Okay, here is an interview from the latest issue of the Swedish magazine Close-Up (#52, juli/augusti 2002) lamely translated by me
Being a terrible translator I was forced to translate some things extremely freely in order to make the text flow free, but still managed to be quite close to the original meaning (hopefully!) or so I think at least 
In the beginning of the article there was a little paragraph providing the reader with some info about who play in Vintesorg and that the has left the nature-concept behind, which I tried to translate but even though I perfectly understand phrases like de sälla lappmarkerna or strängbändande barndomskamraten, the english translation of them sounded totally lame to my ears and so i decided to skip the whole part instead of making a clown of myself...
Okay,now I shut up, enjoy
(Close-Up :) Is Ödemarkens son as Andreas chose to call himself on the same titled record of 1999- no longer fascinated by Norrlands trollish nature?
Vintersorg : No,i dont want to say this. But new blood in the system was needed. The forest-theme became tiring in the long run and me and Mattias were in need of a new starting-point.
When it comes to the concept have our products certainly not changed so much on the whole. We have turned the perspective at another direction and placed nature in a bigger context, but the spiritual meaning is generally the same- romanticized observations about our existence, both in the nature and in the universe. Much is yet open to personal interpretations, so it depends on the listener to read what he or she wants between the lines.
(Close-Up :) Like in the potential hit Vem styr symmetrin (=who rules the symmetry) ? Can it be interpreted as if you suddenly got religious concerns? To mention just an example, the tone from the period when you whole-heartedly wrote poetry about himmelrikets svaglynta gesäll and that to bardas med Kristus veka bröder is not really recognizable.
Andreas giggles delighted at his word-art in the debut word hedniskhjärtad (1998) and its follower till fjälls (1998).
Vintersorg : Many people certainly want to insert/introduce religious aspects in the new texts, but the fact is at least for my part- that they are strictly scientifictly seen. I dont attach great importance to the word vem (=who), someone can very well replace it with vad (=what) . Call it some sort of energy or divinity or whatever, it is up to the listener to define it.
No matter how much research is done in science the question, what lies behind this strange play we all are a part of, will always remain. It seems that there is a fundamental/basic plan that makes that the symmetry conquers chaos. The question I ask myself is where this main plan has its origin.
(Close-Up :) Därom tvistar de lärde (those who have learned quarrel about it???). The majority of the population of the west world chooses an old man with beard residing between the clouds as the most probable alternative. Andreas laughs sarcastically at such naivety.
On the contrary the mathematical constant pi ( - konstanten pi ) seems to involve secret certain information on how everything remains together/is connected. Spiral formations, whose construction depends on pi, seem also to contribute a bit.
Vintersorg : It is striking how many things move in spiralformation in our galaxy, which actually is a spiral in itself. Our dna-molecules, our fingerprints, the pattern of a sunflower or a cone, when you have a fag and blow the out the smoke . Spiral formations all of them. I could go on for ever and ever.
(Close-Up :) Such kvarkar ( sorry,I dont know this term..maybe it is protons?? Neutrons?? Etc?? ) which atoms are said to be made of, which in their own turn are made up of anupartiklar ( I dont even know what it is in greek ) which may be the smallest form of particle mankind knows of, move probably also in spiralformations, I point out with badly hidden delight at having expressed something so quasi-intellectual without stumbling at the words. (I stumbled while typing though )
Vintersorg : exactly, microcosm and macrocosm are connected. The whole thing is very fascinating, dont you think?
Yup,för tusen ( me ta xilia hehe )
(Close-Up :) The lesson goes on and dekanus (??) Vintersorg talks on how full of interest he follows the intensive research which is being done on the konstanten pi.
Research teams everywhere in the world seek to find a pattern a symmetry- among the transcendent konstantens endless number of decimals. A two-hundred-sixteen digit low number has been found among these, a number which is shrouded in the mystery of mystic.
Exactly the same number is to be found in namely in ancient/extremely old suspicious theories in the field of magic and numerology, which is a headache for the scientists.
Vintersorg : I completely clearly join the mathematic wing which believes that pi is not completely irrational, he points out on account of the new discoveries.
(Close-Up :) Unusually enough I have to make effort all the time to get a word in edgeways- my fellow talker remains silent for some seconds.
After a bit of thinking:
Vintersorg : At first (and hundredth) sight seems the succession of decimals to be chaotic, but nevertheless it seems to me as if a beautiful symphony can be crystallized out of cacophony.
