Moonlight Shadows #1, Greece – Ole/Hagal (English)
So, what we have here? A supreme black metal band from Germany, am I right Ole?
Your CD named "Karg" fulfills my high demands from a black metal band. I felt like
I was listening to one beautiful song and not to a 60min demo and this is a great
sensation. Was it your intention?
Thank you for your very good words about Hagal. Actually, you`re absolutely right by saying the
CD would be more one, long song than a “normal” album containing 7 single songs, for example.
Our intention was to guide the listener into another world and not just create good songs.
There is more behind our music. When you put together both, the music and the lyrics, you can
see that the whole album is one complete works.
In the previous question I mentioned the word "beautiful". Do you think that black metal
can be "beautiful"?
Yes, of course. Black Metal is beautiful for all those, who understand the beauty in this music.
The melodies of several bands are very beautiful, they create emotions so deeply I think no other
music can. One of those bands is Astarte, for example. I mentioned this band, because they`re from
Greece, too, and the readers will probably know them.
The demo kicks off with a melodic intro as we slowly enter the gates of hell. With the second
song, we already feel the fires of hell burning our skin. Towards the end of the demo we have
reached and accomplished the eternal salvation that we all wish for…If music travels your mind,
is this the trip HAGAL can offer us?
It`s your personal trip while listening to our music. And we would never hold anything against it,
because this is exactly, what we want: The listener should step into another world, what he sees
and what he feels, we cannot know, it differs from person to person. For example, one guy told us,
that he felt like paddling a canoe through the Norwegian fjords, the cold winds blowing through his
hair. We have other feelings and emotions while listening to our music and so everybody feels in
another way…and that`s great!!!
The beautiful intermezzos of yours between the songs (I am referring to the acoustic guitar parts)
are absolutely necessary as they do not make the disc boring and keep changing the mood of the listener.
How do you combine these parts with the aggressiveness of your music?
As you said, these parts are necessary for the music, but we also need them to express the deeper meaning
of the lyrics. These parts are parts of the whole concept, they show the beautiful side of the northern
mythology, while the “aggressive” parts show our hate towards the biggest part of todays society, having
lost the old values and pride (especially referring to the song “Nebelkrieger”).
The production on this demo is an extremely good one. It completes the whole concept of the band,
if you know what I mean. It has this sound that suits Black metal, don't you think?
I know exactly what you mean and I´m very happy to find another man, who has not forgotten, what Black
Metal is!!! Black Metal needs this sound and real Black Metal bands will never produce their album in
clean sound, just to sell more copies. Those who are into Black Metal like this rough sound (for example
the way Darkthrone plays), those who dislike this sound are not into Black Metal at all!!! If you want so,
the title “Karg” stands for our understanding of true northern Black Metal…(“Karg” is the german word for meagreness).
Let's talk about the length of your songs. They are too long and an 18min black metal song is not
something that the fans are used to. How come the songs are so lengthy and how do you think fans will
react about it?
The songs are that long, because we have a complete concept behind each song. So, the length orientates
by the concept of the song, and if there is a very complex concept, the song will also be long. And like
I said before: We´re not interested in just making good songs, we want to give the listener a complex
idea of life and death centuries ago, when the Vikings ruled northern Europe. The fans react very positive,
even when we play a 12 min. song live they are very enthusiastic. We haven`t had any problems with the
length of our songs yet.
Is originality an aim desired? Do you wish to be regarded as a special band in the scene?
Yes. I think we are a special band, at least here in Germany. There are not many bands playing Black Metal
like we do, and so many people think of Hagal when they hear the words “northern Black Metal”. But of
course I know we haven`t invented Black Metal and that there are bands, especially from Norway, playing
music, which is partly similar to Hagal. But I personally don`t know any band playing in the same way…
As the songs are pretty long, they contain many riffs. How do you unite all those and more precisely
how do you compose a song? When do you feel that a song is finished/ complete and how do you know it?
A.F., our guitar-player/shouter, is the mastermind behind the music. He composes all songs on his acoustic
guitar. He then composes single riffs, which follow the idea of one special concept, and puts them together
bit by bit. This composing can take weeks ore even months, always inspired by his emotions…only he knows,
if a song is finished. I think it`s a very emotional decision and has nothing to do with any composing-techniques
or something alike, although he knows them all, as he plays the guitar since he`s a little boy.
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