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Sangtid is...
was really, a one man project of Svest (Forlis/Vornoff), focused in the dark,
depressive and atmospheric side of the music, it last (and final) demo ”Crows
Awaiting Murder” is travel to misery and despair, the perfect epitaph for this
great project.
Sangtid is dead now, but it music will be there… always to remind us the
profundity of human despair…We talk to Svest who accepts to answer all our
question.
BB:
Thanks for giving us this interview. I must admit I have listened very few of
your band before. Can you tell us about your project’s beginnings?
Hailz! I started composing songs for Sagntid around the summer of 2002, or at
least that is when I started getting some of the musical ideas that eventually
turned into a 3-track demo CD-R entitled “The Hangman's Chamber Music”. I was
never really satisfied with the way that demo-CD turned out, mostly because of
the mix that I made, so then I just carried on and there was a particular period
around spring of 2003 that I composed and recorded a lot of the stuff that ended
up on “Crows Awaiting Murder”. That CD-R was released in September 2003 and I
must say that I am still extremely satisfied with it, because the songs on it
are very personal and special to me, and I think the sound and mix and
everything turned out the way I wanted!
BB:
Is Sagntid a Black Ambient band? …I think is pretty difficult to classify
it, your music, it is more “human” than many other bands of similar style… How
you define your music?
I
definitely agree with you that it is hard to classify or label Sagntid, and
perhaps one could refer to it as Black Ambient, but to be honest with you; I
hate labelling music, and today everybody is so goddamn busy putting a tag on
all bands. Maybe Sagntid is just “Bitter Ambient Music” or “Simple Ambient
Music”?
BB:
Your music is very desolate and spectral… is like an apocalyptic vision. What is
the concept behind Sagntid?
There is not one specific topic or concept behind Sagntid, but the main themes
that are to be found in the music are horror, fear, uneasiness, death, murder,
sickness and perdition!
BB:
In the second track “Crows Awaiting Murder”, there are some dialogs… Where you
get those dialogs? …Those seem to be taken from some movie… Why you choose to
express your ideas in other’s mouth words?
Yeah, the samples are taken from a couple of horror movies, and the reason that
I have used samples is to underline and “support” certain themes and lyrical
arrangements in the songs. I think it’s cool when bands use samples in a way
that helps enhance the atmosphere of the music!
BB:
I really like your speech at the beginning of “Razor Wielder (Part I)”. Can you
tell us about these “little poem”?
These poems, or lyrics, were just stuff that I wrote in connection with the
songs, and I tried to make the lyrics fit the themes of murder, sickness,
despondency, horror, uneasiness, etc.! There is a bit of symbolism and also some
metaphors in the lyrics. I really like ambiguity in lyrics as I think it's
interesting when some lyrics can be interpreted in more than one way. The lyrics
I wrote for “Razor Wielder (Part I)” deal with vengeance and redemption!
BB:
My favorite tracks are “Leave Them In the Dark” and “Razor Wielder (Part
I)”…What are your favorite songs? Why?
My
favourite song is also “Leave Them In the Dark”. It has a very special meaning
to me, and I think I managed to invoke a really depressive and claustrophobic
mood in that particular song. I am also very fond of “Crows Awaiting Murder”
(the title-track), but if I had to choose a favourite song it would definitely
be “Leave Them In the Dark”!
BB:
Is “Crows Awaiting Murder” a conceptual work? …The songs are coherent between
each other, and the song’s names seem to insinuate a history about murder, but
by the point of view of the murderer… Am I right? … Or
I’m just wander?
It
is a conceptual work in the sense that all the songs deal with the same themes
and subjects, but it is not really about a specific murderer or anything. The
song named “Razor Wielder (Part I)” is about a fictitious character seeking
vengeance and redemption, and that song is definitely seen through the eyes of
the murderer/the despised. Anyway, you could say that all the songs are coherent
since they all highlight some sort of sickness!
BB:
How is Sagntid’s composition process? Where you get the inspiration for your
depressive art?
Sometimes I would sit around and come up with a single melody and then build on
that melody and add layers to it, but at other times I would go around with a
couple of melodies in my head and just sort of create everything in my mind
before I actually started recording any of the parts. It was different from song
to song, but if you listen to each song you will hear that there is one main
melody in each song and that layers are added to that one melody as the song
progresses.
BB:
How was the recording process of “Crows Awaiting Murder”?
It
was recorded at home on a small portable studio. I didn’t use any computers or
sequencers or any bullshit when I recorded the songs, only a keyboard and a disc
with the samples I wanted to use, as well as an effect-pedal that I used for
certain keyboard-parts and for some of the vocal-parts. It was very relaxing to
record it in a primitive way at home without any time-schedule or anything. I
just worked on it whenever I wanted to!
