Interview - THORNIUM

Martín: Hails! It has been a long time since the beginning of this project called THORNIUM, tell us about the story of the band and the years in silence.

Thyph: Hi. THORNIUM started with only me in the band back in 1992 - 1993. I recorded a demo called North Storms Of The Bestial Goatsign in 1993. It resulted in a deal with the Dutch Necromantic Gallery Productions. And in 1994 I recorded the debut album Dominions Of The Eclipse with Ulverheim on guitar. A while after that things in my life took a more dramatic turn. I got involved into criminal activities and ended up in prison in 1998 for the first time. Things got quite stormy for a few years and THORNIUM more or less faded away. Until a couple of years ago when me and Ulverheim started talking about reviving THORNIUM again.

M: How was your contact with the musical scene during the years in prison? Did you have the opportunity to compose some stuff?

T: No, I did not have any possibility to play an instrument or write new material. And I didn´t have any contact with the music scene during those years. But I still listened to metal on my CD-walkman, I ordered new CD´s by mail.

M: Anyway, the new album of THORNIUM is out now, and seems to be very strong and darker. How do you describe “Fides Luciferius”?

T: Perhaps it’s a bit more worked through than the last album. We choose to have a clear production this time because it just fits the music more, according to our ears at least. I still think it has a very powerful sound. "Fides Luciferius" delivers a very dark and occult aura in my opinion!

M: What themes inspire the songs? Is there a main concept behind “Fides Luciferius”?

T: I think the title says it all. I am very much interested in the occult and darkness in general. The lyrics sum up my path in those areas.

M: Is it difficult to find inspiration writing always about death, darkness, occultism and stuff like that?

T: Not really, I have always found an interest in death and darkness. I was very much into old horror movies as a young kid. Like old Dracula movies with Christoffer Lee for example. And studying the left hand path gives me a world of darkness to write about. But I would not rule out writing about some even more personal experiences from my own life in the future. I don´t see myself forced by some rules about how Black Metal lyrics should be written. I am not compelled to write about death and darkness, but as mentioned, it interests me...



M: Can you list few bands or experiences that influenced you to be in the Black Metal scene?

T: I listened to Bathory quite early and back in the beginning of the nineties bands such as Emperor and Darkthrone caught my interest. Followed by some other bands that are seen as pioneers today. What makes me stay in the scene today? The special sound and the dark aura that is Black Metal just speaks to me in a way, I couldn’t try explaining it in words, but the first minute I heard it many years ago, it grabbed me. And that’s the feeling I try to create myself with my music.

M: The album sounds really good, how were the recording sessions? Are you satisfied with the results?

T: We recorded everything ourselves. We have enough knowledge about the recording, mixing and mastering process to do a decent job ourselves. We would of course enter a studio if we had sufficient funds, but being on a small label with a small budget we would have little time to record our album in a studio. Therefore we choose not to enter a studio. We want to take our time with the process and not hurry. There will always be the need to change some details here and there, which eats up a lot of time. And time is money inside a studio. Anyway, I’m satisfied with the overall result even if there is a couple of small things that could have been different. We ran into a couple of small issues during the recordings which took a lot of energy to solve. But I think the result speaks for itself, it’s powerful!

M: Are you planning to play live? What can we expect about THORNIUM´s live on stage?

T: Yes, in fact, we have three shows planned this year so far. Barth Metal Open Air festival in Germany august 21, a show in Trollhättan in Sweden with Impious august 27 and a Black Metal festival in Umeå, Sweden in November 26-27 with bands such as Shining, Ondskapt etc. We will hopefully go on a tour next year too, but that is only being talked about at this point.

M: Sweden is one of the most important countries for Black / Death Metal. How do you see the scene from the inside?

T: Yeah, the scene have always been vibrant over here. The Death Metal scene more so. And more in the nineties than now, but it’s moving up once again. We have a lot of great bands here but the live scene leaves much to be desired.

M: What is your opinion about music in our days with the internet and mp3 downloads?

T: If we talk about downloading it’s a complex question, we sell a lot less CD´s nowadays compared with our first album that was released back in 1995. But a lot more people have heard our music because of downloading. The international live scene is also a lot more vibrant these days, since most big bands can’t make a living on CD sales alone, which is a positive thing. Music should be experienced first hand from a band on stage, that’s my opinion at least. On the other hand, the studio budget is probably shrinking for a lot of small bands the more people download. Which result in worse productions. On the other hand small bands can record a lot themselves, with the help of downloaded programs.

M: Thank you very much for your time. Here you have space to write what you want as farewell.

T: Fides Luciferius!

http://www.myspace.com/thetruethornium
http://www.thornium.com/
http://www.soulsellerrecords.com/