Legendary Swedish black metal formation MÖRK GRYNING has shared “A Glimpse of the Sky,” the second new single from their upcoming album, ‘Hinsides Vrede.’ The offering is the band’s first new full-length since 2005 and will be released on October 23 via Season of Mist, making it their debut to the label.
We had the chance of getting a glimpse into their life.
Greetings and welcome to MHF magazine.
You have awakened to unleash your fury upon the masses with the deadly new album Hinsides Vrede. What does a typical day in the life looks like during the making of the album?
It was a very intense experience. Except for one song, we wrote everything during 4 weeks in one go. I like working in that way because once I start writing inspiration comes and I can write song after song. It can be quite exhausting dealing with all the energy that comes with creativity, sometimes I take a long walk in the woods to clear my mind.
Never shy to reinvent yourselves, you keep reshaping the band and your sound entirely. I know that takes a lot of courage and determination. How on earth do you do it so effortlessly?
Thanks. Well, we’ve had lots of different influences over the years and let that inspire us. This time we mainly let ourselves be influenced by ourselves. We listened to the old stuff, picked what was good and worked on that. With that said, there are also a lot of new elements on the album. We never used clean vocals as much as on this album for example.
You claimed that “The lyrics will speak for themselves: ‘Ripped apart / Our hearts are fed to the vultures / The soil has been cursed / Our souls like silent statues of stone.” However, I would like you to elaborate just a bit. I see pain and torment, and I see mortifying wounds bleeding throughout the song. Do you have to be in a bad place personally to write this kind of realistically excruciating music?
I guess you have to be willing to put yourself in the shoes of those who have suffered. The world is a dark place but I believe if you can transform that suffering into creativity and art it’s a good thing.
Without Crown there’s disorder. What’s the dynamic of the band, who is responsible for what and how do you keep a balance between band members?
When it comes to the album it’s me and Kimera who do all the planning and writing, at least for this album. I wrote most of the material but presented it to him all the time and we wrote some stuff together. As for live shows, song order etc, we’re all part of it taking the decisions.
Hinsides Vrede translates into “otherworldly wrath” or “wrath of the world beyond,” and represents the impending doom of a world coming undone at its seams. What went wrong and how can we fix it?
We disconnected ourselves from nature and were blinded by gold. We’ve lost our souls and constantly need more things to fill that hole. Perhaps we could still fix it, but I don’t think people are willing to pay the price. They won’t change their ways, give up their luxuries or reduce their consumption. Perhaps the only thing that can fix it is if covid proves unstoppable and the economy collapses totally.
Upon the release of a new album, most bands would hit the road to promote their work. Which under the current circumstances is impossible. How will you overcome this challenge?
Yup, that’s very frustrating. We’re planning for gigs and tours for next year and hope it will be possible but of course, no one knows. If we can’t get out on the road perhaps we’ll start writing another album, we’ll have to wait and see. But yeah, we’re really looking forward to gigging again.
Let’s have dinner together. You guys have to cook, choose a playlist and a killer topic to talk about. All I have to do is show up and bring dessert. (ha, the perks of being the one conducting the interview). What are we having, what are we listening to and what are we talking about?
Haha haven’t had that question before. I’ll probably make you moussaka. I like using the oven, it’s very hard to fail and almost anything tastes great. On the playlist we’ll start with some raw old blues like Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters, morphing into Zeppelin, Sabbath, Stooges, Judas Priest, Guns n Roses, Kyuss, Megadeth Mayhem, Impaled Nazarene and Tinariwen.
We’ll discuss Cliff Burton’s importance in Metallica. Did they do anything really good afterwards? And what about “De mysteriis dom Sathanas”, would it have been better or worse with Dead on the vocals? And we’ll discuss whether the fluff in your navel is actually coming from your clothes or…from within…
What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done?
I dont know, I consider myself quite spontaneous in general. A while ago I was travelling with friends and upon returning home I decided to go hiking so I bought myself a sleeping bag, a backpack and a mosquito net and stayed away for 2 weeks.
Until we meet again,
Chelf
