All Interviews
Criterion
Criterion
Posted on Aug 3, 2005
by Anders
It is always a nice surprise when you play a debut album by a fairly unknown band, and the album kicks ass and stand out from the mass. That was what happened when I popped Criterion's debut album "The Dominant" in my CD player. Heavy and dark death metal with a technical touch and an approach that they can call their own. Seldomly a band catches on to me like this, so I had to get in touch with these Norwegians to find out what it all was about. I got hold of guitarist and songwriter Kim Nybakken.
Hails, will you start off by introducing yourself and tell us why you play death metal?
Hi, my name is Kim Nybakken, 28 years old and I'm the guitarist in Criterion. I've played the guitar for 13 years. I live in a small city not far from Oslo. I have a bachelor degree in marketing communication and work at a warehouse. Not very interesting, hehe. A friend of mine introduced me to the band Death and the album "Human". I listened to the song 'Lack Of Comprehension', and I thought that was awesome. Every riff in the song was the coolest guitar playing I've ever heard. So from that day I was hooked on death metal and just had to play it myself.
A small introduction of the rest of the band, and a bit about their strong and weak sides will be great too!
Well, the band has 3 more members and they are vocalist John R. Urbanski, drummer Kenneth Skårholen and bassist Rene Johansen. We do also have an awesome session guitarist, Vegar Larsen. I don't want to make any trouble for myself so they have to speak for themselves regarding their strong and weak sides, hehe.
How did Criterion become a reality, why was the band formed?
Before we got into death metal, Metallica was the biggest thing on earth for me and John back in 1992. So we started as a Metallica cover band, and that evolved into what Criterion is today.
How did you end up with the name Criterion?
Well that's an easy one. Just look up something cool in your dictionary and you'll find a cool band name. That's all we did, hehe.
How did you end up playing the specific, heavy and technical style of death metal that you deliver?
It took us the last 3 years to find our own sound. In my opinion there are too many death metal bands that have the same sound and can be compared with 100 of other bands. You have to dig down in your music and come up with your own way of playing metal. Our secret is that we have taken all the elements/techniques from the Florida death metal metal scene, that we found cool and incorporated these in our own riffs. We have also done that in my solos. My solos have a mix of Stevie Vai and Chuck Schuldiner. Stevie Vai is my god if we talk about soloing on the guitar. Every man has to have an idol you know, hehe. I Hope this answered your question.
Who writes the music in the band?
I am, though Kenneth has also started to contribute with some song. He has made 2 on the album. But I've added some riffs and technical finesse to them, hehe.
Where do you find inspiration for the song writing, any specific events, moods etc… that sets it off?
Well I have to say I get inspiration from other death metal bands. Death, Cannibal Corpse, Hate Eternal, Deicide and Morbid Angel. All bands that plays Florida death metal.
Can you mention 5 bands and 5 albums that have meant a lot for your way of writing music?
All the bands above, and more specified: Death "Human", Morbid Angel "Domination", Cannibal Corpse "Bloodthirst", Deicide "Once Upon The Cross" and Stevie Vai "Passion And Warfare".
Who writes the lyrics and where is the inspiration for them for them found?
John writes most of the lyrics but on this album we've all contributed to them. I personally don't need any special inspiration. I just need to come up with a theme. I wrote the lyrics on 'Blackened Memories' and that song is about a guy with two personalities. He fights against the monster he's got inside.
Can you pull out your 3 favourite tracks from your debut album "The Dominant" and guide us trough the musical idea and the lyrical content?
My favourite tracks are 'The Dominant', 'Demoniac Replacement' and 'Denial'. It’s kinda hard to answer the rest of your question but I gave you an example above, hehe.
"The Dominant" has been available for a little while now, how has it been received?
Quite good I think, we've got good reviews, not one bad yet. The average review scores are 7- to 8/10 so we're very pleased with that. We'll collect all the 10s on the next album, hehe. It's our debut album so we don't deserve 10s yet.
How do you feel about the album, now that you have it released?
