Here's an interview from the e-mag I write for...actually, I set up this interview, but since at the time I'd never heard Vintersorg's music before, I gave it over to a friend of mine who was a huge fan. He did an amazing job I must say, as I just read it over again and I must say that it's the best I've ever read on Vintersorg, he really gets a great look at the man behind the music. I figured since my interview w/ Peter from Opeth seemed to go over well on the Opeth forum, I'd share this one with you all and see what you think.......so, hope you enjoy it! 
First of all, I'd like to say that I am a huge fan of VINTERSORG and that it's a real honour to actually be interviewing you!
Thanks a lot man, it's great that at least someone likes what I put all my effort into. I live with it 24 hours a day and if it has an impact on other people, it's worth every second of it.
Ok, I guess the first thing I'd like to ask you is how and why did to bring VINTERSORG (the band) into existence?
I started the project/band back in `94 with great enthusiasm to create something new. Not new in a way that this kind of Metal-area had never been explored before, but the intention was to mix elements from different genres and fuse it together into a synthesis of emotional music, with the whole spectra of emotions, from deep sorrow, via furious rage to joy, I wanted my music to stand as a monument of the abilities and knowledge of man. So I mixed the harsher parts of Black Metal with more heavy "riffings" and acoustic guitars in order to get a biological sound into it. Another step was to sing many parts with a clear voice and just spice it up with the screaming at occasions. Back then we were a full line-up band, but there were many changes as people didn't understand what I wanted to do, so at the end I decided to continue on my own, and now I've written and recorded three albums and a MCD. That's the brief story
What does VINTERSORG mean? I've done some translating, and it roughly means "Winter Sorrow" in English, but is there any particular meaning behind the pseudonym?
As you said it roughly means approximate "Winter Sorrow", but I can't recreate the true feeling of it in English as it has a real Nordic touch. I've taken the name from a book series called "Isfolket" (the ice people) and one character is named Vintersorg. I thought it would fit so I "ripped it off". I still feel it's good to have a name that doesn't have a foundation in the normal society. Now the name's meaning develops as the VINTERSORG-concept progresses. If I've used a more "normal" name it could be wrong. Just look at SLAYER today. I don't think the name suits the music any more. So I took a more timeless name.
Your first release had been "Älvefärd" by OTYG and only after that followed "Hedniskhjärtad". Did you ever even dare to dream that VINTERSORG might get that big?
Well, it's a bit hard to say. But I've been a music performer for nearly 20 years. I started when I was very young playing in bands and composing my own songs. I remember some songs I composed at a really early age. I must say that I find the essence of VINTERSORG in there, the folk-element was present already then. And now I'm glad that my band's growing for every album. It's like I've found my destiny, to create music and lyrics. So I'm on top of my world right now hehehe
What had been your intention for VINTERSORG in first place? Did you want to live out ideas that did not fit into OTYG?
As I stated before, I started the band back in `94 and OTYG saw the day of light in `95 so it's more like reversed. Folk music is something I've lived with for quite a long time. In my younger days I thought it was a bit too "happy", but I realised that you can use the folk music tongue to express more darker thoughts and enchanting hymns. So I wrote some songs flirting with traditional folk music but with a Rock/Metal-attitude and suddenly all pieces got in the right position. So I continued to write those songs. Still I wrote VINTERSORG-songs parallel with the OTYG thing. I like to have several projects to attack music from different perspectives and fill the musical need in my soul.
Where do you get ideas for your songs? And what does your song-writing process consist of?
It's different from time to time. I mostly write the basics of the songs at home with my acoustic guitar and then develop them in our home studio. My biggest inspiration source is reading, everything from poetry to very complex scientific literature. I like people who dare to come up with new ways of thinking and writing. That is one part I try to do myself in my music, try to if not invent, but progress into an innovative formula.
How do you manage to keep the creative juices flowing from album to album?
That you have to ask my maker about...hehehe... I don't really know, I constantly have melodies and arrangements popping up in my head, but I'm not complaining about that.
