At the time of our interview for Avantgarde Metal (Spring
2011), in concomitance with the release of Epoch, you were just beginning to
sketch the skeleton of new songs: “The initial developments
seem to be increasingly ambient and spacious sounding – less dense, more
stripped down and ‘glacial’ as opposed to the misty, layered, churning regret
that typified much of the last record”. Looking back at those early
explorations, how complex (or perhaps effortless) was the path that led to achieving
the starker, more incisive sound of Dustwalker?
It
wasn’t really a complex path, more a determined one. Mid-2011 was a testing
time for the band – perhaps the most testing time we had faced in our history –
with two members leaving in quick succession and little in the way of live
shows happening. I’d always had the intention of stripping things back a little
on the follow-up to ‘Epoch’ and these challenges added a sense of forceful
purpose to working on a new record. We wanted to make our mark, to come back
unbent and undimmed from strife.
We
were very driven, worked hard, spent a lot of time with Derwydd (who was
something of a revelation). Indeed, he brought to us a new-found sense of
purpose and steely drive which was instrumental in forging the work that became
Dustwalker. Whilst not actively involved in the core compositional process, his
approach to drum arrangements and overall hardworking, self-empowering ethos
really gave us a momentum that pushed this newest material forward.
The keyboards have disappeared (Grungyn plays the synth
on the instrumental “Reflections”) and the overall result is soberer: the
problems with finding a permanent keyboard player turned out to be determinant
in shaping the sound of the album, in a very positive way! How pleased are you
with the overall impact you achieved?
This was perhaps the
biggest decision to make – to proceed without keyboards. When Aethelwalh left
it gave us an opportunity to step back and reassess where we were. Don’t get me
wrong – I think the keyswork on Epoch is outstanding – but it was something I
could feel myself drifting away from. Myself and Grungyn were experimenting a
lot more with effects processing around this point and it felt like an
opportunity to make a change for the better.
I always say that in
art (and indeed, in life in general) restriction forces innovation. There is
something invigorating about working within confined parameters and the
challenge to create enveloping atmospheres with guitars, bass and drums was a
thrilling one for me. ‘Dustwalker’ represents a real step forward upon this
journey and it will certainly be one we are continuing if the ideas we are
working on at the moment are anything to go by! There’s a really open-ended,
experimental feel in the Fen rehearsal room right now.
The endeavor to clean-up the sound also applied to the several
quieter moments scattered across the album, making them sound less surrounded
by mist and more like a crispy cold night. Your clean vocals are as confident
as ever, and the entire range displayed is as mature as the music itself. The
higher degree of expressiveness in your unmistakable voice surely stems from (increased
confidence and experience aside) the same desire to push and refine your music?
Well, we have received
criticism in the past for our clean vocal sections so this time, we wanted to
make sure they were fully and completely arranged/worked out before committing them
to tape. Confidence and experience cannot be overestimated in terms of their
impact on delivery – we’ve been naïve in the past, I recognize that – but
equally, true passion will always shine through.
Vocally, I am very
pleased with how this album has turned out. I think it stems back to this sense
of drive and purpose I referred to earlier. The material is harder too, which
helps lend weight to vocal delivery. I always aim to push myself further and
further with each record (possibly at the detriment of my vocal chords!) – the
voice is the most naked expression there is when recording so its only natural
that it’s the element that’s closest to the emotion at the heart of the music.
The level of maturity achieved across the board is
impressive: the already highly recognizable Fen sound, placed by many in
between Agalloch and Alcest, has become far more focused and yet one can still envisage
almost limitless possibilities for the future. Right now you are busy with sorting
out some European dates, but have you been able to sit back and enjoy the rewards
of your endeavors for a while or are you unable to turn off the “writing mode”
button?
We’re always writing.
Always. The prospect of resting on my laurels terrifies me, there are too many
bands where it is obvious that the creative flame has long been extinguished
who languish in a zombified, musical half-life. I cannot allow that to happen –
the minute the well of inspiration runs dry, this band is over I fear. For me,
the compositional process – forging new ideas, hearing melodies and themes come
to life and evolve – is the fundamental driver of being in a band. Everything
else, no matter how enjoyable, is secondary.