(Close-Up :) It seems that there is a great deal of things that spin probably in spiral formation- in the head of the nearly 29 year old man from Skellefteå. I get to know that the unbroken curiosity and liking for discoveries has had a significantr role in his life ever since he was a little child (but dont write this, it sounds so pretentious)
In his free time he ploughs through books thick as bricks of everything from obscure german mathematicians to well-known works of Copernicus and Galileo Galilei. ( isnt that what på fritiden plöjs tegelstenar av allt från obskyra tyska matematiker blah blah means?? Please say yes to the little wannabe ) .Maybe a bit unexpected,since he hasnt completed any high school education and in grundskolan (nine-year compulsory school) music was always more attractive to him than the forced by the state basic knowledge.
Vintersorg : Ive never felt happy in such environments (inte jag heller ) Everything is moulded in the same form. When somebody puts a kid on a desk, its imagination is simultaneously put to death. Its a sick abuse of power.
The somewhat esoteric studying, including the endless hours he has spent in the library with his nose in books about folklore and old Swedish, are however he emphasizes- not an attempt to play the master. I am prepared to köpa den brasklappen ( - does he mean to accept advice/other suggestions/corrections etc?? ), since the self-willed creativity and thirst for knowledge are at the least equally important in the purely musical piece of work.
(Close-Up :) Andreas has never taken any lessons, never any instructions from a musical school or teacher. Nevertheless he possesses something many are ready to agree with- one of Swedens widest voices in the metal genre, something which f.e. caused him to become the singer in the well-known Norwegian black-metal constellation BORKNAGAR
His ability to handle all sorts of instruments is also well proved VINTERSORG in the beginning was a soloproject.
Vintersorg : The question is if a music-related education is really beneficial for the creative process, he ponders. Maybe it is cool to have a perfect knowledge of musical theory and scales, but such knowledge also contributes to making the music much too homogeneous. {Folk music decides, lets say, what is allowed or not and gets prevented in its construction.( Ive killed this phrase for sure ) } If you ask me, everything is allowed. Musical rules are there to be broken.
(Close-Up :) A bit of guidance is however not harmful, isnt it like that?
Vintersorg : Of course being disorderly/unruly (sth like that .bångstyrig was the word ) and doing everything alone should not become an end in itself. Consider however the ultimate experiment: Somebody locks a guy in an isolated house, so he stays in there totally alone and produce songs using an instrument he has no previous experience of. The result could have been as smashing as you want. Something totally new and unique. Something like that,if so extreme, jobbar jag (jobbar jag=???)
(Close-Up :) It is said that you abandoned your lonely life in Sjungande Dalen for a stable ordinary life.
Vintersorg : Yes, in other words, Im getting older, he excuses himself while clearing his throat. Have girlfriend, flat, dog and the whole package for the time being. I;ve grown up.
(Close-Up :) Being forced to take difficult decisions is also a part of adult life. On the 14th of March this year proclaimed Andreas and Mattias that they had decided to quit their 8 year old successful folkmusic-sounding sideprojekt OTYG, part of which were also Daniel Fredriksson, Fredrik Nilsson and the violin/flute player and singer Cia Hedmark .
Behind them they left two full-length opus under the titles Älvefärd (1998) and Sagovindars boning (1999) which received very good reviews, as well as a sea of disappointed and at a loss followers, often belonging to places as far away as South America. The export of Swedish folkmsuik to this areas is said to have reduced with nearly one hundred percent.
Vintersorg : We received much criticism for this decision. Many people got in touch and were shaken/desperate. Sad, of course, but it is self-evident that one cant be member in a band which one no longer feels any happiness playing in. If we hadnt taken this decision, I would have dragged myself to the studio to do my part and then leaving it behind, without caring how the others would handle the mixing and the cover of the record. In such situations should one be mature enough to quit.
I felt it had died,simply. Inspiration was no more.
(Close-Up :) For 3 years I had been torturing Mattias asking questions about when the third full-album, Djävulen, would come out and the standing reply has been all the songs are ready and the only thing left is to record them- until Christmas maybe
Christmas came and Christmas went, but the heavy OTYG-present was even this year absent from the bag of Santa Claus.
Vintersorg : This happens easily when one doesnt really feel like going to the rehearsal place in order to set about with material which no longer seems fresh/modern. We unconsciously postponed it all the time. Djävulen included without doubt our best material and deal by the way with how hin håle ( whats this??? Is it a typo or sth? ) was portrayed during the various epochs of the Swedish folklore. I am very satisfied with the lyrics, but I want to challenge myself to the outmost when I enter the studio. To put Djävulen into print would simply be to turn the clock backwards too far.
