As a music journalist, I have too many Grails in my ‘must have’ interviews list. Today I have the honor to bring to all of us, one of them: Ancient, one of the most important ‘90’s Norwegian Balck Metal bands.
With the invaluable help of the Black Templar Extrem Metal Fest organizers and the band’s manager, Jacopo de Simone, I contacted to their leader Zel, who accepted my invitation to answer some questions for my V’N’MATW portal during their croatian tour. So let’s see what he told us and enjoy it!
K: First of all, thanks you so much to take a little time to answer these questions for my portal. Ancient is a legendary band today, founded in 1992 when the Norwegian Black Metal scene exploded. How do you remember that time? Was it as wild as they say?
Zel: Thanks a lot. I think the word “legendary” is a bit over- used these days, but thanx anyways, we do have many fans who feel this way.
I remember well the time period of 1992- 1994, with the second wave of Black Metal happening, and the amazing albums of Darkthrone, Mayhem, Immortal, Burzum, Emperor etc, were released and it was a period full of inspiration and crazy things happening, like the murders and church burnings etc. There was a certain feeling of “danger” and “chaos” and in some way, this just made everything more exciting for us. There was no internet or mobile phones etc that time, you know, and it was a different world in many ways.
I also felt a lot of musical inspiration, much cause of all the fan mail that was coming in from literally all corners of the world and there was this very strong “vibe” in the scene that was something we never felt again later. I had various bands that inspired me, but I think the main influences when making the tracks for Svartalvheim was old Bathory, Venom, Darkthrone, Immotal and a few more.
K: In your opinion, has the scene lost its appeal today? Are there any bands that still advocate the most purist vision of the genre?
Zel: The scene today is very different yeah, as expected, and the last 25 years or so, has seen Black Metal become more or less like just another style of Metal, even though it is still considered the most extreme form of metal. It has become so much more “commercial” these days. A few weeks ago we went to the Grieghallen concert hall here in Bergen, for the Beyond The Gates Festival. It was a great experience, but at the same time, it still feel a bit “unnatural” to sit in this huge hall, with the “nice clean seats” and so on, a bit like in a movie theatre, while Black Metal bands were playing, and the Bathory tribute band headlined. The sound and the music was great, but when the music is performed in a rather big venue (this hall was about 4.000 people capacity), then this is what to be expected. Still, there are many bands that are keeping very true to the Old Black Metal spirit and don’t even care to play live etc. In Ancient, we just go our own way, and do what feels right for us. There are so many bands out there that are called “Black Metal” that the whole label has become very washed out, and doesn’t necessarily mean very much by itself.
K: Yes, it is true. Many bands are born in this Gold Age, most of them in Norway and a bunch of others in Sweden. Are there differences between Norwegian Black Metal and Swedish Black Metal or is it just geographical?
Zel: I think most of the bands from Sweden have a bit different sound than the ones from Norway, and even between Bergen and Oslo, there is a difference, I think. The attitude of the musicians vary a bit, but in Scandinavia in general they’re different than people from south Europe and USA, for instance.
K: Many years ago, I read an interview of Mortiis saying that he didn’t understand why bands from outside Norway took the style of Black Metal as their own when they didn’t understand the essence of it. Do you agree?
Zel: I don’t know. There are so many bands out there, I have heard many bands from outside of Norway that has made great Black Metal, though it’s maybe a bit different than the Norwegian Black Metal. There have been many great bands from countries like Greece, Poland and Finland, for instance, it’s just a bit different kind of Black Metal. But, for instance, I do find it a bit silly to find bands from south Europe that call their music “Viking Metal” when they have no connection to Scandinavia apart from some admiration, you know.
K: Yes, I understand. If my information is correct, your last studio album Back To The Land Of The Dead dates back to 2016. Do you plan to release new material?
Zel: Yeah, damn, time flies. It is true, when you get older, it feels like time is flying faster and faster. one year now, feels like nothing, and back in the ‘90s, one year felt like a really long time. We are planning to release a new album, we have just been so busy lately with work, and Covid screwed us in many ways, mostly financially. But, if everything goes as planned, we should be ready to start recording a new album maybe around the summer of 2025. We do have some ideas and inspiration, we’ll see how it goes. The main problem nowadays is just to find some time to sit down in a relaxed peaceful situation and work on some new stuff. It will come though!
Ancient by Stephan Lupascu (March’24)
K: Very good news to hear. Your confirmation for the second edition of the Spanish Black Templar Fest coincides with the decision to play your legendary second album The Cainian Chronicles in its entirety. What motivated you to do so?
Zel: Yeah, the original idea was to do a 25 year Anniversary tour for this album, which would mean we should be doing it in 2021. Then, Covid came and screwed the timeline completely, and we decided we should of course do it anyways, just in delay. The same with the Svartalvheim Anniversary tour.
Many fans think The Cainian Chronicle is the best album of Ancient (and some think it is Svartalvheim), so we thought it would be a great idea to do a tour playing this album in its entirety. We have had really good feedback from the gigs so far, where we played this set. It’s also great that we had the chance to have original vocalist Lord Kaiaphas join us on this tour.
K: There was a time when Ancient could be considered a one-man band. Is it still one today? Who will be accompanying you on September 14th in Monzón?
Zel: I don’t think so, not anymore at least. The main members of the band today are me and Dhilorz, as he has been a member of Ancient since 1998. The other guys are session musicians, and they tend to change a bit, as most of them are not always available to go on tour, you see.
In Monzon, Dhilorz will unfortunately not be available, so the line- up will be this one: Lord Kaiaphas: Vocals, Zel and Ivan: guitars, Tero: bass and Tine: drums
K: And finally, do you have any plans to participate in any other festivals before the end of the year?
Zel: Yeah, we will also play at Bosphorus Metal Fest at Istanbul on September 21 and De Mortem Et Diabolum at Berlin on December 7.
We just announced three dates for Finland in October: the 17th at Olympia in Tampere, the 18th at Lepakkomies in Helsinki and the 19th at Kantakrouvi in Oulu.
And we still have many more dates in the works!
K: If you want to say something more, you’re welcome.
Zel: C U soon in Spain!!
K: Thanks you so much, Zel.
Zel: Thanx to you too!
ANCIENT en RRSS
Bandcamp
https://ancient2.bandcamp.com/track/death-will-die
https://www.facebook.com/ancientband