It's pretty weird that in a town like Vienna with its weekly concerts, you have to wait years to see a real Black Metal band playing live. So therefor we took the chance and talked to Nattefrost, the Mastermind of CARPATHIAN FOREST. Welcoming us with a fart, we started to ask him about the Tour.

Dunja: How was your tour through Germany? I heard the last time you were there you had some problems, because the people had problems with your show. How was it this time?
Nattefrost: It was better, but we didn't try to provoke the people that much this time. Last time they misunderstood us completely, I think the German guys don't understand our bad taste of humour and self irony. They didn't know English enough to understand us, so it's easy to misunderstand it. But we don't care about that, because we do the thing on stage and we won't try to talk in German for them, so that they can understand us better. So the shows we did now were great and we didn't have any problems.

D: Where did you prefer to play, in Germany or here? Because I think it has been a long time since a real Black Metal band was performing live here.
Nattefrost: Well, I think it was better in here, but the sound was so shitty

Dunja&EquimanthorN: But the sound was great for this place…
Nattefrost: But I couldn't hear my voice or my guitar on the stage. Except of this everything was just great.

EquimanthorN: So why didn't you provoke the audience today, because I think there are some guys that deserved to be provoked, most of them are idiots.
Nattefrost: Well, I am not so much into provoking this time. Some people get provoked by the suicide message...

Dunja: But I think this has become common nowadays.
Nattefrost: Yes it is. We are not on tour just to provoke the people, we are here to play our music and today we also tried to do the best, in spite of the shitty sound. I was very stressed on stage, because the sound guy did all that he could do, but still it didn't help.

Dunja: You were supposed to come here last year together with Enthroned and Ragnarok, but the tour was cancelled, what were the reasons for that?
Nattefrost: We have jobs and other things to do and it didn't fit into our timetable, also they weren't able to give us what we need on the tour. We have that "no-compromise-deal": If we don't get what we want, we won't do anything, but this time it worked out finally, the things we needed were fulfilled.

Dunja: How do you feel about touring with Behemoth and Khold? Would you have preferred to be on tour with a BM-only package like the planned CARPATHIAN FOREST/Enthroned/Ragnarök or do you think it's better to cover a wider range of styles?
Nattefrost: Actually that's a good question… I like both of the bands we are touring with now, so I don't have anything against them, I wouldn't tour together with bands I don't like. I don't really care about what type of music it is, it just has to be antichristian and kind of negatively loaded. It was also easier to get on the tour with Behemoth, because we have the same label and so it was no problem to get on this "Avantgarde-package" and also to get all the equipment and merchandise stuff we wouldn't think about by ourselves.

A girl passes by and asks for Tchort.

EquimanthorN: Did you see the first band today, EMPYRE?
Nattefrost: Sorry, no, I couldn't. I was stressed by arranging things and stuff.

Suddenly some people turn off our light, so we have to search for another place to continue the interview.

Dunja: Your lyrics mainly deal with suicide and other extreme topics. Do you think an audience like the one today where most people are here to drink, behave stupidly and have a good time, is able to understand your art and worthy to see you performing it on stage?
Nattefrost: Those who understand it - for them it's great, to those who don't, I fucking give a big fuck, because I do what I do. Not all my lyrics are about suicide, they are all mainly about negative things and about about realism, I don't care what anyone says about that, I will never be able to write down fantasy lyrics or that kind of shit, that's not my kind of shit. It has to be related to things I experienced by myself or things, I have seen.

Dunja: I guess everyone has his own style of writing…
The new album is the second one that contains old tracks you've done a while ago. Do you still have enough old songs to make the next album like this, or do you plan to do some completely new songs?
Nattefrost: The songs aren't that old, they are kinda new, most of them are from 1997 or 1998.

Dunja: So they are old.
Nattefrost: They were made in this time and we finished them now. We had that slow period in the midnineties, where we did nothing but Demostuff, me and Nordavind wrote some songs. But the new album will only include newer songs and they will be in some other style, not that much Rock N Roll and much more riffings and stuff.

EquimanthorN: Are you influenced by Celtic Frost? Because I could hear some riffs that sounded like they were inspired by them.
Nattefrost: When I was about 15 or 16 years old they were the greatest band for me, so of course I am influenced by them, but it's not that I plan to sound like them. They are just one of the greatest Black Metal bands for me, together with Darkthrone.

Dunja: As I heard, on your new album you will use Saxophones again. Do you plan to use any different instruments or will the saxophone stuff be the only experimental thing?
Nattefrost: Maybe we will use a saxophone again, but not as much as on these albums. We just felt like a saxophone would perfectly fit into our songs, and so we did it like that. I like Jazzy stuff, not the usual one, but the Dark Jazz, Twin Peaks Jazz.

Dunja: Hm?
Nattefrost: Twin Peaks, the movie, you know it?

Dunja: Ah yeah.
EquimanthorN: Pretty cool Soundtrack!
Nattefrost: Definitely! We don't try to do some more saxophone songs on purpose, if it fits in, we will use it, but if not, we won't. So I am not sure about that one, we will see.

