EMPEROR interview in Mystic Art issue no. 2, 1997
- Samoth interviewed, some translations below
Together with Ihsahn we focused on composing music and promoting... Nightside...". The biggest problem was finding a drummer, we tried with several very well-known musicians, but we didn't feel good with any of them. It was only when we found out that Trym had left Enslaved that we had a chance to solve this issue. We asked him to join the band and he has been playing with us since the end of 1995. The current line-up of Emperor is the best we have had since Faust left.
There are a lot of untalented scum on the scene, with zero intelligence and no skills. Emperor is above them all, we create an extremely unique kind of Black Metal and we approach everything we do with due seriousness and sensitivity. There is not a shred of coincidence or simplicity in it - art needs a soul!
[about The Loss and Curse of Reverence music video] We didn't have a big budget or any extremely competent people shooting it, so the result is still what we really wanted to achieve [...] The video turned out to be a very metal product, while we wanted to achieve something much more sophisticated and artistic. Unfortunately the man who made this video wasn't quite as professional and competent as he claimed to be. Regardless, for the first video in our history it's not that bad.
If Emperor had a stable line-up at that time, I don't think I would have taken part in playing in most of the mentioned bands [Satyricon, Zyklon B, Arcturus, Gorgoroth], although I like all of them very much!
Trym is known for playing in Enslaved, he is a very good drummer. I think many will notice that his playing technique is a bit different than Faust. Our new bassist is called Alver. While Trym has been playing with us for over a year, Alver has been in the band for two years now. We hope to keep the current line-up, but you never know.
[About Mortiis and Faust] We are in touch with both of them, although we don't get to see each other very often. Mortiis has been living in Sweden for a few years now, although he comes from the same place as Ihsahn and I. What's more, a lot of people ask us why Mortiis left Emperor. A few years ago, we didn't agree on many things and the cooperation really didn't work out very well. So we decided that the best solution would be for Mortiis to leave the band. But now there is no quarrel between us. But I think Mortiis still has some unspoken words for Faust and vice versa. As for Faust, for obvious reasons we are not able to meet him very often. I visit him in prison from time to time, but we mainly communicate through letters or phone. I have great respect for Faust, as a musician and a friend.