I'm very satisfied with the album; we've learned a lot of it, both positive and negative. This release is a dream come through. I have to say the album comes from the heart. It's an album for dedicated death metal fans who wants lots of details, small finesses and head banging, hehe.
What do you expect from the album?
Our goal with the album is to get a name in the world of death metal. Get reviews so we can sit down, and take a look on how we must act further with our music. And of course a lot of fans…
What is the overall goal you would like to accomplish with Criterion?
My dream is to be as big as Death, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel and so on. A smaller goal nowadays has to be touring with Morbid Angel.
You are currently signed to the German label Morbid Records, how has that cooperation been going so far?
We're working very well together, the label is great. Only disappointing thing is that they haven't got a distribution deal with Norway yet.
How did the label discover you?
Well I discovered the label. I sent demos to them and many many MP3s by e-mail. And one day I think they we're fed up with me and gave me a deal, hehe.
How do you feel about vinyl, a fan of the black gold?
I'm not into vinyl only latex, hehe. I only play CDs.
Do you think there is any chance of seeing "The Dominant" ending up as one of those fine picture discs that Morbid Records once in a while releases?
It depends on how good we sell I think, I don't have an answer to that. But I think Morbid Records are very very pleased with us, so it's possible you know.
Do you play a lot of live; I could imagine your music being even more intense live, than on CD?
Not so much as we used to, but we play a couple of gigs now and then. The last 2 years we've concentrated on song writing, studio recordings and stuff like that. Nowadays we rehearse a lot for upcoming gigs.
How is it to experience a Criterion live show?
A fist in the face I think, hehe. It's very hard to give you a good answer to this question, you'll have to experience it yourself.
What are the future plans for the band… any shows coming up, and when do you think you'll be ready with some new material for the hungry masses?
We're playing at POPKOMM in Berlin September 15th and at Morbide Festspiele in Bischofswerda the September 16th, that is all there is planned right now.
We're writing new material all the time. The record has only been out for 3-4 months so I won't say anything about a new record yet.
Thanks a ton for answering my questions, if you have anything to add, feel free to do it now!
A huge thanks to our fans, hope to see you out there. And tanks to Nocturnal Horde for showing interest in us. Stay Metal and check out our website and www.morbiderecords.de for upcoming news
Hi, my name is Kim Nybakken, 28 years old and I'm the guitarist in Criterion. I've played the guitar for 13 years. I live in a small city not far from Oslo. I have a bachelor degree in marketing communication and work at a warehouse. Not very interesting, hehe. A friend of mine introduced me to the band Death and the album "Human". I listened to the song 'Lack Of Comprehension', and I thought that was awesome. Every riff in the song was the coolest guitar playing I've ever heard. So from that day I was hooked on death metal and just had to play it myself.
A small introduction of the rest of the band, and a bit about their strong and weak sides will be great too!
Well, the band has 3 more members and they are vocalist John R. Urbanski, drummer Kenneth Skårholen and bassist Rene Johansen. We do also have an awesome session guitarist, Vegar Larsen. I don't want to make any trouble for myself so they have to speak for themselves regarding their strong and weak sides, hehe.
How did Criterion become a reality, why was the band formed?
Before we got into death metal, Metallica was the biggest thing on earth for me and John back in 1992. So we started as a Metallica cover band, and that evolved into what Criterion is today.
How did you end up with the name Criterion?
Well that's an easy one. Just look up something cool in your dictionary and you'll find a cool band name. That's all we did, hehe.
How did you end up playing the specific, heavy and technical style of death metal that you deliver?
It took us the last 3 years to find our own sound. In my opinion there are too many death metal bands that have the same sound and can be compared with 100 of other bands. You have to dig down in your music and come up with your own way of playing metal. Our secret is that we have taken all the elements/techniques from the Florida death metal metal scene, that we found cool and incorporated these in our own riffs. We have also done that in my solos. My solos have a mix of Stevie Vai and Chuck Schuldiner. Stevie Vai is my god if we talk about soloing on the guitar. Every man has to have an idol you know, hehe. I Hope this answered your question.