Thankfully, I feel we
are in fertile creative times. The writing process is ever-flowing and we
already have a wealth of new material and ideas that have come together. If I’m
honest, I think I am borderline obsessed with writing, one of my ambitions for
2013 is to learn to relax a little. I can’t sit still for a moment, I feel
guilty if I spend more than 30 minutes without having worked on one idea or
another – it’s driving my girlfriend mad so I definitely need to factor in some
down-time! It’s important though I think to have quiet time, to recharge and
reinvigorate one’s inspiration. Balance and moderation between one’s interests
are key to keeping them healthily maintained. Obsession can be productive but
it can also be dangerous and creatively stunting if left unchecked.
Dustwalker takes off abruptly, aggressively but soon your
trademark melancholy sweeps in, giving such powerful “soul” to the music: if the
themes revolve around the fragility of our existence and ultimate resignation
to a nullifying fate, the power of melody, which permeates all your songwriting,
and the organic yet shimmering (flame-like) production gives me the same kind
of solace and energy as a roaring bonfire in the midst of a sharply cold,
moonless night: I cannot help finding it heart-warming!
Thank you and I agree
that there should be a sense of cathartic revelation within the despondency. I
hark back to the song ‘Bereft’ from our debut album in this – that song really
relates to a sense of elation at accepting one’s fate, acknowledging a place in
the universe that may not be the most satisfying existence yet the
understanding of this brings with it some relief. It is the unknown and the
misunderstood that brings fear and trepidation into our lives – knowledge and
understanding, even if it points towards bleakness & misery, does bring
solidity.
It isn’t so much
resignation to one’s fate – it is understanding and the resolve born of that
understanding. There are times when this can overwhelm, when it can lead to an
outburst of rage or despair – at other times, there is a manifestation of the
serenity of this acceptance reflected in the quieter moments.
Dustwalker feels to me a reflection on death. “Hands of
Dust”, “Wolf Sun” and “The Black Sound” in particular make me think of my
recently passed-away father. As we removed ourselves from living in direct
contact with the cycles of nature, we became detached from the reality of
death, seen now as an unsightly, unacceptable flaw that should not tarnish
humans’ busy existence. Now that I have actually touched, smelt human flesh
consumed by death, seen the shocking stillness and emptiness of the eyes, I have
to agree with what once Bowie
said: “Confront a corpse
at least once. The
absolute absence of life is the most disturbing and challenging confrontation you will ever have”.
Death
is a powerful theme for sure, however whilst it may float at the indistinct
periphery of our subject matter, it isn’t really the main driver. ‘Hands of
Dust’ and ‘Wolf Sun’ are about being insubstantial, a feeling of disconnected,
fading sensations and disassociation from the world – whether subconsciously
this is a rumination on death, it is hard for me to say although it maybe that
something subliminal has come through here.
It’s a
mental state rather than a physical one, the metaphor of physical
disintegration alluding to that of a psychological state. ‘The Black Sound’ is
perhaps more direct, very much a representation of depression embodied by
looming, crushing inevitability. Again, we touch upon that sense of
insubstantiation, of a spiritual yearning to transcend one’s current state – to
escape, to flee – and the gnawing, ever-growing knowledge that this will never
happen.
I guess
death remains the ultimate driver behind all of this – indeed, the last line of
‘The Black Sound’ (‘…to shed the anchor of a slowly rotting tomb’) alludes most
clearly to the final fate in store. Death makes a mockery of all of our
thoughts, hopes and ruminations, therefore marking most clearly the endpoint
for all of this.
“Consequences” takes me to humankind’s last regretful moments,
whilst in “Wolf Sun” the hopeful line “I’ll hold on to this sun” is followed by
a half-chocked “I can’t save myself from fading”… Finally, you conclude the
album with “Walking the Crowpath”. People like Killing Joke and Amebix, both absolute
masters of an apocalyptic sound and vision that continues to inspire countless
bands (including black metal ones), believed - and still do to this day - in
finding the hope and strength to change ourselves and the world… How far removed
are Fen from the 80s fighting spirit?
