interview by: ~Vargscarr~

For those who haven't heard their name, Skyforger are arguably Latvia's premiere Metal export. Blending a style of extreme Metal comprising influences from across various sub-genres with traditional Latvian Folk music; they have progressed over three releases from Black Metal roots reminiscent of a Folked-up Immortal to a truly original sound that - though still Black Metal in presentation - nonetheless defies easy classification, and is best described as harsh, aggressive, Pagan Folk Metal. Despite sounding closer to Nokturnal Mortum than Skyclad, Skyforger eschew tradtional Black Metal ideology, keeping their music free of the musical and philosophical politics that - while acting as a creative focus for other bands - might otherwise prove a constraint upon them, and as such each Skyforger album has been a marked development in the stylistic growth of the band. The soon-to-be-released Thunderforge CD promises to take the band's evolution even further, and with good promotion should bring them to the much wider audience they rightly deserve.

This interview was conducted with guitarist/vocalist Peter via e-mail. For more information on Skyforger, visit http://www.skyforger.lv. Many thanks to Andy (Skyforger's manager) for the photos.

Maelstrom: Congratulations on the recording of the new album! I heard the mp3 of the title track, "Perkonkalve" ("Thunderforge"), on your website (http://www.skyforger.lv) and I was very impressed - the addition of clean vocals to the Metal is wonderful, as you'd previously restricted them to the parts of your songs that were straight Folk music - with the exception of the odd song like "Naves Sala" ("Death Island"'). I love hearing them mixed in throughout the song in its entirety. Vocally, "Perkonkalve" is very reminiscent of Enslaved's Eld album. Would you say this track on the website is generally typical of the whole album - both regarding the vocals and the rest of the music?

Peter (above): In the new album there are a variety of songs and it's hard for me to describe this one (Thunderforge) as a typical for whole album, but I can say that the album contains strong folk feeling, parts with clear vocals, some real folk song arrangements and generally it is a little bit slower than previous ones; that's because of the album's theme: Latvian mythology.

Maelstrom: What else can listeners expect to hear on your new album? I know you experiment with keyboards for the first time on this release - are there any other new instruments or stylistic developments you're aware of including?

Peter: Ah, yes - keyboards, but we use it only for creating some mood, not for playing melodies like Dimmu Borgir or Rhapsody do. As for other instruments, we use all our old folk stuff here - pipes, bag bipes, kokles, giga, mouth harp and some percussion. New for us is that we try female vocals (Rasa from Heresiarh sings some folk parts). As I said above this album is slower than Latvian Riflemen, not so aggressive, but not a doom album of course. I want to explain that this does not mean that the band has started to play slow now and forever, this is because of the topic of the album. We try to make the music go hand in hand with its lyrics, if the song is a about ritual funeral I think it cannot be fast.

Maelstrom: Do you have any idea when the new CD will be released? I know you've been looking for a new label for a while...

Peter: Yes, that's our main problem now. We have contacts with some labels, but they think very slowly, and many refuse our album, I think that's because this one doesn't sound like Latvian
Riflemen. Therefore it's hard for me to say something about a release date; it looks like it will only happen in 2003. If there is nothing forthcoming, we'll try to release this album by ourselves.

Maelstrom: Do you know if the distribution of your albums will improve outside of Latvia? There are many over here in Western Europe - and I believe in the US as well - who know your name, but have huge problems finding your releases; even from the underground distros who stock far more obscure bands from various parts of Eastern Europe, and who often don't even have your desire to be heard outside the Black Metal scene! Why do you think distribution/publicity has been so poor thus far?

Peter: Kauja pie Saules and Latvian Riflemen were realised by Dutch Mascot records and they dealt with all promotion. We heard about their poor work and that is why we are now away from them, but Mascot had all rights on our first two albums and there was nothing we could do. Look, we are a band from Eastern Europe and are not so deeply into the music industry, we were very happy when we found some label who distributed our music all around the world. Now we have learned something and I hope things will go better in the future, because we want to spread our music to people. But after all, Mascot has done some work if people know our name.

Maelstrom: It's very refreshing to hear a band playing your style of Pagan-Folk Metal and having strong national ties to your homeland, but who seem to have no political agenda. In past interviews you've explained the firecross in your logo (the symbol many know only as the swastika, with all the associations that brings) has nothing to do with National Socialism; so for the record please explain what the symbol means to you.

Peter: This is the holy symbol of our thunder god, Perkons, as a firecross. In another way it means everlasting motion, the magic sign that protects you from all evil. Those who are into history know that this ancient symbol is found in almost every nation (I saw it on the clothes of American Indians too), but sadly for the rest of the people it is associated only with Hitler's regime. In our country it is not a Nazi sign and it is legal, because it comes from our folklore and culture, we have various complicated forms of this cross.

Maelstrom: What are your thoughts on other bands who deal with the same lyrical themes as you and play in a similar style that blends traditional Folk with Extreme/Black Metal - the best examples right now are probably Ukrainian bands Nokturnal Mortum and Dub Buk - who do have this NS political stance? Do you listen to their music at all?

