Authors: Jillian Drachman & Leon Sætre
Photos: Finn Håkon Rødland
Sven Erik “Maniac” Fuzz-Kristiansen is a genius in the true sense of the word — an unsurpassed artist within the realm of black metal, which he helped pioneer, and beyond. In every respect, Maniac embodies total authenticity. No performer weds intellect and passion in a more perfect union. As the two-time helmsman of the world’s most important black metal powerhouse, Mayhem, Maniac has created some of the most rewarding dark art known to ears.
Together with Blasphemer, black metal’s greatest guitarist, Maniac painstakingly constructed the testament to pure will, crystal-clear strength, and unparalleled vision that is Mayhem’s Grand Declaration of War. This uncompromising classic is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary, thus the revered Season of Mist is honoring the occasion with a special vinyl reissue. As the full-length follow-up to the genre-defining De Mysteriis Dom. Sathanas (1994), Grand Declaration of War seemed as wonderfully provocative as possible, presenting audiences with an unforgettable sonic experience unlike anything heard hitherto or created since. Especially given how the once glorious black metal scene has become infested by weakling bands, blueprint-obeying posers, approval-seeking bores, and ideological cowards (as acknowledged by many of the movement’s architects), Grand Declaration of War remains as essential as ever. Verily, due to the radical innovation of Blasphemer and Maniac, Grand Declaration of War still strikes us like a divine gift from the future, retaining every ounce of its sinister magic.
We must not forget that between De Mysteriis Dom. Sathanas and Grand Declaration of War stands the offering that leading music expert Finn Håkon Rødland has rightly referred to as the best black metal EP, Wolf’s Lair Abyss (1997). This masterpiece marked Maniac’s return to Mayhem and represents black metal at its most artfully brutal. Maniac and Blasphemer would also craft the brilliant Chimera (2004). To the two of us writing, it is inconceivable that those endowed with taste and reason could come to any conclusion other than the following: Each of the overpowering, top-caliber fruits of their partnership make almost all else seem unworthy by comparison. Yet, just as Blasphemer has continued to conquer new horizons, Maniac’s story certainly doesn’t end with his participation in Mayhem; over the years, he has demonstrated his ingenuity in a variety of other outstanding projects.
Of course, we were absolutely thrilled to be kindly granted the rare opportunity to interview the living legend Maniac — a privilege we never thought we would have. Maniac’s eloquent and enlightening answers certainly prove why he is one of the very-very best.
Greetings, Mr. Maniac! Thank you very much for agreeing to this interview. Of course, Grand Declaration of War is one of the greatest and most ingenious black metal albums ever created! Reflecting upon it now, in celebration of its 25th anniversary, is there anything you would like to say upfront?
Not too much really. I haven’t listened to the album for maybe 10 years. Everything I create is very often put away forever about six months or so after it’s released. I hardly ever listen to my own music. There’s too much good music to listen to and life is short. When you have lived with something intensely for a long time it’s just good to get it out of your system. All the themes on that album are more relevant than ever and unfortunately, I did not get understood, haha. Europe is on the verge of death, and I think a reversal is near to impossible.
You are, without a doubt, one of the best and most authentic frontmen in black metal. Accordingly, you display enormous versatility on Grand Declaration of War. Could you please tell us about the process of figuring out how to give each of the songs exactly what was needed, whether impossibly vicious vocal assaults or even whispers?
That was a process in close collaboration with Blasphemer. I was listening to a lot of different stuff to get where it eventually ended up. T.S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Adolf Hitler, Aleister Crowley and even obscure recordings of Corneliu Codreanu. I needed to be able to move quickly between different mindsets and various levels of intensity. Absorbing those historic recordings was the main part of getting there. Then we went through the songs so many times I almost get a bit nauseous just thinking about it. All in order the get the words at the exact millisecond of where it was in the strictly structured logical mind of Blasphemer. I usually have a strange, to some people, phrasing, but on this album I think we managed to get a very good balance of two very different, yet somehow in sync, minds. We spent hours in the studio but we got what we wanted in the end.
As far as vocal inspiration is concerned, who would be fortunate enough for you to call a huge influence?
