Interview with Malaysian Supreme Metal Magazine

19-01-2004

1) Hail and Greeting Vasco...How's your life today?.. Okay, what was the background behind the formation of FENRIS? Tell us everything about recent happening in FENRIS camp?

I’m doing ok, thanks. Me and the guitarist started Fenris in ’97. We soon found us a singer, Gilbert De Rooy and started gigging after we found a drummer. Now a few years later, Me, Bas and Gilbert are still together but Rick is already our third drummer.

2)From some infos, 'Offering To The Hunger' is your current release so far. Can you please inform us somtehing about this release. How do you conclude the musical improvement or progress in the band since the beginning days up untill today?

Offerings was and is our first official release and I’m happy with it. It hasn’t had much widespread distribution though and we’re currently ready to record our second official album but we need a bigger label. We’re still the same Fenris as always: dark, epic and spherical but in the new material there’s a bit more raw agression and the tracks are of higher quality than Offerings.

3) FENRIS had been rest for a while about 7 month since your former drummer, Arjan left the band untill Rick come to joined up in the band. Do you think that you has gathered proper musican to the band? Did several changes in the band members contribute to the band's tightness & maturity?

Absolutely, Rick is an extremely talented young drummer we were very lucky to find him. Although he’s only 18 years old he fits in great with us. He’s a cool character to be around with and really helps lift our music to a higher level. And because of the long period we were without a drummer, it made us stronger and even more motivated as a collective now that we found the right guy.

4) Please further describe the music brought in the album. Based on several sources, it was classified as Black/Death Metal. So what encourage you to approach this direction? How about your lyrical structure?

I wouldn’t say our music has much to do with death metal. I would describe it as epic black/viking metal but with a modern approach. For example: we are about as different from Thyrfing as we are from boyzone. I think fans of Satyricon, Enslaved and early Emperor would certainly dig our music. We always wanted to make this kind of music: its cultural heritage simply flows through our vains. Making extreme nordic metal is what we do best. This also applies for the lyrics: they deal with the forces of nature, pagan philosophies and the suffering of mankind, all packed in a very poetic manner.

5) As we might know, the album has been released under FireBreath T.E.. Do you lately think that final output (including quality,packaging,promotion etc..) reach the satisfactory level you expected? Do you satisfy the job done by them?

Well not really. FireBreath is only a small label and its distribution is not widespread. To release the scnd album we definitely need a bigger label not only to get our album into recordstores all over the world but also for promotional ends: to maybe go on some tours with bigger bands.

6) What kind of responses you gained so far? Is there any interested label approach you with a properly better recording deal to produce your next works?

Not yet, but we recorded a promo-cd with two new tracks that we’ll use to get a new record deal. But the response to our music as almost always been very positive by press and metalfans alike.

7) What are the important aspects of writing a FENRIS song? How important to the band keep the originality of your song? What influenced you while do lyrical writings?

Originality is very important to us. But we’re not trying to be experimental in a way that non-musicians could not listen to it. Our songs are always dark and have an epic feel to it. The lyrics have to fit the music and vice versa so that a truelly creative outburst is formed. As far as my lyrics are concerned, I’m influenced by a lot of things: pagan beliefs, the cultural heritage of the nordic peoples, the struggle for survival and the elements of nature and the suffering of mankind al together.

8) Could you please provide us a brief information about Netherlands extreme metal/music movements? Frankly speaking, I only heard some band/label from your country such a CENTURIAN and DISPLEASED Records. I Believe there will be more than that, so please recommend us any good bands, labels, zines etc..which are worth to be checked out?

Centurian is a good death metal band, we played with them on two small festivals once. I’m not very positive on the dutch scene at the moment. The trend are these so called ‘gothic’ bands with female vocals such as Within Temptation, Afterforever and epica. Not my cup of tea, its just a trend and now you have all these shitty bands trying to take advantage of it. Some really good extreme dutch metal bands: god dethroned, Paratyfus, Virulent and of course Fenris hehe.

9) I need your kindest opinion on today 'Black Metal' trend so-called 'Modern Black Metal' which I think there a lot of diffrent aspect has been created to make the concept more creatively. Do you think that was a improvement or just for market's value?

Pooh, that’s a difficult question. First of all, I believe that every band is entitled to make their own decisions on which musical path to follow. Music is something that keeps evolving, it doesn’t stand still. If you wanna listen to bands that don’t change than you’re not a real music fan. The metal genre once started to bring something new and to go against fixed formulas, now a great deal of the metalpress and fans alike have become as narrow minded as the mainstream. For example, if a certain blackmetal band wants to incorperate industrial infuences than who the hell are we to say that they shouldn’t? As long as they do it well and it ads to the quality of the music I have no problem with it. I love bands that try something fresh and new, as long as they do it with a sincere purpose.

10) I get some infos telling me that your latest drummer,Rick has broken his right hand? How the condition Rick's right hand nowdays? There's will be some effect to the band due drum are the important aspect in the band. What your view on this?

Yes Rick has broken a small bone in his right hand, but he should be able to drum again in two months or so. Untill that time there’s not much we can do, just sit and wait and focus on other band activities (such as doing this interview hehe).

11) Tell us further about your future musical composing? Are there any action to be taken to improve/ upgrade the present musical perfomances, or do you decide to just continue the same vein as appreared in 'Offering To the Hunger' album?

The next album will be a concept album called ‘Ordeal’. The songs are different from Offerings: mainly better, more compact and with more emotion to it. We still display a lot of variety: not one track sounds like the other.

12) Do you have any experiences in doing gigs? What bands do you dream to play with?

Oh yeah we did lots of gigs since 97: small ones, some bigger ones, some festivals. Well a tour through the states with Dimmu Borgir would be nice hahaha. Just for commercial reasons of course hehe.

13) Thank for your support and effort to answer this interview. Please voice out your final announcement and credits?

Great to have some interest coming out of malaysia (of all places), if you want us to come over there, just let us know. Check out our music on www.fenris.nl hails