SOURCE – Your last album release was Flight of a Dying Sun in 2012 and now you’re back with your new album Primal Pulse Thunder. What was the reason for the gap between the albums?
Tommy Svela (Rhythm Guitar) – Well, we’ve been playing live. Not much, but some. Playing live has always been our number one priority. That’s the reason we started the band in the first place. To be completely honest, we experienced a bit of a creative drought for a couple of years. After the 2012 album, we went into the studio, but the songs we had just didn’t feel right. We had a bunch of riffs and songs that didn’t capture the right vibe. We kept some of the riffs in our “riff bank,” but scrapped most of the songs.
It’s a trap many bands fall into—they keep struggling with the same songs and riffs over and over. Eventually, we decided to start fresh, and the songs came to life more naturally. It was really satisfying. We’re five guys, and everyone has a say in the songwriting process. This makes it uniquely democratic but also challenging to bring the songs to life. When they do come to life, though, it’s usually something we’re all stoked about and can stand behind. I feel this new album is exactly that.
SOURCE – What do you think about the latest songs Spiritual Thirst and Ascend to Nothing?
Tommy Svela (Rhythm Guitar) – We’re very proud of both songs and felt they had a connection, so we decided to release them together. Spiritual Thirst is a slow burner that builds up throughout the song in a way you might not even notice at first. We were fortunate to have our Tuvan friend Albert Kuvezin join us on this track with his amazing throat singing. We met him in 2011 during the Tall Ships Races festival in Stavanger, when we performed a commissioned live show aboard one of Norway’s most beautiful ships, the Statsraad Lehmkuhl.
Ascend to Nothing represents a shift for us that sparked a lot of the new material on the album. With this song, we decided to go as heavy as possible, without overthinking or over-polishing it. That approach really worked for us.
SOURCE – Do you think that the consumer’s tendency to download singles rather than albums will mean that the idea of concept albums will fade away?
Tommy Svela (Rhythm Guitar) – We’ve always enjoyed the concept of albums. I think it’s also a defining trait of the metal and rock genres to release full albums, and I hope that continues. As a band, it’s easier to tie certain songs to a specific album, then move forward, evolve, and create a new concept or theme to follow.
SOURCE – Your new album Primal Pulse Thunder is coming out soon. Can you tell us a bit about the sound and feel of the new record?
Tommy Svela (Rhythm Guitar) – We’re very proud of this album, both in terms of sound and lyrics. It was recorded at our practice space and studio, located in an abandoned mental institution in Sandnes, Norway, right across the mountain from Hommersåk, the small town most of us grew up in. The atmosphere there is amazing, and the surroundings are beautiful.
We brought in our longtime friend and sound engineer, Arvid Tjelta, to help us set up and record. Tjelta has worked with us for over 20 years, so we know each other well. Everyone was relaxed and able to focus on the task ahead. We wanted it to sound like actual music being played by real human beings, and I think we achieved that. A lot of it was done in first takes. Over the years, we’ve learned that if it hits the nerve we’re striving for, we keep it. We also left in some of the noise from the instruments that others might edit out.
After recording, we sent the tracks to Tue Madsen at Antfarm Studios in Denmark for mixing and mastering. Tue is a great guy and an exceptional engineer who really knows his craft. He understands our style and takes it to the next level. His approach brings even more heaviness to the sound, and the final result speaks for itself.
SOURCE – Several artists have recently talked about problems with streaming services and losing money, while others have defended them. What do you think about this development in the music industry?
Tommy Svela (Rhythm Guitar) – It is what it is. You can’t put the toothpaste back in the tube—it’s inevitable. Music is more accessible than ever, which is a good thing, but artists are paying the price for it. That said, there are so many platforms for artists to share their music now, and the bands that excel at using them can do really well.
Record companies also have better tools to detect unauthorized use of music, which helps them collect revenue on behalf of artists. Vinyl has made a big comeback in recent years, and even younger generations are embracing the format. That’s really encouraging for bands like us.
SOURCE – How does Norway, as an immediate neighbour (Russia), view the war in Ukraine? How has the conflict affected Norway?
Tommy Svela (Rhythm Guitar) – We don’t really feel like Russia’s neighbor where we live, though it’s probably more noticeable in northern Norway. Norway has accepted many Ukrainian refugees, which is the right thing to do. While some Norwegians can be hesitant about such issues, it seems like most people agree on this one.
SOURCE – Is there anything else you’d like to add?
Tommy Svela (Rhythm Guitar) – We’d love to come to beautiful Brazil and South America someday. It’s the land of Sepultura, who inspired us so much. There are also so many great South American hardcore bands that have influenced us over the years, like Point of No Return, Nueva Ética, Confronto and Children of Gaia. The fierceness of those bands is relentless. Thank you Source Webzine for having us on!
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Photo Credit: Ole Christian Petterson
NOTE: Thanks to AI, the text was improved with better grammar, spelling, and clarity.