EquimanthorN: Do you also like electronic stuff like Squarepusher or Aphex Twin? Because I think some of those are pretty much the same style like Dark Jazz, especially Squarepusher, and I think many Black Metal people like this stuff.
Nattefrost: Yeah. About the saxophone: We don't know if we will use it. I just know that the songs we already did, don't use any saxophone. But since we plan to release 2 more albums in the next time, no one can know what will happen. (I guess he kinda ignored the question... EqN.)

Dunja: How many session members do you have now? And which of them do you consider as a part of the band and which as session members?
Nattefrost: The only one I see as a session member is the keyboard player, the other ones have been session musicians as well, but now they became a part of the band. I need a longer time to get to know the people before I hire them, and now everything works out pretty good, also with touring, and the band spirit is just fine, which is very important for me. I don't like to argue, I want to have it all nice and clean, and also the respect is very important for me, no matter if you have friends or musical companions. I can say, what I like or dislike and they also do it like this, and I think that's so important for working together. You know, we had some problems with Nordavind and he left, but we are still very good friends. We have a very different view about doing things, so we crashed several times, but we still have respect for each other, maybe he will even come back to the band.

Dunja: So you don't think about replacing him by someone else?
Nattefrost: He is replaced.

Dunja: So what will happen when he comes back?
Nattefrost: Then I will only do the vocals and he will take over the guitar again and Tchort will do the guitars. It's no problem for him to come back, because he had such a large role in the band in the earlier days, now he didn't do so much, he maybe did 10 or 20% of the new album, so he is still in there. But he stepped back in the end of the nineties. He bought a house in the woods and likes to be by himself and also he doesn't like to give interviews or play live, he becomes very stressed on tour and it's impossible to talk to him then.

Dunja: But you could have done some shows without him?
Nattefrost: Yes, we could have done it, but it wouldn't be the same thing for me. It's 100% or nothing for me, I can't play with a session guitarist live and rehearse him, I wouldn't just do that. Since we only rehearse two times a year I wouldn't have time for this.

Dunja: Even though you moved some steps away from primitive BM and became rather successful no one accuses you of being a sell-out or losing the feeling like newer Darkthrone, who somehow went through rather similar changes. Can you think of any reasons for that?
Nattefrost: What? I don't think Darkthrone will ever sell out.

EquimanthorN: But people think so and say that they became boring.
Nattefrost: They do the same thing they always did and will go on with that. In my opinion the people who say that they became boring should shut the fuck up. It will always be a problem that people say "Now you have become commercial" and that stuff, but I see that in the Norwegian Black Metal Scene a lot of bands change, but they don't develop, they just change. Maybe in that point we are different, because we just try to develop and not to change and I think we will never do, because we have always been like that. I don't give a fuck actually.

Dunja: Since we have been in Norway in summer, we figured out that the scene there isn't as big as we expected - there are no metal clubs and also you don't have a lot of concerts as we use to have them here. Is that just a development or has it always been like that?
Nattefrost: The promoters of clubs are against the Black Metal scene in Norway, so there's just one metal pub called "Elm Street" in Oslo.

Dunja: Yeah, we've been there.
Nattefrost: It's not a big place or a good place, but at least it IS a place.
screaming out to a guy Paul! No, it wasn't Paul…
I think the Norwegian scene is a bit overhyped, it was better in 94 or 95. Most people are married now and they don't go out and stay at home all the time, I could give you a lot of examples now.. In my town…

Dunja: Where do you come from?
Nattefrost: Stavanger. You know, the city, where that shitty goth band comes from..

Dunja: Tristania?
Nattefrost: Yeah, they suck very big cocks.

Dunja: They have been here about one week ago.
Nattefrost: Terrible.

EquimanthorN: Now the girl doesn't even look good, so there is no more reason to see them.
Nattefrost: No there is no reason ever to see them.

EquimanthorN: She used to look good so I looked at her.
Nattefrost: No problem about that.

EquimanthorN: But now she looks pretty stupid with her haircut.
Nattefrost: I haven't seen her and I don't want to see her. So in Stavanger there is a good Black Metal concert for about every two months, so the situation is not that bad.

Dunja: We don't have any in here. We have Death Metal concerts about 2 times a month, but no Black Metal…
Nattefrost: In Oslo it's pretty similar, there are also concerts every two months.

Dunja: What do you think about nowadays situation in Norway? A lot of bands who were playing raw Black Metal turned into experimental stuff and consider their old stuff as a period when they were young and now they have to turn into something else. Are there still any bands left, that believe in old school anymore?
Nattefrost: I can't give a comment on that one, because I don't follow the scene so much. In my opinion Darkthrone still believe in what they did and continue it by doing what they do best. Another band I have to mention is 1349, the new band of Frost from Satyricon.

Dunja: But Satyricon changed a lot.
Nattefrost:Yes, of course, Satyr is like a businessman and Frost is the opposite type of him. I don't know how they can play together, how they even can talk with each other, because they are so extremely different.