Peter: Yes I heard Nokturnal Mortum and found their music good and interesting, especially the album NeChrist, but this does not mean that I like them because of their NS views and lyrics, I like the mood of album and the way they mix metal with folk. About other folk metal bands I must say that I heard much shit and those bands (I'd better not name them) degrade the whole style. Most of them had problems with folk singing, playing and fresh ideas. But of course I've heard many good bands, for example Obtest (Lithuania), Otyg, Bathory (of course), Isengard and Enslaved (sorry, I don't remember all the names).

Maelstrom: Why do you think bands from smaller European countries, particularly in eastern Europe, have such a wonderful sense of pride in their nation's history and folk culture - a willingness to embrace their roots and work them into their contemporary art; as opposed to the way those further west in Europe and across the Atlantic tend to grow away from them? Is this only true of those who happen to be musicians, or is it something you are aware of in all your fellow countrymen?

Peter: I think it's because all these countries and especially their history and national culture were oppressed for a long time by the Communist regime and now it springs out in various ways - such as metal music. The other thing is that we do not have such deep metal roots like in west Europe and the USA (and contacts with them) and we try to do something of our own, not simply copying all the big western bands. We find it in our culture and history and we try to make our own metal scene, something different from the rest of the world, but that's not to mean that we try to stand apart. And finally, as you say, this goes not only for musicians here, but for some fellow countrymen too.

Maelstrom: With you second studio album, Latvian Riflemen you really broke free of the Black Metal style that characterises your music in the previous two releases (the demo Semigalls' Warchant and debut CD, Kauja pie Saules); not just by changing your vocal style, but by introducing song writing techniques from other Metal styles, like the wonderful Extreme-Maiden-Folk song "Pulkvedis Briedis" ("Colonel Briedis"), and the Doomier "Tirela Purva" ("In The Tirelis Swamp"). Nevertheless, most listeners would probably still class Skyforger as Black Metal simply because your harsh guitar sound, extravagant drumming and even the inclusion of Folk instruments aren't heard combined together anywhere outside that genre. Is this something that you dislike, and want to distance the band from though changes to your music or image like so many of the old Norwegian bands; or are you happy to be pigeonholed as long as people are listening and you're playing what comes naturally?

Peter: Yes, yes we don't dislike it; people can classify our music as they like, the name of the style isn't important for us and we don't want to follow trends and boundaries; we play what comes naturally. We try to use and mix every style of metal and rock and folk that we like. Personally we don't use the term black metal for one reason: if some people read somewhere that Skyforger is a black metal band, they can become disappointed when they get our album and hear that musically it isn't true raw BM.

Maelstrom: Latvian Riflemen also had a highly original concept that links the traditional themes of fighting for one's land with the much more modern events of the First World War; and musically blends ancient Folk music with early 20th century themes that sound very militaristic. Though many other bands have dealt with Second World War topics, they rarely link those war themes to battles of the past in the way the songs on Latvian Riflemen do. I understand that you (who are responsible for lyrics, lead vocals, rhythm guitar and - like all the other members -folk instruments) were inspired to write these lyrics after reading a book entitled Storm of Souls by Aleksandrs Gryns. Reading the details on your website was fascinating - you visited various battlefields around Riga (your hometown) on a bike, as well as the Latvian War Museum; and made your own uniform before participating in First World War battle re-enactments. Are you done with the riflemen theme, or might it crop up again in future Skyforger songs? Are there any other topics of great interest to you that might find their way into the band's lyrics aside from the traditional topics of ancient Latvian gods and historical tribal conflicts?

Peter: We are done with the riflemen theme - of that all has been said. But of course there are some other topics that I have in mind, for example The Freedom Fights - this time comes after the Latvian riflemen when in 1918 - 1919, Latvians fought and created their first own free state - Latvia. The other one is damned World War II and a very hard and complicated story about Latvian soldiers in the German SS Legion - our fathers fought not for Hitler or Stalin, but again for their own country's freedom, but we are afraid that the rest of the people don't understand us and try to accuse us again of Nazism and NS things. And somewhere deep I have an idea to write something about North America's Indians.

Maelstrom: What do the Latvian Heathen deities mean to you? Are any band members practicing worshippers of these gods, or are the concepts more symbolic to you?

Peter: No, we don't practice pagan rituals or worship gods, the paganism for us is in some philosophical way - it is knowledge and feeling of our great mother - Nature, to understand and live by her laws. These ancient gods are only personified manifestations of Nature, they help to imagine and keep contact with Nature for our forefathers. I think our ancestors had greater knowledge about Nature than we do today.

Maelstrom: Now, I have to ask you about Folk music. You learned to play the instruments yourselves, and both write your own Folk themes into your songs as well as using old, traditional pieces. Could you describe some of these instruments and how they're played?

