Susperia – ת'ראש שקורץ מסלע נורבגי

Norway's Susperia may seem like every black metal fan's dream come true, but the fact is this somewhat of a super group is closer to contemporary and old-school thrash than they are to any of the black metal bands their members used to be related to, such as Dimmu Borgir and Old Man's Child. The band has recently released it's fourth album "Cut From Stone", and it finds them moving even further away from the often mentioned comparision to thrash giants Testament, a shadow the band has lived under since their debut. We spoke with the band's bassist, Memnock, about the new album, the band's past, present and future.

Hey man, first – why did you name your last album "Cut from stone"? Did you choose your favourite and more typical song on the album and made it the title track, or did you think of the name before you wrote that song's lyrics?

Hi there! Well the name for the album is something we came up with after a long discussion. The idea behind it is that it represents what we are as a band. We want to send the message that we are here to stay. We have had the same guys in the band since our first album and we don’t see us changing any members. We are Cut From Stone – a bit like a statue solid and lasting a long time. At the beginning a lot of people called us an all-star band because of our connections with Dimmu Borgir, Old Mans Child and Satyricon. They didn’t think we would last. But we are still here!

Susperia is an ever-growing and ever-changing band. How did your long-time fans welcome the new release and the album before that, "Unlimited"? Did you feel during the song-writing that you drifted away from the band's black metal roots to more a thrash metal vibe and even modern groove oriented metal?

Susperia is the kind of a band that does what we feel comfortable with. The music is something that comes from within. We like to challenge ourselves and explore different directions otherwise we would get bored. Yes we did "drift" away from the roots of Norwegian black metal and most of our fans have stayed with us. We gained more fans than we lost, so it wasn’t a big problem [Laughs]. We have loyal fans who stand by us, they support us with each new album and also we keep getting new ones along the way.

It can be heard that the sound on this album is much clearer and cleaner (in a good way) than in your previous releases. Do you think you finally found your own niche in terms of sound and production?

I don’t know if we have finally found it, but I think we are getting closer to what defines the Susperia sound. We are always looking for ways to improve the sound and production on each album. We don’t know if it will be the same on the next album. We have used different producers and each one brings their own piece of magic to an album. It’s hard to say where the next album will go.

Susperia started as some kind of an "All star" band. Most of the All-star bands are short-lived but you are now claiming your fourth release and you sound fresh as ever. Do you think you were made, as musicians, from a different sort of material than other "All star" bands?

[Laughs]… nice one thanks! I guess we decided to not become the typical “all star” band who come and go in a flash. As I said at the beginning of the interview, we started out as a band that had plans to go some where with our music. We did not do this just to release one album and disappear. We are still here and we have a strong bond between. Yes I believe it is right to say we are made from something different. We are still here after four albums and we are planning to stay for a long while.

Why did you leave Nuclear Blast back in the day? Did you feel that thing will be difficult from now on because there were no certainties about the future of the band, or did you guys find your new home in Tabu records rather quickly?

Nuclear Blast did a good job for us on the first album, but they kind of took the foot of the gas with the second one. We ended up in a situation where we were told that they had no money to spend on Susperia for touring and the promotion was reduced. They asked us to hold on but that meant we were going to be sat on our asses doing nothing for a long time, like almost 2 years.

We had to do something to keep the momentum going so we asked to be released from our contract. They agreed and we left on friendly terms. I guess they had other bands who were a higher priority than Susperia. It is always sad when you have to leave a label. It feels like you have to start all over again. But we sorted out a deal with Tabu. They are a small label, but at least we are not lost among hundreds of other bands. We have done well and our album sales are better than when we were with Nuclear Blast.

Are there any songs in Susperia's live set list that you cherish the most? Are there any songs that you wish to drop from the set and replace them with other songs?

It’s difficult to choose which songs to play live. We are a little bit selfish when it comes to playing live. We play the songs that we like. We always manage to get a good set together and we haven’t had any complaints from the fans. At the end of the day we like all the Susperia songs otherwise we wouldn’t have recorded them.

