Interview with Ablaze Magazine

Ablaze magazine - Marc Spermeth - Nature is still stronger.

Fenris is one of the new interesting bands in the growing black metal scene in Holland. This proud mysterious dark band lets us experience the old mythological spirit in a somewhat story-telling song format. 'Offerings To The Hunger' proves to be quite entertaining. MARC SPERMETH therefore enthusiastically contacted Vasco, Fenris' bass player. When a band calls itself Fenris, a lot of people immediately tend to think of Gylve Fenriz Nagell from DARKTHRONE. In this case however, Fenris is a Dutch upcoming five-member band. Not even the name is meant to be a sort of tribute to the Norwegian black metal-leader, explains bass player Vasco:

"It's absolutely NOT a tribute to DARKTHRONE, although the band is ok. The name comes from the Norwegian mythology. Indeed, our influences are mainly derived from the Norwegian black metal, because in our opinion that's where the purest and roughest form of black metal comes from. Although a lot of rubbish is being produced even in Scandinavia, the best bands still come from over there, like for example: ENSLAVED, SATYRICON and EMPEROR, just to name of few."

Although Fenris has only been together for 4 years, before the Fenris period a lot of activities were already going on. Vasco explains the development of the band:

"Guitar player Bas Westdorp and I used to play in a doom metal band together. We left the band in 1997 to start Fenris. You see, our interests were getting more focused on black metal, which at the time was reaching its peak. We also wanted to make atmospheric black/Viking metal, inspired by bands like SATYRICON, SEAR BLISS and ENSLAVED. The complexity of the Germanic mythology also inspired my song writing. We recruited Gilbert de Rooy as a singer, who was our roadie at first, but soon became a full band member. In May word got round that a drummer was looking for a band. That was Paul van der Zouwen and he became our drummer. Oh man, when I think back to those first couple of months - we rehearsed in a garage, where it was freezing cold most of the time. That's why we only practiced once a week. When Paul joined us, that changed. We got a better rehearsal room and started playing twice a week."

Finally, the right basis was there to start further development. Within 6 months they had accumulated some material, mostly influenced by Bas and Vasco, which was still inspired on the early Nordic black metal. In December '97 the first climax was reached: the demo tape 'Words Of The Ascended' was released.

"We recorded four tracks at a friend's place who owns a studio with a 16-track recorder. The recording took us four days. The problem was to get the demo tape into the right hands. We only sent the demo tape to a couple of magazines. The reactions we received were very positive. I have to say though that at that time there wasn't really a black metal scene in Holland. We mostly sold our demo tapes at gigs. In total we sold about 200. The Dutch magazine Aardschok wrote that they really liked the demo and thought that we had the potential to become one of the better Dutch black metal bands."

In November '98 they met Walter Romberg, who presented himself as a skillfull keyboard player.

"He saw us at a gig and was into our music right away. He came at the right moment, since we were looking for a keyboard player, to undertone our songs. After a few successful rehearsals he joined the band. Thanks to the keyboard our music sounds deeper and fuller. We already were very melodic, the keyboard sound just emphasised that."

With such enforcement the band presented its demo at the beginning of December '98 in the Dutch underground scene 'The Xinix' in Nieuwendijk. For the first time they performed before their "own" home crowd.

"We played songs from our debut demo. There were over 200 people and it was a big success. Over the years we built up quite a large group of fans in our region. We know a lot of people who work at the Xinix and they helped us organise the concert. We were a little nervous in the beginning of course, but as soon as we hit the stage, we kicked ass!"

The band always sought contact with their fans. That's why they sent in the demo for a quite "ordinary" gig in 'Elektra' in Sliedrecht. Funny thing was, that soon enough they found themselves in a contest between bands.

"The people from Elektra liked our demo so much, that they offered us to take part in the contest for the Grand Prize of the Alblasserwaard, organised by the Pop-Union of the province South-Holland. We won a few rounds, ended up in the final and won. Besides the attention we received (and with that more gigs), we got the chance to play at the famous Wantijpop Festival."

It went up the ladder from there. Already they were playing at this huge open air festival in Dordrecht.