Who writes the music in the band?
I am, though Kenneth has also started to contribute with some song. He has made 2 on the album. But I've added some riffs and technical finesse to them, hehe.
Where do you find inspiration for the song writing, any specific events, moods etc… that sets it off?
Well I have to say I get inspiration from other death metal bands. Death, Cannibal Corpse, Hate Eternal, Deicide and Morbid Angel. All bands that plays Florida death metal.
Can you mention 5 bands and 5 albums that have meant a lot for your way of writing music?
All the bands above, and more specified: Death "Human", Morbid Angel "Domination", Cannibal Corpse "Bloodthirst", Deicide "Once Upon The Cross" and Stevie Vai "Passion And Warfare".
Who writes the lyrics and where is the inspiration for them for them found?
John writes most of the lyrics but on this album we've all contributed to them. I personally don't need any special inspiration. I just need to come up with a theme. I wrote the lyrics on 'Blackened Memories' and that song is about a guy with two personalities. He fights against the monster he's got inside.
Can you pull out your 3 favourite tracks from your debut album "The Dominant" and guide us trough the musical idea and the lyrical content?
My favourite tracks are 'The Dominant', 'Demoniac Replacement' and 'Denial'. It’s kinda hard to answer the rest of your question but I gave you an example above, hehe.
"The Dominant" has been available for a little while now, how has it been received?
Quite good I think, we've got good reviews, not one bad yet. The average review scores are 7- to 8/10 so we're very pleased with that. We'll collect all the 10s on the next album, hehe. It's our debut album so we don't deserve 10s yet.
How do you feel about the album, now that you have it released?
I'm very satisfied with the album; we've learned a lot of it, both positive and negative. This release is a dream come through. I have to say the album comes from the heart. It's an album for dedicated death metal fans who wants lots of details, small finesses and head banging, hehe.
What do you expect from the album?
Our goal with the album is to get a name in the world of death metal. Get reviews so we can sit down, and take a look on how we must act further with our music. And of course a lot of fans…
What is the overall goal you would like to accomplish with Criterion?
My dream is to be as big as Death, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel and so on. A smaller goal nowadays has to be touring with Morbid Angel.
You are currently signed to the German label Morbid Records, how has that cooperation been going so far?
We're working very well together, the label is great. Only disappointing thing is that they haven't got a distribution deal with Norway yet.
How did the label discover you?
Well I discovered the label. I sent demos to them and many many MP3s by e-mail. And one day I think they we're fed up with me and gave me a deal, hehe.
How do you feel about vinyl, a fan of the black gold?
I'm not into vinyl only latex, hehe. I only play CDs.
Do you think there is any chance of seeing "The Dominant" ending up as one of those fine picture discs that Morbid Records once in a while releases?
It depends on how good we sell I think, I don't have an answer to that. But I think Morbid Records are very very pleased with us, so it's possible you know.
Do you play a lot of live; I could imagine your music being even more intense live, than on CD?
Not so much as we used to, but we play a couple of gigs now and then. The last 2 years we've concentrated on song writing, studio recordings and stuff like that. Nowadays we rehearse a lot for upcoming gigs.
How is it to experience a Criterion live show?
A fist in the face I think, hehe. It's very hard to give you a good answer to this question, you'll have to experience it yourself.
What are the future plans for the band… any shows coming up, and when do you think you'll be ready with some new material for the hungry masses?
We're playing at POPKOMM in Berlin September 15th and at Morbide Festspiele in Bischofswerda the September 16th, that is all there is planned right now.
We're writing new material all the time. The record has only been out for 3-4 months so I won't say anything about a new record yet.
Thanks a ton for answering my questions, if you have anything to add, feel free to do it now!
A huge thanks to our fans, hope to see you out there. And tanks to Nocturnal Horde for showing interest in us. Stay Metal and check out our website and www.morbiderecords.de for upcoming news
Criterion website
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