I can only speak from
vaguely recollected memories as a child in England in the 80s but it did
strike me as a decade of conflict, pessimism and shifting values. The rampant
contradictions of the decade – the overarching stark terror of the
nuclear-powered cold war versus the shiny technicolour of rampant consumerism
or (closer to home) millions of manual workers forced from their jobs and left
destitute whilst an emergent middle class bray Thatcherite soundbites into
brick-sized mobile phones – even if not fully comprehended, lent a sent of
dissonance to one’s perceptions. ‘Something’s not quite right’ I guess you
could say is how an eight-year-old might interpret it!
For me, coming from a
working-class background, the struggles were palpable and the need to fight
against it, to battle against the emergent oppression (both economic and
psychological) was instilled in many. This again is something that is a
subconscious driver to the band – we don’t of course directly reference such
concepts in our music/lyrics but without a doubt, such experiences have help
shaped my outlook and it’s inevitable that this will creep into any works I am
involved in.
In Epoch too, in exploring the cyclical life of the universe
as mirror of our own cyclical nature, you
inevitably focused on the end of the cycle. I often ask myself why it is that during
the short blitz of time in which we exist as individuals, the mind-blowing
power of nature around and within us (people underestimate the amazing
complexity of their own body: most don’t even know how it functions and what
it’s made of) are rarely enough to find pride and strength, to find a sense to our
existence - in itself an utterly exceptional event across the known universe!? If
anything, it’s a goddamn crazy adventure…
If you look at the
existence of the human race in terms of the timeline of this planet, we’ve
existed for a mere blink of an eye. As a species, we’ve evolved incredibly
quickly and I think at the core of it all, many people struggle to deal with
their own sentience. We’ve barely learned to comprehend the world around us,
let alone the myriad mysteries of our own minds/bodies.
As you say, it’s a
crazy adventure – however, I’d go further and say in many ways, it’s a crazy
existence. We’ve evolved to learn how to ponder the mechanics of our own being
yet lack the development of our faculties to truly understand it. This is a
powerful dissonance that underpins our existence – we can question it, explain
elements of it to a degree but comprehension and meaning lies outside of our
powers of comprehension. Everyone chooses their own way to deal with this –
some shelter in materialism, others rebel through nihilism/cynicism, many close
their eyes and hold to religion, others (like myself) get lost in speculation
and the search for something more spiritual.
Whichever way you
slice it, the human condition is something that affects us all and there is no
‘right’ answer. I suspect it will be many evolutionary steps down the line
before we start to really come to terms with ourselves as a species.
Rock music began to explore the dark side in the 60s: it was
the fruit of a rebellion that, no matter how bleak and nihilistic the outlook
became (80s punk), was still very much about searching for new values. Today we
see either a complete lack of ideals, or weird, self-important displays of D.I.Y.
fundamentalism through the recuperation of a whole range of Masonic types of esoterism.
The pagan scene, with its fervor towards salvaging noble traditions from the (not
always wholesome) past, seems to offer the only pro-active “alternative” (in
fact not too dissimilar from the hippy-punk idea of being self-sufficient
outside the consumerist society). In practical terms, in Italy for
example – where unemployment is rife - we see more and more young people
returning spontaneously to the very fields which were abandoned by their
grandparents. Perhaps an injection of humility, honesty and empathy is all we
need?
Well, a lot of the
pagan scene – and the esoteric/occultist scene really – is about escapism
isn’t? In which case, we find ourselves in a similar situation to that which we
discussed in the previous question. That is, the inability of the human mind at
present to cope with the concept of its own sentience. All acts of rebellion
and of ideology stem from this coping mechanism I feel. They are still in place
today – you assert that we either see a lack of ideals or a retreat into
deliberately obscure mindsets – however, they are different sides of the same
coin.
When people speak of a
‘lack of ideals’ they are generally referring to values which bear little
meaning to them – materialism, short-term self-gratification, that sort of
thing – but this is still a refuge from confronting the self, as is shrouding
oneself in esoteric mysticism which is so detached from the visceral experience
of day-to-day life that it too is an escape. As much it may pain those of us
who purport to be more ‘enlightened’, given the limitations of our own senses
and reason, we really aren’t in a position to judge.
You ask for honesty
but as beings enslaved by our own egos and sentience, such an approach is
practically impossible. All I can do – and I do not expect this of others – is
to do my best to act in a way which I feels supports what I consider to be a
rational world-view.
