A few weeks ago I received 1349’s new full-length album ‘Hellfire’. In all ways this album topped the previous recordings. The music became more varied, and even a 13:49-minute-long epic Black Metal hymn as a tribute to the old gods of Black Metal can be found here. Because ‘Hellfire’ belongs to the strongest Black Metal albums from 2005, I decided to have a short talk with Seidemann to catch up with the latest news and all the ins and outs about ‘Hellfire’.
Greetings and welcome back to VM. How are you doing?
We’re on a five-week European tour with Gorgoroth at the moment, so we’re doing great!
First of all, congratulations on ‘Hellfire’, I think it turned out to be your best album up to date! How do you look back on this album?
Thank you! The album is still a little too recent in my mind to look back upon it, but when we recorded, mixed and mastered it, we felt that it is our strongest effort thus far!
How are the press reactions thus far concerning the new album? And do you care about what journalists write about 1349 and how they review ‘Hellfire’?
We’ve gotten very good reactions for this album, album of the month in Terrorizer, 5Ks in Kerrang, all over pretty good. Personally, I don’t care what journalists or anyone else reviews ‘Hellfire’ since I already know how I feel about it.
The album starts with only two spoken words, which are ‘Hell fire’. This immediately makes clear what the listener can expect from the album. Was this done on purpose or is there more behind this way of opening the album?
The intro describes the whole album and felt right from the moment we recorded it.
On one of your very first shirts there is a statement on the backside saying ‘Audible Hellfire 1349’. Was the album title ‘Hellfire’ made up back then already and did you plan to once release an album with this title?
Ravn had the album titles ready a long time ago, and we’ve always wanted to refine our Black Metal into audible hellfire! With ‘Hellfire’ we feel we’ve finally gotten there.
Musically I would say you kept the fast and furious sound which you had on both previous full-lengths, but this time also the traditional grim old-school Black Metal atmosphere can be sensed very clearly. This combination makes 1349 even stronger. What is your opinion about this and did you want to include the old-school grim Black Metal atmosphere or did it just happen like this?
We’ve always had an old-school atmosphere in our music, but it is expressed most clearly on ‘Hellfire’ and especially the title track.
Vocal-wise Ravn made a huge step forward on ‘Hellfire’ and he sounds much more varied. I think he nowadays belongs to the best Black Metal vocalists around. How do you see this?
He is a great vocalist, and as you have observed his approach on this album is more varied and a nod to the Thrash vocalists of the 80s…
The sound on ‘Hellfire’ is also really good and it’s a huge improvement compared to both previous albums. All instruments can be heard clearly, but still the sound is pure grim Black Metal orientated. What kind of sound were you looking for and did you succeed in this?
The sound we were looking for is the sound you hear. We worked hard on getting the correct sound for ‘Hellfire’ and we were really satisfied with the final result.
Can you also tell a bit more about the recording of the album? And did everything go as planned when recording ‘Hellfire’ or did you face any difficulties? And did the environment where the studio is located (Darkthrone recorded there as well) contribute in any way to the album’s final sound?
We recorded the album in two sessions, one in March and one in May. The recording went very well, and we actually spent most of our time mixing and finding the right sound. The studio is located in a deep, dark forest and has a great dark and mysterious feel to it. It certainly gives us inspiration and sets the right mood.
Can you tell a bit more about the lyrical content on ‘Hellfire’ and are the lyrics important for you guys?
On ‘Hellfire’ the lyrics were written by several of us. I wrote three lyrics, Frost and Archaon wrote one each and Destroyer from Nocturnal Breed wrote three.
The lyrics are mostly visualisations of the feelings the music gives us when we hear it, although on this album most of the lyrics were written before the music. I can only speak about the lyrics I wrote: ‘Nathicana’, ‘Sculptor of Flesh’ and ‘From the Deeps’, which are all Lovecraftian in nature, dealing with a world in which humanity is of no importance. ‘Sculptor…’ is a sequel to ‘Necronatalenheten’ on ‘Beyond the Apocalypse’…
The title track ‘Hellfire’ is quite different compared to the other tracks. The pace is a bit slower and the music also sounds quite epic. Furthermore, the duration is exactly 13:49 minutes. This can’t be coincidence, right? And what inspired you when writing this song because it is so much different compared to the rest of the album?
‘Hellfire’ is our tribute to those good old bands that inspired us: Darkthrone, Burzum, Mayhem, etc. We wanted to make a song that captured the essence of the early nineties. We knew it would be a long song, and when it started nearing the thirteen-minute mark we knew it had to be 13:49…
This and next month you’ll be joining Gorgoroth on a European tour. What can we expect from 1349 this tour? And do you consider 1349 as a live band who likes to do touring?
On this tour you can expect, and some may have experienced, audible hellfire! 1349 is capable of handling live situations with the same speed and precision as we do in the studio, and with the visual aspect of corpse paint, headbanging, spikes and flames, you have a 1349 show.
What else is there to expect in the near future? I’ve heard some rumours about a DVD. Can you enlighten us?
There are some plans about a DVD, but as of yet nothing is certain, so check our webpage for news and info.
Thanks for this interview. If there is anything left to say, this is the opportunity and as usual the last words are all yours!
Thank you for the interview, Hell no longer awaits, it is upon you!
