“Oh, I’m really looking forward to that,” he states with enthusiasm. “It’ll be my first time to be in Australia, and yeah it’s a big thing for me personally and I’m really looking forward to it. Except for the weather! I like warm weather, but I’m European so when it gets warm over here it’ll be like what, 25 degrees Celsius, and in Australia it’s like 45 degrees Celsius! I prefer 18-19 degrees, shorts, a t-shirt and I’m good,” he laughs.
It’s a whirlwind trip for the band, so he’ll get very little time to see the sights, but he’s very much looking forward to meeting the people, for not only has he never visited our country before, he has never even actually met an Aussie before.
“It’s hard to say, because it’s just a four day run,” he says, regarding his expectations of the country and its people, “so we won’t have time to go sightseeing and stuff. But I’m looking forward to meeting the Australian crowds, ‘cause to be honest I’ve never met an Australian in my life! So I’m looking forward to getting to know…how do you say…the mentality of the people, and especially the food I’m looking forward to. I’m a big eater, my father’s a chef, so I’m always interested in the local cuisine. And I’m looking forward to [seeing] the surroundings. I hope I will catch some of the landscapes and so on, so those are my main focus.” Unfortunately he’ll have to miss out on indulging in the excellent beer and wine that we make here though. “Actually I don’t drink alcohol!” he states. “Since 1998 I haven’t drunk any alcohol, so I’ll stick to water.”
Nachtgarm doesn’t hold back when asked what the Aussie crowds can expect from the Dark Funeral show. “The most extreme form of music presented by the most badass motherfuckers on the planet!” he laughs, although one doubts very much that he and his band will fail to back up his boast. “That’s the bottom line. I won’t tell very much more, but the people can expect much from our show, because we have a really big set with us, it’s a really long set. It’s about 90 minutes. So it’ll be a hell of a show for everyone down there!” He puns. So there’ll be a lot of smoke, a lot of fire and much blood flowing from the stage? “Well let’s see about that when we’re there!” he chuckles.
The band have been around for almost 20 years, but they’ve only released six full length albums in that time. Nachtgarm tells us that it is their express intention to produce quality over quantity, and that crafting a Dark Funeral album doesn’t happen overnight.
“It’s better to make five or six really good albums instead of making 20 albums that suck,” he states plainly. “That’s the main reason. Every Dark Funeral album is a special thing, you know, if you listen to each of the records, every record has that special feeling which only Dark Funeral can create. I think it takes time to write such albums. I think that’s the main reason.”
That said, he is confident that fans won’t be waiting as long for their seventh album, and he is extremely confident about the band’s longer-term future. “We’re working on new material at the moment,” he reveals. “It won’t take that long to bring out a new record, so definitely next year.
“We have at least ten [more years left in us],” he says, “because we have some fresh blood in the band now, and the old farts are still sticking in there. So of course, another ten years, maybe 15, so we’re not done yet!”
So does Nachtgarm have any parting words for Aussie black metal fans on the eve of their tour? “Yeah, I hope everyone shows up to our shows,” he says with a touch of irony, “and unleash fuckin’ hell down there. And definitely because it’s my first time I hope the people will show me that Australia is worth the stories I’ve heard. You’ve gotta prove it to me!”
BY ROD WHITFIELD