This is a tricky one. I’ve always said that the early Necrophagia demos were a huge influence on me and of course that still stands. The two first Sodom albums still rank among my favourite albums ever, both musically and vocally. I’m amazed Sodom still makes such great albums. The Hellhammer demos still rule the wasteland. I could mention a lot of great heavy metal singers, but those were perhaps not a direct influence on my voice. Amebix on the other hand was and still is a great influence. That said, if I could choose a voice it would be the voice of Eric Adams in Manowar. Bloody hell! I will never forget the first time I heard the Sign of the Hammer album. It’s brilliant in so many ways and unfortunately I do not have that kind of voice. He still sings like a god and I still listen to Manowar.
Oh, I almost forgot Sakevi from G.I.S.M. and Nishida from Zouo were huge inspirations for me. Insane vocalists, both of them, with a highly unique style. Then there’s also Quorthon of Bathory, losfer words.
Blasphemer said that you were very busy with your studies around the time of Grand Declaration of War’s genesis, and we’ve heard that you’re a true intellectual — a fact that is clearly demonstrated in your lyrics. So, along similar lines to the last question, how did you develop the almost beatnik style that you often use and that serves the Nietzschean content so perfectly?
A self-made intellectual if I am one. The studies went to shits and shambles when we started touring the album. I had just started my second year at Oslo University and soon realised that studying on a tour bus was a useless activity with Mayhem. One thing followed another and instead of ending up a professor in philosophy I ended up a tools repairman at Scania in Oslo, hahaha! Talk about faith. I still read, never stopped. Went from Nietzsche to Wittgenstein, ended up truly hating Adorno and his lot and am now reading Jung and Nietzsche and Spinoza. Tons of history books and the occasional novel by Hamsun or Murakami, depending on mood. I think I owe the beatniks NOTHING and Eliot and Pound everything, haha. I’m, of course, not close to either of those masters but they truly inspired my universe and especially GDOW.
Do you have any rituals when it comes to performing and recording vocals to help achieve the right atmosphere? Are there any particular warm-ups or mental preparations you use?
I don’t and I do. I need alone time before a show but not so much vocal rituals. Just a moment alone before I enter the stage.
Have you had vocal instruction at any point, or are you completely self-taught? We know that the unforgettable Septic Cunts demo, for example, was born of pure maniacal will.
Well, I did sing in the school choir and my mother is a singer of old Norwegian folk music, but I never had any specific training. It’s a miracle I didn’t ruin my voice years ago.
What can you say about collaborating with your co-architect Blasphemer on Grand Declaration of War? You’ve stated that Blasphemer pushed you very hard, and he has mentioned that the two of you had a real will to provoke, even with the images. Of course, during our last chat, Blasphemer spoke very fondly of you.
He is the one and only person who has ever pushed me to my limits and at times I never had as much fun as with him. We were very good at pushing each other to extremes in terms of music and visual imagery. We practically lived together for quite some time during the most insane period of the Mayhem years. We shared a lot of the same worldview, but he was a bit more into esoteric knowledge than I ever was. I guess that had to do with my lifelong hatred towards organized religion. Anything that had the faintest aspect of religious flock mentality I shunned like a plague. A virus waiting to pollute me. Blasphemer was always a highly individual person who could hardly be touched by anything like a mass hypnosis, still, anything new age or esoteric in the modern sense of the word was to be avoided in my almost solipsistic existence. Solipsism in itself is an interesting area to explore but the world being as it is, it’s a cold fact that I’m definitely part of a rotten society. Drifting away from your original question here, but that’s how it is. I’ll get back on track. I have to admit that I sometimes miss working with him and I’m very sorry I could not be a part of his re-recording of “Fall of Seraphs’’. Sometimes things just won’t click. It was a hectic and also a rather down period in my life just around that time. You never know, something might happen in the future. These days I do all my music solo and I have to admit I sometimes miss working in a band setting. I had some collaboration with Teitanblood and their drummer and hopefully something will happen with that in the future. He reminds me in many ways of Blasphemer.
Would you care to share any recollections of working with Necrobutcher and Hellhammer on Grand Declaration of War? Were you surprised by Hellhammer’s drum sound?
See below about drums. Hellhammer is one of the best drummers in the world and a pleasure to work with. I was not really surprised by his sound as it seems to fit our highly surgical and clinical aim. That said, my ears are forever tuned to the sound of analog drum sound from the 70’s and 80’s so it’s definitely not my favorite drum sound. I wish I could talk him into recording without triggers one sunny day, hahaha! We share a lot of the same views on drummers and it’s always fun to talk about inspirational drummers with him and we also share a huge interest in military history so plenty to talk about.