EquimanthorN: What do you think of Satyr? Because many people hate him for what he does now.
Nattefrost: No comment on it. I heard some things, but I don't know what's true. The way I know him he seems all right. He just tries to be professional - maybe too much.

Dunja: You also like to be a special band, and don't want to sound like hundreds of other bands? So do you like bands that are far away from usual stuff, like Solefald or Arcturus?
Nattefrost: No. I like the guys from Solefald. They are very nice guys, they don't drink a lot and keep themselves clean.

EquimanthorN: I suppose they are rather intellectual…
Nattefrost: Yeah, they are very intellectual, I prefer other stuff to listen to, like I said before, Dark Jazz and stuff. I Don't follow the scene that much anymore, I just give some interviews, read some magazines and get some CDs sent to me but that's all. I discovered a boredom some years ago.

Dunja: What do you think about Fenriz and his musical taste?
Nattefrost: Fenriz is very much into thrash still.
He's talking to some guys
Sorry, we have some problems with the tourbus..
I heard that he had that techno band called "Ebola" some years ago, but never heard anything of it. I spoke to him several times, and he has these Thrash evenings at "Elm Street" as well, so he isn't into Techno completely.

Dunja: Do you actually care about being accepted by ‚true' BM fans (=those who really live for this music) ?
Nattefrost: Of course I do. It means something, but not all, because I will do what I want to do, and if they don't like it it's not my problem, I just want to be myself. And I will never do something for other people or become commercial, we will go on releasing grim CDs.

Dunja: How do you and your musicians handle the stuff with their other Bands, for example Tchort has two other bands.. how can you be sure that he's here with his mind and not at any of his other projects?
Nattefrost: Because I have checked it out with him. I know his priorities, we also have the same tour manager with Blood Red Throne, so we will never crash. Right now there are no problems, because we have a very good biology and communication.

Dunja: You also have another Band World Destroyer, where the bass player of CF also takes part in. How does it go on with that one?
Nattefrost: I played with him and we needed a bass player, and because he was a good friend of mine and I knew that he could play, we settled him. He has been in CARPATHIAN FOREST as a session musician on rehearsals in 94 with no influences for the band. When we are doing something with CARPATHIAN FOREST we don't do anything with World Destroyer, and when we finish this tour we will try to write some new songs for CARPATHIAN FOREST. But we have a mainband of course, the biggest band is always the main band, that's how I see it. I think that Tchort has the same opinion on that one, he knows his priorities.

Dunja: Years ago, Christianity in Norway was fought by burning churches, but I don't think it's a good way anymore, because they build up new churches on the places where the others stood. What do you think people of today should do to shock the Christians and to take some of their pride?
Nattefrost: Killing priests or something. I don't understand, why no one ever did that before, because in Norway there are so many priests in the newspapers telling just shit what people should do, they should fucking get their heads crushed. It's not on me to tell people what they should do, I have some kind of things in my mind, but I won't tell them all. A death threat is a very good way to keep a person quiet for a fucking long time. I sent out a letter once and suddenly this guy got police protection, I don't know why and it was written in the newspapers. I don't think I would ever kill a fucking priest, until he crosses my way and does something to me, I wouldn't go after them, I am just too smart.

Dunja: Yeah, in the end you would be locked up in prison just because of that fucking priest.
Nattefrost: Exactly. Of course the extremity has disappeared and we have to find other ways to fight against Christianity.

Dunja: I think, a more intellectual way would be better, because when someone destroys important Christian stuff, they just become stronger..
Nattefrost: Yeah, their community becomes stronger, when they want to rebuild it and all. I also think that there should be a kind of alliance against those so called Black Metal Bands, because THEY ARE FUCKING NOT! We should shove them off in the fucking cold, there are so many bands that fucked us up, they are just fucking guys.

EquimanthorN: Like who?
Nattefrost: I won't give an example, because they are to be found in the Norwegian scene. There are still some good Black Metal bands, and I think they should stick to each other. And I guess we are now into beginning that kind of stuff, it's necessary, those bands just became commercial and think about money and destroy everything, they are just weird. They think they are megastars.

EquimanthorN: I think everyone knows whom you mean…
Nattefrost: I guess you do…

Dunja: How do you live? Are you a lonesome person living apart from the city with your girlfriend or do you also go out to see people and stuff?
Nattefrost: I only have 5 very good friends

EquimanthorN: That's enough I think.
Dunja: That's even more then I have.
Nattefrost: Yeah, but I used to have a great amount of people to hang around with, but I decided to only keep the best ones. Usually I come to their place or they come to mine, but I am at home most of the time.
I also don't have my girlfriend anymore, because it didn't work. I still respect her and we are good friends, but she couldn't handle the music thing. She didn't like me to be on tour or in studio for two months, because we couldn't see each other a lot these days. I told her that I had this fucking music longer than I had her, and she should understand and respect this. Also I should have given her more of my attention when I was at home, but I am a musician and so it isn't always easy.

Dunja: Thanks for the interview, something left to say?
Nattefrost: Buy our albums and stay evil!