All of your releases prior to "Cosmic Genesis" have always been sung in Swedish. Yet on "Cosmic Genesis", you decided to sing some songs in English. What made you decide to use another language, and how do you feel it has enhanced your music?
I felt that I was running out of topics having lyrics about nature on just a Tellus basis. So that's why I wrote about the origin of nature in a cosmic scope. Also, I felt that I was trapping myself in a corner and didn't make any progress in my lyrics so I just wanted to fresh it up and challenge myself. Those are the main reasons why I switched to English. Still I love to sing in my mother-tongue so I included two Swedish songs, and now I've found the perfect balance, having some in English and some in Swedish. I also see VINTERSORG as a universal thing so having English is a good thing to let people understand my expression in a better way.
I see that you've added a permanent guitar player by the name of Mattias Marklund. How did you meet up with him?
We've played together for ten years in different projects and he's also a part of OTYG. So it felt as a natural step to invite him into the band. We share the same thoughts regarding music and life in general, and most important on a spiritual plan as well. He's a good guitarist so everything works perfectly.
Did he contribute much to the writing-process of "Cosmic Genesis"?
No, I wrote all music and lyrics and we plan to have it this way, he contributes with arrangement ideas and creates most of the guitar leads.
When you had started out with VINTERSORG (as band), it had been an almost pure one-man-project, yet now it seems to grow more and more into a full-fledged band. How do you see the development and evolution of both the sound and the status of VINTERSORG?
It's not growing into a full band. At live gigs we of course need more people with us, but they work as session musicians. Being two persons is the perfect thing for us. Not so many arguments and wills. Still in BORKNAGAR we're six persons and it works, but I think we're one of a lucky few who've found the right balance. The sound develops naturally as I want to discover new things that I haven't done before, so the evolution is a process that smoothly finds its way from album to album. On the new songs you'll detect a vaster depth and better arrangements, also our skills have taken a leap especially my vocals, but the new are which I started on "Cosmic ." is present.
I'm not very good with my Swedish, but from what I can gather, your previous albums dealt with your love for nature. Now, on "Cosmic Genesis", you've gone into the realm of space, and the cosmos. Was there any particular reason for this?
As I said earlier I have written about nature on our globe. Now I've just extended it in a wider way of seeing nature. The source of everything. I couldn't stay on the course of writing about vast forests and mighty mountains (even though I think I did it with a quite unique touch). I want to explore the archetype of the cosmic spectacle. And VINTERSORG has always been an act that had no limits. Reach for the stars.
Are there any hidden religious/spiritual/philosophical meanings behind your lyrics?
Our message is that people should act as thinking beings and lay aside the small controversies in the small concept. We're just a grain of sand in the cosmic desert. Still we think we're the masters of the universe. It's pathetic. We're gifted with great skills to understand and expand the known. Going to war for your religious beliefs I can never understand. Why even bother? Our Armageddon is ruined by physics. When the sun burns out, our existence on this planet is wiped away. The "Lord" isn't gonna save you. I surely believe in spirituality and other spheres, but that's a totally different thing.
Will your new album "Visions From The Spiral Generator" continue with this lyrical concept?
It's deeper and more abstract, a lot of the lyrics deal with the hidden language and architect in space, more questionings about the archetype that solves the puzzle, more mathematics, but still it has a romantic twist. It's hard to explain, you have to wait and see.
Musically, what can we expect from your new album?
It follows the tracks of "Cosmic Genesis." I've just taken it to the next level. I'm dying to record the album myself. I've done a pre-production of it and everything is really falling into place now ..
I noticed that you covered URIAH HEEP's "Rainbow Demon". It fits very well on this album. What made you decide to cover this song?
We couldn't resist. We're both mega fans of URIAH HEEP and "Rainbow Demon" is just so great. A great song from a great band.
Will Cia Hedmark be making a return to do vocals on the new album?
No. I can't say I'm through with female vocals, but right now it doesn't feel that I need them. When I started to blend it in, not many did it. But now so many bands are doing it so but she's a great vocalist though.