BB:
What do you think about suicide? …I think your music is pretty suicidal…
Suicide is a rather difficult subject to discuss, but I personally consider
suicide a tool for the weak. It is the easy way out of everything, but then on
the other hand, a few of those who have some serious psychological problems end
up killing themselves, and I to some extent I can understand that. I see what
you mean when you say that you consider my music pretty suicidal, because there
is a strong amount of despondency in my songs! Despair can lead to suicide!
BB:
Do you have (as Sagntid) some special ideology or belief? What do you think
about music as an instrument of proselytism?
There isn’t/wasn’t a special ideology behind Sagntid other than creating
haunting, depressive and horrifying music! Is proselytism when one converts to
another religion or faith? I can’t really answer that since I can’t remember the
definition or meaning of proselytism! Sorry, bro!
BB:
You told me “Crows Awaiting Murder” will be, probably, re-released next year by
some label… What label is that?
Misanthropic Propaganda Productions will hopefully release it sometime next year
as a split-CD with “Crows Awaiting Murder” on it, along with Vornoff's “Forledt”
demo material. An old Vornoff track from the second demo will be included on the
split-CD as a bonus, and I have also recorded an exclusive Sagntid track for the
CD, so I think it will turn out pretty cool. The working-title for the split-CD
is “Life Eclipse”!
BB:
Can you tell us how you balance your work between your bands Sagntid, Forlis
and Vornoff? Can you tell us a little about your other bands?
Sagntid doesn’t exist anymore, so now I only have to divide my time between
Vornoff and Forlis, and these 2 bands are everything to me! The new Vornoff
material is very much in the vein of Sagntid, so I have laid Sagntid to rest and
then used some its elements in Vornoff instead. When I released “Crows Awaiting
Murder” I felt that I had reached my goal with Sagntid, and I then decided that
I would only focus on Vornoff and Forlis. Vornoff performs simple, melancholic
and haunting ambient music, and there are certain songs on the forthcoming
full-length album entitled “Body and Blood” that are quite similar to the stuff
I wrote for Sagntid. Forlis performs minimalistic “rock” music with a lot of
dark and melancholic ambient parts and it is very difficult to define the sound
that we have in that band. Some call it “mellow doom” or “atmospheric doom”
while others refer to it as “ambient rock”. I don’t care about labelling our
music, but it is quite original and organic in my opinion, and Forlis is
extremely important to me! The other members of Forlis are Vuml (bass) and
Killjoy of Necrophagia (vocals)!
BB:
What bands influence the sound of Sagntid? I can’t identify some clear
influence… Burzum maybe…
Well, there are a couple of Burzum songs (e.g. “Tomhet”, “Channelling…” and
“Illa Tidande”) that have inspired me, but also stuff by Wongraven, Of the Wand
and the Moon, Thou Shalt Suffer and different horror soundtracks. It’s kind of
hard to pinpoint something that directly inspired me to create Sagntid songs. I
just let everything come from within and then record the stuff, and I’m pretty
spontaneous when I work with music, so I haven’t given much thought to the stuff
that inspires me, but as I stated earlier, my inspirations are mostly related to
horror soundtracks and a few ambient/classical bands!
BB:
What bands are you listening nowadays?
I
listen to a lot of different shit! Everything from Black Sabbath and DIO to
Necrophagia and Danzig! It all depends on what mood I’m in. Everything from
brutal black metal to mellow ambient music! I’m currently listening to Danzig's
“Circle of Snakes”, Sodomizer's “The Dead Walk”, Malign’s “Divine Facing” and
also stuff by Ofermod, Funeral Mist, Saint Vitus and Audiopain!
BB:
When can we expect new material of Sagntid?
As
I said earlier, Sagntid has been laid to rest as I have decided to focus on my
other bands, but there will be the split-CD with an exclusive Sagntid track on
it, and I must also admit that I have been thinking about re-mixing and perhaps
adding some vocals to “The Hangman's Chamber Music” CD-R, but time will tell
whether or not I get around to it.
BB:
Thanks a lot for your words and your work. Is there anything else you want to
add?
I want to
thank you for your interest in Sagntid, and I must say that the
questions above are some of the most interesting questions I have been asked
yet! Sagntid is dead now, but anybody who is interested in
obtaining “Crows Awaiting Murder” can send me an email or write me by
snail-mail. The price for the CD-R is 6 $ or 5 € (includes postage)!
Email:
soulwail@yahoo.com
Snail-mail:
Nepper/Svest
Chr. Waerums
Gade 19, 5.-3
8000 Aarhus C
Denmark
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