Napalm Records Ereb Altor Interview is up @ AZM 3/17/2010

http://www.myspace.com/erebaltor

1. Tell us on how Ereb Altor came to be?

Ereb Altor is a child of underground Doom band Forlorn which later changed the name to Isole. The more Bathory influenced material became Ereb Altor 2003 when we decided that some of these songs were too good to fall into oblivion.

2. Ereb Altor is a duo correct does Ereb Altor perform live at all?

Yes, we do live shows with different session musicians. We have only done festival shows thus far and probably we will continue doing that. We are not planning to do extended tours, not at this point.

3. Your mix of Doom and viking elements is very interesting how did the sound happen?

Bathory is our housegod, and we have doom metal in our blood so the sound comes natural. We are also interested in our native folk music and therefore we get a Swedish sound in the melodies.

4. Ereb Altor released there debut on I hate label and now are working with Napalm a much larger label how did this come about?

This was not a choice at all because we’re bound to Napalm through our signing with Isole and we must present all music we create to Napalm before going to other labels. It’s a big difference between IHR and Napalm when it comes to distribution and promotion of course. I must add that we have nothing against IHR and we enjoyed working with them too, IHR is very dedicated to this kind of music. We are happy to be on the Napalm rooster, our co-operation has been really good.

4. Is there a bit difference in sound and or style from " by honor" to "the end"?

In fact our debut album „By Honour“ was meant to be a double album therefore some of the songs that exists on „The End“ has a connection musicwise to our debut and both albums have the same atmosphere. But of course I can mention the things that I think differs between the albums. „The End“ has a slightly faster pace, more Scandinavian melodies and the vocals are more varied, the lyrics were a bit shattered on our debut and on the new album the lyrics follows more or less the same path with „Myrding“ and the title track which is strongly connected to our inheritance. I also think that the compostitions are more complex on „The End“

6. Is this a side project of Isole ( as your both in that) or do you see Ereb Altor,as a full time band as well?

I put my soul to everything I do musically so every band I’ve ever played in I’m devoted to. Isole steals more of my time of course.

7. This there a story or theme behind " The End"

The title track that stretches over three songs is about Ragnarök, the end of the Nordic gods. And when I started record this album it felt like this was going to be the last effort of Ereb Altor so the title had two meanings to me. The theme behind Ereb Altor is to deal with our inheritance and try to sound and write about things that have a connection to our homeland.

8. Where did the name Ereb Altor come from?

Ereb Altor is the name of the world where an old Swedish RPG „Drakar och Demoner“ take place. It’s a fantasy world similar to the world Tolkien created. We played this game in our youths and at first we planned to write lyrics with fantasy themes, but later on I decided to write lyrics about our inheritance, I want all lyrics to have a connection from where we come from. Nordic myths, legends and mythology. We decided to keep the name anyway, a remembrance from our youths.

9. The Sounds and production on The End is so massive and the clean and death vocals are so epic in sound . Was it hard to layer it so and get such a big sound?

It’s the work of Jonas Lindström behind the mixing table along, he did a good job and he helped out a lot with his inputs.

10. Where do you see the sound of Ereb Altor over the next few releases?

It’s impossible to say at this point but I think I want to get a darker more aggressive sound in the future, maybe pay some homage to the earlier work of Quorthon with an Ereb Altor touch.

11. Is the doom scene very big in Sweden I have always seen in as more a death metal area?

The doom scene is not big anywhere and Sweden is not an exception. Besides Candlemass there is a few small bands struggling.

12. Are there any lesser known or newer bands out there that really impress you?

Soundbyte from Norway that released an album 2005 I think called “rivers of broken glass” that’s a favourite of mine.

13. Do you feel that Myspace is all the a band really needs in this day and age as it exposes the band best to the world?

No, myspace is only good promotion. In my opinion metal music still needs the CD’s, maybe I’m old fashioned but I like printed magazines and I like albums, I buy every album I like still and I want my CD and vinyl collection to grow.

14. Thank you for the time any closing thoughts here?

Hails to Quorthon R.I.P

Be well

Clint

Thanks and the same goes to you!

/Mats