Peter: The most well known instrument is the 'kokle' (something like a board harp) another one is the 'giga' - something like an ancestor of the cello with one or two strings played with a fiddle stick, then 'vargans' - the rhythm beating hammer. The rest are well known: pipes, bagpipes, war drums, moutharp. We are not professional players of these instruments, but it is nothing hard to learn to play them, because thay are simple ones, of course you can become the virtuoso of kokle or pipe, but we are far from it.

Maelstrom: Before Skyforger there was Grindmaster Dead. From what I've read this was a Doom Metal band who also utilised some Folk techniques with the addition of a flute. How did you get into Folk music? Is it all around you in Latvia? In England if you want to hear traditional music you have to look damn hard - it could almost be described as underground. You can usually find a few CDs in a record store, and bands play at Folk festivals now and then; but aside from those occasions its invisible - most people never hear it. Distressingly, it's not seen as an integral part of our heritage.

Peter: Yes, I can proudly say that in Latvia folk music is on the national and state level, because it is a great part of our identity and culture. We had our first contacts with it already in kindergarten and school and therefore here it is nothing too hard to get into folk music.

Maelstrom: You've played several gigs as a Folk band; and I believe you have several Folk songs written that haven't been incorporated into Skyforger. I know you've been asked this before, but do you have any plans to release a Folk album one of these days? I think a lot of people into this style of Metal would be keen very to hear it...

Peter: We still have that plan, but I can't bring you the clear picture right now. We have no time now to start seriously working for a folk album, because we see that there will be more to do and we are busy with Thunderforge and new songs, but I hope someday it will happen.

Maelstrom: The band has always wanted to try new things and stand out from any particular Metal sub-genre. Does this mean that we might start hearing Industrial influences in Skyforger's music someday? I read that Rihard (lead guitar, backing vocals, folk instruments) has been listening to this kind of music - as a band do you see this as something you might wish to experiment with?

Peter: No, I think not. Maybe Rihard likes industrial music, but the rest of the band doesn't and Rihard even doesn't try to play or put industrial things in our music. (But never say never, I say to myself).

Maelstrom: Are there any artists who you would say influenced you musically nowadays; or alternatively, which bands do you just enjoy listening to?

Peter: Oh, this hard question! There are many and many various metal and rock and folk style bands that we enjoy and from whom we have some influences (one of our biggest influence is Bathory's Hammerheart). Personally, I am a great fan of heavy, power and fantasy metal, some of my most beloved bands are Saxon and Judas Priest.

Maelstrom: How about originally; which bands made you want to make music in the first place?

Peter: Hm, you ask me which bands are those who give me the push to start playing music? I really don't know what to say, there were not only bands, but the whole scene and heavy music, I have something inside and want to express myself and found it in the music. To tell you the truth; in the beginning I was into pop music, because in the USSR (at the years of 1985 - 86 Latvia was still under the rule of Communistic Russia) here no one heard heavy metal, because metal music was forbidden! And my first band was Bad Boys Blue.

Maelstrom: What is the Metal scene like in Latvia at the moment; and the music scene in general over there? Do you ever hear Skyforger songs on radio stations in your homeland? I ask because I hear that your popularity isn't limited to the Extreme Metal scene over there - you're one of the biggest bands in the country regardless of genre. Is Metal more a part of popular culture in Latvia, as is the case in Germany?

Peter: No, no, metal in Latvia is still underground. Our country is small and all is taken by money and advertisement. Here there are no zines or metal radio stations, but some people write about music in great state newspapers and sometimes they write about us and some radio stations plays our songs, and we become known to the masses. Some good points for us here are that we deal with national history and folklore; that is why we come in sight of non-metal people. But the Latvian metal scene is small as the country, there are few bands who play various metal styles. The gigs happen one or sometimes two times in a month. No special metal clubs, bars or pubs. But there is a big (for our country) pop scene. Some of those bands (as Brainstorm or BTH) were shown on MTV. Finally I can say that here there are all styles of music.

Maelstrom: Are there any Latvian bands you can recommend?

Peter: The best metal bands are Heresiarh, Sanctimony, Brute Chant and Neglected Fields.

Maelstrom: Your outlook seems very positive in your interviews, and indeed in your music too; but there's the obvious aggression of modern extreme music throughout your songs, and they certainly don't sound "happy," unlike for example Finland's Children of Bodom. Is there anything in your lives that frustrates you; that you might say was a source of anger or righteous indignation which inspires this aspect of your music?

Peter: Look, our music is about war and battles, therefore it is naturally angry, but yes, I'm frustrated by injustice, usurpation, oppression, lies, by dumb, unintelligent and evil people. That is what gives me anger and I put it into my music, it is a fight against all that shit. Naturally I'm a quiet and positive (for all good people) man and I don't try to show myself as a evil killer or great warrior. I am what I am.

Maelstrom: Many thanks for the interview - I wish you every success with the new album! The last words are yours...

Peter: Thanx, Vargscarr for this really cool interview. I found your questions interesting and I'm glad that you know about our band a little more than others who write me. Hope you forgive me for such bad delays with the answers. I wish you all the best!

PETER & SKYFORGER

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