Everybody needs to escape from reality and we all have
our favorite way(s) to alter/exit the day-to-day. I think deep down we know
that most of our chosen forms of escapism are simply (often useless, often
self-harming) palliatives, but surely Music – despite its power to completely
transcend reality, is a worthy passion to indulge in because it engages your
inner self with so many different aspects of the physical and metaphysical and,
most of all, it makes you grow familiar with the spectrum of your own emotions. Ultimately we love art because it makes us
feel alive…
Again, as you have
stated, music is in many ways a form of escapism – however, it is a more
abstract escapism in that it enables one to externalize and communicate on a
fundamental level. Indeed, I would argue that ‘pure’ music (i.e. creating
sounds/melodies, free from lyrics/concepts and in solitude) is less about
escapism and more about catharsis. It’s a tonic, a need to bring something to
life – the creative impulse is I feel quite a primordial drive and can in many
ways be the very opposite of escapism. It’s about truly connecting with an
insubstantial aspect of the self, about confronting those elements of ourselves
we do not fully comprehend.
Of course, at the next
level, when one brings artwork, playing as a band, live performances, lyrical
concepts and the like into the mix, then we move further towards the territory
of escape. Nevertheless, it’s a ‘positive’ form of escapism in my eyes (though
I would say that!).
Fen’s music is a very fertile ground for experiencing an
array of emotions. I am curious whether your own music moves you in the same
way as music written by others does. Obviously you invest a lot of yourself in
anything you create, but sometimes a creation (in my experience, when it begins
to assume a truly universal significance) becomes something else and it feels
no longer “yours”, almost taking its own direction, its own life.
I only write what I
personally am interested in listening to. This is the ultimate test for me –
would I choose to listen to this? That was the goal from minute one with Fen
and this has not changed at all. Of course, having been working on Fen for over
seven years now the band concept has very much evolved to take on its own
identity – however, this is always driven by what myself and Grungyn feel is
musically appropriate to deliver via the vessel of this band.
In essence, the band
is a vehicle, an entity to deliver a certain atmosphere and to draw the
listener into the ‘Fen’ journey. Nevertheless, this is a journey that we too as
creators are on also.
I want to mention your brother Grungyn’s artwork for
Dustwalker: in Epoch it was more ethereal and had a grim link with the present,
while this time we see no strident signs of human presence within the
landscape. The symbolism he used is very powerful, taking us to the heart of
our ancestral relationship with nature, and I love the fact that every track
has its visual symbolic counterpart. Like with the music, the artwork appears
more focused, the impact on the subconscious is more immediate and it’s up to
the individual to dig through the layers.
It was Grungyn’s idea
to create a symbol for each piece on ‘Dustwalker’ and I think this has worked
wonderfully. It is true that ‘Dustwalker’ deals with less tangible concepts
than Epoch – it is a reflection upon one’s place in the material universe and
an expression of existential… confusion? It’s hard to find the correct word –
not ‘anguish’ necessarily but a lack of belonging, of being disconnected in
some way. A ghost if you will. There are elements of human presence in the
artwork panels of the new album but these are faded, indistinct, incorporeal –
which is in keeping with the overall concept.
This analogy of ‘not
belonging’ runs through a lot of more nature-themed expressions of black metal
(and music in general) – harking back to times of yore, of a time when mankind
would have been closer to nature. For me, this skirts a little too close to
romanticized escapism for comfort. As much as I find a winter’s walk through
the deep forest invigorating, cleansing and spiritually uplifting I am also
self-aware enough to know if I were alive in the Dark Ages, it would NOT be a
druidic, meditative experience – it would be dirty, vicious, a daily battle to
survive.
Thus, the sense of
yearning that much of this music is shot through with here relates less to a
defined sense of ‘yearning for a better age’ as opposed to a yearning for
understanding, a yearning to comprehend one’s true place.
