KOLDBRANN – Norway

KOLDBRANN was formed in early 2001, with the intention of making a cold and ugly Black Metal assault, without any trendy and faggoth elements! In July 2002 KOLDBRANN recorded their first demo 'Pre-Prod 2002' in their own studio NekroTrygd. The demo was spread very well in the Norwegian underground as well as abroad, and it recieved almost nothing but great response and reviews! This led to KOLDBRANN signing a deal with Scottish underground label Desolate Landscapes (for a full-length CD release), and later on with Norwegian Apocalyptic Empire Records (for a 7 inch EP). In December 2002 the rehearsal tape "'Mislyder fra Det Nekrotiske Kammer' was released, as a preview for the upcoming CD. The debut CD is out now entitled 'Nekrotisk Inkvisition' and was recorded in February and mixed & mastered in March 2003. Consisting of Mannevond (vokal & guitar), Kvass (guitar) and Fordervelse (drums), KOLDBRANN is also active in playing live. Here we got guitarist Kvass interviewed. Await the Nekrotic Inquisition!!

Interviewed by Sufian Mohamed Salleh (August 2003)

Infernal Hails Koldbrann! First of all, please elaborate the personal characters of each member of the band? Everyone of you have their special pseudonym respectively, so please describe what are they all about, and its relation to the band Koldbrann musically and ideologically? 

Necrotic hails! Nowadays, Koldbrann consists of 3 permanent members: myself, Kvass on guitar, Mannevond on vocals and Fordervelse on drums. Kvass is an old norwegian word which can mean 'sharp', 'wise' or 'fierce in battle'. Mannevond means about the same as 'misanthrope' and Fordervelse means 'depravity', those too norwegian words. The pseudonyms reflect aspects of our personalities. In the band, Mannevond and I make the guitar riffs. While Mannevond is into the old-schoolish atmospheric and slow riffs, I make the more fast and technical ones. This combination forms the basis of out music. Fordervelse's skin-beating adds the necessary aggression, altogether unleashing a hellish assault! 

Tell us when and how did you guys get together to form Koldbrann? What were reasons you start up this band and the choice on musical direction? What is the name Koldbrann meaning for and the hidden spirit behind it? 

Mannevond started up Koldbrann in early '01 with the intention of creating ugly, harsh old school black metal. He recruited a guitarist called Dragev who was a friend of his. As Dragev moved to another part of the country, he left the band. Mannevond needed musicians and got in touch with me and Fordervelse a bit later. This was around spring '02. We started rehearsing for real and made new songs. We've also had some session members along the road. We haven't really made any choices about the musical direction - the musical direction seems to have pointed itself out. We only try to make songs that we would like to listen to ourselves. All in the vein of black metal of course. The name Koldbrann was Mannevond's idea. It is norwegian for 'gangrene'. Directly translated it can also mean 'cold fire'. It's all about extremes, and we think our name suites the music very well. 

Koldbrann has recently released self-financed debut full-length "Nekrotisk Inkvisition", so please talk everything about this album – musically, lyrically, and production-wise? What are your goals with this CD? 

We were already signed on Desolate Landscapes when we decided to release the self-financed version of Nekrotisk Inkvisition. We made this version because we were due to play on the Inferno Festival in Oslo '03, and wanted to get the CDs out in time before the festival. The process with Desolate Landscapes would just take too long. The album consists of songs we had been making and rehearsing the last year. We are pleased with the production, and we feel that we have  managed to create a strong album in its entirety, with no weak tracks. Nekrotisk Inkvisition will upen doors for us as a band an make an impact in the black metal world of today! 

Are you fully happy with "Nekrotisk Inkvisition", or are there things you would have done differently now? How would you evaluate the progression you have gone through, and in what direction are you currently progressing? Have you always played like you do now, or did you play another kind of music/metal when you started up? 

We are happy with the result. There are some minor things we would have changed now if we could, but nothing that means very much in the big picture. The musical direction for the future is hard to predict. Generally we have become better technically and moreover tight as a band, so the aim must be to try to make better, darker songs and play a lot more live shows. All of us listen to different kinds of metal, and also some music from other genres. I can play different guitar styles, and Fordervelse har played drums in bands of different metal genres. In Koldbrann we play black metal exclusively! 

The CD will also be released on Desolate Landscapes in June 2003 (you wrote this on the band’s official website)… so how’s the re-production process going on? Tell us something about Desolate Landscapes and how was the deal with Koldbrann begins? 

We expect the re-release to be out very soon! Keep looking out for news about this on our website www.koldbrann.cjb.net. Desolate Landscapes is a Scottish label, fairly underground. They invited us to sign for them after hearing our first release, 'Pre-Prod 2002', a demo featuring the songs 'Koldbrann' and 'Den Endelige', and so we did. A fair deal, no regrets so far. 

There is also plans of the band to release 7" split with Ljå on Aftermath Music and a 7" EP on Apocalyptic Empire Records. Please provide further information regarding those vinyl releases and the expection on musical progress as to compare with "Nekrotisk Inkvisition"? 

I guess you people will just have to wait and see, won't you? 

Can you describe the song writing process - how do you usually work out the compositions? Is the atmosphere or state of mind you're in while writing music important? Where does the inspiration come from? 

The song writing process differs from time to time. Usually Mannevond and I make the riffs and arrange them in order to make an entire song. The words are sometimes written before, sometimes after the song is made. The drumming and vocals are worked out at the rehearsals. Sometimes this process goes  fast, sometimes we have to work quite a bit with the material to get it done. The state of mind can be important, yes. But also a skilled ear and musical abilities play a role. For my part, I'm inspired by many different things, for example old norwegian movies, forensic medicine and astrophysics. 

What's the black metal scene in Norway like at the moment? Nowadays, black metal music has developed into many sub-genres including Extreme Goth (f.ex Dimmu Borgir, Ancient, etc) and Norsecore (f.ex Marduk, Gorgoroth, etc)… do you think the widening progression & increasing popularity of these sub-genres as a positive development of the black metal music itself? Based on your own opinions, how should black metal sound like? 

Well, new bands are popping up all the time. Most of the bands don't really interest me though, as I'm more interested in our own music. But up-and-coming bands such as 1349, Slavia and Disiplin shows that there are some exctiting things going on. I'm not very into classifying bands into sub-genres like 'Norsecore' and 'Extreme Goth'. I think it's only natural that bands develop diversity in their music after some time. No use in all bands sounding the same, is it?. Not only do I think diversity is good, I think it's necessary in the long run, for the finding new ways of expressing extremity. Black metal should sound cold, harsh, real and extreme! 

Well, give us information about your previous and next-coming live performances? Can you please describe the best show ever made? Koldbrann is scheduled to perform in Hellhammer Festival 2003 held on 28th August 2003 in Serbia… tell us more about this festival? 

We are gonna do some shows in East-Europe in August '03. Once again check out our website for details. I guess our best show was one we did in Trondheim May '03, good show, good sound, good audience. I don't know much about Hellhammer festival yet, and I have no idea what to expect. 

The doomday is coming, so can you imagine what will happen at time the earth collpased & destructed… and what will going on with your life aftermath? It’s the sign of the end-point of the fuckin’ conservation, so throw out your final darkwords? 

Good thing doomsday is near. I was getting tired from all these questions... hahah. Regie Shaitan!