I read on your official site that you may be releasing an EP with older tracks, which have been re-done. As a fan of self-covers and re-done tracks, I am very excited about this release. What prompted you to do this?
I've fooled around with the idea for awhile and thought it would be nice to re-record some tracks quite differently than they are on their ordinary album. You'll hear a lot of loops, heavy guitars, and a lot of re-arrangements. Some songs will not be as long as they are and other will be longer. That's why it'll be called "Fragments & Alternatives." It's going to be 5-6 songs I think, just as a cool thing, and it will not be an indicator about the progression of VINTERSORG.
Will there be more electronic influences on this new EP, expanding on those used in "Cosmic Genesis"?
Yes, but as stated it will not be a mark for future VINTERSORG-albums. We just do it to fulfill our own minds. And if you're open minded, I think you'll like it.
From the beginnings of VINTERSORG your sound has expanded quite a bit, taking up more and more diverse influences from various Metal-genres and even beyond. Is there any direction you could not imagine VINTERSORG to go into? Will there be a limit to this expansion of sound or could you also imagine to go as far as ULVER, which's current album doesn't even seem to have a single guitar left?
I think VINTERSORG will always have fuzz guitars and the "normal" Metal-elements. I'm a mega fan of ULVER, but if I do something like that, I would do it under another banner. So VINTERSORG-likers, don't be afraid... hehehe The Alternative EP is just a small experiment.
Recently, BORKNAGAR announced that none other than Vintersorg would be performing the vocal duties on their new album. What went through your mind when they called you up to ask that you sing for them?
We've just completed the new album "Empiricism" and I must say that it's going to be the best BORKNAGAR-album so far! Fuck! Øystein has come up with some killer-songs, and Lars some extraordinary keys, Asgeir's drum pounding and technique is breath-taking and bass lines that Tyr does aren't represented in this type of Metal at all, just outstanding! Jens of course does a great job as usual, with some guitar solos and stuff... It all depends on me now uuuhhhhh but I think that the vocal arrangement I've come up with suit the music fine. Of course I was glad when they asked me for the job, but was based on my and Øystein's friendship. They didn't just call me up one day saying we want you to be our vocalist. It was more of a process based on that I had been in contact with Øystein for awhile and from that it just developed.
Will you be adding your own flavour to the music, or do they know exactly what they want from you?
I add my vocal lines and it seems to work, of course we discuss things out, but it seems to work OK.
Are you a permanent member of BORKNAGAR now? Will you be touring with them?
Yes, I'm a permanent member and I've already been on tour with them.
You seem like a very busy person in the world of Metal. You are involved in such bands and side projects as VINTERSORG, BORKNAGAR, OTYG, and HAVAYOTH. Could you please just say a few words on each project/band that you perform in?
.phew OTYG is quite traditional folk music dressed in a Rock/Metal-attitude, but still using a lot of the old folk instruments. VINTERSORG is a mixture of many Metal-genres with small Folk elements, Prog-vibes, and a lot of eerie keys. HAVAYOTH is Dark Rock in the veins of SISTERS OF MERCY and FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM. BORKNAGAR doesn't need any presentation. You all know what it's all about. Beware of the new album. (I definitely have my eye on it - Josh)
With you now being in BORKNAGAR, VINTERSORG and OTYG, which band is your top priority?
I put all my effort in all the bands, the priorities comes in periods, when you're working on an album with one band that are in focus.
As I understand it, you've recently done some shows on North American soil. How did the experience compare to stories you've heard about touring in North America?
I've heard that North America would be good, and now I know it was true. We had a great time over there.
How do you see the status of Metal in Sweden? Almost every band I have talked to is saying that you do not get much recognition, that it is far easier for you abroad...
For VINTERSORG, I think Sweden is quite good. We sell what can be expected in a small country like it is. Central Europe many thought to be the best for us, but now America seems to understand and like the band, especially "Cosmic Genesis." So saying that we're not recognised in Sweden means that you've been talking with the wrong people... hehe... we do ok here as well.
