New album, illegal downloading and a small festival somewhere in Norway

- Tekst av Leif Neverdahl, 10. desember 2008 -

KREATOR returns with the album 'Hordes Of Chaos', a very strong follow up to the great 'Enemy Of God' from 2005. Meet one of the nicest legends of metal out there, front man Mille, as we talk about the new album, illegal downloading and a small festival somewhere in Norway.

I have played the album for one week now, and I think 'Hordes of Chaos' is a natural and strong follow up to the great 'Enemy Of God'. How satisfied are you with the album just one month before its release?? Very, very satisfied. I think it is like you say, a very strong album, with 10 strong songs. Its the result of hard work since our last album, ' Enemy of God ' , and I think its a nice follow up. We wanted to make a even better album, and I think we have achived that, im very happy with the result.

Is it possible to compare this album against 'Enemy of God'? Well, the albums are defintly different, we did not want to repeat 'Enemy of God' , wich by the way was a big success for us, but at the same time we did not want to move to far away from it either. We think the new songs are more fresh and the album sounds more raw, like more live energy.

Can you tell us a little bit about how you guys work when you make music, is it mainly you that do the writing and come up with the new songs? Yes, its me. I do all the writing and make most of the riffs. Then I send som demos to the guys, and then we get together and start rehearsing.

So its a total dictatorship then . . ? He, he no,no, not at all. As soon as we start rehearsing the material all the other guys comes up with different things and ways to do things, and then we rehearse. The guys take the demos home and rehearse there also, we let the songs grow and we always know when something feels right, and sometimes the first demo is nothing at all like the finished song.

And how many songs did you have before you started rehearsing? We had 12 songs we rehearsed, and 10 made it to the album. The two songs that did not make the album was not to bad either, but we wanted a certain quality from beginning to end, so these two didnt make it this time. The riffs might be used on our next album, you never know.

What about sound and production, you changed producer this time? I think its absolutly great, we have worked with some amazing people this time. We used Moses Schneider, and he set us up to play the songs live in the studio, so it has this raw and great live feeling with great production, there is nothing done a 1000 times with loads of computers and stuff, its more real if you know what I mean.

And what about the lyrics, you always had really strong lyrics with your view on the world? Well, this time its a bit different. Off course we have the normal lyrics about what pisses me of, again, he he, but there is also some lyrics telling stories , for example the song 'War Curse' , its about a book called " The Book Thief", and it takes plase in world war II . The story is told from the point of view of death, a reluctant collector of souls, who does not enjoy the job appointed to him . And then there is ' Amok Run' , wich tells the story about the Asian kid who put the video on youtube and killed all those people, the song actually has some quotes from that video.

The cover artwork, its obvious to see that you have used the same guy you used on Enemy of God? Yes, its the same guy, he's name is Joachim Luetke and he is from Austria. He did our last album, and he has also done artwork for artists like Dimmu Borgir , Arch Enemy and Rage.

Will there be any limited editions available for all us crazy guys who always needs all the extra stuff? He he, yes the new album will be available in three different versions. There will be additional bonus DVD with an atmospheric making-of in super-8 quality , and also a version that comes with a t-shirt, a photo book and an extended version of the bonus DVD, as well as the cd.

Do you think this could be a way to make people buy the album insted of illegal downloading? No, not at all. The people who download illegal are thieves, they will always do it no matter what. True metal fans dont do that. (I hear you Mille!)

Do you buy much music yourself? Oh yes, all the time. I buy a lot of cd's and right now im into a band called Dredg and also Muse. Im always listening to music.

Did you hear the new Metallica . . . ? Yes I did, and I think its ok. I did not buy it, so I have not listneded to it very much yet, but its defintly better than all the stuff they did in the 90's and up to now. I also got the new Testament, and that is a great album.

You have been on the same label since ' Violent Revolution' , how satisfied are you with the job they do for you? They are absolutly great people and do a fantastic job. They are metal people like us, wich makes everything much easyer. They let us be creative, and dont give us any directions, so we are very happy with them.

And what about touring with the new material, any plans, will we see you in Norway? Yes, we will play in Oslo next year as a part of a European tour promoting the new album. (27 Februar på Betong). I have seen you two times, the first time was in Sweden at the Sweden Rock Festival in 2007, and the second time was at Karmøygeddon in Haugesund in April this year. What do you prefer, the big outdoor venues or the small clubs? Well, I like both, you adapt to the situasion. Karmøygeddon was a great place to play because it was so intimite, and the people who worked there did a great job and the fans was fantastic. I could not belive how such a small festival could get all these great bands from all over the world, the line up was just amazing, it was really cool, we loved playing there.

Looking back at your catalogue, any songs or albums that you consider a favourite, any albums you are not happy with? And what about the song ' Flag Of Hate' and the other old songs, dont you get tired of playing them at every concert? He he, no, not at all. Its always fun to play 'Flag Of Hate', because someone in the audience is listening to it for the first time live, and someone heard it 10000 times, its always a good song to play. When it comes to favourites, in a way I like them all, off course I like some better, I am very happy with the last three albums, but its difficult to choose one special album or song .

Finaly, you have been around for a long time Mille, any good advise to all the up and coming young bands ? Play the music you like, be yourself and always belive in what you do. This will take you a long way, dont try to copy everyone else, do your thing and keep going!