Photo by by Arash Taheri
By Jillian Drachman
Gaahls Wyrd will soon unleash their sophomore full-length masterpiece, the hypnotic Braiding the Stories, on June 6 via the revered Season of Mist. Formed by the legendary Kristian “Gaahl” Espedal in 2015, Gaahls Wyrd quickly earned much acclaim. The group received a Spellemann, or “Norwegian Grammy,” for their magnificent studio debut, GastiR — Ghosts Invited (2019). Now, serving as the follow-up to the equally brilliant The Humming Mountain (2021), Braiding the Stories represents a miraculous new chapter in Gaahls Wyrd’s career.
The gorgeous yet unshakably haunting Braiding the Stories features Gaahl’s remarkable versatility on vocals; Gaahl transmits a broad spectrum of overwhelming energies, imbuing the offering with the spirit of various ghosts. On this transformative and phantasmagorical journey, Gaahl is joined by a stellar team: “Lust Killman,” Ole Walaunet, on guitars; “Nekroman,” Andreas Salbu, on bass; and “Spektre,” Kevin Kvåle, on drums. All elements are carefully and seamlessly woven together as organically as “Flowing Starlight.”
Meanwhile, Gaahl continues to helm the pioneering Trelldom. His past achievements with powerhouses like Gorgoroth, God Seed, and Wardruna also retain their magical hold over audiences. Gaahl’s influence on music simply cannot be overstated. Gaahl has inspired countless musicians throughout the globe and has become a cultural ambassador of sorts, having been invited to appear at institutions as the Nordic Embassies in Berlin. Although Gaahl remains one of Norway’s most iconic figures, his humility and complex philosophical nature mean that he refuses to exploit his status. His example encourages us to awaken the ram within rather than become easily herded lambs, who fall prey to the servility of idol worship.
Gaahl is not only celebrated for his excellence as a frontman, but also for his visual art. Thus, he and his partner, Robin Jakobsen, opened and operate Galleri Fjalar in the historic Bryggen area of Bergen. Galleri Fjalar has become a tourist destination for international art enthusiasts, and the pair has used the space to support other creators in addition to showing Gaahl’s paintings. As the highly accomplished artist and all-around Renaissance man Nick Morte eloquently tells us, “The incomparable energy that Gaahl holds goes beyond his stage appearances. I’m happy to exhibit my artworks at Galleri Fjalar, so crossing paths is always a pleasure. A deep thinker and brilliant conversationalist, Kristian sparks the inspiration in people around him. And, just like natural wine, his presence is always welcoming in its honesty.”
Notably, Gaahl has exhibited his work at the Royal Norwegian Embassy in London as well. His involvement in the fashion world through the label Wynjo, whose clothes were modeled by Robin, similarly caused quite a stir; and greater attention to aesthetics is certainly much-needed within the metal community.
Without further ado, please enjoy our conversation with the man himself; we were humbled and honored to have the rare opportunity to discuss Braiding the Stories and more with the one and only Gaahl.
I love Braiding the Stories. I was wondering if you could please tell me about collaborating with Iver Sandøy from Enslaved as a producer, mixer, and mastering engineer. He’s also part of your band Whispering Void.
Yeah, the first time I worked with Iver was actually when he came in for Trelldom’s Til minne… [2007] and tuned the drums for the drummer, but that was many years ago. I’ve always known Iver as a fantastic drummer. The first time I saw him play, I was at Garage in Bergen, and he was in a Frank Zappa tribute band. I remember me and Einar, or “Kvitrafn” [of Wardruna], were just standing and watching him through the whole concert. We didn’t pay much attention to the rest. He has a fantastic touch to the drums — the way he pushes the music forward. And, yeah, we’ve kind of been in the same surroundings in many ways. He just released an album with Emmerhoff [& The Melancholy Babies], which is one of his old bands. I heard it during the recording process, and it’s a very-very good album. But the first thing me and Iver produced together was GastiR — Ghosts Invited. And, of course, there was a learning process because we have our particular approaches as artists. But, for me, Iver has been a very good sparring partner. We always start the day kind of just chit-chatting and having our coffee and philosophizing about the product that we are attacking. I know Ole has worked with Iver on several occasions like through Sahg. So, all of that connected me to him as a producer. It’s been very comfortable working with him. I will work with him in the future, but I kind of need to separate the different projects. And, this time, I find it interesting to work with Pytten again in Trelldom. Pytten also really liked the previous Trelldom album, …By the Shadows…. [2024]. We’ll see what we can end up doing. So far, I’m very pleased to be working with him again.