As for Necro, I don’t think I was present in the studio for bass recordings. Probably off somewhere putting the finishing touches to lyrics and visuals. I’ve known him the longest of any Mayhem member but one of the few things we have in common is The Rolling Stones and western books as in Louis L’Amour kinda books, haha.
You requested that your vocals remain the same on the 2018 remixed and remastered version of Grand Declaration of War, and that wish was respected as much as possible — we really love the way your tracks are layered, arranged, sometimes altered, etc. While Jaime Gomez Arellano is a top-notch engineer, and his version of the record is a must-have that allows some of the other components of the compositions to be heard more clearly, the original sound optimally suits the purpose. What are your thoughts on the matter today?
I am still not sure how I feel about that version. Sure, it brought out other aspects of the album, but the main difference for me is the drums and they sort of just switched them with a different sound as I would like to have re-recorded the whole album in a 100% analog studio, as stated before.
At the time I agreed with the new artwork but in hindsight I surely prefer the original and I wished we could have brutalized and militarized the original even more for the remix album. It’s not bad artwork, it just doesn’t fit the album I think. It’s a bit weak. I know I approved it back then, but today I wouldn’t have approved it. It’s also a bit one-dimensional considering that the album is not only anti-Christian but very much anti-religion.
I don’t know if Leon approves of my militant attitude, but anyone who whines about the original production should be muzzled immediately! Børge Finstad produced and engineered Grand Declaration of War, while Morten Lund handled mastering, and they both came back for Chimera (2004). Those two studio professionals have done a lot of other great things during their careers, so brainless critics need to keep that in mind. What was it like working with Finstad and Lund?
I used to go to school with Børge. We went to sound engineering school together so he’s very easy to work with and his knowledge in the studio makes it a smooth operation. That said it was a painstaking process to record that album to get the smallest sound in its correct place. Patience was the watchword, haha! As for Morten, I don’t know him personally but he’s done so many great masters that there were no worries working with him. A true professional indeed. I think he could work with any musical genre and make it sound right.
Working on Chimera was an even more tiring and exhausting experience due to a lot of disturbing outside factors. Many people seem to not like that album so much but apart from WLA this is my favorite Mayhem album vocally and lyrically. I think it’s a very underrated album and the lyrics are much more difficult to grasp and poetically they are so much more advanced and better written than the ones on GDOW. That is my personal opinion and I do believe that not many people actually understood them. The layers of Misanthropy and dystopian visions are many and they were a natural conclusion of my view that intellectually, philosophically and politically Europe is damned and doomed to hell. Thankfully I have met and befriended some great people in the years after that album that have managed to bring a flicker of hope to my mind for the future of Europe and the great heritage weighing down on our shoulders.
We recently interviewed Anders Odden and couldn’t help bringing up “A Bloodsword and a Colder Sun.” He remembers crafting it with both you and Blasphemer and also told us that Turbonegro’s lead guitarist acted as an engineer for that session. What do you recall about creating that two-part piece?
The most funny thing about that track is that it is by far the most organic and analog sounding track on the album. Due to the use of rather old equipment, haha. At least that is my opinion. It should work as an intermediary piece between the collapse of the world and the rising of a new sun and it somehow manages to do just that. The whispers just came naturally. I know many people consider it to be almost trip-hop or at least something close to that. Considering Odden’s love of shitty 90’s techno infused music like Massive Attack and so on and so forth it’s no wonder that it has ended up with that reputation. To me it’s much closer to say Joy Division or The Sisters of Mercy, but that’s how my offbeat mind works. I’ve lost contact with most people involved in the album just sporadically being in touch with Mayhem and Blasphemer, and Season of Mist of course. I’m pretty much a recluse these days and living my life satisfactorily in the vein of some of the lyrics of Michael Krohn. My one and only Norwegian hero when it comes to music, haha!
Are there any memories or challenges of translating the Grand Declaration of War material into live settings that you would like to share?
I believe the world tour kicked off in Florida. A fucking chaos and a fucking nightmare. Especially with HH’s drums and the monitor sound. That said; also lots of fun and meeting lots of great working-class people from the US. I think lots of Europeans, but also people from the rest of the world have a certain opinion or view about Americans in general. A bit loud, a bit too full of themselves in terms of the importance of the USA and that the US is the best in the world. I still think that view is partly correct. It’s very hard to make an American change their mind no matter how hard you argue, Eric Rutan, are you listening, hahaha! That said, most Americans are very down-to-earth and humble, yet still have a pride that is envious. Most Europeans lost that important pride decades ago. Unfortunately I can see the same happening in the US today. Not so back then. We met so many great people, great fans, great bus driver(s) and I still have very fond memories of touring the US. It is what is, take it or leave it. Southern hospitality is not just a saying, it’s a genuine thing. At least I felt very welcome everywhere from clothing shops to record shops and truck stops. It was amazing to drive through so many states with their diversity and yet were all so very American. With my love for hardcore country music and honky-tonk it was an even greater experience. Thanks to all the people and fans whom I met on that tour and who made touring life a little bit more easy and a lot more fun. I think most of you know who you are and if you’re reading this: thanks. I still remember most of you even though I might have forgotten your name.
