UNHOLY BLACK METAL » Interview with GEHENNA for Kill Yourself zine 1994

- Main
- Mission
- Bands
- Links
- Kontakt

## Interview with GEHENNA for Kill Yourself zine 1994

INTERVIEW WITH SANRABB FOR KILLYOURSELF!!! ZINE 94

The Norwegian scens has grown really bif lately and sad but true, but most of the newer bands are nothing but pathetic and ride only with the reputation of the older ones. Fortunately GEHENNA doesnt belong to these crap ones as they are able to bring something fresh to the scene. Atmospheric, majestic and sad Black Metal at its best! I talked with Sanrabb..

YOU HAVE JUST RECORDED YOUR SECOND ALBUM, “SEEN THROUGH THE VEILS OF DARKNESS (2nd SPELL)” FOR ENGLISH CACOPHONUS RECORDS, SO I WOULD LIKE YOU TO TELL SOMETHING ABOUT THIS RELEASE FOR OUR READERS- HOW WOULD YOU COMPARE THIS ALBUM TO YOUR FORMER RELEASES? HOW WENT THE RECORDINGS?
SANRABB: Yes, we finished these recordings in March this year, and we are very satisfied with the results, it is a natural progression from the “First Spell” album. The biggest difference between the two albums in style must be that this new one has a lot more variation in each song, and in one song from the other. It is still the same unmistakable GEHENNA material sound, but some parts are faster and some ara slower than on “First Spell”, and also more variation on the vocals, as Svartalv does vocals one song and Garm f rom ULVER/ ARCTURUS also does vocals in one song. As usual we felt a time preasure in the studio, but we are very pleased with the overall result as earlier stated. The minor dissatisfaction we feel as a cause of the time preasure we felt during the recording is something we can’t imagine will affect the overall listening- pleasure to the “public”.

WHAT ABOUT THIS DEAL WTTH CACOPHONUS? ARE THEY A LABEL WHICH DESERVES TO DO SOMETHING WITH GEHENNA? WHAT KIND OF CONTRACT YOU ACTUALLY HAVE AND HOW THE THINGS HAVE WORKED OUT? WHAT COUNTS MOST IN THE LABELS?
SANRABB: We choose CACOPHONUS because almost anyone with the money and will and maybe an ouns of a professional way of doing things would deserve something to do with GEHENNA as this is a very seldom thing to come by. Most labels nowadays can’ t do anything right, either that or they often are really slow ( of course not in all cases ). We do not really care as long as the labels get the job done in time and that they have professional way of organising distribution, printing, promotion, merchandicing as well as different economic issues such as studio costs, royalties, etc. Both CACOPHONUS and NECROMANTIC GALLERY PROD, fit this descreption on how labels should be. The reason for N. G. P. being mentioned is that they are releasing the vinyl version of “Seen Through The Veils Of Darkness (2nd Spell)”. The LP- version will be available during July this year (with gatefold sleeve and first 250 copies on blood red vinyl ), and the CD-version will be available in August

HOW ARE YOU FEELING ABOUT YOUR FORMER RELEASES, MEANING “BLACK SEARED HEART- DEMO, “ANCESTORS OF THE DARKLY SKY” AND “FIRST SPELL”- CD NOW WHEN THE NEW CD IS ON IT S WAY? DIDN’ T THE FIRST CD WERE SUPPOSED TO BE RELEASED AS A SPLIT ALBUM WITH NORWEGIAN ULVER? WHY DIDN’T THIS HAPPENED?
SANRABB: We are still very pleased and proud as hell of all our previous releases, there are very few things we would have done differently today. They are both primitive but both are real spinerippers. This covers the description of both the “Black Seared Heart’- demo and ‘Anchestor.1- 7″ EP, as they are the same recordings. “The First Spelf- CD is more melodic than demo/ 7″ EP, still not very different, just the natural development in the material. The only things that turned out differently ( kind of spaced out it was the lyncs. although still as dark and gloomy as ever. This also of course developed further as time went by, all the way to second spell. And the journey goes on_ It is correct that the original plans with “First Spell” was to release the CD- version as a Split CD with ULVER, but both the bands involved as well as HEAD NOT FOUND thought it it would be a good idea to just drop it and release them seperately instead. (Sanrabb and Garm argue to this every day what the front cover would have been, he-he!). In short, the band consepts are far too different from each other to be carammed onto the same CD- release.

