Reaper Subconscious Guide
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| First of all, what made you want to approach Furze as a one man band, and do you think that handling the band this way helps or at all hinders Furze as a musical entity? |
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Woe:
Yes it depends. Some would prefer Furze as it is on the tracks where I do all recordings. Then others like the tracks off the UTD album where Frost is on drums. I have a way of thinking that the SONGS are on the throne. Its not only about if I'd like to do it. If the song would be better that way, from my view, I'd use someone else fitting for that specific song. Then again I don't always try others. If I feel I reach what I want whilst rehearsal recordings proceed I do it all.
I did all on [the] Reaper Subconscious Guide album and would not like to change any of the recordings there. I did most on all Furze albums, there are just few exceptions where I didn't record all, and where I didn't, I wrote and pre-rehearsed most of the stuff the session musician was to record for Furze anyway... The difference they made is the feel they could add to the already planned patterns.
Speaking about the Devil, Im currently trying an additional guitarist for the first time in Many Years...3 rehearsals so far, feels better with each reh [rehearsal?] so far...lets see if he will reach a permanent session status for the next recordings, too early to say this far. Live is impossible alone - I refuse to do a show ala playback !
There are certain stuff Im gonna try to make production-advantages of by incorporating another member to play with me, but it's still not sure it will work this way as said...live will never mean touring...who said its gonna be live anyway, probably just recordings, thats what matters... |
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| The names of your releases all seem to stay within a certain field, like Trident Autocrat and Necrosaint Black Metal Progressor, coming off more like intellectual titles. Why did you choose to name your 2010 full-length "Reaper Subconscious Guide" and make it sound so different from all the rest? |
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Woe:
I didnt. Its still within the Triad lyrically, focusing more on "clause1" of the Triad; the carnal (but its not the first time either...) I think the (split album?) UTD title was very much more different from Trident and Cogent-titles.
Our demos were very psyched Doom Black Metal, so was [the] NC [Necromanzee Cogent] album...There was a Black Sabbath cover on the 2nd promo in 1998. I mean Sabbath has always been with me as influence and even the brutal Furze songs, people in the past have heard the ghost of Sabbath shine thru; in reviews, and upon hearing them, which is just cool. Now there was a 40th anniversary celebration you know, since Sabbath's debut album in 1970. So Reaper Subconscious Guide had to be released in 2010 hehe... "Under the Sun" must be the fastest Sabbath tune ever by the way. |
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| Are you happy with the production quality that was used on this release? |
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Woe:
Yes...and lets see how the LP pressing turns out...I'm mastering it the analog way for the LP this month it seems (its all about the money) making the LP become the first ever A-A-A (100% analogue) norwegian black metal LP to emerge...I think I will have more thickness on the LP sound, more bass...but the problem is that the bass guitar was too low in the mix (which cant be redone when it's analog mix with ready mixed reels). The sound is very unique and most people who listen to modern metal will be put off by the "thin sound alone"... I personally think I might have gone too far and let too little bass frequencies thru but thats a problem based on the mix situation: The studio monitors reflect a much more detailed sound, in fact they made me think the mix was perfect, once finished mixing, getting home listening to the mix, still good, cause I always thought, and was informed, the bass guitar would even more get through upon mastering, which it did for Essential Wait and Immortal Lecture, but the other tracks should have had louder bass guitar in the mix... anyway, the album demands a lot of listening!!! |
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| Were there any real inspirations for the material present on Reaper Subconscious Guide, whether in the music or the lyrics? |
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Woe:
The call of the Triad... For music, also the almighty Black Sabbath, creators of eerie darkness in rock. What I appreciate, though, is that certain reviewers have given us credit for not doing like most other Sabbath influenced bands; they actually twist on a Sabbath riff and use it. I dont do that. I write from the heart and let that feeling come through. The credit was that it "sounded true 1970 vintage and like something Sabbath themselves could have kept unreleased to themselves until now" - a great compliment cause it means the original feeling of Furze is there, yet with a true old school/Sabbath feel, and that's just the ultimate compliment you know.. |
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| From what I read, there are six demo recordings total in your discography, as well as two EPs. Is there talk of any sort of compilation release or releases to make these recordings available to a wider fanbase? |
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Woe:
