1. Dödsrit has been active since 2017, first as a one man band and then completing the line-up and making the leap as a band. How did the idea of creating the band come about? Why did you choose the name Dödsrit and what does it refer to?
-Me and Christoffer have been close friends for quite some time, we know each other through our previous band. I booked a few shows for Totem Skin in Amsterdam & also released their music via my label in the past as well. We always wanted to play music together, but due to us living in different countries we never really looked into it, but I guess at some point things just went the way they went and we ended up playing together in Dödsrit.
2. When Dödsrit made the leap to a full band, you had to face the pandemic and the fact that its members lived in a couple of different countries, I suppose the situation would not be entirely easy, however your fourth studio album “ Nocturnal Will” is already ready, perhaps this has been the album to which you could dedicate more time? How has the writing and recording process of this new album been and what have you modified with respect to the past? What brand of instruments have you used in the process?
I have to admit that the writing process for Mortal Coil wasn't that difficult. both me and Christoffer had a lot of ideas, and with me joining on to the songwriting & some of the production aspects, we felt the songwriting went quite smoothly. of course, due to the pandemic it was hard to get together for rehearsals and such. it still wasn't an easy time for us, but mainly because of other personal reasons. I do think we put more time into the writing of Nocturnal Will, but I think that was mostly just a natural progress. I believe that every artist will try to write and record an album that will surpass their previous one. so of course, we didn't want to rush things, even tho I can't deny it was quite a stressful year. we play quite a lot of different brands of instruments. but mostly it's always been old Gibson guitars & basses, Soldano, Sovtek & Verellen Amplifiers, and DW & Tama drums.
3. It is not easy to describe the sound of the new album, you have always been characterized by offering an elaborate guitar sound where both intensity and melody come together, an icy atmosphere and styles such as black and crust carrying the weight. In terms of sound, how would you describe the sound of the new album for those who have not heard it yet? What sounds and bands are a reference for you when composing music?
"Mournful Hymns of Archaic Strength & Heroic Bloodshed."
There have been quite a lot of influences on this album, both from older and newer bands, as well as styles of music or artists you wouldn't expect or hear back. anywhere from Gudsforladt to Vanum, and from Ozzy Osbourne to X Japan.
4. It is true that this tone of rage and violence in your music, along with certain melodic elements, lend themselves perfectly to the interpretation of lyrics with a certain depressive tone and personal problems. Where do the ideas for the lyrics come from?
Yes, ours are personal & sometimes somewhat cryptic in a sense. I would say the strive of living is what brings the ideas for the lyrics.
5. There are two essential aspects in the sound of the new album that I mentioned previously, one is without a doubt the fantastic guitar sound, full of rage and melody and the other is Christoffer's voices, full of rage and intensity. Have you especially worked on these two aspects for the new album? Where do those crust influences come from in your sound?
I wouldn't say we worked especially on any of it. when we write music, we always try to just let it flow naturally rather than trying to force something. these influences come mainly through the fact that we're punks ourselves haha.
6. The involvement of Georgios Maxouris in the recording and production process of your sound is something that remains almost unchanged throughout all your albums, is it something already inherent to the band's sound that arises from when Dödsrit was a one man band? Have you been tempted to work with other people to advance this part of the album's creation?
Well, I've only been involved with Mortal Coil & Nocturnal Will. Before that it was Alexander that took all the aspects of recording on him. We haven't considered working with someone else at the moment. we've been quite satisfied with the results we've been able to get ourselves & with Alexander. but who knows what the future will bring.
7. The same thing happens with people like Alexander Backlund and Jack Shirley, how would you describe the work of these two professionals when it comes to shaping your sound? What bond unites you?
Working with Jack Shirley has always been a delight. I worked with him before on some other projects that I recorded / produced, and always manages to add that last bit that was missing with his mastering skills. Alexanders has been quite important to us in the band, not only because he's an amazing engineer, but also because we consider him a good friend. it's quite funny when I think about it, I know Alexanders as long as I know Christoffer haha. we met when they were on tour with Totem Skin in 2014 if I recall correct? so I guess time also bonds us in a way.
