Earlier this year, Norwegian satanic Black Metal band Tsjuder released their best album to date entitled ‘Desert Northern Hell’. In all ways, this album topped all their previous releases. Also live, Tsjuder knew how to impress the audience by giving tight-as-hell performances during the support tour for Carpathian Forest, the Inferno Festival, and just recently the Hole in the Sky Festival. Reason for me to have a short talk with Nag, frontman of Tsjuder.
Hello Nag, welcome to VM. How are you doing?
Ok.
First of all, congratulations with ‘Desert Northern Hell’. To me, it feels like this is the best Tsjuder album to date, and in comparison to ‘Demonic Possession’, it is a big step forward. How do you look back on the new album yourself?
Yes, I agree it’s the best album we’ve recorded. The music is very much in the same vein as the previous releases, but with a bit more Thrash influences. The sound is also different, better, but still raw and brutal.
From what I’ve seen, the new album has gained lots of very positive feedback from the press. How is the album received by the die-hard fans? Because in the end, they are the ones who really go out to buy the album.
Before the release of this album, I’ve read in quite a few places that people said we were sell-outs, etc., because we signed to Season of Mist. After the release of ”Desert Northern Hell’, they didn’t open their mouths. I think everyone I’ve spoken to thinks it’s a great album.
And do you care about what is written by the press at all? Especially because quite often lots of people from the press don’t really know enough about the real Black Metal scene at all.
When you’re saying “press”, I’m thinking of the underground zines. The “big” press has nothing to do with Black Metal at all. I care what the underground zines are saying, of course, but I couldn’t care less about the bigger magazines who don’t even know that ‘Sacrifice’ was a Bathory cover.
About the album itself. What I’ve noticed is that the sound has improved a lot, and I think it comes pretty close to a perfect Black Metal sound. Where have you recorded the album and did you already have some things in mind regarding the sound? Have you achieved the sound you were aiming for?
I also agree it’s a very good sound. It’s exactly what we wanted. It’s wide and dark, and still raw and brutal. It’s recorded in the same studio as ‘Demonic Possession’, with the same guy, Harald. Harald learned a great deal from recording ‘DP’, so he used the experience to make ‘Desert Northern Hell’ better. We had quite a few ideas before starting on ‘Desert Northern Hell’, but I guess Harald had even more ideas.
The songs also sound a lot more diverse, with more changes in pace, which in the end makes the complete album much more interesting. Was this also one of your aims with ‘Desert Northern Hell’?
This is how things turned out. We never tried to make anything particular. We just made the songs we liked and put everything together. We were actually a bit afraid that there would be too many changes, but it turned out good.
What influences you when writing songs and in what way are songs made within Tsjuder?
I’m influenced by old Thrash bands, and Black Metal from the early 90s, which you can hear a lot of in our music. Me and Draugluin used to make riffs on our own and put them together in my or his apartment. Lately, Draugluin has made more songs alone. For the next album, I have tons of riffs ready, and so does Draugluin.
And what influences you when writing lyrics? Are lyrics written prior to a song or are they written to fit the music?
Death, Darkness, Satan, horror movies, Necronomicon, etc. The lyrics are written prior to the music.
Where does the album title ‘Desert Northern Hell’ stand for from your point of view?
My definition is a cold, dark, desert place in the North, where only dark and evil creatures dwell. Most of my lyrics refer to this place.
For this album, you’ve changed record label and switched over to Season of Mist. How is the cooperation so far and are you satisfied with what they have done for Tsjuder so far? Do you think Season of Mist can help you reach the next level with Tsjuder?
Season of Mist have done a great job for Tsjuder, and we’re very satisfied with them. Season of Mist is a professional label, which Drakkar wasn’t. I still have great respect for Drakkar and what they did with Tsjuder. But right now, it feels much better to be on Season of Mist. There is no next level we want to achieve; we just want to make our music.
You’ve done a European tour supporting Carpathian Forest earlier this year. How was this tour for you and what were the highlights on this tour for Tsjuder?
The tour went very well, and Carpathian Forest and Tsjuder is a great match, both musically (different, but both Black Metal), ideology, and we get along very well. The highlights must be the gigs in the smaller venues such as Munich. The intensity is much higher.
You’ve also played the Inferno Festival this year. It was really amazing to see so many people trying to get into the John Dee club to be able to see Tsjuder perform live. Unfortunately, I have seen only the first half of the gig because it became too crowded and we weren’t able to stand properly on our feet anymore. Though the part of the set which I’ve seen sounded really great. How do you look back towards this gig? I guess it must be flattering to know that your performance was the most crowded performance at Inferno this year?
Yes, the Inferno Festival went well, and the response was very good. I really don’t think it’s flattering or anything; it just shows that people are interested in Black Metal, and not the wimpy other stuff. Or maybe it was just a bunch of idiots who wanted to see what Black Metal is all about. I don’t really care. We had lots of our friends from around Norway there, and that’s what matters to me. The gig was for them, not all the others.
Since the release of ‘Desert Northern Hell’, Tsjuder have become very popular, and to me, it seems as if Tsjuder is becoming one of the biggest satanic “true” Black Metal bands worldwide. What is your opinion on this? Do you see this likewise? And is this one of your ultimate goals with Tsjuder?
I think we are gaining a larger audience, but I think that’s mainly because we’ve been around for quite some time now, and Season of Mist has done a great job by distributing ‘Desert Northern Hell’. We do not appeal to any new audience or anything, so I don’t see us as a bigger band. There are just more people that have heard of us. Yes, Tsjuder plays “True Norwegian Black Metal”, and our goal is to spread more and more hate and destruction.
Another thing which I noticed is that Tsjuder once more changed drummer. With Anti-Christian back in the band now, do you feel like he’s the ultimate drummer for Tsjuder?
Anti-Christian has played with us since 1999. He played on the first album ‘Kill for Satan’, but had to stop playing drums because he injured his arms. So Jontho did the drums on ‘Demonic Possession’, and Anti-Christian recovered and came back in 2003. He’s permanent, and yes, our ultimate drummer.
Just recently, the previous two albums were re-released. What’s the reason for this? Are the first pressings completely sold out or is this to be ahead of things, having in mind that Tsjuder is becoming more known nowadays?
The first two albums had been sold out for a long time, and it was about time they got repressed.
Once more, your album has been released on pitch-black vinyl. Is it important within Tsjuder to have the albums out on vinyl as well? And are you a vinyl collector yourself?
Yes, all our albums will be released on vinyl. No discussion! I’m not a collector myself, but I like vinyl much better than CDs — as simple as that.
Next month, you’ll be playing the Hole in the Sky Festival. What do you expect from this festival? And which other bands are you looking forward to seeing live?
Since I’m a bit late answering this interview, it’s about 4–5 weeks ago since we played the Hole in the Sky gig. It went pretty well, even though we were the first band out on Saturday. There was a big crowd, and the feedback was good. I was really looking forward to seeing Obituary since I hadn’t seen them since ’92 or so.
What other things and/or happenings are planned for the future?
Make record, and release the fourth album.
Well Nag, thanks for your time. The last words are completely yours!
Keep supporting raw and brutal Black Metal! No compromises!