It is hard not to mention that there are similarities between you and Testament, and the fact that you toured with them back in 2005 in their reunion tour was probably quite exciting. It is well noticed that Eric Peterson is wearing a Susperia T-shirt on their live official DVD. What did you feel about him doing that, and which other bands you were proud to share the stage with?

Ok first of all Testament is a totally different band than Susperia end of story. We always get this comparison and while it is flattering to be compared with them, I also think it is lazy journalism. Sometimes I think that our albums have not been listened to all the way through. Yes we had a blast doing the tour with Testament, the guys are totally down to earth and they were so good to us. Eric wearing the Susperia shirt was his way of showing us that he likes and respects us as a band. Other bands that have been cool to tour with were Dimmu Borgir and In Flames a while back. It was a really good tour and a great experience for us.

As a band that distances itself from black metal, in the country were all kinds of bad shit happened due to black metal (kidding, of course) – how do you feel about the black metal scene in Norway? What do you thing about all the scandals that were caused by black metal bands and fans back in the early 90's?

The killings and burnings and other shit that you refer to is something that is over and done with – finished and I hope it never happens again. It affected everyone in Norway, especially people who were into metal. Every metal kid suffered and was under a lot of pressure. If you liked metal music, then those that didn’t understand the scene would assume that you were bad news and was going to burn churches or kill someone. It all got really bad and did a lot of damage.

The black metal scene has changed now and it’s become too commercial. No originality, bands are just copying what has gone before. The corpse paint and all that crap has had it’s day in my opinion. New bands should move on and do something else with their music.

What do you think Susperia can accomplish now? Where to do you aim your guns?

We always aim to achieve more with each album. We want to go higher and do a lot of touring, release more albums and take our music to as many people as we can.

Unlike most metal bands, Susperia's lyrics are really personal and almost written as a social tragedy. From "Brother" to "Distant memory" – there are a lot of feelings mixed together, but it's easy to flag "Regret" as the standout emotion of your band's lyrical career (Think of "The Bitter Man", "Chemistry", "Home Sweet Hell" – it's everywhere!). What is that you guys are so worried about?

Most of the lyrics are written by Athera. He draws his inspiration for the lyrics from his own experiences in his life as well as observing what is going on in the world. Some of them are quiet personal to him. There are probably clues in there that indicate he has had ups and downs in his life but that is also the same with what is going on in the world – it’s a corrupt and disturbed place. Mankind is the so called intelligent species, but they do nothing but kill their own and destroy the world… (wow how smart are we!!)… So yes, regret is a standout emotion but it comes in may forms.

What do you think makes Susperia different from other metal bands, especially most of the melodic-extreme metal bands that washed Europe like a flood since 2001?

I think it’s because we have had the same line up since the start. It has allowed us to develop and grow. It’s given us the opportunity to explore different musical avenues which has given us a good discipline to push ourselves and not become lazy or laid back when writing songs.

Besides "Cut From Stone", which albums made 2007 for you this far?

Well I would say the new Black Comedy album, but that will not be released until next year. Black Comedy is a band that me and our drummer Tjodalv are involved in as a side project to Susperia. It’s a band that has been put together by Marius Strand who we have worked with on the ‘Cut From Stone’ album and our ‘Devil May Care’ EP. If I have to pick an album from 2007 then I have been impressed by Pilgrimage from OM-nice doom metal.

What do you think of the whole new "Metalcore" music? Do you think the American version of extreme metal, combined with some hardcore breakdowns, are the future of the metal industry, or is it just a passing phase – like most awful trends are?

To be honest I don’t know. I’ve never listened to the thing so I have no idea.

Are you familiar with Israeli metal bands? Did you ever listen to an Israeli metal album and liked it?

Sorry I have no clue about Israeli metal bands, but please recommend some to me… I will listen to it, I love discovering new music.

Any last world for the Israeli readers?

Stay metal man and thanks for all the support everyone gives to the band. Your support makes it all worthwhile.