Ok, it seems to be a tradition among "Metal Observer"-reviewers to ask this question at the end of every interview. What is your favourite question about VINTERSORG that you haven't been asked yet, but would finally like to answer?
We all know that you're a good musician, but why are you so good looking?
Well, I just can't help it hehehehehe
First of all, I'd like to say that I am a huge fan of VINTERSORG and that it's a real honour to actually be interviewing you!
Thanks a lot man, it's great that at least someone likes what I put all my effort into. I live with it 24 hours a day and if it has an impact on other people, it's worth every second of it.
Ok, I guess the first thing I'd like to ask you is how and why did to bring VINTERSORG (the band) into existence?
I started the project/band back in `94 with great enthusiasm to create something new. Not new in a way that this kind of Metal-area had never been explored before, but the intention was to mix elements from different genres and fuse it together into a synthesis of emotional music, with the whole spectra of emotions, from deep sorrow, via furious rage to joy, I wanted my music to stand as a monument of the abilities and knowledge of man. So I mixed the harsher parts of Black Metal with more heavy "riffings" and acoustic guitars in order to get a biological sound into it. Another step was to sing many parts with a clear voice and just spice it up with the screaming at occasions. Back then we were a full line-up band, but there were many changes as people didn't understand what I wanted to do, so at the end I decided to continue on my own, and now I've written and recorded three albums and a MCD. That's the brief story
What does VINTERSORG mean? I've done some translating, and it roughly means "Winter Sorrow" in English, but is there any particular meaning behind the pseudonym?
As you said it roughly means approximate "Winter Sorrow", but I can't recreate the true feeling of it in English as it has a real Nordic touch. I've taken the name from a book series called "Isfolket" (the ice people) and one character is named Vintersorg. I thought it would fit so I "ripped it off". I still feel it's good to have a name that doesn't have a foundation in the normal society. Now the name's meaning develops as the VINTERSORG-concept progresses. If I've used a more "normal" name it could be wrong. Just look at SLAYER today. I don't think the name suits the music any more. So I took a more timeless name.
Your first release had been "Älvefärd" by OTYG and only after that followed "Hedniskhjärtad". Did you ever even dare to dream that VINTERSORG might get that big?
Well, it's a bit hard to say. But I've been a music performer for nearly 20 years. I started when I was very young playing in bands and composing my own songs. I remember some songs I composed at a really early age. I must say that I find the essence of VINTERSORG in there, the folk-element was present already then. And now I'm glad that my band's growing for every album. It's like I've found my destiny, to create music and lyrics. So I'm on top of my world right now hehehe
What had been your intention for VINTERSORG in first place? Did you want to live out ideas that did not fit into OTYG?
As I stated before, I started the band back in `94 and OTYG saw the day of light in `95 so it's more like reversed. Folk music is something I've lived with for quite a long time. In my younger days I thought it was a bit too "happy", but I realised that you can use the folk music tongue to express more darker thoughts and enchanting hymns. So I wrote some songs flirting with traditional folk music but with a Rock/Metal-attitude and suddenly all pieces got in the right position. So I continued to write those songs. Still I wrote VINTERSORG-songs parallel with the OTYG thing. I like to have several projects to attack music from different perspectives and fill the musical need in my soul.
Where do you get ideas for your songs? And what does your song-writing process consist of?
It's different from time to time. I mostly write the basics of the songs at home with my acoustic guitar and then develop them in our home studio. My biggest inspiration source is reading, everything from poetry to very complex scientific literature. I like people who dare to come up with new ways of thinking and writing. That is one part I try to do myself in my music, try to if not invent, but progress into an innovative formula.
How do you manage to keep the creative juices flowing from album to album?
That you have to ask my maker about...hehehe... I don't really know, I constantly have melodies and arrangements popping up in my head, but I'm not complaining about that.
All of your releases prior to "Cosmic Genesis" have always been sung in Swedish. Yet on "Cosmic Genesis", you decided to sing some songs in English. What made you decide to use another language, and how do you feel it has enhanced your music?
