1. The band started around 2015, but before that, you were all part of another band called By the Patient. Why did you decide to form Orm immediately after By the Patient disbanded? Why did you choose the name Orm, and what does it refer to?
After our lead singer left By The Patient, we wanted to try something else and explore a different sound. So we decided to form a new band with a more black-metal oriented sound and called it ORM. ORM means worm or snake in Danish, and is inspired by the norse mythological create ‘Midgårds-ormen’ usually translated to ‘The world serpent’.
2. Today, your fourth full-length album, "Guld," is being released. However, looking back to 2015, most of your albums have achieved well-deserved recognition. What are your feelings about the band's career since that initial self-titled album released in 2017? Was the break with your past, referring to By the Patient, complete, or do you still retain some elements of that era in your sound?
We’re immensely proud of our career. We’ve worked extremely hard to get this far, and we’ve not taken any shortcuts. Our decision to write such long songs have effectively excluded us from many playlists and promotional opportunities, but we’ve always done this for our own vision, and not for commercial reasons.
I think we’ve always carried some identity from By The Patient, after all, we’re most of the band. That being said, I think the new album has a stronger connection to our melodic death metal roots than has ever before been the case with ORM. So in a way, we’re connecting a little bit more with our pre-ORM past.
3. How did you approach the songwriting and recording process for “Guld”? How has the new bassist, Malthe, adapted to the band's working style? What brands of instruments did you use during the recording process?
We wrote the main bulk of ‘GULD’ in much the same way as we always do; mainly in our rehearsal space, arranging riffs and working out song structure and dynamics. However, the previous three albums we’ve recorded mostly live, with all the main instruments playing together and recorded, without a click track. This time, we wanted to do it differently, so we chose a more ‘modern’ approach: most sections are recorded to a click and each instrument is recorded separately. We did this to challenge ourselves, and to get a more stringent and razor sharp character to the sound.
Malthe has been a great addition to our writing and recording process. He’s actually a guitarist, but in ORM he plays the bass. He has a stronger background in music theory, so he has contributed a lot of nuance in how the bass progresses around the riffs, subtly changing the harmonics of the sections as they evolve.
4. Since the beginning, Orm has been characterized by a sound that, while maintaining a focus on a classic style, incorporates different elements such as a certain progressive character, a balance between melody and aggression, and even, if you will, a certain folk character. What inspired you to compose the music for “Guld”? How would you describe the sound of the new album?
The new album has a more raw, cutting and aggressive tone. There are still many progressive elements, but everything is just faster, shorter and more chaotic. We set out to write a record with shorter songs, and we wanted to focus on the riffs and melodies this time, and less on the long atmospheric build-ups. We never want to repeat ourselves
5. In your lyrics, at least in the past, you used mythology as a metaphor for human problems. Is this still the case today? Where does this approach to lyrics come from, and how do you manage to combine two seemingly disparate themes?
When writing lyrics, we want to write about something that we ourselves can relate to. This time, each song is about a certain negative emotion or pattern of behaviour that we see in ourselves and our surroundings. To bring these themes to life, we’ve framed them in scenes and atmospheres from old European folklore, and also from more modern Danish folk stories.
6. There isn't much information about the recording, mixing, and mastering process for the new album. Did you handle it yourselves, or did you work in a professional studio?
We recorded the drums in Black Tornado Studios, like we’ve done for the previous two recordings. All the rest is recorded in our own studio. It’s mixed by Simon and assisted by Theis. Broad Boatright, who we’ve worked with before, did the mastering.
7. You've maintained a connection with the record label Indisciplinarian Records for the release of your music since the beginning. What can you tell us about Indisciplinarian, since I see they only release Danish bands? Have other record labels approached you about working with you?
Indisciplinarian are friends of ours, but also they share our vision of art for the sake of art, and not commercials. We’ve talked with many other record companies through the years, but we’ve stuck with Indisciplinarian, because we feel safe there and because they do a great job. Making music in this niche is an economic catastrophe, so staying clear of commercial interests that could push us or manipulate us in a certain direction has always been a priority for us, and we know that Indisciplinarian also do it for the passion and the art, and not the money.
8. The cover art for "Guld" is perhaps more intricate and complex than any of your previous work. Who designed the album cover? What does it represent, and how does it relate to the album's content?
The cover art is made by Asger W. Krogh, who has created this collage by hand for the album cover. When we saw his collage work, we thought it would be a great fit for an album cover for us, so we set him on this task. He worked for a long time on it while we wrote the album in parallel. As the album neared completion he showed us his work and we were blown away, and his artwork inspired us to the album title ‘GULD’.
The collage consists mainly of wood carvings from Norse churches on a background of golden treasures. This fits well with the mythological and folk-lore inspired lyrics.
9. What is your opinion of the current state of the black metal scene in a country like Denmark? Do you feel there has been a resurgence of extreme metal in your country in the last decade, for example? Which Danish black metal bands would you recommend? Since your beginnings with By the Patient in 2006, what do you think has changed the most in black metal, from your perspective?
I think the black metal scene in Denmark is extremely strong; we have many great bands that have also just now released awesome new albums – so the competition is strong! There has definitely happened a lot in the metal scene in Denmark in general since 2006; and I think most of it is for the best. In the mid 2010s when we started ORM, other bands like Solbrud and Morild also rose to "popularity", and we’ve often shared the stage with them through the years.
10. What concert plans do you have for the live presentation of “Guld”? What can your fans expect from one of your concerts?
We are right now, as I write this, playing 3 special and unique concerts in Copenhagen, covering material from our full discography, and with extra orchestration of strings and brass. Aside from that, we won’t actually be out playing any concerts in the near future, because we simply need to prioritise our families.
11. How did you get started in music: the first concerts you attended, the first albums you bought? What event in your lives pushed you to want to be musicians?
Personally, growing up in the 90s, I started listening a lot to the rock and metal bands of the time: System of a Down, Deftones, Metallica, Slipknot and stuff like that. Then I got into Slayer and other faster stuff, and I quickly delved into more extreme death metal. I mainly played Funk and jazz/rock before, but I got a double pedal, and when I was at boarding school as a teenager I didn’t do much else than practice drums! A year later, I submitted an ad at a Danish musicians’ message board looking for a band, and the guys from By The Patient responded and I joined the band – even though the other guys lived on the island of Bornholm, and the transport time to the rehearsal space was ~8 hours and included a ferry.
12. Which album represents the essence of black metal for you? What are the most recent albums you have bought?
That’s a hard question. Personally I never actually listened a lot to the classic black metal albums, except for Ulver’s ‘Nattens Madrigal’. Dissection is also a favourite of mine, blending black metal with more melodic death metal vibes. Watain and Wolves in the Throne Room are also some of my favourites. I also recently started revisiting some of the classic Dimmu Borgir albums. Most recently, I’ve listened a lot to the new Morild album, which is really good.
13. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer these questions for Black Metal Spirit. If you'd like to add anything for Orm's fans, this is the place. I hope you enjoy the questions.
Thanks for the thorough questions! All I want to say to the fans is that they should listen to the new album, and if they like it, buy it or buy some of our merch or support us in another way if they can.
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