Thank you Henrik for taking time and doing this Interview with us ! How are you doing ?
No problem, it`s my pleasure. I`m doing fine, been doing mail interview all day but that`s allright- I actually kind of enjoy it. We`ve had interview-sessions on and off over a month now and we`re kind of in the process of finishing it off with a bunch of mailers. It`s all a part of the promotion of the new album.
How long have you been playing the drums, Do you play any other Instruments, and What got you into music ?
I`m 35 years old now and I started playing when I was 13. I discovered KISS when I was 8 years old and I`ve been into metal ever since. I listened to heavy metal for some years and then I got into thrash metal and later on death metal. I went to a process of getting more and more extreme in my musical taste. What got me playing in bands was basically thrash and death metal, thrash was huge when I was 13 and when I was about 15 years old, in the beginning of the 90`s, the whole death metal boom happened and I was hooked by that and decided to form a band. Aside from playing drums I also play guitar. I wrote all the music for an album called ”Dispiritism” by my band Altered Aeon (r.i.p) released in 2004 and I recorded all the instruments (except solos) for the Altered Aeon demo in 2003. I`ve also done lead vocals for three full-length albums- Theory In Practice ”The Armageddon Theories”, Theory In Practice ”Colonizing the Sun” and Mutant ”The Aeonic Majesty”.
How do you get inspiration to write the lyrics ? You read the book Holographic Universe for the album Holographic Universe but what about the previous albums and the new album The Unseen Empire What books, People, movies/documentaries, and research or if any of that does that play a roll in the writing process for you ? If so can you please explain ?
Well, first of all I haven`t read the book ”Holographic Universe”, I stumbled upon the ideas presented on the ”Holographic”-album when I researched quantum physics. But I`ve seen interviews with the author of ”Holographic Universe” and I`ve seen references to that book in other works so I know what that book is about. I have a general interest in these topics and pretty much every Scar Symmetry album circulate around the same topics lyrically even though the perspective changes from album to album. The whole thing about the Illuminati etc. that is very present on the new album is actually something that has been present in the lyrics on every album, yet in a more subtle way perhaps. I have my own personal views and opinions about all this but I look to authors like David Icke, who is very extreme in his theories, for inspiration. David Icke is a perfect source of inspiration when writing lyrics for metal around these subjects because of his extreme approach. Other than that I read books on history, both official and alternative ideas about history and put the pieces together. I also read a lot about new science, alternative science that hasn`t really been accepted yet by the mainstream. And of course I`m into occult systems, I`ve been studying that for a long time. All of this fit together in a very mindblowing way and I`m writing from a point where science and magic kind of blend into one. For this album I focused a bit more on books and articles about the Federal Reserve and the supposed cults that stand in the shadows, safe from the eyes of the mainstream media. I asked myself questions like: ”Why are certain things displayed in the news and others completely ignored?”. The more you think about stuff like that the more you get fired up to write about The New World Order and related things because it`s obvious that there is a lot of manipulation going on in the world. To which degree we`re being manipulated is something that everyone has to decide for themselves but if you go into the rabbit-hole you`ll see possibilities that it might be deeper than you think.
How did you become aware//awake to the New World Order ?
When the process of globalization really started to charge forth it was impossible to ignore that some kind of New World Order was emerging. I saw the term everywhere, David Icke talks about it a lot of course but I can`t remember exactly when I heard about it the first time. It might have been in Icke`s book ”The Robot`s Rebellion”, I read that one in the late 90`s. Anyway, I find all the theories surrounding the Illuminati and the New World Order intriguing and it`s easy to write about that from different points of view. Most of the time I go with the weirdest stuff possible and sometimes, but not often, I keep it somewhat ”down to earth”. I want the lyrics to have this otherworldly vibe and that`s why I enjoy writing from extreme points of view most of all.
When your not fighting Global Government with the music of Scar Symmetry what do you like to do in your free time ?
I`m not actually fighting globalization, whatever you fight becomes stronger since you add energy to it an intense way. I just write about it with the intent to ”enlighten” AND, don`t forget this, to entertain. Some listeners aren`t really interested in the lyrical subjects as such and just want cool stories and that`s allright. The lyrics are just entertainment for them which is cool with me. Others are more genuinely interested in the lyrical themes and that`s even better. But I don`t want to be seen as some sort of activist or a preacher of anything since I am first and foremost just a musician and a lyricist with a special approach. I`m not a preacher and I don`t pretend like my ideas hold the ultimate truth or anything like that. Anyway, in my freetime I`m doing pretty normal things: hang out with my family, write, read, watch movies, work out (something I`ve started doing recently. Always hated it but now I found I actually enjoy it), drink alcohol every now and then and write songs for different projects that I`m involved in.
Do you guys plan on doing a long tour in support of The Unseen Empire like you did for Dark Matter Dimensions ?
Yeah, we did several tours in support of ”Dark Matter Dimensions” and eventually we`ll go on tour in support of the new album. The album will be released at the 15th of April and we`ll start the festival season right after the release party at the 30th of April. We`re booked for several festivals and events this summer plus some dates in Australia so we have to concentrate on that first and foremost. After the summer we`ll do either a European or an American tour, we haven`t decided yet. We`ll also do some dates in South America before the end of the year and then we`ll continue promoting the album through shows next year.
Thank You for your time and talking with us ! Do you have any final words or anything you would like to add ?
As always I would like to thank the fans, your support is immensely appreciated and we hope you like the new album! Check our facebook/myspace-sites for the latest info!
-Bjørn
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