I felt that I was running out of topics having lyrics about nature on just a Tellus basis. So that's why I wrote about the origin of nature in a cosmic scope. Also, I felt that I was trapping myself in a corner and didn't make any progress in my lyrics so I just wanted to fresh it up and challenge myself. Those are the main reasons why I switched to English. Still I love to sing in my mother-tongue so I included two Swedish songs, and now I've found the perfect balance, having some in English and some in Swedish. I also see VINTERSORG as a universal thing so having English is a good thing to let people understand my expression in a better way.
I see that you've added a permanent guitar player by the name of Mattias Marklund. How did you meet up with him?
We've played together for ten years in different projects and he's also a part of OTYG. So it felt as a natural step to invite him into the band. We share the same thoughts regarding music and life in general, and most important on a spiritual plan as well. He's a good guitarist so everything works perfectly.
Did he contribute much to the writing-process of "Cosmic Genesis"?
No, I wrote all music and lyrics and we plan to have it this way, he contributes with arrangement ideas and creates most of the guitar leads.
When you had started out with VINTERSORG (as band), it had been an almost pure one-man-project, yet now it seems to grow more and more into a full-fledged band. How do you see the development and evolution of both the sound and the status of VINTERSORG?
It's not growing into a full band. At live gigs we of course need more people with us, but they work as session musicians. Being two persons is the perfect thing for us. Not so many arguments and wills. Still in BORKNAGAR we're six persons and it works, but I think we're one of a lucky few who've found the right balance. The sound develops naturally as I want to discover new things that I haven't done before, so the evolution is a process that smoothly finds its way from album to album. On the new songs you'll detect a vaster depth and better arrangements, also our skills have taken a leap especially my vocals, but the new are which I started on "Cosmic ." is present.
I'm not very good with my Swedish, but from what I can gather, your previous albums dealt with your love for nature. Now, on "Cosmic Genesis", you've gone into the realm of space, and the cosmos. Was there any particular reason for this?
As I said earlier I have written about nature on our globe. Now I've just extended it in a wider way of seeing nature. The source of everything. I couldn't stay on the course of writing about vast forests and mighty mountains (even though I think I did it with a quite unique touch). I want to explore the archetype of the cosmic spectacle. And VINTERSORG has always been an act that had no limits. Reach for the stars.
Are there any hidden religious/spiritual/philosophical meanings behind your lyrics?
Our message is that people should act as thinking beings and lay aside the small controversies in the small concept. We're just a grain of sand in the cosmic desert. Still we think we're the masters of the universe. It's pathetic. We're gifted with great skills to understand and expand the known. Going to war for your religious beliefs I can never understand. Why even bother? Our Armageddon is ruined by physics. When the sun burns out, our existence on this planet is wiped away. The "Lord" isn't gonna save you. I surely believe in spirituality and other spheres, but that's a totally different thing.
Will your new album "Visions From The Spiral Generator" continue with this lyrical concept?
It's deeper and more abstract, a lot of the lyrics deal with the hidden language and architect in space, more questionings about the archetype that solves the puzzle, more mathematics, but still it has a romantic twist. It's hard to explain, you have to wait and see.
Musically, what can we expect from your new album?
It follows the tracks of "Cosmic Genesis." I've just taken it to the next level. I'm dying to record the album myself. I've done a pre-production of it and everything is really falling into place now ..
I noticed that you covered URIAH HEEP's "Rainbow Demon". It fits very well on this album. What made you decide to cover this song?
We couldn't resist. We're both mega fans of URIAH HEEP and "Rainbow Demon" is just so great. A great song from a great band.
Will Cia Hedmark be making a return to do vocals on the new album?
No. I can't say I'm through with female vocals, but right now it doesn't feel that I need them. When I started to blend it in, not many did it. But now so many bands are doing it so but she's a great vocalist though.
I read on your official site that you may be releasing an EP with older tracks, which have been re-done. As a fan of self-covers and re-done tracks, I am very excited about this release. What prompted you to do this?