We never know how we will feel in the future though. The pre-production of all the songs is filled so that we wont forget them in case we would change our minds, he adds in a hurry when he realizes that he is faced with Swedens number one OTYG-fan.
Then we plan to release our 3 demo tapes (Bergtagen, I trollskogens drömmande mörker and Galdersång-till bergfadern) in order to finish our contract with Napalm, he comforts.
(Close-Up :) In the end I ask for a report on the situation concerning the various projects Andreas participates nowadays. Lying on the sofa gathering dust obviously seems to be an overrated pleasure in the Hedlund-ian household.
Today he put some clean singing to the pre-production of the next BORKNAGAR album, which is estimated to be recorded until the trun of the year. HAVAYOTH, where Andreas is responsible for the nice singing, is also active with a new FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM-sounding gothalster ( ) on Hammerheart.
A VINTERSORG-dvd is on the way, full with interviews, clips from conserts and other yummy stuff. Besides, the fifth VINTERSORG full-album is also finish written and will be titled The focusing blur.
Vintersorg : There wont be many BlackMetal riffs on that. It will be more progressive than ever.
In short time a VINTERSORG mini-album is also released, titled Fragments and alternatives: the experiment which contains remade experimental versions of title tracks from our back catalog, but also some newly-written material.
Though maybe we will put the whole feast on our homepage instead. Hopefully it goes.
(Close-Up :) Before I even know where I am, he has put on one of the experiments and turned the volume to the maximum. An avskalad (uhm...yes), unbelievably enjoyable Till fjälls evolution mix. Much important has been laid in raising forth the captivating song-coil, which fits well the futuristic electronica.
According to the information the completed product even contains spaced big-bands jazz a la Franc Sinatra.
Talking of big bands, btw. Andreas has an ace up his sleeve:
Vintersorg : For the time being I am busy composing a metal-opera together with 29 norwegians. Absolutely no EDGUY-type rubbish, if you believed that. We are talking of theatrical horror-metal with progressive and odd riffs. I have a feeling that it will be something special.
(Close-Up :) Twenty-nine? Two nine?
Vintersorg :Yes.You heard right. Im sorry I cant reveal some names yet, but it is only people chosen from the metal scene, so much can I reveal anyway.
(Close-Up :) A norwegian progvariant of SWEDISH METAL AID Is the time really ripe?
In the beginning of the article there was a little paragraph providing the reader with some info about who play in Vintesorg and that the has left the nature-concept behind, which I tried to translate but even though I perfectly understand phrases like de sälla lappmarkerna or strängbändande barndomskamraten, the english translation of them sounded totally lame to my ears and so i decided to skip the whole part instead of making a clown of myself...
Okay,now I shut up, enjoy
(Close-Up :) Is Ödemarkens son as Andreas chose to call himself on the same titled record of 1999- no longer fascinated by Norrlands trollish nature?
Vintersorg : No,i dont want to say this. But new blood in the system was needed. The forest-theme became tiring in the long run and me and Mattias were in need of a new starting-point.
When it comes to the concept have our products certainly not changed so much on the whole. We have turned the perspective at another direction and placed nature in a bigger context, but the spiritual meaning is generally the same- romanticized observations about our existence, both in the nature and in the universe. Much is yet open to personal interpretations, so it depends on the listener to read what he or she wants between the lines.
(Close-Up :) Like in the potential hit Vem styr symmetrin (=who rules the symmetry) ? Can it be interpreted as if you suddenly got religious concerns? To mention just an example, the tone from the period when you whole-heartedly wrote poetry about himmelrikets svaglynta gesäll and that to bardas med Kristus veka bröder is not really recognizable.
Andreas giggles delighted at his word-art in the debut word hedniskhjärtad (1998) and its follower till fjälls (1998).
Vintersorg : Many people certainly want to insert/introduce religious aspects in the new texts, but the fact is at least for my part- that they are strictly scientifictly seen. I dont attach great importance to the word vem (=who), someone can very well replace it with vad (=what) . Call it some sort of energy or divinity or whatever, it is up to the listener to define it.
No matter how much research is done in science the question, what lies behind this strange play we all are a part of, will always remain. It seems that there is a fundamental/basic plan that makes that the symmetry conquers chaos. The question I ask myself is where this main plan has its origin.
(Close-Up :) Därom tvistar de lärde (those who have learned quarrel about it???). The majority of the population of the west world chooses an old man with beard residing between the clouds as the most probable alternative. Andreas laughs sarcastically at such naivety.
