Combining Metal and Neofolk isn’t exactly groundbreaking anymore – and yet only few bands succeed in doing so in such an outstanding way as ISENORDAL. We took the re-release of their impressive debut album „Shores Of Mourning“ as an opportunity to ask the band some questions. A conversation with four of the six band members about their artistic uniqueness, the logistical pitfalls of their live shows and „body horror“ word associations in classical literature.
Greetings! Thanks for giving us your time. How are things going with you at the moment?
Kerry: I’m concerned for my friends and family, but my day to day life isn’t too bad personally. I’m healthy at the moment and have a guitar and keyboard to play.
Jeff: I’m alright, I honestly can’t complain. It’s the height of the pandemic but I’m a caregiver so my work is essential, but I have a day off and am able to answer these questions.
Gordon: Having a bad fucking time, to be honest, but thanks for asking.
Let’s start all the way back at the beginning: When did you decide to become a musician and was there a certain event that triggered this decision in you?
Kerry: Listening to classical music when I was five, I decided to take piano lessons and loved it. Violin and guitar came soon after.
Jeff: I’ve been drawn to music and instruments my whole life. I got my first instrument, an electric guitar, when I was in the 4th grade. My first instrument in school was Tuba! I played bass in my first punk band was when I was 16. It was a Crust Punk band called Chastised.
Brian: I never really decided to become a musician, in the sense that I never changed. I don‘t like the way our language makes us say we „became“ musicians, as if we killed our old selves. I hope that none of me has been lost along the way. I have always loved music and played in bands with my friends; this is a continuation of a constant work in progress. Music – art, broadly – is what gives life context and meaning, and tangible creative output is a happy accident, a side effect of the journey.
Gordon: I’m not sure if choice played a role, but music was around, sound is very interesting, playing an instrument is a challenging physical exercise, composing is an open craft, it’s the most fun you can have with some friends, why not?
With ISENORDAL you play a very distinctive style, which includes many influences from Doom Metal, Folk and also Black Metal. When you developed your sound, was it a conscious effort of yours not to sound like another, already existing band?
Kerry: I wanted to take everything I liked about those genres and combine them, while leaving out the parts I didn’t like (I feel playing just one style in a song or set for too long can get monotonous).
Brian: For me, no. It may be a bigger concern for others in the group, but I just like to write nice melodies. The fact that we all validate and make space for each other to contribute means that it‘s very unlikely that we will sound like anything else, regardless of each individual‘s influences.
Gordon: I joined after „Shores“, during „Spectral“. So that breadth of sound has always been, to my ears, an integral character of the band. I like the freedom to follow a song wherever it may go.
In other interviews you have already mentioned that Bathory are a great inspiration for you. However, this isn’t really obvious judging from your music. Do you sometimes have to consciously stop yourself from – maybe even unconsciously – taking elements from Bathory or other bands?
Kerry: Bathory is so hugely influential, not only for Black Metal and Viking Metal, but Neofolk too. The only thing I worry about when writing is making sure a progression or riff is unique. But I certainly consider almost everything I write for ISENORDAL to be influenced by Bathory, at least partially.
Jeff: Bathory created Black Metal and Viking Metal, so we have to give credit where credit is due. I believe our influences are too diverse for us to worry about emulating any other band too closely.
Brian: (Laughs) Even the parts I have blatantly ripped off bands I love end up sounding uniquely like us due to our collaborative process and arrangements.
How do you approach songwriting – do you rather let yourself be guided by spontaneous inspirations or do you build up your compositions purposefully with a plan in mind?
Kerry: I like to take several approaches. Sometimes I’ll start with an unusual scale and see what I can make out of it. Other times I’ll have a song structure pop into my head and I’ll write that down first, then write each riff to fit the structure. Usually though I’ll just play my guitar for awhile and see what comes of it. When I do come up with something, I have to record it or tab it out immediately or I’ll forget!
Jeff: Our songwriting process is very complicated, and sometimes involves dozens or even hundreds of changes, updates, and edits for each song. Usually someone will have a song „skeleton“ written and we will each ask ourselves „what is this song still missing?“ or „how can I improve this?“ and then we each add our ideas, seeing what works, and amending parts that don’t work. With ISENORDAL we are comfortable writing parts for one another, which leads to some very interesting results.