Would you be willing to speak about receiving the invitation from Blasphemer to reprise “Fall of Seraphs” for RUÏM’s Black Royal Spiritism — I.O Sino da Igreja (2023), which Absu’s Proscriptor McGovern ultimately reinterpreted. Of course, it was a wonderful treat to hear you return to Mayhem as a guest together with Billy Messiah to put your spin on “Hellnation,” which appears on Mayhem’s Kommando (2001) and seems very fitting since you were already covering Dead Kennedys back in the Death Rehearsal (1987) days.
It was an honour to be asked but unfortunately it never happened due to outside factors best kept in the vault.
It was fun doing the DK song although I never understood why they’d pick one of my least favourite DK songs. I always found it very easy to sing DK songs and a lot of fun. Not so much more to say about that.
You end “A Time to Die” with the question “Have I been understood?,” and Grand Declaration of War just might be one of the genre’s most misunderstood offerings, in good part because it was so ahead of its time and still feels like a divine gift from the future. Right now, in 2025, would you say your art has been understood?
That is very difficult to answer. I can with certainty say that the lyrics of GDOW have been mostly misunderstood and misinterpreted. I shall not go into a lengthy discussion about my own lyrics but if only half the people who listened to the album had understood it then black metal today hopefully wouldn’t have been so thoroughly infected by soft rainbows and emotional whining. That might be giving myself a bit more importance than actually due, but to put an edge to things I will say it anyway. Apart from a small, important and truly genuine bunch of black metal bands existing today I can truly say that I hate and detest the modern version of black metal. It’s plain disgusting to see the level of political correctness and personal emotional exposure some of these bands exhibit!
Yeah, yeah, I’m a grumpy old man who’s completely outdated and doesn’t even have any social media where I can do self-promotion and bitch about the world and how much emotional pain I’m in. Sorry guys but look up the word misanthropy in the dictionary and cross-check that with your utterly disgusting moaning and whining and bitching about the world and society. A society you have chosen yourself through choosing to be brainwashed by capitalism and the intimidating existence without Facebook or TikTok and more of its ilk. Someone should write a book titled “How to Survive without Social Media’’.
As I have no social media I also have no way of defending myself against rumours, lies and stupidity, but I still think it’s worth not having as it totally rots your mind and is the most time consuming, devious contraption ever made. It makes you stupid if you not a VERY conscious individual.
At present, how do you now see the themes of war and religion, as explored in the immortal triumph of our current focus? In the past, you’ve expressed that your understanding of Nietzsche has changed and that you have come to embrace Satanism since releasing Grand Declaration of War.
No. Absolutely not satanism. There was a brief period that I read a lot of more serious stuff about it and I have a lot of respect for the genuine ones, but it was not for me. That said, one of the people I respect the most in the history of Black Metal is Jon Nödtveidt of Dissection. What an iron will and what determination. I wish sometimes that my goal could be as clear as his. I think ‘’Reinkaos’’ in terms of songwriting and musicianship stands out supreme. It is a fantastic album and if there ever was a person I wish I could have interviewed it would be him.
My understanding of Nietzsche might have broadened a bit but it’s still very much the will to overcome oneself that is the center of my continued reading of Nietzsche. I have a long way to go before I can reach where Nietzsche pointed me but being a stubborn bastard I’ll probably live to be at least a hundred to be a nuisance to my surroundings as long as possible. I find the Europe of today very difficult to live in. Political correctness is seeping in everywhere and it seems to be almost like a contest to show how morally right you are and how morally offended you are by your heritage and how ashamed you are especially of your whiteness.