On the contrary the mathematical constant pi (
- konstanten pi ) seems to involve secret certain information on how everything remains together/is connected. Spiral formations, whose construction depends on pi, seem also to contribute a bit. Vintersorg : It is striking how many things move in spiralformation in our galaxy, which actually is a spiral in itself. Our dna-molecules, our fingerprints, the pattern of a sunflower or a cone, when you have a fag and blow the out the smoke . Spiral formations all of them. I could go on for ever and ever.
(Close-Up :) Such kvarkar ( sorry,I dont know this term..maybe it is protons?? Neutrons?? Etc?? ) which atoms are said to be made of, which in their own turn are made up of anupartiklar (
I dont even know what it is in greek ) which may be the smallest form of particle mankind knows of, move probably also in spiralformations, I point out with badly hidden delight at having expressed something so quasi-intellectual without stumbling at the words. (I stumbled while typing though ) Vintersorg : exactly, microcosm and macrocosm are connected. The whole thing is very fascinating, dont you think?
Yup,för tusen ( me ta xilia hehe )
(Close-Up :) The lesson goes on and dekanus (??) Vintersorg talks on how full of interest he follows the intensive research which is being done on the konstanten pi.
Research teams everywhere in the world seek to find a pattern a symmetry- among the transcendent konstantens endless number of decimals. A two-hundred-sixteen digit low number has been found among these, a number which is shrouded in the mystery of mystic.
Exactly the same number is to be found in namely in ancient/extremely old suspicious theories in the field of magic and numerology, which is a headache for the scientists.
Vintersorg : I completely clearly join the mathematic wing which believes that pi is not completely irrational, he points out on account of the new discoveries.
(Close-Up :) Unusually enough I have to make effort all the time to get a word in edgeways- my fellow talker remains silent for some seconds.
After a bit of thinking:
Vintersorg : At first (and hundredth) sight seems the succession of decimals to be chaotic, but nevertheless it seems to me as if a beautiful symphony can be crystallized out of cacophony.
(Close-Up :) It seems that there is a great deal of things that spin probably in spiral formation- in the head of the nearly 29 year old man from Skellefteå. I get to know that the unbroken curiosity and liking for discoveries has had a significantr role in his life ever since he was a little child (but dont write this, it sounds so pretentious)
In his free time he ploughs through books thick as bricks of everything from obscure german mathematicians to well-known works of Copernicus and Galileo Galilei. ( isnt that what på fritiden plöjs tegelstenar av allt från obskyra tyska matematiker blah blah means?? Please say yes to the little wannabe
) .Maybe a bit unexpected,since he hasnt completed any high school education and in grundskolan (nine-year compulsory school) music was always more attractive to him than the forced by the state basic knowledge.Vintersorg : Ive never felt happy in such environments (inte jag heller
) Everything is moulded in the same form. When somebody puts a kid on a desk, its imagination is simultaneously put to death. Its a sick abuse of power.The somewhat esoteric studying, including the endless hours he has spent in the library with his nose in books about folklore and old Swedish, are however he emphasizes- not an attempt to play the master. I am prepared to köpa den brasklappen (
- does he mean to accept advice/other suggestions/corrections etc?? ), since the self-willed creativity and thirst for knowledge are at the least equally important in the purely musical piece of work. (Close-Up :) Andreas has never taken any lessons, never any instructions from a musical school or teacher. Nevertheless he possesses something many are ready to agree with- one of Swedens widest voices in the metal genre, something which f.e. caused him to become the singer in the well-known Norwegian black-metal constellation BORKNAGAR
His ability to handle all sorts of instruments is also well proved VINTERSORG in the beginning was a soloproject.
Vintersorg : The question is if a music-related education is really beneficial for the creative process, he ponders. Maybe it is cool to have a perfect knowledge of musical theory and scales, but such knowledge also contributes to making the music much too homogeneous. {Folk music decides, lets say, what is allowed or not and gets prevented in its construction.( Ive killed this phrase for sure
) } If you ask me, everything is allowed. Musical rules are there to be broken. (Close-Up :) A bit of guidance is however not harmful, isnt it like that?
Vintersorg : Of course being disorderly/unruly (sth like that .bångstyrig was the word ) and doing everything alone should not become an end in itself. Consider however the ultimate experiment: Somebody locks a guy in an isolated house, so he stays in there totally alone and produce songs using an instrument he has no previous experience of. The result could have been as smashing as you want. Something totally new and unique. Something like that,if so extreme, jobbar jag (jobbar jag=???)