Brian: We all have different processes, and we all write songs. Personally, I let myself be guided by a set of themes that inspire the song, and then melodies just pop into my head and I accept or reject and edit them based on how well their emotional content matches my themes. This is working really well for the record we are finishing writing now. I wrote a story that serves as the concept for the album, and each song meditates on certain themes from the story. The next LP will come with a printed copy of the story, which is designed to take about the same amount of time to read as the album takes to listen to. It can be a companion piece for the listener to be able to delver deeper into the themes and lyrics of the album.
Gordon: It’s very democratic. Sometimes ideas are presented nearly complete, other times things build up forever out of endless small contributions from the whole group. Ideas can be a narrative theme, a riff, a desired feel, a drum part. Whatever works.
Besides the usual Metal instrumentation you also use instruments like acoustic guitar, violin and piano. Is it difficult to perform your songs live as a whole or do you adapt the songs a bit in order to make them easier to play live?
Kerry: Funny you should ask that, we’ve started writing more songs with acoustic/electric guitar transitions mid-song. So we are working on making it harder for ourselves! But that’s part of the fun. Honestly the hardest part of playing live is the physical setup/teardown.
Brian: There are six band members, and we play pretty much everything that‘s on the record live. We have even played both our Folk and Metal songs in the same performence, but that requires a longer format and special planning for players to switch instruments mid-set.
Gordon: It takes uhh, logistics, to make it work. The keys, viola and vocals are always present, but we have options with guitars, cello, and auxiliary percussion. We’ve been lucky enough to play some very interesting locations and often travel with a full PA as well. It’s too much but there’s a good reason for all of it, such is life.
You are currently working with Prophecy Productions. What drew you towards this label in particular?
Brian: Prophecy give their artists freedom and support to explore concepts and create ambitious products. They‘re really good at relating to artists in the right way. They‘re invisible, except for helping us go where we want to go, a bit like the wind in our sails.
Your signing with Prophecy Productions came with a re-release of your debut album „Shores Of Mourning“. Why was it important to you to re-release this record but not your second album „Spectral Embrace“?
Brian: On the contrary, it‘s very important to get „Spectral Embrace“ on vinyl soon. Both our Folk music and Metal music are of equal importance for me. We have a timline with the label to re-release „Spectral“.
For the re-release you replaced the artwork with a very beautiful painting of a ship in a stormy sea. Did you find it more fitting than the rather symbolic cover of the first release?
Brian: The vinyl reissue of „Shores“ has two new pieces of artwork; the cover and the inner gatefold are a cycle that relates to the themes of the album, especially violence, nature, and the passage of time. Both pieces were created from our concept by the incredibly talented Leoncio Harmr.
The lyrics and music on „Shores Of Mourning“ are quite oppressive. Would you say that there are, however, still some bright spots on the album?
Brian: The lyrics on „Shores“ were mostly written by former band members, so I can‘t speak to them directly, but it is important to realize that reflecting on dark themes is necessary and healing for many people with darkness. There is no brilliance of light without the gloom of shadow.
The production of the record sounds rather rough and unpolished. Would you give the album a different sound in the meantime or do you still find it fitting?
Brian: Creative products are snapshots of artists at a time. „Shores“ sounds rough in many ways, but it was absolutely fitting for how we were then.
Your second album „Spectral Embrace“ was remarkably calmer and softer than „Shores Of Mourning“. How did it come to this change of direction?
Kerry: We’ve been playing that sort of material at the same time, but we had to record one of the albums first! The intention was always to do both Metal and Neofolk.
Brian: Our band plays diverse types of music to suit our moods and desires to express. It‘s not that we changed direction from „Shores“ to „Spectral“ so much as that they represent different branches of our creative output. Expect more of both types of songs in the future!
Some time has passed since the release of the two albums. Do you nowadays consider one of the two albums to be more accomplished or are both equally important to you?
Kerry: Both equally important.
Brian: They‘re both equally important to me as well. I think the quality of some of the performances on „Spectral“ were really excellent. There is also our split with Void Omnia, a Metal release, that we recorded at the same time as „Spectral Embrace“. That is more comparable to „Spectral“ than „Shores“ is.
How will ISENORDAL go on next – will you return to making Metal on the next LP or will you primarily make acoustic music like you did on the last record? And when can fans expect new music from you?