I never imagined that the whiteness of my skin should end up being connected to shame, but that’s where we are today. An ever ongoing slight rewriting of history to induce white kids of today with guilt and shame. Being told that everyone else has a culture and heritage worth taking care of but that you don’t even have a culture, now that is sickening and it’s time to wage war again. Against the modern world. It’s horrible to behold that all the great masters of poetry, philosophy, logic, play writers, our whole fucking heritage down the centuries are to be viewed through the eyes of politically correct morons and brainwashed youth and old men trying to save their political careers and immigrants and refugees blaming the countries they now live in for the miseries of non-functional states and governments in their homelands. Capitalism wanting to turn people into beings with no past. Puppets in their machinery where cultural heritage is a disease and where there is no difference between anyone. Just so that they can manufacture more useless shit you don’t need but you really think you need so that you can buy more and more and more to satisfy your two seconds of happiness before you need something more to buy.
I’m certainly not seeing a golden future but something will break and something will break hard and the awakening will be horribly brutal and painful. Imagine you have to face nature and the world as it is with no filter and no cushion to bury your head in.
I’m not against religion in itself. Religion on a personal level can be very useful and important for the well-being of the self. Certain religions are more poisonous than others, but they can be useful. I just wish people had the strength and the brainpower to see through the immense fraud being committed in the name of religion and the hope for a life after death. A personal relationship to a godhead is something to covet and aim for so as to make the best of the life you have been given, here, on this earth. Hell, I speak to the gods of Norse mythology ever so often. I think realizing that there is something more than the conscious self is highly important. Only then can you start knowing yourself and avoid being lured, cheated and thoroughly fucked by a society that does nothing but fuck your over and brainwash you. It’s always funny to see all the alternative people especially on the left side of politics who think they are very special and genuine, how extremely conform and uniform they look, act and think. I wish they’d all wake up one day. Perhaps 1984 is as real as the book itself.
I could write an essay here and now and I won’t. I’ve probably already said stuff you can’t print due to censorship and shit, haha.
No, I’m not an optimist, but I do maintain a flicker of hope. Reading Voluspå and Snorre makes the flame still flicker.
In 2018, Season of Mist presented the Season in Blasphemy vinyl box set in the edition with the beautiful leather and wood case. Finn Håkon Rødland helped out with that project, and he’s constantly working to protect Mayhem’s legacy. Is there anything you would like to tell readers about that venerable figure?
A good friend and a great caretaker of an important musical history. Ganbare.
I think that without him and his persistency a LOT of the history of Norwegian Black Metal would be lost forever. His genuine interest and search for authenticity makes him far more important than say Neseblod Records or Rockheim. May he never lose interest in this particular part of Norwegian history.
Can you please comment on your relationship with Season of Mist? At least one of us here firmly holds the stance that SoM is by far the best major label focusing on extreme music.
I never had ANY problems with SoM. They always treated me respectfully and still do. I think it’s great that they have not been bought up by larger labels. They are important in today’s blurry business of music. A great label with a great and VERY French boss!
We might have heard that you were performing in Japan this summer under the Terrorakt banner. How was that experience?
I play once or twice every year in Tokyo with Terrorakt. Have done so for some years now. It’s the only place I play live and the Japanese audience is the best in the world. They can truly appreciate industrial music as well as metal all in a few hours at their variety of great live houses. The underground in Japan is still alive.
Earlier, you mentioned attending school with Børge Finstad, so would you care to elaborate on your sound tech / audio engineering education? Do you perhaps record/mix/master Terrorakt? We know that in the past, Andrew Liles, who has lent his expertise (whether as an engineer, producer, and/or artist) to several of your projects, and Masahiko Okubo, with whom you worked in Kognitiv Kollaps, had been part of the picture.
I attended two years at sound engineering school and specialized in studio work. Found out that playing in a band and working full-time in the studio was too much sound, haha!
I have a home studio these days and do most of my stuff there. You have to remember that things you can do at home today would cost a fortune 30 years ago. If I need mastering, I talk to Andrew. He’s good at that stuff. It was great working with Okubo but his music is so great that it doesn’t need another musician. We might work again in the future. I admire his work very much. Terrorakt is just a direct continuation of Kognitiv Kollaps. I have written music that needs real drums so we’ll see what the future will bring. Like I said, I work very slowly these days and balance my time between family, reading and music. I record, edit and mix all my own music.
Since we touched upon the subject of authenticity and the like, I noticed that you have a Billie Eilish LP on your shelf in the most recent NRK documentary. I think that she has a lot more darkness and depth to her than a lot of new soulless poser black metal bands. Do you agree?