(Close-Up :) It is said that you abandoned your lonely life in Sjungande Dalen for a stable ordinary life.
Vintersorg : Yes, in other words, Im getting older, he excuses himself while clearing his throat. Have girlfriend, flat, dog and the whole package for the time being. I;ve grown up.
(Close-Up :) Being forced to take difficult decisions is also a part of adult life. On the 14th of March this year proclaimed Andreas and Mattias that they had decided to quit their 8 year old successful folkmusic-sounding sideprojekt OTYG, part of which were also Daniel Fredriksson, Fredrik Nilsson and the violin/flute player and singer Cia Hedmark .
Behind them they left two full-length opus under the titles Älvefärd (1998) and Sagovindars boning (1999) which received very good reviews, as well as a sea of disappointed and at a loss followers, often belonging to places as far away as South America. The export of Swedish folkmsuik to this areas is said to have reduced with nearly one hundred percent.
Vintersorg : We received much criticism for this decision. Many people got in touch and were shaken/desperate. Sad, of course, but it is self-evident that one cant be member in a band which one no longer feels any happiness playing in. If we hadnt taken this decision, I would have dragged myself to the studio to do my part and then leaving it behind, without caring how the others would handle the mixing and the cover of the record. In such situations should one be mature enough to quit.
I felt it had died,simply. Inspiration was no more.
(Close-Up :) For 3 years I had been torturing Mattias asking questions about when the third full-album, Djävulen, would come out and the standing reply has been all the songs are ready and the only thing left is to record them- until Christmas maybe
Christmas came and Christmas went, but the heavy OTYG-present was even this year absent from the bag of Santa Claus.
Vintersorg : This happens easily when one doesnt really feel like going to the rehearsal place in order to set about with material which no longer seems fresh/modern. We unconsciously postponed it all the time. Djävulen included without doubt our best material and deal by the way with how hin håle (
whats this??? Is it a typo or sth? ) was portrayed during the various epochs of the Swedish folklore. I am very satisfied with the lyrics, but I want to challenge myself to the outmost when I enter the studio. To put Djävulen into print would simply be to turn the clock backwards too far.We never know how we will feel in the future though. The pre-production of all the songs is filled so that we wont forget them in case we would change our minds, he adds in a hurry when he realizes that he is faced with Swedens number one OTYG-fan.
Then we plan to release our 3 demo tapes (Bergtagen, I trollskogens drömmande mörker and Galdersång-till bergfadern) in order to finish our contract with Napalm, he comforts.
(Close-Up :) In the end I ask for a report on the situation concerning the various projects Andreas participates nowadays. Lying on the sofa gathering dust obviously seems to be an overrated pleasure in the Hedlund-ian household.
Today he put some clean singing to the pre-production of the next BORKNAGAR album, which is estimated to be recorded until the trun of the year. HAVAYOTH, where Andreas is responsible for the nice singing, is also active with a new FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM-sounding gothalster (
) on Hammerheart. A VINTERSORG-dvd is on the way, full with interviews, clips from conserts and other yummy stuff. Besides, the fifth VINTERSORG full-album is also finish written and will be titled The focusing blur.
Vintersorg : There wont be many BlackMetal riffs on that. It will be more progressive than ever.
In short time a VINTERSORG mini-album is also released, titled Fragments and alternatives: the experiment which contains remade experimental versions of title tracks from our back catalog, but also some newly-written material.
Though maybe we will put the whole feast on our homepage instead. Hopefully it goes.
(Close-Up :) Before I even know where I am, he has put on one of the experiments and turned the volume to the maximum. An avskalad (uhm...yes), unbelievably enjoyable Till fjälls evolution mix. Much important has been laid in raising forth the captivating song-coil, which fits well the futuristic electronica.
According to the information the completed product even contains spaced big-bands jazz a la Franc Sinatra.
Talking of big bands, btw. Andreas has an ace up his sleeve:
Vintersorg : For the time being I am busy composing a metal-opera together with 29 norwegians. Absolutely no EDGUY-type rubbish, if you believed that. We are talking of theatrical horror-metal with progressive and odd riffs. I have a feeling that it will be something special.
(Close-Up :) Twenty-nine? Two nine?
Vintersorg :Yes.You heard right. Im sorry I cant reveal some names yet, but it is only people chosen from the metal scene, so much can I reveal anyway.
(Close-Up :) A norwegian progvariant of SWEDISH METAL AID Is the time really ripe?