YOUR STYLE IS FAIRLY ORIGINAL, SIMPLE BUT EXTREMELY ATHMOSPHERIC. MAJESTIC AND SORROWFUL BUCK METAL WITH INFLUENCES FROM BOTH BATHORY AND VENOM.. WHAT FASCINATES YOU TO CREATE THIS KIND OF MUSIC? HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE GEHENNA’ S STYLE AND WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT MY DESCRIBTION?
SANRABB: The only word we would add to your description is the word “melodic”, other than that you did a good job. In short, our music is inspired by/ reflects our thoughts and feelings.

NORWAY IS KNOWN AS THE LEADING BLACK METAL-COUNTRY FULL OF QUALITY-AND LESS QUALITY BANDS, SO NOW I WOULD LIKE TO ASK YOU WHAT DIFFERS YOU FROM THE OTHER BANDS IN YOUR COUNTRY, AND DO YOU THINK YOU CAN COMPETTTE WTTH SUCH NORWEGIAN LEGENDS AS BURZUM, DARKTHRONE, IMMORTAL AND EMPEROR? WHAT ARE YOUR WEAPONS TO SURVIVE IN THIS PLAGUE OF TREND (OUR SCENE!) ANYWAY?
SANRABB: Yes, Norway has got many fine products, even the song “Nocturne” that won the Grand Prix is actually a good song, at least compared with the low Grand Prix standard boring crap. Norway is a very independant and leading country, hell, we are not even members of EU, isn’ t it grand? But about your question, the Norwegian Black Metal scene seems to do quite well these days, but it is not as if we look upon it as the only country capable of bringing, just take the likes of: ABSU/ EQUIMANTHORN, MORBID, ANGEL, DEICIDE, ROTTING CHRIST, MONU-MENTUM, MARDUK, WAS.P, MANOWAR, KISS and of course BATHORY, VENOM, HELLHGAMMER/ FROST, MERCYFUL FATE, POSSESSED, etc. We do not care to “compete” with either BURZUM, DARKTHRONE, EMPEROR nor IMMORTAL, just be the best you can be and all will take care of itself.

THEN HOW DO YOU SEE NORWEGIAN SCENE TODAY, WHICH BANDS YOU RESPECT AND WHICH ONES YOU DISLIKE (I ASK THIS OFTEN AS I WOULD LIKE TO SPREAD DISBALANCE AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE!)? CAN YOU SAY WILL YOUR SCENE STAY AS A LEADING ONE IN THE FUTURE TOO? IS THE BLACK CIRCLE STILL EXISTING AFTER DEATH OF EURO-NYMOUS (R.I.P.), VARG VIKERNES IS IN JAIL AND ALSO PART OF EMPEROR HAS BEEN JAILED? HAS THERE BEEN ANY “SATANIC- CRIMES AFTER THESE HAPPENINGS?
SANRABB: The Norwegian scene has some quality new bands to offer, like KVIST, DIES IRAE, ZYKLON- B and some others. This late “trend” has also bought some worthless music/ bands like DISMAL IRONY and FISWIND, and many more, but who cares about such anyway??? After Euronymous died it seems as if shit- bands get easier “accepted” more attention than what they deserve than before. There was a church thabt burnt down just a week ago, so there are still some “crimes” happening.

IT SEEMS LIKE THERE HAS BEEN QUITE MANY LINE- UP CHANGES N GEHENNA, SO IS IT HARD TO FIND SUITABLE MEMBERS FOR YOU? WILL THE CURRENT LINE- UP BE THE FINAL? WHAT IS YOUR RELEATIONSHIP WITH OTHER MEMBERS WITH GEHENNA. ARE YOU TRUE FRIENDS OR JUST FRENDS BECAUSE OF THE BAND? WOULD YOU BE READY TO BREAK YOUR FRENDSHPS TO MAKE THE BAND WORK BETTER?
SANRABB: Yes, it has been difficult and it has taken quite some time to find the right and stable line- up, and this line- up will propably hold, but one never knows what might happen of course. Well, we (Sanrabb and Dolgarj have Known each other/ been friends since childhood and always had the same interests, but as for the other members (Svartalv, Sarcana and Dirge Rep) the band is the origin for our friendship. There has been some kind of “fuck off attitude” between some members at times, but the band has kept it from going further than that, ironic enough the band usually is the reason for this sort of attitude problems, the band comes first To keep a professional profile one must act professional, so if kicking someone out of the band because the are acting unprofessionally must mean breaking the friendship then the answer must be yes.