Hidden Hits of the Official Reaper Vol 1 should be out on vinyl only in April 2011. Vinyl only - as a fuck off to the part of journalists who enjoy putting our pieces of music on the net for free downloading. Fucking disgusting attitude. I hate this MP3 thing too. We had a major problem with this more than 6 weeks prior to release date of RSG [Reaper Subconscious Guide] album there were popping up blogs with free downloading options every day, one fought down another comes up. Impossible to stop. Agonia told me they've never experienced such a massive downloading problem/spreading upon a release before... But its still no compliment, it sucks! |
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| With the third generation of Black Metal coming across more as a battlefield for those who want something new, do you see the material you compose in Furze as a good influence towards the shifting of Black Metal ideas for this next wave? Or, do you have any feelings about this third wave of Black Metal at all? |
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Woe:
I do at least feel very comfortable with the creative direction Furze are heading these days... I loved the recent Ghost LP by the way,thats new, good black metal.... There will always be "mostly shit" within a "genre"...a wave can be,/i> good on [an] underground level, like it was in Norway just before the media boom broke loose and started the downfall in '93, when all was sounding evil yet different from each other.... But a wave on a commercial level will always fail. And Black Metal has really failed in this context. The reason being that most bands/individuals dont understand how unique you have to be in order to make black metal of a full embodiment: Have to have something unique to offer. I believe bands like Ghost and Furze have that touch for the "third wave" as you call it. |
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| Have you ever considered putting this music to some kind of visual material for a DVD that would play off the Psychadelic approach of the music? |
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Woe:
Not necessarily a live DVD, especially since this is a one man project, but perhaps just random clips that may or may not reflect the lyrics, but with effects to make them seems out of place, time, or just generally "trippy"? Ive thought about it. And about making a video. But there wont be any DVD as far as I can picture it now. |
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| How exactly did you come up with the music for Reaper Subconscious Guide? Were there any extrenuating methods or processes involved to come up with it? |
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Woe:
It's just me sharpening the main structures of the songs as they are rehearsed, primely on drums and guitars, as bass and vocals are my "toy-intruments"; meaning that I do have main, original ideas I always brew out/create more to, in the latest phase with those two, cause I play around with many ideas on those two elements and add the extra effects, like Glockenspiel in this case, in the end. Bass is very "fun" to play around with and I always have alot of ideas for it. Thats why I said "toy-instrument". The thing which happens is that it clicks into song and becomes "Furze".
I just use one old tape recorder to record the drums in the rehearsal room, then after that, add another tape recorder, while I press "play" to listen to the drums just recorded I amp corresponding volume on the guitar amp in order to record both the drums played from the first tape recorder and the guitars I simultaneously play to record on the other tape recorder. Fucking primitive, like always with Furze. This way I can sit and listen through rehearsals and decide correct playing paces, etc., and land at every decision make it sound just like I want it to sound. Then the production part is yet another side to things. The above mentioned is just during the phase of pure song structure and rehearsing...
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| Furze seems to never have put out a Split release, which seems to be common practice in the underground Black Metal scene. Are you against split releases? Has no one come to you about one? Or given the style Furze is, is it just that there really is no other band to share a release with, or some other reason? |
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Woe:
There was some talking about Orcustus split 7" with Furze in 2005 and with Audiopain in 2002...the Audiopain split tape was planned on an obscure Asian label (Furze side to include the demo version of "Sathanas' Megalomania"), but it never happened. Think they disappeared, that label. The Orcustus thing was just, somehow, "put on ice" by both parts... |
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| Have you, or would you ever consider, composing a Furze album that would be a full blown conceptual piece from start to finish? Do you think this would make for an interesting release? |
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Woe:
Yes, I've thought about this too. In this case the opposite of RSG [Reaper Subconscious Guide] album recordings: Make it a 100% digital piece with layers of lots of ambience and work on the production over time, that could be an interesting thing, but I dont have any plans for it now cause I have many other plans. And it wouldn't be a very "digital sound". In fact, this thing with a "3D" production (as I termed it, term is inspired by the Triad of course...) was the initial task I headed for after concluding UTD recordings in 2005 already, but The Call wanted it differentely thus the plan is on ice right now. There will be two Furze releases in 2011 by the way. The Hidden Hits Vol 1 and the Psych Minus Space Control LP/CD in the late Autumn. |
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| Thank you very much for taking the time to answer these questions, and I wish you the best of luck with your future endeavors. |
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Woe:
Thanks. BOYCOT FREE DOWNLOADING!!! |
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