Haha, many people noticed. It’s actually my daughter’s album but I kinda like that particular album. It has its very own organic darkness; it’s claustrophobic and has a very “close’’ mix. It’s been a few years since I was a teenager myself, but I could recognize the anxiety and darkness. Even though growing up today is completely different from when I grew up. I have problems relating to very much of the music of today, but this album has its own sphere. A very particular place in time, I think. I don’t think that album could be made again. Many tried and oh so many failed. I feel no danger or darkness in so many of today’s so-called black metal bands. Only a desire for self-exposure and a need to be somehow famous.
And speaking of the darkness, and perhaps even black metal feeling that is to be found outside of black metal, do you have any artists that you would like to give praise to? Your music is often very cinematic, and we’ve seen Finn Håkon post your visual art.
Well, Linekraft certainly is a wake-up call and stunning music by an amazing performer! Teitanblood might be my favorite of “newer’’ metal bands. It’s absolutely fantastic and has so many layers of darkness and so many layers of philosophy, it’s like reading Nietzsche. You can never finish.
There’s loads of other bands that I truly admire but I shall leave them unmentioned.
Besides, I always come back to the music of the 80’s. That being metal, or bands like The Sisters of Mercy who is probably the band that has meant the most to me ever and still does. Andrew Eldritch is a genius on so many levels.
I never tire of the paintings of Edvard Munch. They have given me so much for so many years and they never ever stop giving. Viewing his painting is like having a conversation with Jung, my version of it, haha.
As for traditional black metal, the best album ever is Filosofem by Burzum. Unsurpassed in songwriting, lyrics and the insane amount of creativity it gives off. Many have truly tried to record this album in a variety of ways and NONE have ever come close to replicating even a mere second of it. My favorite albums perhaps number around 30-40 going back more than 40 years and always fluctuating among themselves for the top tier, if I can put it that way, but Filosofem, ever since it came out, is ALWAYS among the top three. It’s the epitome of black metal and can never ever be replicated or done again. An undisputed masterpiece
Out of curiosity, since you mention that a few genuine groups still exist, are there any bands of the newer generations that you feel get it right and qualify as being the torchbearers of the future of black metal? Are there enough signs of life in the scene to tempt you to write a fourth issue of your zine?
There is and I could be tempted to do another issue if the darkness continue to grow. I shan’t name a load of bands here because I might forget one and that would be unfair but outside of the glossy pages of pink metal there’s certainly many good and genuine bands, it’s just that you seldom get to hear about them. The problem with making Damage Inc. the way I do is that it is extremely time consuming, but who knows.
Would you like to discuss any of your other phenomenal projects or artistic plans for the future?
I still do Terroakt, but I work very slowly these days. I play guitar, I record with Eurorack modules and old synths. It takes time. I’m also a full-time father and husband and so work on music is slower but still ever so rewarding. Hopefully a full-length album will materialize in the future. I also do some collaborations but I also have to refuse requests to collaborate. My time has become so much more valuable after you realize that your time on this planet is very, very limited. In youth you often believe you’re indestructible or you’ll never get old, but time is relentless and once you accept that you also embrace your time here and value it to its utmost perfection. I never ever understood people who’d spend their time moaning and complaining about all kinds of stupid shit. Stuff that in the end meant nothing. The sorry excuses for humans I despise the most are the anonymous keyboard warriors out there and there’s millions of them. Complaining and bullying others because their sorry fucking excuse for a life is completely fucking worthless. Wake up and do something productive. In a real war they’d survive two seconds. Behind their masks and their anonymous alter egos they are so mean and hard and tough. Whining monkeys. There’s a reason I never spend one minute too much on the internet. And of course when they read this they will be whining even more and threatening me in their closed forums and all agreeing that I’m the worst singer in the history of metal and not one of them would say it to my face. The ones with the right to that opinion already said it to my face while touring and that I truly respect. As for the other ones, go back to your gloomy rooms with no sunlight, drink your Diet Coke, chew down on them Doritos and keep fighting your highly important self-righteous war behind your chosen weapon, the computer keyboard.
Music is still the focal point of my life along with books and my small family.
Thanks to all true warriors of metal, to quote an immortal band.
(Purchase your copy of Season of Mist’s anniversary edition of Grand Declaration of War here. We send our immense gratitude to Maniac for his time, beautiful answers, and artistic superiority as well as to Finn Håkon Rødland for his stunning photos and Season of Mist. SoM not only proved a massive help in arranging this interview, as always, but also remains, according to Jillian, the best major extreme label around.)