HOW SERIOUSLY YOU TAKE GEHENNA, IS THERE SOME THINGS YOU PUT BEFORE n? WHAT ARE YOUR GOALS AS A BAND AND AS A MUSICIAN? WHAT MUSIC MEANS TO YOU? WHAT ARE YOU DOING BESIDES GEHENNA?
SANRABB: GEHENNA is a huge time- consumer, so most of our thoughts and actions are done as a band and for the band. There is nothing that comes before the band. This is the way of life we have chosen where we express our thoughts and feelings, as well as our philosofies. Our goals as far as the band goes are to progress as far as humanly possible both in the making of music and in the capabilities of preforming our music. To live of our music and to die by our music, meaning to make a living out of it without compromising. We spend our time mostly thinking and reflecting upon different issues than concern us, and later put the results of our brain work to life through our music.

IN -DET SVARTE ALVOR– TV- PROGRAM WAS TOLD THAT GEHENNA WAS SUPPOSED TO PLAY GIG SOMEWHERE THERE IN NORWAY, BUT SOME INGORANT PEOPLE WERE AGAINST IT, SO YOU DIDN’ T GET THE GK3_ SO PLEASE TELL SOMETHING ABOUT THIS, HAVE YOU FACED ANY OTHER PROBLEMS WITH CHRISTIANS AND OTHER LOW- LIFE THERE? HOW DOES NORMAL PEOPLE ACT AGAINST BLACK DRESSED AND LONG HAIRED PEOPLE NOW AFTER THESE LOT TALKED RADICAL HAPPENINGS WITH MAYHEM, BURZUM, EMPEROR AND SUCH?
SANRABB: It is true that the “church city commision” protested against our gig, but they lost, and we got to do the gig after all. The reason why they protested was because we were a death cult, and we were against all the good forces that protects life, etc, and because our “satanic” stage- act as well as the contents of our lyrics. The ideologic directions of the band was compared to Fascist And this, as you can imagine did not really charm these people. Politics have absolutely nothing to do with this kind of music. Refering to it if we have had other problems with such scum: no, this was the only time, but the police in Norway is another story, as they have a tendency to bother everyone with long/ shoulder long hair and more than one black piece of clothing. Concering normal people, they sometimes stop and stare, nothing more.

NEXT YOU COULD TELL SOMETHING ABOUT LYRICAL SIDE OF GEHENNA, IN WHICH SUBJECTS YOUR POEMS ARE BASED TO? I WOULD ALSO LIKE YOU TO GIVE US THE TRACK LIST OF YOUR NEW ALBUM AND TELL SOMETHING ABOUT MEANING OF EVERY. SONG IN IT._ FROM WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR BIGGEST INSPIRATIONS?
SANRABB: As well as the music itself, the lyrics are inspired by/ reflects our thoughts and feelings. Most of them differ from each other (talking about the poems), but mostly they deal with Magic and the worlds thereof, the stars/ planets, and the forces that govern the whole of cosmos. Keywords are: Pain, romance, mysticism, pleasure, death as a gate to new life, and really our thoughts and feelings on these subjects. The titles on our new LP are: “Lord Of Flies”, “Shairak-kinnumh”, “The Mystical Play Of Shadows”, “Vinterriket”, “The Eyes Of The Sun”, “A Myth_”, “A Witch Is Born”, “Dark Poems Author”, “Through The Veils Of Darkness”. Talking about each and every lyric would be like quoting the entire piece, so read them on the sleeve when the album is out.

I HAVE WONDERED THIS MANY TIMES WITHOUT GETTING AN ANSWER, SO NOW I WOULD LIKE TO ASK YOU, DO YOU THINK THAT SOME BEAUTIFUL DAY CHRISTIANITY (AS WELL AS OTHER BRAINLESS RELIGIONS) WILL COME TO AN END? IS IT POSSIBLE THAT PEOPLE WILL REALIZE THAT ALL THIS IS A BIG, RIDICULOUS LIE!? WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ABOUT RELIGIONS AND IN WHAT DO YOU BELIVE? IS GEHENNA CONNECTED WITH SATANISM IN ANY WAY?
SANRABB: GEHENNA does not write directly Satanic lyrics or say that our band is entirely devoted to Satan, but we are all into Occultism, and thus we do study also Satanic literature and traditions. We must also not forget that Satan is the name the Christian bible have chosen for everything that is evil, or that strives against their supressive god. The bible has in my opinion simplyfied the entire concept of evil and/ or occultism far too much. Satan is the biblic personofication of evil, and I will say that there is alot more than that
Will Christianity come to an end? If people open their eyes it will, but some are already blinded and brainwashed to the extent when they do not control even 0.5 % of their own lives, so it is hard to say.