I've fooled around with the idea for awhile and thought it would be nice to re-record some tracks quite differently than they are on their ordinary album. You'll hear a lot of loops, heavy guitars, and a lot of re-arrangements. Some songs will not be as long as they are and other will be longer. That's why it'll be called "Fragments & Alternatives." It's going to be 5-6 songs I think, just as a cool thing, and it will not be an indicator about the progression of VINTERSORG.
Will there be more electronic influences on this new EP, expanding on those used in "Cosmic Genesis"?
Yes, but as stated it will not be a mark for future VINTERSORG-albums. We just do it to fulfill our own minds. And if you're open minded, I think you'll like it.
From the beginnings of VINTERSORG your sound has expanded quite a bit, taking up more and more diverse influences from various Metal-genres and even beyond. Is there any direction you could not imagine VINTERSORG to go into? Will there be a limit to this expansion of sound or could you also imagine to go as far as ULVER, which's current album doesn't even seem to have a single guitar left?
I think VINTERSORG will always have fuzz guitars and the "normal" Metal-elements. I'm a mega fan of ULVER, but if I do something like that, I would do it under another banner. So VINTERSORG-likers, don't be afraid... hehehe The Alternative EP is just a small experiment.
Recently, BORKNAGAR announced that none other than Vintersorg would be performing the vocal duties on their new album. What went through your mind when they called you up to ask that you sing for them?
We've just completed the new album "Empiricism" and I must say that it's going to be the best BORKNAGAR-album so far! Fuck! Øystein has come up with some killer-songs, and Lars some extraordinary keys, Asgeir's drum pounding and technique is breath-taking and bass lines that Tyr does aren't represented in this type of Metal at all, just outstanding! Jens of course does a great job as usual, with some guitar solos and stuff... It all depends on me now uuuhhhhh but I think that the vocal arrangement I've come up with suit the music fine. Of course I was glad when they asked me for the job, but was based on my and Øystein's friendship. They didn't just call me up one day saying we want you to be our vocalist. It was more of a process based on that I had been in contact with Øystein for awhile and from that it just developed.
Will you be adding your own flavour to the music, or do they know exactly what they want from you?
I add my vocal lines and it seems to work, of course we discuss things out, but it seems to work OK.
Are you a permanent member of BORKNAGAR now? Will you be touring with them?
Yes, I'm a permanent member and I've already been on tour with them.
You seem like a very busy person in the world of Metal. You are involved in such bands and side projects as VINTERSORG, BORKNAGAR, OTYG, and HAVAYOTH. Could you please just say a few words on each project/band that you perform in?
.phew OTYG is quite traditional folk music dressed in a Rock/Metal-attitude, but still using a lot of the old folk instruments. VINTERSORG is a mixture of many Metal-genres with small Folk elements, Prog-vibes, and a lot of eerie keys. HAVAYOTH is Dark Rock in the veins of SISTERS OF MERCY and FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM. BORKNAGAR doesn't need any presentation. You all know what it's all about. Beware of the new album. (I definitely have my eye on it
- Josh) With you now being in BORKNAGAR, VINTERSORG and OTYG, which band is your top priority?
I put all my effort in all the bands, the priorities comes in periods, when you're working on an album with one band that are in focus.
As I understand it, you've recently done some shows on North American soil. How did the experience compare to stories you've heard about touring in North America?
I've heard that North America would be good, and now I know it was true. We had a great time over there.
How do you see the status of Metal in Sweden? Almost every band I have talked to is saying that you do not get much recognition, that it is far easier for you abroad...
For VINTERSORG, I think Sweden is quite good. We sell what can be expected in a small country like it is. Central Europe many thought to be the best for us, but now America seems to understand and like the band, especially "Cosmic Genesis." So saying that we're not recognised in Sweden means that you've been talking with the wrong people... hehe... we do ok here as well.
Ok, it seems to be a tradition among "Metal Observer"-reviewers to ask this question at the end of every interview. What is your favourite question about VINTERSORG that you haven't been asked yet, but would finally like to answer?
We all know that you're a good musician, but why are you so good looking?
Well, I just can't help it hehehehehe