"We were standing in front of a crowd of around 30,000! I remember we weren't actually playing very well, but it was a once in a lifetime experience for us at that time. We played in broad daylight and the people were noticeable surprised to see such an extreme band there, haha. They looked at us, as if they wanted to say "What the hell is this?" It was our biggest venue ever. The local TV station even aired our performance. The fact that it wasn't a metal, but a pop festival unfortunately didn't help our 'career' much."

An experience like that is nevertheless very worthy. Despite some differences at times, the band kept their feet on the ground and stayed critical of their music. Especially the drummer, Paul couldn't keep up with the high level of performance. In 1999 the band and Paul parted.

"He was finding it harder and harder to keep up with our intensive style. Well, you see, he's not an actual black metal drummer. In the technical point of view he couldn't contribute any more. Besides that, he lacked time to commit himself for 100% to the band. We still have a good relationship however. For a year now I have been playing together with him in a side project. Right after Paul left the band, Arjan Griffioen came along. That's a little over two years ago now. We knew a guy, who used to play with him in a death metal band. He hooked us up together. Luckily, Arjan was without a band, so we got together for a couple of jam sessions and soon enough the blast beats and the fast double-bass attacks filled the room! We got along great, so he joined the band. We were really fortunate to find a drummer like Arjan. You don't come across a lot of drummers in Holland who can play in a black or death metal band."

The line up has been perfected with Arjan joining. The band is currently also playing in a more disciplined manner. Vasco:

"We always meet at Arjan's practise room. It is our aim to practise at least 2 or 3 times a week. Of course, in the beginning we took the matter very lightly, it was all just for the fun of it, but now when I look back at it, I see how much progress we've made in the last years. We developed ourselves further as a band each week, and the understanding amongst each other is still great. Everyone brings his own ideas into our music, even though the fundament of our songs still comes from Bas and me. Basically we all have the same point of view when it comes to the future of our band and which course we want to take. That applies to both our music and the management. We've got ambitious plans, which don't have to interfere with our musical creativity; that will always come first."

And especially this creative process needs special devotion, and even though the band bursted with energy, it took quite a while. FENRIS obviously made the effort, judging by their debut album 'Offerings To The Hunger'.

"We always pay a lot of attention to the quality and the structure of our songs. Arjan, who joined the band after Paul left, also had to get used to our set. That took a while of course and then we had to write some new material. Songs never end up in the paper bin, although we are very critical of our work. Whenever someone suggests a new riff to the others, it is always well prepared in advance. We're not an experimental type of band, but we at least try to be more original then the rest, taking black metal to a new level. We mainly compose long, epic tracks in which the music closely relates to the lyrics."

The length of the songs is indeed quite remarkable. Despite all the black metal influences, the intros and the middle parts are typically doom metal. Vasco:

"We don't feel the need to create endless songs. It just fits the epic characteristics of our songs. Besides that, most of our tracks are based on a musical or lyrical theme. When composing we try to use the flow of creativity as well as possible. Now that the CD has been on the market for quite a while, I noticed that a lot of people are rather sceptic about the long tracks. Personally I find that a little strange, since a lot of other bands, like for example MY DYING BRIDE, ENSLAVED and OPETH etc. have long tracks as well and nobody seems to care about that."

The CD was recorded in the HARROW studio in Losser. There were a lot of good reasons to retrieve for ten days at that particular studio in January of 2000.

"Word had reached us that it's a good metal studio. Besides that HARROW doesn't cost too much, which is important too, since we had to pay for the recording ourselves. Overall we are very satisfied with the result. The album is much heavier then the average black metal CD and has a very clear sound. Sure, there are a couple of things we would do differently the next time. Like for example, I was sick during the first couple of recording days. That's why the bass guitar and drums couldn't be recorded simultaneously. All the different instruments and vocals were then recorded separately 'on top' of the drums. But in the end everything worked out just fine."

