Interview with Andreas Heljarmadr (GRÁ, DARK FUNERAL)

 

heljarmadrSatania: Hello, Andreas! I suppose you’re better after the long tour across the ocean. Thank you for responding!

Heljarmadr: Hi! Yes I have just returned from a great North American tour with Dark Funeral, thanks for the interest and support!

S.: Although we’re about to talk mainly about GRÁ and your upcoming album I just can’t not ask about your US tour. How did it pass, what impressions have you gathered from the country and the fans?

H.: Well it was my first time in the US and Canada so obviously it was a journey filled with new impressions and experiences. Almost half of the gigs were completely sold out which is of course a huge success and all the fans seems to be very pleased with what we delivered.

S.: Let’s start with the logo. A lot of people liked it and a lot of people didn’t like it, some of them even saying that GRÁ is becoming a death metal band. How would you respond to that? It’s a new concept, that’s for sure, but don’t you think, that a change like this is really drastic and it’s accepted really hard from the die hard fans?

H.: When we finished the task that we set out to do when we started Grá, we were discussing where to go next and we decided to just let inspiration flow and follow our instincts. I came up with the idea of getting a new logo and was at first met with scepticism within the band. Then I started to work with Luciana on drafts for a new one and veryone got more and more interested in the idea and when we finally got the end results all doubts were gone.

I accept that people dislike change, progress and evolution but the old recordings are there to be enjoyed, we are not forcing anyone to listen to the new material and truth be told, if a logo change is enough to make someone discard a band then fuck off, we don’t need that kind of shallow people anyway.

The new logo represents a barrier to separate the previous Charon era to what we are doing with Väsen. Although Väsen is definitely a Grá album (with no death metal in it) it is a part of that evolution, a milestone on our path to breaking new ground.

S.: There were a few changes in the band. Could you share more about it? Is Natt still a part of the band, because he isn’t among the members who recorded the album? Are you going to have a live guitarist or you’re going to handle the guitar, just like your last few concerts?

H.: Natt left after the Ramsvarta Tankar single and I have picked up the guitar. I’m in a way glad that it happened because I ended up recording the majority of the guitars on Väsen. Since I wrote the songs it was easier to get them exactly the way I wanted them when playing myself. We are open for recruiting session guitarists for live purposes in the future though. It’s not a necessity but a possible luxury. We are as strong as a four piece.

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S.: Is the album the beginning of a new concept and if so what aspect of our daily life is it going to cover?

H.: No, this is not a new concept. All songs on Väsen stand on their own feet and I must say that it feels very liberating.

S.: Is the topic about Death covered on the record and if so in what way?

H.: Death is always present, I guess you will have to find out for yourself through the lyrics.

S.: What does the name of the album (Väsen) mean and what is the symbolism behind it?

H.: Väsen is a word with multiple meanings. It can translate to „essence“, „entity“, „being“ among other things. What it means to me personally I will keep to myself, you will all have to make up your own minds about the symbolism or interpretation of the word.

gra-coverS.: The album cover art is really impressive and really impacting. What is the message behind it? Tell us more about its creator.

H.: Yes it turned out really well! If you combine the album title with the image then you once again come to the point where you need to make up your own conclusions about the meaning behind it. Axel Torvenius is a great multi-talented artist that has very little to do with black metal. He does sculptures, work as art director for a video game company, does paintings and posters. The common ground for his work is that it always has a dark aura around it, which is one of the main reasons that we chose him in the first place. I have been a fan of his work for many years and we were very happy when he said yes to our request for the cover art. We wanted something different for Väsen and he really delivered something that we couldn’t have gotten elsewhere.

S.: Are there going to be any stylistic surprises in the album (at least from the announcement, we heard there’s going to be a lot of keyboards)? What can we expect as a style and as a sound?

H.: I think everyone will agree that it still is very much the Grá that we all know from before but yes, I have let creativity flow and included many elements that are new to my music. There are surprises here and there that I’m sure will raise more than one eyebrow.

S.: Are there any guest appearances in ‘Väsen’? Tell us something interesting from the recording process.

H.: Not as many as on„Ending“ for example. I asked J Kvarnbrink from Mortuus (ex-Ofermod) if he wanted to participate with lyrics and he did for the opening track „Till Sörjerskorna“. I have also used Mortifero from Asagraum for some of the choir parts where I wanted some female vocals present. There are not so many stories from the recordings, it has been very intense and many many hours were put into this album. I can say that this is the last album that we will record in those facilities though. We have relocated since the recordings were completed and our future releases will be recorded in a completely different place. I don’t know how this will effect the sound or the aura but I had mixed feelings about this fact as we have recorded all our previous albums in that very area. Hopefully it will be an improvement though.

S.: Finally, I want to ask you about Cursed 13. In 2016 you recorded the great single ‘Into Ashes’. Are you planning on something bigger in the future? An album? Maybe concert appearances?

H.: No. I started Cursed 13 in 1998 and now, in 2018, 20 years later, I have decided to put it to sleep. We did our last gig at Mörkaste Småland and it felt like a worthy finale for the band. We’ve had more offers for gigs but I have turned them all down.

It has been my companion for so long but I feel that I don’t have the time and inspiration necessary to keep it going. The last years it has been in the shadows and sometimes it’s better to just let go instead of grasping for straws. Some ideas and song structures from unreleased Cursed 13 material were used on the „Väsen“ album actually.

S.: And the thing, which I guess is the most interesting to the fans – the tour. 🙂 I know you’re „working on it“, but however, when could we expect GRÁ again in Eastern Europe and most importantly in Bulgaria?

H.: Haha, this seems to be the question on many peoples minds and I can’t really give a good answer to that yet. We will do Eradication Festival in Wales in May and a gig in Gothenburg on the 1st of June but more than that I don’t know right now.

I am in contact with a lot of promoters and as soon as I can put something good together I will. And believe me, we are VERY eager to get back on the road!!!! Our hope is to do so after the summer, when all the festivals are over.

gra-promoS.: You know you have a lot of fans in Bulgaria. Here is the place to speak personally to all of them. 🙂

H.: We really appreciate all the support we get from you all! It has come to our attention that you have some difficulties to get hold of albums and merch over there so we are constantly looking for partners to work with, the same way as we had a special Romanian shirt made before for example. Tell your distros to contact Carnal Records to get the album for sale in Bulgaria and shirt labels should contact me directly for licences to make shirts.

We don’t support the bootleg culture so it would be much better for all if we could make some good deals together instead. We will come back for sure, it’s just about getting every piece in order to make it perfect!

S.: Thank you for everything, Andreas! See you soon somewhere on the road.

H.: Thanks for your support! Yes, see you on the road!