Lou: Hi Thorgeir, thank you for agreeing to this interview I really appreciate it. I guess I have Patricia (the band's UK manager) to thank for getting me into your music! For the benefit of those Loucifer Speaks readers who have yet to listen to you, please could you describe BALFOR's music?

Thorgeir: Hi Lou, thank you too for your interest and support. I'll be happy to say something about BALFOR for Loucifer Speaks' readers. Well, we play moderately fast black metal with some old school death metal influences and at the same time you will notice the influence of the classic school of heavy metal as well as native folk music. We like to call it Barbaric Black Metal. 'Barbaric' defines our unusual approach to black metal; we try to create our own sound within the genre. But we don't use any progressive directions like a number of bands. We like to play real metal - pure metal - and we think that it's possible to create a really great sound using the heritage of classical bands. We use as a basis the overall sound of epic heavy metal bands from the past and add to this the modern aggressive black and death metal approach. Pure, rectilinear and hateful.

Lou: Where does the name BALFOR come from and who chose it?

Thorgeir: BALFOR is an ancient warrior's ritual. In our Pagan past, when a warrior died in battle his body had to be burned on a funeral pyre, BALFOR. They believed that the smoke would carry his soul to Warriors Heaven. It has different names in different cultures. The Slavs call it Yriy, the Scandinavians Valhalla. I found the word in a book in my own library and we decided that this name suited us perfectly because it is close to our concept and sounds great. We like our name!

Lou: I understand that BALFOR has been producing music since 1997. Have there been any line-up changes in this time?

Thorgeir: Yes. I started BALFOR in 1997 and initially the Horde was made up of completely different members. At that time BALFOR was not my main project and I had invited my friend Svart to play Black Metal, since we were members of various Death Metal bands but liked Black Metal too. We wrote our first songs and recruited members from our main bands to record our first demo. In 2001 we recorded the 'Volki Severa' album then the Horde broke up. I re-formed BALFOR in 2005 with Berowar and Erland. Now we have a new drummer, and you are one of the first to know, but we will announce everything soon on our website, and hopefully this will be the definitive line-up.

Lou: Is your LP Volki Severa still available? If so, where can we buy it from?

Thorgeir: Well, I think it's still available, but only in MC format. We have some links to local distributors on our website in the release section. The UK is handled by Todestrieb records and you can buy it from them.

Lou: Pure Barbaric is a terrific EP. What made you decide to release it as a free online download?

Thorgeir: Thanks for the compliment. First of all, we decided to release 'Pure Barbaric' via Nailed Skull so that we could get the best promotion for our Horde and for the forthcoming full-length album. We had seen Nailed Skull's work and really liked it; they treat net releases as if they were actual physical CDs, with good promotion, cover artwork and band support. Pure Barbaric is really promo material and right from the start we intended to promote the EP as heavily as we could, so that we could get the material heard by as many people as possible. We have always liked getting feedback, and we have been both very happy and very encouraged by what we have been hearing from the European and North American metal underground. I think we definitely made the right decision to release via the Internet. It has allowed us to reach hundreds more people than we could ever have hoped to had we self-released, and gain a very substantial following.

Lou: Do you think that in future bands will have to rely on downloads to get their music heard, or is there still a place for CDs and vinyl in modern music collections? Personally, I'm a big fan of owning the physical product.

Thorgeir: I agree with you Lou, it definitely has to be the physical product. I don't think that the Internet is necessarily a good way to release a full-length album. But net releases are probably the best way to introduce an unknown band to a wider audience. This kind of promotion works much better than self-released CD?s. The free net releases get a lot of attention from metal heads and I find it has been really good for the band.

Lou: Will Pure Barbaric also be available in CD format?

Thorgeir: Sure. Pure Barbaric will be available as a full-length album. We have prepared all the songs and are looking for a good label to release it. Hopefully we will be able to enter the studios to record it this winter.

Lou: There's some fantastic guitar work on the Pure Barbaric EP. Who are your influences guitar-wise?

Thorgeir: Hmm hard question. I have played the guitar since childhood and have always had a lot of favourite guitarists who have influenced me. Nowadays I think that they are Andy LaRoque, Glen Tipton & K.K. Downing, Dimebag Darrell and Chuck Shuldiner. But actually there are a lot of them up till now hehe))

Lou: What equipment does the band use?

Thorgeir: Berowar and I use exclusive handmade guitars from the best and most famous Ukrainian masters. Also Marshall, Ampeg and Crate amps. Different pedals such as RockTrone, Boss, Marshall etc. Our drummer uses Pearl and Sabian.

Lou: Is there anywhere online where we can find BALFOR guitar/bass tabs?

Thorgeir: Hehe! I haven't seen any online but it would be great to see some! At the moment we are collecting art for our upcoming fan art section on the website, and if anyone would like to write any guitar tabs, just contact us. If we like them, we will be happy to put them on our website with an acknowledgement.

Lou: Which bands have influenced BALFOR's sound overall?

