The Pagan Herald #01
Many
songs on “Karg” had such a monumental length, like "Walvaters
Pfand" ('Allfathers pledge') with more than 18 minutes, which
is the longest one ever written by Hagal. In the few reviews I read
of “Karg“ most reviewers criticised that. On “Sterbender
Traum” this monumental lengths disappeared. Without any doubt
for me, the old songs were varied and colourful to bear these enormous
lengths. Why did you choose to compose such long tracks? Simply
naturally? Didn’t you see the risk the listener gets bored after
a while? Why not simply cut a song into pieces and have many chapters
like on "Inmitten Jotunsieges Zeit“ ('amidst Giants triumph’s
time')? No offence here, take this question only as a trivial provocation,
alright?!
I can only quote our musics mastermind A.F.: “Why do I compose
those long songs? I simply cannot compose short songs!” A song
needs space to display itself. But you`re totally right: The listener
might get bored, not because the song is boring, but because of
the extreme length. A.F. learned to compose “short” songs after
the “Karg”-recordings, that`s why those extreme long songs
disappeared on “Sterbender Traum”. A band needs rather
short songs, especially for live-gigs. By the way: We created short-versions
of songs like “Walvaters Pfand” and we play them live.
In Bad Segeberg one guy went totally crazy by hearing “Walvaters
Pfand” at the sound check, five ours before the show. He just
couldn`t believe us to play this song live, he was really happy…nice
to get that kind of reactions, you know?
All of you are living in Hamburg, the second biggest city in
Germany and one of the bigger metropoles in Europe. A real Moloch
of urban annoyance and turmoil, I would say. Are encounters with
the primordial side of Nature uncommon moments for you as its residents?
I guess it’s pretty difficult to find tranquillity and rest from
the chaotic and hectic way of its daily life. How do you manage
this urban life? Where do you see possibility to relax? And how
important are the advantages of urban life for you?
A.F. lives in Berlin, the rest of us in Hamburg. I like Hamburg
very much. I´ve my own car, you know? It´s not too hard to take
my girlfriend and drive to the woods out of Hamburg. I really love
to be in the woods for ours. There I can rest from the daily life.
I live in the city core of Hamburg, there are a lot of bars around
here…and I love to go to the bars with friends and get drunk. I
lived in Göttingen for 2 years, a rather little town. So I know
what I say when I claim: The advantages of urban life are very important
for me. I missed Hamburg when I lived in Göttingen and I loved to
return.
Why was (!) it so difficult to find interviews and reviews of
Hagal, both in print- and online Medias? You know, are
you kind of refusing these ways of the scene’s communication, seen
as a part of the society? Or were you simply convinced that there
is no need to represent Hagal and their thoughts in public
so far?
We don`t refuse to give interviews or send promo-material. In this
point I disagree with you: There were lots of reviews and at least
some interviews. Not many in German mags, but some in Greek and
Italian mags, for example. But there`ll be more communication, I
know many fans are longing for this and I promise to get into it!
In addition to the last question: There have been plenty of Pagan
and in a matter related Black Metal releases lately. What are the
latest albums you purchased last year? What other music are you
listening to outside Metal? Can you recommend any newcomers which
made a huge impression on you? And do you have any favourite on
your most recent album?
I didn´t purchase many albums, only a few old ones, Lunar Aurora
and Windir albums. I`m listening to much other music outside
Metal: Trip Hop like Portishead or some albums of Björk,
old David Bowie stuff (Man, who sold the world
– great!), a little bit Depeche Mode, a lot of New Rock
like The White Stripes, Queens of the Stoneage
or Placebo, Old Rock like The Beatles, Led
Zeppelin or Mike Oldfield, a little bit of Drum`n`Bass
and electronical music, a little bit of Ska…You see: I don`t care
that much about music genres. As long as it`s a good song I`ll listen
to it, no matter if it`s Metal, Rock or Techno. Any newcomers I
can recommend? Definitely Negator from Hamburg, they´re
kicking ass! Listen to their debut-album “Old Black”, it`s
great!
All right, we have come to an end here. For everyone who became
interested in Hagal, let us know what the current price
is (see order-address below). Do you care about distributing the
new CD now or is it meant only for demonstration of a certain circle
around Hagal? Future plans after reaching this point? Good
luck with your band, I hope to see you on stage soon again!
The current price for the “Sterbender Traum” is 10,- Euro
outside and inside Germany. Packing&shipment included. “Karg”
costs 7,- Euro outside Germany (inside it´s 5,- Euro). Packing&shipment
included. Everyone interested in our music shouldn`t hesitate to
get in contact! Hopefully we`ll play some gigs in 2005, so: Watch
out for Hagal in your town! Thanks a lot for this interview!
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