Diskord
Diskord
Hails, how are things in Norway this summer?
Channard: It's hotter than hell.
Will you start off by introducing yourself and tell us why you play metal?
Channard: I'm the guitar player and I play metal because our parents hate it.
HJ: I'm Hans Jørgen, the drummer, filling in Channard's mind-blanks. I play metal because I'm a nobody in a world of somebody.
Eyvind: Hey ho, I'm the bass player, and I'm just in it for the girls.
How did Diskord start out and what have you so far accomplished?
Channard: Me and HJ started out in the glorious days of 1999 and about a year later Eyvind joined the force. Our first demo was recorded in 2001, but we do not really endorse that piece of crap anymore. Demo #2 was recorded the following year and in 2003 we recorded three songs for a yet unreleased EP.
HJ: I like demo#1. We have also played with a lot of cool bands, like Noplacetohide and Cadaver (RIP). Finally we have gotten an album deal, that's about what we have accomplished so far.
You have so far released 2 demos, where the latest one "Aural Abjection" really stands out as something special and refreshing. How do you feel about the music on the demo, here a year or so after it was released?
Channard: Taken into account that we had limited resources, the result was good for a demo, I think, but not optimal. The best songs will make it to the debut album.
HJ: I think it's a good demo, although it's sad it has only been released on CD-R. I hope someone will do a tape version or vinyl version of it or perhaps parts of it. I like some of the songs a lot, but hopefully our full length will be more mature in the style, with no fillers in it, only interesting songs.
Eyvind: I think it is a good demo, and I like the way it sometimes strays way off the "beaten path".
How has the demo been received?
HJ: Extremely well, by the lucky few who have actually heard it. It's nice to get so generally supportive feedback that we have, considering the music is not for everyone. A lot of people in the Norwegian scene are mostly fans of black metal, but often we hear: "I usually don't appreciate death metal, but I like Diskord".
How has the band developed since then?
Channard: I've become more heavily attached to alcohol and generally live a life of debauchery and rebellion.
HJ: Given the couple of years since the demo was finished we have become a better live act, improved as musicians, and most importantly, in a greater sense found a style for our creative output, whereas before we more or less only had our sound to glue our stuff together.
Who are writing the music in the band?
HJ: All of us. There is a huge difference in how each of us creates our songs, this provides a creative diversity, which can be good and bad. Both some of the most positive and most negative feedback we have received, concerns our embracement of different styles.
Eyvind: The good thing about being a trio (threesome?) though, is that controversial issues, of which there are plenty, more often than not, can be resolved with a simple show of hands (unless, of course, there are three distinct opinions, which seem to happen more frequently than you'd think...)
Where is the inspiration for the music found?
Channard: For me inspiration may come from anywhere, like something I just coincidently hear on a television program or a movie, an old metal band, or some totally weird music.
HJ: Something like that.
Eyvind: Something or other....
Can you mention 3 people, 3 bands and 3 songs that have meant a lot to you personally and to your way of writing music?
Channard: No, I can't.
Eyvind: Ditto.
HJ: Pete "Commando" Sandoval really got me to play fast drums back in the early 90's. My drum teacher for many years back in the days, Hector Novas. Chuck Schuldiner (RIP). Sadus, early Gorguts, Nocturnus. And for the songs: Autopsy – 'Twisted Mass Of Burnt Decay', Darkthrone – 'Cromlech', Macabre – 'Serial killer'.
How would you describe a good song?
Channard: Good riffs that show integrity plus atmosphere, feeling and energy with a little bit of rock'n'roll attitude thrown in, and a raw, unpolished sound.
HJ: Something new, a certain finesse in the song writing, and of course organic soundscapes.
Eyvind: In addition to what has been said; something that is able to take the listener by surprise.
Your music is heavy, low and very technical, how did it end up like that?
Channard: Because we're fucked-up individuals. It's just what comes out when we’re mutilating our instruments.
HJ: Actually we never really discussed what the music should sound like. We started out playing covers of some of our favourites, and it just grew from there. I think that is a good way to start a band. It's not too easy to label us at the first listen. We never said: "We’re gonna play old school this and that", because then we would have been a retro band or confined to boundaries of some sort. Channard used a less razor-blade guitar sound right from the start, which has helped define our sound a lot, and he has also introduced to me a some interesting scales and intervals which I apply to my song writing today.
Isn't it hard to arrange the songs, you know to keep them listenable without them getting too messy?
Channard: Sometimes, maybe, and each of us has different styles of (de)composition so we don't always agree on how a song should be.
How do you know when you have hit the right arrangement?
Channard: We never know!
HJ: No, you really never know before you feel the connection with the audience at a concert.
Eyvind: I guess sometimes you just instantly know that it is right, other times it is a slow and tedious process that might never end.
Let us move onto your lyrics… They are kind of abstract and cryptic, so I would be pleased if you would pull out 3 tracks from the "Aural Abjection" demo and explain the lyrics on them!
