Eljudner is a Folk influenced Black Metal band hailing from Norway. Last year they released their ‘Promo 2003’ which gained good critics among press and fans. Time for me to have a talk with Rhafnhugr, guitarist in Eljudner, to introduce his band to a wider audience.
Greetings Rhafnhugr, how are you doing?
Not too bad….
First of all can you explain the meaning of the word Eljudner? If I’m correct it is a kind of Goddess right?
Hel is the northern death goddess and Eljudner is her mighty hall. If you die of sickness or old age you’ll end you days here…
And can you also tell the history of Eljudner because you’re still a quit unknown band to the world? Can you also introduce all members to us?
Eljudner hails from Lillehammer, Norway and was formed during the hot summer of 2003 by me and Vanir. So far we have only released a 3 track promo and the line up for that recording is : Rhafnhugr – guitars, Vanir – vocals, Skogskjelv – bass and Arnis –drums. Arnis has now been replaced by Hadron.
At www.eljudner.com there is a free download from the ‘Promo 2003’. Isn’t the promo released as a regular cd? And if yes, in which quantities and what else can you tell about that particular promo, like the songs, the recordingstudio/producer etc.?
The promo was released in just 30 or so copies which we sent to various record companies, webzines and some selected people in order to get some feedback. We have stopped spreading it, because we do not feel that it represents the band musically anymore. We still like the songs, but they are almost a year old, and we are more eager to get some of our newer material released to the public instead… The promo is 100% homemade without any budget and with minimal technical knowledge from our side. Still it turned out ok, I think.
Is there already some interest from labels because of that promo? And how have the reactions been so far from both press and music fans?
We haven’t gotten any offers from labels yet, but there has been a lot of great response from both fans and webzines worldwide.
How would you describe Eljudner musically and what bands have been of an influence to start Eljudner?
Eljudner plays Folk influenced Black Metal. We have taken inspiration from some of the early 1990 bands such as Aeternus, Hades Almighty, Burzum among others. We are also influenced a great deal by our Norwegian Folk music heritage and of course our nation’s past history.
Who’s responsible for the lyrics and what are they about? What inspires you most to write lyrics like these? And will you use Norwegian lyrics only?
The main lyric writer in the band is Vanir, but we also have a guy called Crenom, who has helped us with some lyrics in the past. The lyrics deals mainly with the dark spectres of Nordic mythology. No thing is ever certain, but I think we will continue to use Norwegian lyrics in the future also, it suits the music well.
I have to say the cover and logo look very great from the ‘Promo 2003’ so who was responsable for the cover and logo?
The cover is just a photo I took travelling to Glittertind (one of Norway’s highest mountains) the last summer. The logo is created by Crenom who is also responsible for the artwork to our forthcoming vinyl release.
There was no info about gigs on your webpage so what’s happening with this…do you play live often or is Eljudner a band which doesn’t want to play live at all?
We would love to play live, but we don’t have a steady rehearsal place right now, so it will have to wait…
There was some talk of doing a 12” vinyl so what’s up with that? Which label will it be and what can be found on this piece of vinyl?
It will feature two new songs. we are currently trying to find a suitable studio for recording the drums and vocals. Bass and guitars we will do ourselves at our home studio. We are searching for a label, but if no one cares to help us out we will most likely release it ourselves..
What do you prefer; vinyl or cd and why?
Vinyl looks better, but cd’s are more practical. I collect vinyl from certain favourite bands, but I have no urge to get “everything” available on vinyl.
Does any of you have any side projects or other bands going on as well and if yes; which ones? Or are all members dedicated to Eljudner only?
Eljudner is and will hopefully forever be my main priority. I don’t play in any other bands right now. Skogskjelv plays in Styggmyr (ultra-primitive Black Metal) and Vino Lord (some sort of stoner metal). Vanir has some obscure old school Black Metal creation called Kommand going on, but he has not released anything yet.
What else can we expect in the near future from Eljudner?
Hopefully we’ll get to release the 12” before the end of summer…. Check out our homepage http://www.eljudner.com/ for further notices…
Thanks for the interview and if I missed anything this is your chance to say it so…as usual…the last words are yours?
Well, thank you very much for your support of Eljudner. Stay grim.
