On 13th of August, was released the new EP of Sarkom "SVØPT I EN DYNGE AV DRITT", a limited edition of 333 handnumbered copies on white vinyl and I ask some questions to Unsgaard.
BRZ – First of all, thanks for this interview. Sarkom as released on Friday, 13th of August, the second EP under the banner of Apocalyptic Empire Records. This underground label exists since 1994 and despite all the changes in the music world, continues working. What is the importance of a label like these in Norwegian Black Metal?
Unsgaard - I have known Kenneth (he who runs the label) for many years now, and it actually started with me ordering records from him 20 years ago. He later released our 7” split with Urgehal in 2012(?). I think both him and any other serious underground label are of big importance for black metal, not just Norwegian Black metal… They are usually very dedicated to their work and I guess most of them started because of their interest in metal rather than seeing it as a big business opportunity. While the big labels focus on bands who bring in the most cash, the smaller labels put their mind and effort into a niche which still is rather exclusive. Underground metal is not for each and every one, and without these labels to promote us, I’m sure many bands would have lost their “spirit” to be working with this kind of music. However, Apocalyptic Empire just announced that they will close for good now… But Kenneth will keep working with the shop Katakomben which is based in Oslo. Check it out at www.katakomben.no
BRZ - You were on a bigger label and moved to Apocalyptic Empire Records. What was the reason for this change?
Unsgaard - Our deal with Apocalyptic Empire was only these two 7” EPs and we have no further collaboration planned. As for now we are not signed to any label.
BRZ - Music didn't give bands a lot of money before the pandemic, but now it will give even less as concerts stopped and the value bands receive from streaming sites is negligible. How do you keep the urge to make music?
Unsgaard - As you say, music didn’t give bands a lot of money before the pandemic either, so most musicians within the extreme metal scene have a day job. This also includes me. So music unfortunately comes second, as a hobby. While people spend their vacations going fishing, I might spend it on writing music or going on tour. Like I did just a few weeks ago. Three weeks of vacation and most of the time were spent at home with a guitar.
BRZ - This is already the second EP that you guys release this year. The first, "Rock Bottom Manifest" came out in February. Both EP's have a B-side cover. Why did you choose Scorpions' "Steamrock Fever" for the first release?
Unsgaard - It’s nothing more interesting than that our bassist suggested we could do a cover of that song, using blast beats instead. So we did and it sounds killer!
BRZ - Will the new EP "Svøpt i en dynge av dritt" be one of the songs from the band's future album or was it just released for this EP? What is this song about?
Unsgaard - This was exclusively for this EP and will not be a part of the next album. What is it about? Good question, but I would like to keep that for myself… Sorry, it’s personal!
BRZ - The B side is the cover of The Prodigy's "Breathe", which in my opinion is much better than the original. Why did you choose this theme, from a band that doesn't have much to do with Norwegian Black Metal?
Unsgaard - Thanks a lot! In my opinion, nothing beats the original, but I think we did a decent job! The first concert I ever attended was with The Prodigy (in 96?) and I was a huge fan as a kid. Not that big a fan today, but I still listen to their classics pretty often. And as far as I can remember this is their only song which is guitar based and has vocals (at least more than just a few words). I have been planning to do this cover for about 10 years and I have never been in doubt that this would come out as a great black metal version. Also, we didn’t want to fuck it up with anything so we kept it very close to the original on purpose. I can also mention that we recorded the drums only 6 days before the news about Keith Flint hit us (he died for those who don’t know), so that was pretty special to me. A band that no one ever talks about anymore was suddenly on all lips and in the media etc.
BRZ - This release, like the previous one, was only on vinyl. How important is this format to you and why release limited versions?
Unsgaard - When I spend as much time as I do on music I like to have a physical copy of the release. I’m also a sucker for cover artwork, and it’s far from the same looking at a picture on Spotify rather than holding it in your hand. BUT I think it will be released digitally sooner or later...
BRZ - The band was formed in 2002 but some of you have been on this path for a long time. How have you seen Norwegian Black Metal for the past 6 years, now that it has become part of your country's culture and people are no longer afraid to talk about this music genre?
Unsgaard - I'm not sure if it has been that many changes for the past 6 years, at least that I have noticed. I think I have to go at least 15 years back in time to notice any drastic changes. Black metal has become sort of mainstream (at least the bigger bands) and you will not be surprised if your friendly neighbour listens to for example Dimmu Borgir. In my opinion, black metal is more than just music, so how people can listen to it without any "feeling" or passion just seems strange to me... But on the other hand, I don't care what other people do as long as they don't bother me with it. But more to be concerned about is the lack of young people at concerts. I guess the majority of the crowd are aged 40 +/-. So if metal is not supposed to be a dying thing, the youth have to start to listen to metal again! On the other hand, I'm not sure if I would have been attracted to it myself if I was 14 years of age today... I mean, there's nothing rebellious about metal anymore... And how cool is it to listen to the same music as your parents?
BRZ - What are you preparing for the coming times? Do you have any concerts already scheduled? And the new album, when will it come out?
Unsgaard - No scheduled concerts, and we haven’t played live since 2018 either! Not sure if we ever will again, but who knows… As for the new album, I just finished writing the demo. For the next few months I will write lyrics and work with vocal arrangements, then hopefully we can record it this winter. Then we have to find a label which probably needs at least 6 months before they can release it, so to be realistic, this album won’t be out before 2023. And this is if everything goes as planned of course (which never happens). On the other hand, musically I’m pretty confident that this album will be rock solid, so hopefully it will be worth the wait!
Thanks for your time and interview!