Channard: They’re basically about destruction and human misery …
HJ: The lyrics generally proposes different scenarios for a dismal future, aspects of the brain and the mental condition related to modern day living, like alienation, dismal prospects etc. Artists dont like to explain their art, you know! People should put their own thoughts into them for interpretation.
Eyvind: Amen.
Where do you find inspiration for your lyrics?
HJ: The lyrics are the essence of our minds exposed to living in modern day society.
Eyvind: And sometimes, I guess they're little more than random bullshit...
Do you have any messages behind your lyrics?
HJ: No, the audience's own interpretation of the lyrics is the message. The music and the mood is the most important for us, not telling people what to think. The main purpose of the lyrics is to encompass the music in order to put the listener into the mind-set of the specific song.
When you leave as much room for reflection in your lyrics, as you do, aren't you afraid of people might misunderstand them?
HJ: No, please interpret them in your own way.
You have very recently signed with the Norwegian label Edgerunner Music, how do you feel about that?
Channard: It feels good to have a record deal, to be able to release an album. I don't really care which label it is as long as the album gets distributed and promoted.
HJ: We are really happy to be signed to a Norwegian label, we had some problems with a foreign label who was supposed to release a 7" which never happened. Obviously Edgerunner doesn't have a lot of bands in our specific genre, but maybe more bands like us will follow in the future if the album comes out good. Edgerunner really has given us a lot of financial and creative latitude given it's a debut album, so our relationship has been great so far, and our creative juices are flowing as a result of this.
Eyvind: Furthermore, Martin, the main man behind Edgerunner, seems to be a decent guy you can trust, unlike some other individuals in this business...
How is the deal with the label?
HJ: It’s a good deal, for both parties. Neither of us will get rich, anyway. We will do the best we can to make great music, and hopefully the album will sell enough to secure a second album.
When will you have your debut full length ready for, us and do you have some details for us as well?
Channard: We’re going to record it July/August, and at best it will come out in November. It'll be 11-12 songs altogether. A couple of new titles are: 'Harbinger' and 'Pervasive Discreteness'.
HJ: Hopefully we will have some interesting guest appearances from people playing other stuff than just guitar, bass or drums. I really have a good stomach feeling for the album, I think it's going to make a buzz in the underground, because it's obviously going to be better than the demo, and the demo was generally accoladed by a few of those certain people whose opinion I exalt.
Besides that you have had the 7" "HDFH" announced for quite some time now, but it seems like there are some progression there too, what can you tell us concerning the 7" and the release of it?
Channard: It seems like we have to release it ourselves to actually get the shit out to the hungry masses.
HJ: The record company guy that should have put it out never did. He had some really cool stuff going on, Nuclear Death, Fornicator, General Surgery, Demilich etc. We stayed with him longer than we should have, hoping to be a part of all this, but most of it never happened, unfortunately.
Have sometime along the way doubted that the 7" ever would be released?
Channard: Most certainly.
HJ: The 7" will come out on another label or self-released, hopefully before the album, but who's to say in this line of business?
What do you feel you can offer the metal scene compared to the heaps of bands out there today?
Channard: Twisted death metal that smells like a woman's crotch in her period (those who attended our last concert know what I’m talking about).
HJ: A lot! There is so much potential in metal music, because 99% of the bands never take any chances creatively. Just turn to any mediocre jazz band, and check out their use of off-beat feeling. It's just one of hundred examples of the potential in metal which hasn't been explored at all the last ten years, because of lack of visionaries.
I also think with the technology advances we have seen the last years the developing of the sound of a typical extreme metal band is a dead end. There is little or no dynamic range in the instruments, it's all "on eleven". Hopefully Diskord will be in the forefront of a new paradigm, which will see a shift to a more organic sound for metal bands in the next ten years.
How do you see the future for Diskord?
Channard: The future is bleak, no matter who it concerns.
HJ: True! A handful of albums, tours and then thrown into oblivion or congregation..
Will you share your 3 all time favourite albums with the metal heads?
Channard: I don't really like these kind of questions, but for now let’s say
Autopsy - Mental Funeral
Darkthrone - Soulside Journey
Asphyx - Last One On Earth
HJ: Today it's the albums beneath, tomorrow - who knows?
Autopsy - Fiend For Blood
Immolation - Dawn Of Possession
Nile - Amongst The Catacombs Of Nephren-Ka
Eyvind: Tough question and the answer is rarely the same. However, I've been listening to the following a lot lately:
Meshuggah – Destroy Erase Improve
Cadaver - ...In Pains
Portishead – Dummy.
Thanks a ton for answering my questions, if you have anything to add, feel free to add it now!
Channard: Thanks for the interview and hello to Kjetil! S.I.T.B. – Society is to blame.
HJ: Join the mailing list at Diskord website, and support the Edgerunner Music website. "The lights are growing dim Otto. I know a life of crime has led me to this sorry fate, and yet, I blame society. Society made me what I am". - Repo Man.
Eyvind: "Only sick music makes money today" – F. Nietsche.
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