Black Cauldron
Link: Black Cauldron
(BC) Tell us a little about Arvinger came to be. What is the significance of the bands name?
(Arvinger) Arvinger came together in 2001 when Djerv asked if we could record some songs together. I wrote the songs and played the instruments while he wrote and performed the lyrics. A friend of Djerv also known from the great band, Pagan's Mind helped us with the keyboard. We then recorded 5 songs. Almost a year later I wrote and recorded an instrumental called, Mørkets Dal. During the summer of 2002 we decided to let go of the songs. We set up a simple Arvinger site, and uploaded our songs to a mp3 site. After a few days we started to recieve great feedback and after a while we decided to make 3 more songs and release an album. Arvinger means something like The Inheritors, I'm not quite sure if that was correctly translated, but I think it's close?!
(BC) How would you describe the bands music?
(Arvinger) It's black metal with influences from Norwegian folk music and together with the keyboard it gives the music a mighty Viking sound.
(BC) Arvinger recently released Helgards Fall. What has been the response to the album?
(Arvinger) It has been really good, so we're waiting for the negative feedback to arrive soon... But there's allot more reviews comming up, so I guess I can't answer your question properly until we have had the album available for a while.
(BC) Are you looking for a label or is the band a strictly independent effort? What would you like in a label?
(Arvinger) We are not looking for a label at the moment. Of course this means that we need to work allot on promotion and distribution our selfs, but we enjoy that part as well. I also hope that I'll get use for this experience in the future.
(BC) The band had already written five of the tracks previously and included them with some new tracks for the album. Is the band working on new material now? Got any tour plans?
(Arvinger)Sure we do! I think I have written around 25 minutes for our new album. Djerv has written an intro and contributed with some melodies. During the release of Helgard Fall we recorded a song called, Blodspakt. This song was actually written by a friend of ours, we thought it was quite good and made an Arvinger version of it. Djerv had already written lyrics for it and I think it is the best lyrics he has written so far. We will release this song on the mp3 site I mentioned earlier and on our official site this spring/summer I think. We are not able to tour at the moment...
(BC) What has been your experience so far in creating the music and writing lyrics? What is the most challenging part of creating music/lyrics?
(Arvinger) Well, Djerv writes all the lyrics and I write almost all the music. I think it can be challenging to not repeat yourself when you write music, and come up with good melodies and riff's. I can sit and play the guitar for hours without having made anything that's any good. Another part that I sometimes find very hard is to arrange all things together and have that sound the way I want it to. But I learn new things almost everytime i write and record a new song, so I hope that both my songwriting and recording will keep on getting better and better. I will work really hard on finding other musicians here in our local area to work with. Right now I'm working on finding someone that can play violin for us. We are also putting together a male choir which will do chorus and bgv.
(BC) Do you prefer being known as a Christian band or a band with Christians in it? Some bands have experienced distribution/review problems from zines that cant see past the Christian label. How has the zine community reacted to the new release?
(Arvinger) Actually I haven't though much about that, they can call us whatever they like, but I strongly feel that we need to reach out to the secular scene with our music and ship them promos, asking for distribution, do interviews, spread links and whatever that can help the band get known. We don't expect everyone to welcome Arvinger with open arms, and this is something that we are prepared for. When it comes to reactions, we haven't received much yet. Since we got Norwegian lyrics foreign listeners don't understand what it's all about, but for those who understand them will notice that our lyrics are very clear. I dare to say that our lyrics are some of the most radical lyrics ever written by a band in our genre, so we are looking forward to the reactions by the secular scene here in Norway. Djerv will do a radio interview this Sunday and I don't think the guy there know that we're a Christian band, so we're really looking forward to his and the listeners reactions.
(BC) What bands would you list as influencing your music?
(Arvinger) I guess there's so many, I started out listening to Metallica, Megadeth and those kinda bands. When I got Christian I started listening to Mortification and later on I listened to allot of the Christian bands from the eighties. Personally I think my playing is influenced most from early thrash heroes.
(BC) What has been on your playlist lately?
(Arvinger) In no particular order: Rhapsody, Otyg , Lumsk, S.S.M.O.B. and Happy Why?
(BC) If you were to pick the most influential Christian metal album of all-time what would it be? Why did you pick this album?
(Arvinger) Mortification - Bloodworld Because this album was a key to my salvation!
(BC) Do you have any thoughts/opinions of the Christian metal scene? What bands do you think are up and coming?
(Arvinger) Hmm...I think there's a lack of Christian tabs on the net. I though I'd set a standard, so I've tabbed our whole album and it's available through our site. Other than that I don't got any special opinions, but I want to thank everyone in the Christian scene that has helped us so far. It's highly appreciated! I don't know, but I'm realy looking forward to the new album from Crimson Moonlight...
(BC) What do you do for a living outside the band? for fun?
(Arvinger) Right know I'm without a job, I've just finished military. Most of my time is spent on music. I got a recording studio with a friend, and I have started to spend more time on doing recordings for other bands as well.
(BC) Anything you would like to say to the readers?
(Arvinger) I'd like to thank everyone for their interest in our band...
(BC) Where can people go to get a copy of Helgards Fall?
(Arvinger) They can get a copy by visiting our site at www.arvinger.com. We just made online payment available there. We are also currently updating a list over available distros around the world which can be found on our site.
Interview by: Alex