THERE IN NORWAY HAS BLOWED UP A NEW TREND, VIKING METAL AND SUDDENLY EVERYBODY ARE “HIGHLY” INTERESTED IN NORWEGIAN HISTORY.. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THIS? ARE YOU INTERESTED IN THIS KIND OF THINGS? DOES “VIKINGISM” HAVE SOMETHING TO WITH BLACK METAL?
SANRABB: GEHENNA does not write Viking lyrics and/ or lyrics based on Norwegian history, but of course we like to know about our country1 s past So we read or have read some books on these subjects too, but absolutely not to the extent that some others do or have done. Viking metal and Black metal is not the same, although some bands may have the same sound stule

PERSONALLY I THINK YOU ARE VERY YOUNG BAND, FORMED IN 1993, SO NOW t M FORCED
TO ASK WHAT YOU WERE DOING BEFORE GEHENNA, DO YOU HAVE ANY “DIRTY SECRETS” LIKE MOST OF TODAY’S BLACK METAL BANDS DO? HOW LONG YOU HAVE BEEN INTO THIS KIND OF MUSIC AND HOW LONG YOU THINK YOUR INTEREST WILL LAST?
SANRABB: I have been into Metal since I was 8- 9 years old, starting with my interest in bands like WASP, KISS, MOTLEY _ CRUE and many more ( I still listen to most of these bands today ). The first Black metal album I ever heard was BATHO-RY “Under The Sign Of The Black Mark”, and I was totally amazed by that album (and still is). So I have been into the music for quite some time now.
Yes, we are a young band, but as I said, we did not start listening to this music just 3 years ago. The reason why we formed GEHENNA in ‘ 93 is simply because we (Sannrab and myself) did not want to form a band until we were able to handle our instruments well enough and to produce quality music.
Our most “dirty secret” must be some of the shitty stuff we had to rehearse in ‘ 91-’ 92 to learn to handle our guitars properly, like the most awfull conversations, extremely bad riffs we made, etc, but everyone that knows how to handle a instrument knows that one has to do some shit the first years to learn to play. As for the interest, this is not something that will fade away with the trend.

I KNOW THAT BEFORE YOUR DEBUT CD WAS RECORDED YOU ENTERED TO STUDIO TO RECORD THAT VERY SAME ALBUM, BUT FOR REASON OR ANOTHER YOU QUITED THE JOB AND NOTHING WAS FINISHED, SO PLEASE, INFORM US WHAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED? WHY DIDN’T YOU FINISHED THE RECORDINGS?
SANRABB: Yes, we entered a studio in January ‘ 94 to record our debut LP/ CO, and the reasons why we ended are actually many; the first day we recorded was a big disappointment with the studio and the producer, this was clearly a first time a metak band had been in this studio. The producer did not know shit of how to give us the sound we wanted at all, and for the price this studio wanted, it was not worth it, as we would have been forced to borrow a lot of equipment, etc, and do a lot of the work a producer is payed for ourselves. Also, we found out that if we spent a little more time rehearsing, etc, first we would be able to the songs lot better. At this time Sarcana was not yet the member either, so we also wanted skilled keyboardist instead of Sanrabb or me doing it, as we are not really good at playing keyboard ourselves, at least not compared with Sarcana.
The only result we gained from this session was three half finished recordings with a lot of errors, etc. Only two of these unfinished songs exists today, and we have been spreading it a little around, but not anymore. These two songs are re- recorded on our new album.

FOR WHAT KIND OF PEOPLE YOU ARE MAKING YOUR MUSIC AND HOW MUCH YOU CARE WHAT OTHER PEOPLE SAY OR THINK ABOUT GEHENNA? CAN YOU STAND NEGATIVE CRITICISM? DOES IT BOTHER YOU WHEN YOU KNOW THAT ALL KIND OF STUPID 15- YEAR OLDKIDS ARE BUYING YOUR RECORDS AND WEARING YOUR T- SHIRTS?
SANRABB: First and foremost we are doing this for ourselves, and for those that will like our music and lyrics, that is of course great Negative criticism is better than if people lie and say that they like it but really don’t, but needles to say, it is of course inspiring to get some good critics. If ONLY stupid 15-year old’ s ran around in our T- shirts and listening to our music, then I would care, but that is not the case. Sure I get irritated when I see some of these asshole kids, but they will grow up too, and if they stiil listen to the same music then it’ s ok. Better to see these 15- year old’ s than to see Christian 15- year old’ s. The worst thing is if they start a band of their own, which happens from time to time, so I am always sceptical to new bands these days. (Unless I know the persons of course).