…By the Shadows… was nominated for a Spellemann. It deserved an award, but, fortunately, Gaahls Wyrd won for GastiR — Ghosts Invited. This year, another one of my favorite bands, Seigmen, also received a nomination, and their music can be considered goth rock at times, even if their material doesn’t really fit into any categories. So, that brings me to the next point: You have this great goth rock influence on Braiding the Stories. The album has a lot of feeling reminiscent of the ’80s and ’90s. Can you explain further about your inspirations?
It just felt natural. In a sense, the fact that it ended up this way was accidental. When I started, we had a lot of songs recorded with just the drums and the guitars. And when I sat down and did the selection of the songs, I ended up with the songs that we have on the album now and a few more, just in case the album needed something extra or if some of the songs wouldn’t fit in. To me, it has very ’80s vibes, and we kind of aimed a bit to reflect the ’80s and early ’90s sound when we decided the sound of the drums and tuned them and also made the instrumental bits. It wasn’t about the idea of the ’80s, but more about the soundscape of the ’80s that we thought would work best with the songs. So, you have the metal scene in the ’80s — that’s, on the one hand, fantastic with a lot of lovely thrash metal and a lot of good extreme metal. And then, you have the pop genre. These are two completely different areas. I tried to merge them so they became one instead. I think a lot of that result ends up in this almost goth-like feel to it. I haven’t listened to much goth, but there’s, of course, a lot of lovely bands like The Cure — brilliant band.
Do you think that the leftover content you mentioned might materialize into an EP?
Yeah, it could even be a full album, but I personally have clear plans for some of it. It will not become a full-length album. I might divide certain songs and bring them in on mini-albums like The Humming Mountain — I like to call it a mini-album because it’s really not an EP, that’s just what people call it nowadays. I like the format. You have these lovely releases that Hellhammer and Celtic Frost did in ’84. There are a lot of full-lengths out there where half of the album has decent songs, and then people just fill in the rest with almost meaningless material. I think it would serve music well if bands started to take the smaller formats more seriously. And it’s lovely to have these small tidbits for the true fans to find these hidden gems around. There is something charming about it. But also, a lot of music deserves to be on these smaller releases because you aim to focus on the music, and you don’t need to build out a whole constellation of ideas and force them into these bigger concepts.
I agree. Speaking of The Humming Mountain, it’s a very different release than Braiding the Stories. You’ve explained that The Humming Mountain is more physical, and this album is more anchored in dreams, or, let’s say, another realm. All the same, you have that lyrical similarity there with “The Sleep” and “The Dream.” And also, I believe you say, “I’m humming the mountain,” on “And the Now.” I should note that you obviously have such beautiful lyrics. Anyway, could you elaborate upon the connection between the two offerings?
Yeah, I already planned the concept of Braiding the Stories while I was doing The Humming Mountain. I knew where we would leave from and then enter into. So, I basically open the album with the same lyrics that end The Humming Mountain. I just switched the words “sleep” and “dream,” but otherwise the intro on Braiding the Stories is the same — the song “The Dream” has the same lyrics as “The Sleep,” just kind of switched. So, we’ve gone from one existence into another. Small things fell into place without needing to focus too much on them. I love small details in anything — those small connections that might be invisible to many, but, for me, they are essential.
It’s my understanding that Braiding the Stories was recorded in different parts. Were there any difficulties that arose due to spreading the recording process out? Or, based on the result, I would guess that it probably enriched the album.