“Spectre” is a beautiful example of folk-tinged post
rock/black metal which shows us the more ethereal side of Fen. There are
different sides to you as a musician: currently you have an outlet for giving
vent to a more aggressive, straight-forward type of black metal (Virophage) and
of course the De Arma project for which you sing and write lyrics. Andreas
Pettersson’s band debuts at the end of February with the album "Lost, Alien and
Forlorn", released through Trollmusic. Your collaboration started with the
beautiful split Towards the Shores of the End for Nordvis in 2011. Andreas has
been incredibly prolific since he burst into the black metal scene with
Armagedda: are you a long-standing fan of his music explorations (amongst which
Whirling, Lönndom and the hot brand-new Stilla)?
Thanks for the
comments on ‘Spectre’ – it was a risky move for us to record such a song but I
think it is one that has worked. I’m personally very satisfied with the final
result, I think it captures perfectly the atmosphere that we were trying to go
for – in terms with tying in with the overall album ambience, it is perhaps
this song more than any of the others that truly encapsulates the ghostly,
disconnected feel of the concept.
As for Andreas’ work,
I am a big fan of the last two Armagedda records – ‘Only True Believers’ is a
great, no-nonsense ‘fist in the face’ black metal album whilst ‘Ond Spiritism’
is a real classic. Haunting, dark, spiritual, it’s an album I keep coming back
to. I also enjoyed Lönndom a lot as well so when Andreas approached us with
regards to working together, it was something I was very keen to do. He’s a man
that has a clear understanding of what he wants to achieve with each of his
artistic projects – he is prolific, certainly, but that only serves to enhance
the quality and purity of that which he creates.
With De Arma, the
concept here is defined, it’s clear and it’s obvious that he and I are
operating in very similar musical territories and so it came together very
naturally. We communicate regularly and I think we’re certainly on a similar
wavelength.
The split showed a very close affinity between Fen and De
Arma, especially with the haunting “Noemata” that sees you on vocal duties. Was this aspect in any way concurrent in the
decision to have mostly clean singing on the album? How rewarding is it for you
personally to be able to find such a strong outlet where to concentrate just on
the singing?
It was actually
Andreas’ idea for the album to be predominantly clean. ‘Noemata’ was mainly
screaming but I guess it was the clean vocal sections that carried the most
impact. I think it was the right decision but it was also a challenging one – I
felt quite a lot of pressure to deliver something that would live up to the
quality of the music. I really wanted to ‘nail it’ so to speak, not only in
terms of performance but in terms of composing vocal lines/melodies that really
hit the spot.
I had done some clean
vocals before in Fen but these were few and far between, laced with reverb and
generally quite distant. Andreas wanted the De Arma vocals to be much more
prominent, clearer and louder which again increased the pressure to deliver!
After feeling nervous & uncertain to
begin with, I really got into it by the end – I have to say, it is very
rewarding to compose clean vocal sections, layer harmonies and generally finalize
the ‘character’ of a song so to speak. I’m happy with how the vocals have
turned out on this record but now I am more comfortable working this way, I
think much better is to come.
How did you find
the inspiration for writing the lyrics for Lost, Alien and Forlorn? Were you
given guidelines, discuss a central topic before hearing the music, or did it
all flood in after listening to the beautiful and melancholy music penned by
Andreas first?
Andreas left me to it
if I’m honest – he gave me free reign in writing lyrics, defining concepts and
coming up with themes. It’s quite interesting actually as I have gone down a
very urban, claustrophobic path with the lyrics for this album – Andreas lives
in a tiny village in the Swedish countryside so it might be hard for him in
some ways to empathize with some of the concepts!
I jest, but for me I
felt a profound sense of urban desolation from the music – cold, detached,
droning, the soul of the city seeming to exhale in despair. I also wanted to
work on ideas that were very different to Fen – Fen is about a spiritual
yearning, external landscapes acting as a vessel in which to channel the
internal. The lyrics on L, A & F are more direct – indeed, they refer to a
rather ghastly period of my life where I was in the midst of some massively
intense issues with a past relationship. This only served to enhance the sense
of a soulless, soot-stained prison of a city. I guess in this sense, the
external metaphor idea comes into play here also, though channeled via urban as opposed to rural landscapes.
They seem to be very intimate and personal lyrics… Can
you enlighten me on the mysterious (to me) but very effective vocal samples
which are found in the album?
