>Hi ! For lovers of pagan black-metal, Kampfar's return is a really tremendous event. Explain us why & when you decided to come back ?
D: Thanx a million ! It’s really great to hear ! This is a question every magazine wants to know it seems. But unfortunately I have the same answer here as always. After our second album both me and Thomas had a very rough time and a lot of personal issues had to be solved before we could get back together and creating music again. This was for sure a hard time and we just had to put Kampfar on ice for a while. But when that is said I have also to explain that me and Thomas was never enemies or anything we have always been friends and we also knew that when the time was right, Kampfar would rise stronger than ever again. We just had personal problems in life on each side, and this had to be solved before something could happen again with Kampfar. This whole process took us almost 3 years. To get this whole new band working as a whole unit and in a professional way took us two years more. So all in all it took us almost 5 years before something serious could start happening again with Kampfar. So here we are now. Back and better prepared than ever. And this is the most important thing for me now !

>You refuse to be categorized as a viking-metal band. What are the differences between viking & pagan-metal ?
J: People seam to call us what they want, but we don't call ourselves viking metal, just because our lyrics are not only about that theme, and the music isn't only what you can describe as viking metal. Kampfar's music is about old norse folklores and nordic nature, including some viking themes, but that’s only a very small part of it ! D: The essence of Kampfar have always been pagan/heathendom, superstition in mankind, life in general and not at least nature it self. I had a very clear vision about the outfit and how Kampfar both should sound like and be like from the very beginning. I named Kampfar’s music back in 94 for “norse pagan folklore metal” and to me, no one has never been coming up with any better explanation or labelling of our music since either ! Kampfar is norse, pagan, folklore still and could never have been something satanic ! I think it’s just as simple as that’s not me and have never been ! Kampfar have never been a political and anti-human band either. So in that manner I guess you can for sure say that we can not be connected to the anti-human evil side of black-metal. But I do of course still have roots in this ! I mean I have been into this since 91, so? But I guess in the end you can say that I really concentrate and put all of my energy into Kampfar and what we are doing, rather than on what others do. What others do here is really not so much of my interest any more to be honest !

>What is the actual line-up in Kampfar ? Why don't you continue to play music on a duo basis like for 'Fra Underverdenen' ? The fact to be a real band is important for you ?
J: The main thing about being a full line-up would be the live playing ! It's very important to play live, if you're gonna get somewhere. I also think it is more structured, as we're being forced to rehearse at a regular basis… hehe ! D: When we got back together again we had really two options. One was to continue in the same way as before. Releasing albums and creating songs, or get a whole band at place for further evolvement and for live shows. Luckily we chose the last option. The line-up is now : Dolk – vocals. Jon – bass guitar. Thomas – guitars. 1113 – drums.

>Kampfar was born after Mock splitted up in the early days of norwegian black-metal. Why did you decide to change the band name while continuing to play a mix between black & pagan ?
D: Ever since the start of my old band Mock back in 91, i had always an idea for a more closely and honest project of mine. Namely Kampfar, but due to too much work with Mock it did not occur before the end of Mock back in 94. Mock and Kampfar is really two different things, even if some of the ground ideas are of course at present both in Mock and Kampfar.

>Where/when did you record this brand new album entitled 'Kvass' ?
J: 'Kvass' was recorded at Silvertone studios, with Rune Jørgensen by our side ! It's located in an old part of our town, and the atmosphere is great ! As it was near by our home, we could use afternoons and weekends to work, and that was a must for us. D: The album was produced by Rune Jørgensen together with ourselves, and we went for this spontaneous feeling. We played with energy and emotions, and there were some heavy moments in the studio where it all became pretty intense. When we went in, we ignored anything that is happening in the music scene, and focused solely on our own sound, and I think we managed to get that.

So nothing was a piece of cake here really it was an intense 3 months period of hard work really, hehe… So I must say that nothing here on this album is done without a purpose ! That goes for the sound and production also.

>Musicaly, 'Kvass' is very close to 'Fra Underverdenen'. Personally, do you see some strong differences ?
J: I know what you mean, but personally i think it's different in many ways. 'Kvass' doesn't have the illustrious folk elements as 'Fra Underverdenen', and it's more fluent in the melodies. I also think Dolk improved his voice, singing clearer and colder than ever before. D: If you compare 'Kvass' to our previous album, you could say that this album is more one whole unit with different topics than it was with “Fra Underverden” for instance. Cause with that album you could almost say that it was a thick red line going trough it all, both considering music and lyrics. This was more an album that told a story from one specific time and period here in the north, and it also was a kind of mirror to this in the music and lyrics. This time it’s different. And in one way you can almost say that we are back too our roots now. But each song is now dealing with its own topics. And each song is standing more alone than before I think. “Kvass” tells in short sentences about the true soul of Kampfar. Namely nature, heathendom and superstition in mankind. 'Kvass' is also the sharpest album so far in my opinion both when you considering the production of the whole album and with lyrics and music. We have never used so much energy in making an album like 'Kvass' before in Kampfar’s history. Kampfar is still Kampfar and I can not really say that there is so much of differences here in mind and soul of Kampfar’s music now than before!

>Please, tell us what do your texts deal with ? It's evident mother Nature must take a big place. But what exactly are they about ?
D: Well to tell about my lyrics here in short sentences is quite hard to be honest. But as mentioned before have Kampfar always been a band that deals with nature, heathendom, superstition in mankind, pagan history and so on. And this is also the case this time of course. But when it comes to the lyrics, I must say that first of all, I am norwegian and therefore I do of course also express myself best in my own language. And yes… There have always been an idea about this, cause a lot of the topics my lyrics are dealing about is northern topics, northern nature, mythology and superstitions that’s lies in the norwegian nature and in the northern nature and heathendom. These very important issues in Kampfar’s music and aura and therefore also best expressed in norwegian I think. But we have done 2 different songs in english also : “Norse” and “Ravenheart”. This is done more in way to try to explain to the non-speaking norwegian listeners out there what our lyrics and music is really about. These songs could of course also have been done in norwegian, but we decided to do this in english for our foreigner listeners. Uhh where shall I start when it comes to the translation of the deeper meaning of the lyrics? I can at least try to tell about the first song on the album “Lyktemenn”. This deals with a topic/issue that I have wanted to write and sing about for many years now, but the time and song material was just not right before now. This is a topic that have been in nordic history since ancient times and its also about the supernatural and superstition that lies deep within men and nature. Hmm, well I don’t know the foreign word for this, but I can at least tell the “Hollywood” kind of version about it. Cause Tolkien kinda stole this issue from nordic history and placed it into 'Lord of the Rings' ! You can even see this in the movie. This is a phenomena that still can occur in nature and I have my self some experiences from this. It is some kind of blue flames that can occur in certain parts of nature. This have been a very hidden kind of history until the new age of men really and the christians tried their very best to forget about this phenomena. Cause in ancient times the nordic ancestors believed that this was the spirit of their forefathers and so on. Translated this will be something like “fire men” “lamp men” “torch men” or something like that. So I guess this tells a bit about it right ? This is no fucking fairytale, this is heathendom in its raw form. 'Ravenheart' is the english song on 'Kvass' and it’s really the whole essence in both Kampfar and this whole heathendom and pagan black-metal movement so to speak. But don’t misunderstand, this is not about any laws and organisation ! Fuck that ! This more about freedom and free thinking under one banner heading in the same direction ! But no fucking organisation or group. More in a free thinking heathen thinking heading for a goal and in a true way towards your self... Follow the ravenheart !