Oh, I think it enriched it. We basically did everything in the same studio. So, we did all the drums in one session. It’s usually me running back and forth. And then, I sent half the tracks back to Ole and asked him to come in with solos and things. But then, we basically were finished with the album and had one song that we were working on, and we needed something. So, we asked Ole to just do something small, “Can you make something about three minutes long?” First, he came back with a lovely track, but it was five minutes long and way too good to cut into pieces. But I will work with the song that he sent in the future. I have a very clear idea, and I know what songs to connect it to. So, I threw one of the songs away. Then, he brought three small pieces, and I just came into the studio and threw on the vocal parts. There are a few key elements to them, but it’s basically just guitar and vocals. Those are the interludes on the album: the intro, “The Dream,” then track number three [“Voices in My Head”], and then track number six [“Through the Veil”]. They felt very natural. And when we brought in these three interludes, I repositioned the song “Flowing Starlight,” and it became the ending of the album. It was intended to be in the center of the album, but we had a very different solution; I reworked the idea because I had thrown the final track away. I feel that it kind of brings the album full circle, and that’s kind of the idea. Normally, I like to work with spontaneous ideas, but, here, I changed things because of the conceptual idea, and also because it’s good to have something completely fresh like the three interludes. When you bring in something completely new, you get a different perspective, and I think it was very good for both me and Ole.
All the musicians do such a fantastic job. Ole’s work is breathtaking, and what you do with your vocals is magnificent. You spoke about the ghosts on this album and how you channel different energies and bring in different voices. Is there anything you might like to communicate here about inhabiting the various characters that manifest through your vocals over the course of the album?
I prefer if the listeners kind of dive into them on their own and find their perspective in it. But, for me, it’s like with dreams that you kind of shift into. You have certain characters that revisit you and elements that are connected to you stronger than others. It helps to create more of a cinematic perspective or feeling and also move from one situation or one feeling or emotion into another. It’s not meant to be one solid physical being. It’s more about trying to enhance the emotion that I feel the music needs in a way. A lot of the creative process is about trying to figure out what the songs or emotions want to become.
This is probably purely coincidental, because great minds think alike, but Braiding the Stories reminds me a little bit of Dødheimsgard’s Black Medium Current [2023]. That album also deals with ghosts in a way and has a great trippy quality. And Yusaf uses different voices and has his veil on the album [and in concerts]. So, Braiding the Stories’ stunning cover by Øivind Myksvoll includes symbolism: the hair represents the veil, and your crystallized wine is there for the cosmos. Are there any details you would like to fill us in on in regard to your collaboration with La Sorga?
Fantastic wine producer and fantastic individual; he’s an excellent producer, Anthony Tortul. He’s a dear friend of mine, and so is his family and the people around him as well. Now, they are like family. They’re really lovely people and share this passion, and, from passion, all good things come. I do recommend all of his wines.
How was your experience shooting “Time and Timeless Timeline”?
The feeling of the track “Time and Timeless Timeline” is very band-like. We just played the song over and over again to get different angles. I just allowed it to be about the band — the ones that were involved in the recording of the album. I just came from the studio to a completely different studio the same day, and then just went directly in and had a tiny chat with the cameraman the day before and told him, “This is basically the idea.” I just wanted to make it as simple as possible. I showed him a photo of the band and told him that the photo has kind of a late ’70s, early ’80s, almost punkish expression to it. And I told him it’s the emotion that I want, and I think he got it. He did a bit of editing, and I told him to kind of just lower the colors, and that’s basically the only instructions that I gave.
It turned out beautifully. How has it been working with Season of Mist? They’re a wonderful label.
