and early 2000s in popular music in Europe so this makes sense.
Vanvidd by @knipselyst (2021)
K: The truth is, viewed from the perspective of each scene, your reasoning makes a great deal of sense.Speaking of neighbors and friends: regarding Folk Metal, do you think there are palpable differences between the Swedish perspective on Folk and that of the Norwegians or, to a lesser extent, the Finns, or do you share certain nuances?
Markus Lillegaard: Well, the Folk Metal fans in the band are very influenced by both Swedish and Finnish acts, such as Swedish MeloDeath and Finnish Folk Metal. I do however think that the Norwegian Folk Metal share more with the Finnish Folk Metal, than with our closer neighbours in Sweden and Denmark.
K: I understand. It is well known that your culture is widely admired so much, and many bands with no Scandinavian roots adopt your mythology and make it their own. Do you consider their vision on it to be close to your own, or do you feel they distort it somewhat?
Markus Lillegaard: I myself am not very concerned with people appropriating the culture, but I do think that pop-culture like the ‘Vikings’ TV-series has had huge influence on people from outside of Scandinavia to get an interest in the culture. Unfortunately there are some groups of people that use Scandinavian folk culture and Viking history as means to spread hateful and chauvinist ideology and to solidify extreme far right communities. This is of course a misuse of Scandinavian cultural heritage.
K: That would explain why there are some bands that, to this day, still have to justify themselves to certain haters who sadly, haven’t got a clue what’s going on… In my opinion, nowadays, although it still has its audience, Folk Metal seems to have suffered a decline in popularity among the metal community. Do you agree?
Markus Lillegaard: Yes, the genre has been in decline for some years now, but I do see a change in this trend. There are more and more newer folk metal acts that I feel are renewing the scene. Where I live in Oslo, there is also a growing and very exciting folk fusion surge, where folk music is combined with jazz, electronica, pop and rock!
K: Wow! How interesting… And now that we’ve clearly framed the folk scene, let’s talk about Vanvidd. In terms of discography, Vanvidd has three studio albums ‘Vanvidd’ (2016), ‘Under ei Morken Rot’ (2021), and ‘Avlivsritualer’ (2025), and upon listening to them, I’ve noticed a significant upward darkness trajectory in musical terms. Should these three albums be viewed as a trilogy, or does each one explore different themes?
Markus Lillegaard: While the first two albums are based on story telling, often with a lot of varying arrangements with a lot of contrasting moods, Avlivsritualer is more of a fixed vibe in my opinion. It has a much darker, and more personal thematic compared to the first 2 albums. The first 2 albums do have some recurring characters and stories though. The stories that are told in tracks like Storm, ‘Fjellheimen’ and ‘Fenalår’ (From our album Under ei Morken Rot) are continuations of the stories told in tracks like ‘Gamle Erik’, ‘De Underjordiske’ and ‘Fossegrimen’ from our debut album. So no, this is not really meant to be a trilogy, but there are a lot of conceptual connections between the 2 first albums!
K: I see. Let’s talk a bit about live performances now. For the Heidenfest festival, which I was lucky enough to attend in Madrid this past January, your vocalist Kistelach, toured with Finntroll after Vreth was forced to step down. In fact, it was his presence in the Finnish band’s lineup that introduced me to Vanvidd. Did his live commitments with Finntroll affect your schedule with Vanvidd in any way, or were you in the process of booking dates?
Markus Lillegaard: Kistelach’s performances with Finntroll is of course a huge deal, so we try to work around the Finntroll tour dates for our own shows. We’ve only had one concert that he could not attend, but we were lucky to have a great step-in vocalist for this show!
K: I understand. In early March, Vanvidd returned to the stage, playing shows in both Oslo and Kristiansand. For those performances, you were joined by violinist Monika Boroni, who is well-known in your country for providing vocals and violin for Lunula, a folk band drawing inspiration from both Slavic musical history (her own background) and Scandinavian traditions. Has she collaborated on your albums, or does she only join you for live shows?
Markus Lillegaard: Monika Boroni has also joined us for studio sessions on Under ei Morken Rot, our single ‘Låvedans’, and our latest album Avlivsritualer. Often she has breathed life into the midi-orchestra by playing our already composed parts, but she has also come up with some beautiful parts on tracks like ‘Deepen These Wounds’, ‘Låvedans’ and ‘Glemselen’. This has changed the parts significantly, giving the tracks new perspectives!
K: Of course, violin lines always add a new dimension to the final result. It’s a real stroke of luck to have her involved. Regarding festivals, Vanvidd performed at Nidhoggs Blot on July 24th. You have a couple of dates scheduled for September: the next 5th in Tromsø and the 25th at Bare Studenthus in Kristiansand supporting band Horizon Ablaze. Is there any particular festival, whether Norwegian or from abroad, that you would like to attend or go to again?
Markus Lillegaard: Well, playing at Midgardsblot is always a blast, and we hope to play at the festival again some time! All major metal festivals in Europe would be awesome. Wacken would of course be a huge deal for us!
K: Wacken always opens many doors, and Midgardsblot is already a classic in Norway. And finally, what plans does Vanvidd have for the rest of the year? Any more confirmed dates, preparing new material…?
Markus Lillegaard: We have some new concert dates coming up, but they are not really official yet! While we do focus on playing live and booking new concert dates, we also work on new and exciting material.
K: We will be keeping an eye out for your updates. If there’s anything else you’d like to add, go right ahead!
Markus Lillegaard: Thanks for having me, and thank you for showing interest in our band!
K: Thanks you very much to you too.
VANVIDD at RRSS
https://www.instagram.com/vanviddofficial/
Bandcamp
https://www.facebook.com/vanviddband/
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/intl-es/artist/2hNY3IUCOWtJP1YPCH4CQ4