Indeed, they are very personal lyrics – definitely the most personal and raw I have ever penned. Again, I was a little nervous about this but felt that the time was right to try and give voice to thoughts and issues that had been gnawing away at the corners of my consciousness for several years. The samples on the album however were not of my doing – these were Andreas’s idea and he implemented them. I haven’t actually asked him what they are actually, I really should do I guess! Whatever their source, they definitely aid in sustaining the reflective, bleak ambience of the record.
Do you appreciate A.’s choice to publish De Arma’s debut on
a noble DIY label Trollmusic so far known more for the uncompromising
principles of his amiable (self-proclaimed) trollish boss?
Trollish boss? That’s
the first time I’ve heard this but I’ll take your word for it! I think it’s a
great idea, I think Thor will promote this album well, he’s shown a lot of
support for the project as its been going along and all in all, it’s the
perfect choice. It means a lot for me to work with people who feel a genuine
connection and involvement with their artists. We shall see how long it takes
for the ‘trollishness’ to manifest itself…
LA&F is a very emotionally intense album: drenched in
melancholy and sorrow very much rooted in humanity in its flesh and bones and its
earthly condition. Scandinavians, accustomed to survive in harsh climate
conditions, seem to be very concrete people, even in their mythological vision…
In my experience,
there’s certainly an uncompromising hardiness to the Scandinavian way of
thinking – a real focus and sense of purpose. This I have noticed and it is
something I respect. It may well be born from harsher climes but I think it is
no coincidence that the Scandinavian music scene (well, metal scene at least)
is so prolific and produced so many works that are high-quality. It goes back
to this drive, this committed focus and lack of compromise.
In relation to this De
Arma album, I think that Andreas has aimed to tap into something primal and
reflective musically, however it has been left to me to put the conceptual
‘flesh on the bones’ so to speak. It IS emotionally intense for sure – the
layers of inference, metaphor and analogy in which I normally tend to wreath
lyrics have been stripped away and many of the ideas here are quite ‘open’ and
raw. The sorrow here is certainly rooted in the human condition – flesh and
bone as you say but mired in a choking environment of humanity’s own creation.
A self-imposed prison, a concrete and glass oubliette shutting out the light
and condemning all within to murky misery.
I believe that humans
intrinsically struggle with the city – a mere 4-500 years ago, most of us lived
in villages and I don’t believe that our minds have evolved to keep pace with
the ever-changing nature of our environments. At some primeval subconscious
level there is a fundamental dissonance chiming away at the back of the brains
of all city-dwellers – depression, hysteria, addictions, all of these I believe
can be exacerbated manifestations of a fundamental unease. We need to belong,
we need to be comfortable with our ‘place’ and if not, despair can arise.
For me, L, A & F
is as much a rumination on this as it is a rumination on my own personal issues
– in many ways inextricably entwined with this condition.
Time changes perspectives and boasting Viking ancestry apparently
makes you cooler these days! Allain is apparently a Celtic name: are you
interested in the origins of your family and your ancestors’ traditions?
Well, it is of
interest to a degree but not something I have taken the time to fully explore.
Allain is from my mother’s side and I believe the ancestral heritage from that
side originates in France.
My father is half-Ukranian so it is an interesting mix. I believe he has
started to show some interest in genealogy so it may be that I might start
getting more information with regards to my heritage so who knows?
Hopefully I shall see you in Europe with Fen, but could De
Arma ever be tempted to do some live shows?
It was mentioned
briefly but given the distances involved and how much my time (and traveling
time) is tied up with Fen right now, I’m not sure it will happen in the near
future. I did suggest to Andreas I might be able to head to Sweden once
every 3-4 months and do bass/vocals (with himself on guitar and Johan doing
drums) but he would like another guitar player for live purposes. So yes, it is
something that has been mentioned – I think it would be an interesting
challenge/experiment but it could be a bit of a fantasy at the moment. Who
knows though?
www.trollmusic.net
www.auralmusic.com
PLEASE TAKE NOTE OF THE FOLLOWING VENUE CHANGES:
SPAIN:
24.04.2013 - Erandio / Sala Sonora
26.04.2013 - Madrid / Sala Cats
26.04.2013 - Madrid / Sala Cats
ITALY:
Friday 17th May - Rock'n'Roll Arena, Romagnano Sesia (NO)
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