I’ve known Michael Berberian for many-many years before we signed with them. And before I started recording GastiR, Michael came and asked me if we needed help with anything, and he kind of wanted to sign us, but I didn’t want to enter the studio until I knew that the people in the band would stay. Of course, we had Baard Kolstad. He was the first drummer, and he was too busy with Borknagar and Leprous. He was the one that mentioned Kevin to us, and he was an excellent solution. He’s a machine as a drummer. I feel very safe with him behind the drum kits live. And then, yeah, Stian [Kårstad, “Sir”] had joined on guitar. Of course, he’s played with me before. I think he started working with me when he first joined Trelldom in the ’90s. He got really tired of touring and music in general, so he retracted as well. In a way, that was sad. He and I had created a lot of songs that were meant for Gaahls Wyrd that will probably turn into nothing in a way. Frode [Kilvik, “Eld”] decided to leave [after participating on The Humming Mountain]. That’s when we brought in Andreas. He plays bass on the album, but he does guitars live. And we have another youngster that’s doing session bass at the moment. I hope to bring him in, but he needs to see if he fits with us as individuals, touring, and also musically. But, at the moment, I’m very happy with the replacement. So, it took years before I kind of felt, okay, this is a band. We ended up with this foursome. And then, I contacted Season of Mist. We had a lot of different offers from other labels, but I wanted to work with Michael since he had kind of asked if we needed backup prior to us signing. He’s a businessman, but he doesn’t try to be anything else either. And I like people that are direct about what they are, instead of pretending and promising you things that are not reality.
Have you ever thought of forming a supergroup with your management at Revelations Music, Torgrim [Øyre, known for the likes of Malignant Eternal and Obtained Enslavement] and Silje [Wergeland of The Gathering]? They’re both great musicians as well.
Yeah, I don’t like supergroups. I get so many offers. People want to bring you in, but I think people should focus on what they are. It’s fine that people want to work together, but you have people wanting you to contribute to albums without having any reason or meaning. I get so many requests for collaborations, and they don’t even know me. They don’t know what emotions I would bring.
For the reasons you’ve just stated, which I understand, you haven’t made many guest appearances. But… I really like Secht! Do you have any memories from that experience you would like to share?
That was more like an art project in a way. I contributed by bringing another character into it; I brought a kid into the recording. So, I was involved in the conceptual idea of it as a curator. My voice is not there, but my presence is there. But, of course, I’ve done small things like with Skitliv with Maniac. We were in a situation, and we are friends. We were at his apartment and just recorded it there and then. And I’ve contributed to Kryptograf. But, again, that’s more just because of the situation, okay, you’re there. It was spontaneous, and I like this kind of energy. That’s basically how it happened. I’ve worked with Kati Rán a bit, but we work a bit broader in a way. We always have a long communication before, and she’s very good at listening when I say that I don’t feel that I can bring anything into this, but this I can bring in. It turns into kind of a co-creation in a way.
One project that I would really-really love to see resurrected, especially on Season of Mist, is Gaahlskagg. Erotic Funeral [2000] is mind-blowingly awesome. For your second full-length, the recordings, I believe, were destroyed in a “lightning strikes” incident.
Yeah, we do have the drums and the guitars, but they are not separated. So, we have them done. I like to work with these incidents. And, luckily, we usually mix the process as close to where we want to be sound-wise, so it’s still possible to work on it. But, of course, Skagg is still busy in Deathcult. He’s soon to finish. He’s working with Pytten. When he’s done, me and Skagg have our original band, Sigfader. The idea with the Gaahlskagg release and Sigfader was to have Gaahlskagg Productions because it’s a conceptual idea. But we have a lot of music for, I don’t know how many, albums; we have a lot of music lying around that’s recorded that we have not released. But we have plans. Skagg likes to work with one thing at a time. Now, all these years later, we might enter the studio to fulfill the recording of Sigfader.
That would be terrific, and I would be so happy for it! So, Pytten is obviously a legend. And he was involved with Gaahlskagg, Gorgoroth, and, as mentioned, reunited with Trelldom. What can you reveal about working with him over the years?
It’s been twenty years since the last time I worked with him, but he’s still the same kind of character and has the same energy. He just turned seventy-five this year. It’s always enjoyable to work with him because he’s good at allowing you to just release what’s in your head. But it’s also very-very good to work with him because I can explain what kind of visual perspective I’m looking for — what the intention is with the different parts of the music. There are so many details involved in how we choose to record and what kind of microphones we end up using. I think I started working with him thirty years ago. It’s always been excellent. And his eagerness! — His passion that he gets when you do something that he’s just extremely fascinated with! It’s good to have people with that kind of passion around when you create because, in the creative process, when you have to trust your own gut, you kind of never know that you’re doing something good and need to be a bit stubborn. And with him, it’s very easy to see when he’s happy.