Thorgeir: It's hard to say really because we listen to a number of bands and I think all of them have some sort of influence on BALFOR's music. Personally I listen to a broad range of metal music. Not just black or death metal; I also love classic hard rock and heavy metal bands as Judas Priest, AC/DC, DIO, Manowar and certainly Bathory. Quorthon is one of people who I admire. So we draw our influences in some measure from black, death, thrash metal and classical hard rock and heavy metal.

Lou: I noticed when reading through your website that on BALFOR's first demo you covered Fenris by Enslaved. Would you ever cover any other songs?

Thorgeir: Yeah! Sometimes it's fun to play famous songs. But we don't have a lot of cover-songs because we prefer to write and play our own material. Nowadays we're playing Thor by Manowar at our live-shows. And I think that in the future we'll cover something else. Maybe we'll record a cover as a bonus track on our upcoming album.

Lou: I've listened to the tracks from the EP quite a bit now and it's difficult for me to choose a favourite. Do you have a favorite track from the EP or do you have a favorite track from BALFOR's past?

Thorgeir: I don't have real favourites because all the songs have their own place in the general concept of the album. In respect of "Volki Severa" I also can't single out any particular song that I liked more than the others. This album had a different sound and style to Pure Barbaric. Nowadays you can tell from song to song how we are developing into our own expressive sound. Maybe you can hear that more than ever on the Pure Barbaric songs. But I find that our best songs to date will emerge on the full-length album

Lou: How long did it take to write and record the material for the EP?

Thorgeir: It took us around two months to write all the songs on the Pure Barbaric EP. Once we entered the Beasts Studio it took us four days to record Pure Barbaric.

Lou: Are there any on-going themes throughout Pure Barbaric ? What sort of things do you like to write about in your lyrics?

Thorgeir: Not really on-going themes, but there are concepts behind the lyrics. First of all, the lyrics illustrate our vision of the modern world, which we express using images taken from ancient myths and legends. 'Pure Barbaric' is a representation of pure human wildness, the barbarity of which has frightened us since childhood, and has curbed our true desires and imagination, turning us into obedient members of a herd. It acts as a demonstration of the pure, primal feelings that I'm sure we have each of us felt. It serves to distract us momentarily from the dogmas of modern society.

Lou: From what I understand, you have a strong interest in Ukrainian history. Are there any particular stories or myths that you are especially interested in?

Thorgeir: The Ukraine has a number of myths and legends and if I were to tell you about them all, it would take up a lot of space in your zine because all of them are fascinating. So I'll try to give you a brief outline. Well, our pagan past and myths are very similar to those of Scandinavia. I have noticed a difference in just two things, the names of the Gods, and that our ancestor were first of all sun-worshipers. Also we had brave armies united under the mighty barbaric state of Kiev Russ. This state was the beginning of all Slavonic countries and its history dates back to the 9th century A.D.

Lou: Do you still have plans to tour in January 2008 and, if so, where are you going to be playing? Will England be on the list?

Thorgeir: Yes we still have plans to tour. We have to play a lot of countries throughout Europe. But we don't know as yet which ones will be included because our tour manager is still working on it. And I hope that England will be on the list too. We still don't have any contacts with English booking agencies. But we're certainly open.

Lou: What's the music scene like in Ukraine?

Thorgeir: Ok! We don't have a bad metal scene. Many bands play good metal but don't have good support. The Metal culture in the Ukraine definitely exists, but it is not strong enough yet. We don't have labels that can support bands. But I hope that situation will change in the future.

Lou: Which bands would you like to tour with?

Thorgeir: The upcoming tour will be with our friends - the Russian black metal band Perun. For the future, I think it would be great to tour with Hypocrisy, Amon Amarth or Marduk. I find that would be a great line-up for us.

Lou: Which albums are you currently listening to? What was the last album you bought / downloaded?

Thorgeir: I'm currently listening to Kreator's Enemy Of God and the last albums I bought were Lord Belial - Revelation, and Amon Amarth - With Odin On Our Side.

Lou: Are you going to be recording a full-length album in the future? If you are, could you tell us a little bit about it?

Thorgeir: Sure, we plan to record album during second half of winter. As I mentioned earlier, we have already written all the songs and are looking for a suitable label. We have just above 60 minutes worth of material but I don't think that all of the songs will necessarily be on album. It depends.

Lou: Do you have any BALFOR merchandise available? I think that a girlie shirt with the BALFOR logo on would suit me rather well! Hehe

Thorgeir: Hehe - yes, our merchandise will be available soon. We already have a design for the T-Shirts. When they're ready, they will be available to buy through our website. We will also be sending out information through our MySpace page and that of our manager Patricia, so you will know as soon as it happens. I hope, that you will find something you like!

Lou: Do you have any other projects?

Thorgeir: No, nowadays I don't have any other projects at all. BALFOR is my most important project and it needs all my attention. I need to be completely focussed on BALFOR: this band is my priority, my passion.

Lou: What s next for BALFOR?

Thorgeir: We are looking forward to being around a long time and producing great music. Recording great new albums, touring etc... We seriously intend to kick your asses! Hehe!!!

Lou: Thank you for your time!

Thorgeir: Thank you for your support Lou! Here's to pure metal barbarity!!!


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