Whether the mix, created by Erik de Boer, was tipping the scale, Vasco doesn't dare to say. At least the band managed to get a 100% out of it. I would even say they created their own sound with 'Offerings'

"The combination of certain sound technical settings, the intensity with which we play and our compositions must be the reason for this. I take it as a great compliment if someone says that we have our own sound. One can be as good or original as it gets, but creating your own sound, is a completely different story."

FENRIS can boast their strong songs and have a better recording production than many other underground bands. The album has the right atmosphere and the artistic-cultural philosophy comes across really well. To emphasize this, Vasco explains some more about each track of the album:

"The opening track stands for 'The Coming Of Asatru'. This song is a prophecy of how people will again embrace the old Germanic religions and ethics, valued by mankind before the Christian era. The second track 'Offerings To The Hunger' tells 3 different stories combined in one. There's this ritual in which a young girl is being sacrificed to the god of fertility, Freya, to ensure the people's well-being. Such rituals were very common among Germanic tribes living in the region which is now Holland. After they had killed the girl, they threw her into a bog. The picture in the booklet of our CD, is that of a sacrificed girl that was thrown into a bog. This versatile track is with its 11 minutes the second longest song on the album. 'As Wolves They Came' tells the story about the first Viking raid on the abbey of Lindisfarne of the English coast. It describes how the monks were killed and it ends with a poetic part in which the feelings of the Viking leader are expressed. From a musical point of view, this shorter song is a bit more easy to listen to, since it's based more or less on a chorus and verses structure. 'The Blood Opens Gateways' is one of our best songs. It's not just based on one theme, but involves the whole ancient spirituality and the connection between mankind and divinity, war and nature. The track is very aggressive and most of the time up-tempo."

"Amongst my favourites is the track 'Fier is de wind'. This song has a real rhythmic flow to it. The music and lyrics fit together perfectly, creating a story which you can easily envision. This was by the way our first song with Dutch lyrics. It's the story of a ship adrift on the sea on which the people fight a battle with the God of Thunder, Donar (Thor in the Nordic mythology). This battle is a symbol for everything man has to fight for in live. In the end the elements always win: Donar sits on his throne and ridicules the 'little' people. The music has a strong epic and 'flowing' character. The sound of thunderbolts at the end of the song symbolizes the power of Donar. In 'Zonen des storms' (Sons of the storm) the lyrics are in Dutch as well. The sons are symbolic for the quest for freedom. It's a compact song and again has a more chorus and verses structure. The end is very majestic with a lot of keyboard. The last track on the album 'Destroyer Of The Worlds' deals with a person's suffering in a lifetime. With more than 11 minutes it is the longest track on the album. The last sentence of the song is very pessimistic: 'Our spirits will carry the memories of truth, our spirits will fade in moments of time'. This song has all the ingredients typical for our FENRIS-sound: it's heavy, epical, fast and bombastic with a lot of dark riffs."

In the meantime the band feels at home at the label TEUTONIC EXISTENCE, owned by Cees Ladestein.

"Rene Veerkamp, who works for Aardschok and reviewed our demo tape at the time, tipped Cees about us. Luckily he acted upon it, haha. TEUTONIC EXISTENCE pressed the first CD's and also took care of the costs. We organised and paid for the recording studio. Up till now we are very satisfied with Cees. Thanks to him our CD's can also be bought in the USA, Australia and Mexico. At the moment we plan on staying with this label. When a major label offers a deal however, we will certainly look into it."

Meanwhile new plans are being made. According to Vasco he doesn't think they will (re)use old material from their debut demo.

"Sure, we still believe in our earlier songs, but nowadays we only play two songs from that demo. We have closed this chapter nevertheless. We would much rather look ahead, because we are getting better and better."

This will be proven on the upcoming CD.

"The album will be very different in many ways from the album 'Offerings To-'. The tracks will be more aggressive and more pure. It will be a concept album, in which music and lyrics are interwoven. We will also look for more quality when it comes to the compositions and production of the CD. We're not sure yet which recording studio we will use. We would also love to tour through Europe. We think we are fit for it and every band member would love this. The audience will see a serious and technical outstanding performance. We like to create a very special, dark and authentic atmosphere at each concert."

Translated by Rivka Lub, a fan.