“ANCHESTORS IN THE DARKLY SKY”-7″ EP FEATURES ONLY REMIXED DEMO-MATERIAL, SO WHY DIDN’T YOU RECORDED SOME NEW MATERIAL FOR THIS VINYL INSTEAD OF USING OLD SONGS? WEREN’T YOU AFRAID THAT PEOPLE COULD CONCIDER IT AS A RIP OFF? I MEAN, THIS VINYL IS QUITE UNUSEFUL AND WORTHLESS FOR PEOPLE WHO ALREADY HAVE FANTASTIC “BLACK SEARED HEART- DEMO?
SANRABB: Well, the “Black Seared Heart”- demo was only released in 100 original copys, and since there would probably be more people interested in hearing the material, we decided to release two of the songs as a 7″ EP. Now, the reason why we chose to not reprint the entire demo again on tape, is because it would have cost too much money, and we were totally broke, so it was either the 7″ or nothing at all. Besides, we prefer Vinyl instead of tapes (and instead of CD’ s). We wrote in all interviews, etc, that the 7″ only featured songs from the demo, so people should not see it as a rip off. The 7″ was for those that did not have the demo. Anyway, we have thought a little about re- releasing the entire demo now, but on Vinyl LP and with some other recordings that have so far not been offically released, as it seems that some people are very interested in getting their hands on this material, and it is a lot better to got it offically released than that people should listen to bad sound quality cop/ s of copy1 s on tape. If some think it is a rip off, they simply don’t have to buy it, this is for those whom are interested in the material and whom do not already have it By the way, the 7″ was not remixed, only remastered, which was necessary to be able to print it.

JUST FOR AN INTEREST I WOULD LIKE TO ASK HOW DO YOU SEE FINNISH SCENE, DO WE HAVE ANYTHING INTERESTING TO OFFER? HOW WOULD YOU COMPARE PUNISH AND NORWEGIAN SCENE TOGETHER? CAN YOU QUESS WHY MOST OF THE BEST, ATHMOSPHERIC AND DARKEST BLACK METAL BANDS HAVE GATHERED INTO NORTH? DOES OUR NORTHERN ATHMOSPHERE HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH THIS?
SANRABB: Yes, the northern athmosphere has probably a lot to do with this, just like the bands from Greece have a totally different athmosphere, and different sound. I would not really know how to compare the Finnish and Norwegian scene, but you got some interesting bands to offer. I like to first BEHERIT- LP’ s, most of IMPALED NAZARENE’ s material kick’ s ass as well as a few others. Anyway, I get the impression that your scene is not as strong as it was a few years ago, but maybe I’ m wrong.

SORRY TO SAY BUT I THINK YOU ARE WRONG- I WOULD ADVICE YOU TO LOOK OUT FOR NATTVINDENS GRAT, DARKWOODS MY BETROTHED, THROM-DARR AND AZAZEL- BUT BACK TO THE BUSINESS- HOW MUCH YOU HAVE RECEIVED INTERVIEWS AND WITH WHICH FEELINGS YOU ANSWER THEM? HAVE YOU EVER REFUSED TO ANSWER SOMEBODY? HOW MUCH ‘ ZINES DOES HELP BANDS LIKE GEHENNA TO GET MORE KNOWN? CAN YOU LIST SOME MAGAZINES WHO HAVE INTERVIEWED YOU?
SANRABB: Zines are a great way of promoting a band, both by interviews and reviews, and one get’ s to explain more about the band, etc. i have refused to answer some interviews, as some contains English so bad that it is next to impossible to understand, and I have also received interviews with handwritting that I don’t understand a fuckin’ word from, but I answer most of those I get. How long and interesting answers I give all depends on the questions, and if there are some questions that I have answered a billion times before I tend to get tired of repeating myself and sometimes I give short answers.
Some of the best’ zines we have appeared in are TALES OF THE MACABRE, PETRIFIED, ORNAMENT, NORDIC VISION, SLAYER, DESCENT and many more. Lately there has also been some interest from big magazines like KERRANG, SUB- TERRA/ METAL HAMMER.

BEFORE WE END THIS INTERVIEW I WANT TO ASK WHAT WOULD BE THAT SONG OF YOURS YOU WOULD UKE PEOPLE TO REMEMBER GEHENNA AFTER YOUR JOURNEY IS FINALLY OVER?
SANRABB: For me that is today impossible to answer just one song, but I hope we will be able to produce a lot of material before the journey ends.

I GUESS IT WAS ALL NECESSARY FOR THIS THE. THANKS TO YOU DOLGAR! WOULD YOU STLL LIKE TO ADD SOMETHING? MERCHANDICE?
SANRABB: Thanx for your support! Watch out for our Vinyls and CD’s.. Remember to enclose IRC if you write for info!