Jeff: Honestly, the band is really just looking towards the future with our third album now. We believe this newest set of material to be our strongest yet! This next album will have ISENORDAL returning to mostly Metal but with a more significant acoustic presence than with what can be found on „Shores Of Mourning“.
Currently the situation in the music industry is very difficult due to the corona virus. How much have the restrictions in everyday life affected ISENORDAL?
Jeff: We have stopped practicing together in person, but members of ISENORDAL are able to practice and write during this time. We are working on a demo of our next album now, over the internet!
Brian: We have had to cancel lots of plans due to COVID-19, which hurts emotionally and financially.
Gordon: People out there are dealing with a lot worse than whatever I have to complain about. We’ve been in serious writing mode for a while and a lot of that work is done online. I guess we’ll see how far that workflow can be extended.
The music community, however, has already reacted to the situation – for example, through Bandcamp’s campaign to waive their share of earnings for one day, or by appealing to concert goers not to return their purchased tickets. Do you think that such measures can actually keep the music industry afloat?
Jeff: Let’s be honest, unless you are an extremely successful band, music has hardly ever paid the bills. While the pandemic has been hard on musicians, we are just a sliver of society being affected. I feel like right now, with everyone trapped at home, it is a good time for musicians to be writing new songs and lyrics.
Brian: I teach music for work, and most of my peers are musicians. Any one of them who says they aren‘t struggling right now is just trying to be polite. The current charity measures that the community is taking are wonderful, but cannot be enough. I have broader concerns about how the world might be in the wake of the corona virus, as we are now seeing demagogues around the world capitalize on crisis to grant themselves extraordinary powers and curtail freedom of expression and assembly. One should never trust that a tyrant who seizes power will give it back willingly. Possibly even tougher times lie ahead for artists.
Gordon: Short term relief isn’t bad, but the underlying problem will continue to express itself without fundamental change.
Now let’s end the interview with our traditional Metal1.info brainstorming. What do you think of the following terms?
My Dying Bride: Brian: „Turn Loose The Swans“ is an old favorite of mine, and their latest record that just came out hits many of the same buttons that made me love the old stuff. Congratulations to them on a great release, they‘ve been doing it so well for so many years!
Herman Melville’s „Moby-Dick“: Brian: The whale is a metaphor for trying to make a perfect record.
Gordon: Body horror word association, weird heavy churchy shit, detailed depictions of a slop bucket, some deep history about rope making, who the fuck knows it‘s great
Electronic music: Kerry: I’m a huge fan. Specifically, I love Dungeon Synth, Synthwave, and Industrial.
Jeff: I fuckin‘ love it! I have an all hardware setup at home with five synths.
Brian: Yes! Synthwave, especially Perturbator, and Industrial, especially Front Line Assembly, are on heavy rotation.
Spirituality: Kerry: Very personal. Psychedelics certainly fall into that category for me, along with various other things I have experienced.
Jeff: No, thanks. While I find paganism, satanism, wiccan, and occultism fascinating I am an atheist/agnostic.
Brian: Love is sacred.
Streaming music: Kerry: Waste of bandwidth, I prefer to buy a copy from bandcamp and have it on an SD card. No lag, no ads, and I know I have all the songs I want.
Brian: I am happy that more people than ever before have access to more music than ever before. If the economics of it were more favorable to artists, I would be totally happy.
Gordon: Sorry but p2p is going to outlive all of these centralized distribution models
Climate Crisis: Kerry: Obviously a major concern. Humanity needs to move away from capitalism as quickly as possible but we’ll see what happens.
Jeff: It is the biggest challenge facing civilization, humanity, and perhaps all life as we know it. Sadly, I do not believe we are up to solving that challenge.
Brian: We need decisive, global action now. Even those of us who don‘t plan on having children still have a responsiblity to do whatever we can to leave a better world to the inheritors.
Gordon: Willful negligent omnicide
At this point, thank you once more. If you want to, feel free to say a few last words to the readers:
Kerry: If you haven’t had a chance, check out Elffor, specifically „Dra Sad I-III“. Really incredible stuff, I can’t stop listening to it. Also check out anything by Old Sorcery.
Brian: Thank you!
1. Juni 2020 Stephan Rajchl
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