GRIMNER have recently released their fourth album „Urfader“. Four years after „Vanadrottning“ the Swedes still play lively folk/pagan metal, but now the folk instruments as well as clearer song structures are in the foreground. We talked to drummer and band veteran Henry Persson about the shifted focus in the sound, Swedish as the instrumental language and the themes of the album.
Hello, thank you for taking time to do this interview. How are you these days briefly before the release of “Urfader”?
Hi! Thanks for reaching out! We are all good and happy with the release of our new album – finally it’s public!
This year marks 15 years of GRIMNER! Congratulations on this anniversary. How do you look back at these years and the beginnings of GRIMNER from your current point of view?
Thank you! It’s been an exciting journey and we look back at different eras that have brought us to where we are today. We started off as teenagers in our rehearsal space and until today we are so happy for all experiences on the road, on stage and in the music making!
You stated that you never put this much effort into a record as in “Urfader”. Can you explain that?
We spend much more time to polish and prepare the songs. Every single detail in there has been weighed on a scale. The pandemic and the restrictions allowed us to focus 100 percentage on the music making and what came out of it is „Urfader“.
What impact did the pandemic has on the record and the band? At first sight, the most obvious thing is that four years have passed since the last album, otherwise a new record came every two years. You were already working on the new album in 2019 if I’m right?
At first, we were of course very confused and scared of the pandemic situation and the restrictions, something that probably none of us has experienced before. But after a while, we started to work remotely and found new ways to communicate and to produce music. Our show at Wacken Open Air 2020 was cancelled, but instead we intensified the song writing and spend more time on prerecordings than before. Looking back, we have a new way of making music that we are very happy about that probably wouldn’t have been adopted in the same way as if the pandemic never happened.
You added so much more folk elements on “Urfader”. Is this the “new” GRIMNER, is “Urfader” with all the folk centric elements a new defining record for you as a band?
Yes, we think this a new direction of our music. We have always enjoyed adding many folk instruments to the songs, but now we have tried to put different folk elements and folk instruments at the center in different songs, depending on which atmosphere it brings with the other guitars.
Apart from the folk elements, how have you improved and changed since “Vanadrottning”?
Probably we have been trying out the concept of „less is more“ in the music writing. In „Vanadrottning“, you can hear many instruments and melodies at the same time throughout the songs. In „Urfader“, you hear not as many instruments at the same time but much more focus brought to individual instruments at different parts of the song. Much thanks to the album producer and studio technician Jakob Herrmann at Top Floor Studios, this strategy was developed further.
On the album you have some big, epic choruses like on „Elftevisan“ that remind me of Månegarm. Would you say that you still incorporate influences from other bands in your songwriting on the fourth album? Which bands would you say are the biggest inspirations for GRIMNER?
Absolutely! We have always been playing a quite diverse kind of folk metal with influences of many different bands and sounds. The influences vary by time. Many of us listen a lot to other metal genres, which makes the sound not necessarily inspired by other folk metal bands. I can’t tell of any bands that is our one biggest inspiration. Personally, as a drummer, my inspirations of style is rooted in 70s and 80s rock bands like Dio, Judas Priest and Black Sabbath.
Would you consider “Urfader” as a concept album? What are the lyrics dealing with?
No, not a concept album. Actually, the concepts of the songs are quite diverse and mixes nordic mythology, viking history but also nordic folklore.
The „Urfader“ on the cover artwork is a figure in the shape of a huge mountain. What does that mean as an overarching theme for the album and how significant is nature and closeness to nature for you?
The cover artwork is inspired by the lyrics of the second song of the album „Där fröet skall spira“ (Swedish for „where the seed shall sprout“). However, we think this artwork represents the whole album. As for the artwork, the music is diverse, and many details play a big role for the sound of the album. We are very happy with the artwork and its style. Nature is a very important part of our personal lifes, and also for the sound of GRIMNER.
Like many other bands of the genre, you also use the Nordic mythology. What is the special thing about this mythology for you personally? Why can you draw so many compelling stories from it?
Mythology is very compelling since it is basically what we today would call „fantasy“. It’s both fun and over the top stories and characters. That invites you to build around events, figures and even things or creatures.
I have the impression that the sound of the album is more differentiated and powerful than the last album. „Urfader“ definitely has the best sound of all your albums! Did you approach the production differently this time?
I agree, there is much more power in this album and its sound! This time, we went to another studio than before and had the pleasure of working with very skilled producers. Not only did we go to another studio, we also re-thought the song writing process. Throughout the songs, the guitars and drums are at the frontline throughout the album. The producer is very experienced in producing metal, and probably why the sound is so much powerful than previous releases.
You still sing completely in Swedish. What is for you, besides the identification with your mother tongue, the biggest advantage of the Swedish language in your music?
We see the advantage of being less limited by vocabulary and being able to put more melodies in the songs. Swedish is a very melody oriented languages and in the song writing we can really use our native language to become an instrument itself. For listeners not understanding Swedish, it might feel strange not to being able to understand what the songs are about. However, we think that is one of the main points why we continue to sing in Swedish – that makes the vocals more of an instrument rather than being a sing-along-song.
„Tiundaland“ concludes with a very nice, emotional campfire ballad. What is the song about? Can you imagine doing more acoustic songs of this kind, maybe even a whole record like Månegarm did back in the days with “Urminnes hävd – The Forest Sessions”?
Glad you like it. The song is about an old Swedish king named Aun The Old. Aun was the son of Jorund and during his long life he had ten sons. The legend tells about a man who made a pact with Odin to sacrifice a son every 20 years in return for eternal life. He managed to sacrifice nine of his sons before getting too old and weary and he eventually died. His plan was to name his kingdom „Tiundaland“ (Tenfold land) after he had sacrificed his 10th son, so we felt that it was a fitting title for the song.
We are definitely open to writing some more acoustic songs in the future. Regarding a whole record being acoustic … that remains to be seen.
Let’s conclude with our traditional brainstorming. What comes to your mind first when you read the following words?
Current favorite album: Testament – The Formation Of Damnation. Instant classic for metal drummers.
Best Movie-/Series-/Book-Universe: “A Song Of Ice And Fire”.
Viking Lifestyle: „Hings hand“-ish.
Paganism: Greek mythology.
Homeland: Sweden.
Something that makes every bad day better: GRIMNER.
GRIMNER in ten years: Three more albums and played in three new continents.
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24. Februar 2023 Stefan Popp
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