8. The cover in this case has been created by Burney, with a similar line to your previous album, why did you decide to work with Burney? What does this cover represent and how does it relate to the content of the album?
We decided to work with Burney because we felt his art would resonate perfectly with the music we wrote. working together with him was an amazing experience, since he know how to perfectly translate our music with his artwork. the cover can represent a lot of things. to me, it represents catharsis. something that has always been essential to our band, but i'll leave the interpretation to the listener.
9. Wolves of Hades will release the album, this record label is owned by your guitarist Georgios, at what point did Georgios decide to start a record label and at what point did you make the decision to work with him to release your releases?
I think the idea for Wolves of Hades started somewhere in 2013 before it became an official label in 2014. I always released all my music myself because I wanted to have full control over my releases, and since I also needed some kind of banner to represent the projects I was involved with. not much has changed with the label. I still mostly release music that I'm involved with one way or another, and projects of friends. and as mentioned before, we're all punks, so the DIY ethic is quite deep-rooted in us. so as you can imagine, it made more sense for us to continue to self-release our music via Wolves of Hades, rather than sign with a bigger label.
10. In your beginnings the band was halfway between Holland and Sweden, are there many differences between the black metal scene of both countries? Being now based in Sweden, what do you miss most about Holland? How would you describe the Swedish extreme metal scene, especially talking about new bands?
We're still half-way between Holland and Sweden to be fair hahaha! of course there's quite some differences between both scenes, but that goes for every scene. the only one that is based in Sweden still is Christoffer. Sweden has always had some of the best bands if you ask me, one of my favourite current bands out of Sweden has to be Ultra Silvam! it was quite funny, I booked a show for them a few year ago, and when the band arrived at the venue, I found out that their frontman was a penpal of my from years ago. of course I didn't know this before since the project is somewhat anonymous in a sense, but that sure was a fun coincidence.
11. How were your beginnings in music: first concerts you attended, first albums you bought? What happened in your lives that pushed you to want to be musicians?
Oh damn this is quite a good question... this really is nostalgic to look back to:
First concert: I think it might have been English Dogs, Municipal Waste or Destruction somewhere in Amsterdam? we were quite lucky that back then we would have pretty much every week at least 1 or 2 punk or metal shows going on in Amsterdam alone (and in Eindhoven and Tilburg as well, but they had more of a metal-oriented scene compared to Amsterdam) I miss those times. nowadays Amsterdam is just a fucking amusement park for rich snobs and tourists.
First album: I don't remember the first album I bought with my own money.. I think it might actually have been Slayer - Show No Mercy? I didn't really start collecting records until I was 13-14 since I was too broke to buy records, and all my money pretty much went straight into going to shows, and getting the much cheaper 7" when available. but I remember the first album I got as a gift, which was Possessed - Seven Churches! I was quite lucky to get my hands straight on the gems when it came down to music at a young age hehehe.
What made me want to be a musician: in all honesty, it just came somewhat naturally to me. I've been obsessed with music ever since I can remember, and because of that, I decided to pick up an instrument. originally I wanted to be a drummer, but my parents didn't want to deal with the noise, so because of that I ended up picking up the guitar. ironically enough, they probably had to deal with the same amount of noise in the end haha!
12. What album represents for you the essence of black metal? What latest albums have you bought?
Black metal (or any genre for that matter) can't be summed up by just one album or some set of rules if you ask me. I think i've said this before in some other interview, but I think for example that The Devil's Blood is more "black metal" than for example the one in a dozen copycats trying to sound & look like the Scandinavian second-wave bands.
Fun story: I went to one of my local record stores to drop off some titles from my label, and at that same moment they just received a collection with some classics I was still missing.. so I bascially ended up trading that delivery for, Vio-lence - Eternal Nightmare, Discharge - Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing, Slayer - Haunting the Chapel, Slayer - Hell awaits and a few more.
Georgios
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