Yeah, he obviously seems like a really-really amazing and supportive person [and everyone agrees]. It’s incredible how many different figurative hats he wears like production manager and side coordinator. He’s obviously a rocker too. It must feel different working with him this time around because I don’t think you’re in Grieghallen? [Pytten produced countless black metal classics in Grieghallen and, like Gaahl, stands as one of the genre’s architects.]
It’s not in Grieghallen this time. It’s a bit outside Bergen. In a way, to me, it doesn’t matter if we are in Grieghallen. Grieghallen is maybe a bit too big. When we worked in Grieghallen, we basically built smaller spaces for me to work within; I remember one of the first things that we did in Grieghallen was to build my own cabinet to make me feel comfortable. So, we would just find a workspace where we could kind of build a room within a room so that I could kind of isolate my energy because your surroundings can disturb you easily.
On the topic of Grieghallen, I was just looking at Arash Taheri’s photographs, and he did a fantastic job of capturing you at Beyond the Gates. Is there anything you want to say about performing at that festival? It’s so perfectly organized because the people behind it are Torgrim, Silje, Stian Fossum, Tarjei Strøm, and Ole Aune, who is a wonderfully amusing character, of course. [The venerable Finn Håkon Rødland also deserves a mention.] So, it’s a group of great people who are putting on this special event.
Beyond the Gates is a very good festival, and it’s run by people that love what they do. It started out as a very different festival with Hole in the Sky [dedicated to the memory of ex-Borknagar and ex-Gorgoroth’s Erik “Grim” Brødreskift], which was also excellent. And then, Torgrim just stripped everything down and turned that into Beyond the Gates. He just started underground again at Garage and these small venues. And then, that grew into what Beyond the Gates is today. The Quorthon [of Bathory] tribute that we reenacted in Grieghallen last year was originally done in 2004 when Quorthon died, and we gathered. The original lineup was [ex-Emperor’s and, for now, Djevel’s] Bård, “Faust,” on drums; [Aura Noir’s] Apollyon on bass, he also did one song vocally; Ivar Peersen [better known as “Ivar Bjørnson” of Enslaved] on guitars; and [Emperor’s] Samoth on guitars. And then, the vocalists were, let’s see: Apollyon was the first one out, then Grutle [Kjellson of Enslaved], [Satyricon’s] Satyr, [Darkthrone’s] Nocturno Culto, [ex-Immortal’s] Abbath, and then me. It was a one-set band. It was more like a funeral then since, again, it was just after Quorthon died. We got a lot of offers to kind of tour around from festivals that wanted us to come, but, at that point, we kind of said, “No, this is just a one-off.” And, now, we have brought some of the same concept back, just as kind of a 20th-anniversary celebration. It’s happening at a few festivals, but mainly Erik from Watain, I think, will do most of the songs. I know that Grutle and I will participate at some of the festivals, and maybe there are others that will turn up as well.
That will be epic, and Blasphemer will participate too. And about festivals, BlekkMetal was organized by Jannicke Wiese-Hansen in 2015. I believe that the story goes that you had one art exhibition in the ’90s, and you were kind of hesitant to show your work again. But Jannicke encouraged you to do so at that festival. And, now, obviously, you have your gallery in the same building as her tattoo studio [Nidhogg Tatoveringsstudio, co-owned with Annlaug Maria Tolo]. Would you like to say anything about Jannicke’s support and also what a great artist she is? She’s done so many great logos, album covers, even T-shirts, and so forth.
Yeah, she’s been in the scene the whole time, basically. And she’s put a strong signature on many things, both with artworks and logos. She’s a good friend, and she managed to convince me to exhibit. That’s basically because if she’s determined to do something, she will continue to nag you about it. And then, I thought, “Okay, let’s do it.” So, yeah, I’m happy that she managed to push me.
(We thank Gaahl for his time and incredibly informative answers. Gaahls Wyrd’s Braiding the Stories can be purchased here.)
