{"id":21709,"date":"2014-07-22T00:00:47","date_gmt":"2014-07-22T00:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=21709"},"modified":"2014-11-06T19:56:00","modified_gmt":"2014-11-06T19:56:00","slug":"feature-king-of-asgard-07-14","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/feature-king-of-asgard-07-14\/","title":{"rendered":"KING OF ASGARD – The Heritage Throne (July 2014) | Features \/ Interviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

KING OF ASGARD – The Heritage Throne<\/strong><\/span>
\nAnthony Morgan<\/span>
\nJuly 2014<\/span><\/p>\n

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King Of Asgard (l-r): Jonas Albrektsson, Karl Beckmann, Lars T\u00e4ngmark and Karsten Larsson<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n
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\nMj\u00f6lby, Sweden-based melodic death metal outfit King Of Asgard formed in 2008, King Of Asgard initially being a duo consisting of erstwhile Mithotyn members Karl Beckmann and Karsten Larsson. A seven-track affair, inaugural demo Prince Of M\u00e4rings<\/em> was cut in January 2009 at Lotang studio. In November of that year, bassist Jonas Albrektsson (ex-Thy Primordial) joined the group\u2019s ranks.<\/p>\n

\u201cKarl and I have been friends since we were five years old, so we\u2019ve hung together for about 33 years (laughs), but had never played in a serious band together,\u201d Jonas notes. \u201cHe and Karsten formed King Of Asgard as a two-man project. Actually, since day one he was asking me to join, but I was like \u2018Nah, it\u2019s not my thing.\u2019 I\u2019m more into black metal, death metal, and stuff, and the demo was maybe too melodic and not really my cup of tea. Anyway though, I went there and tried some rehearsals together just for fun. I realised I liked it anyway, and working with Karl is also a pleasure for me. You know of the long friendship, and we really work good together and don\u2019t have to play around. We know each other so well. It works perfect, and now when we work so close together, we get both opinions \u2013 I\u2019m satisfied, and he\u2019s satisfied. I guess King Of Asgard would\u2019ve taken another turn if I hadn\u2019t had joined, but I think it was cool. By the results of the albums and stuff, it\u2019s something good at least (laughs).\u201d<\/p>\n

On March 10th, 2010, it was revealed that King Of Asgard had inked an album contract with Metal Blade Records. \u201cI joined maybe when they had just signed, so I was on the contract from the beginning,\u201d the four-stringer recalls. \u201cI think they were in contact with Metal Blade at the moment when I joined, and from thereon we went.\u201d<\/p>\n

Debut offering Fi\u2019mbulvintr<\/em> arrived in August of that year. \u201cIt was quite interesting,\u201d Jonas enthuses. \u201cWe didn\u2019t really know what to expect. Of course we knew the songs, but it was the first record, and it really took shape after recording. We didn\u2019t expect it to be as good as it came to be, so we were quite happy with the result by it being as good as it was. Yeah, it was good times. We had fun, and it was very nice to get all the good words on it afterwards. It got really well received, so it\u2019s all good memories and a very good start for our band, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fi\u2019mbulvintr<\/em> was the first of three King Of Asgard full-length studio efforts \u2013 to date \u2013 to be recorded with King Diamond guitarist Andy LaRocque at Sonic Train Studios in Varberg, Sweden. \u201cIt was actually back in the Mithotyn days,\u201d the rhythmist cites with respect to Andy\u2019s initial involvement. \u201cThey recorded three albums at Andy\u2019s studio but then it was called Los Angered Recordings, so they knew Andy already \u2013 Karl and Karsten. Also, Falconer had been recording there as well. The guys had known Andy for many years, so we just tried it. We called other studios as well and checked prices and shit, and it was worth both the money and we knew what we would get. That\u2019s why we hooked up with Andy.<\/p>\n

\u201cSonic Train is a fully equipped studio with everything you need. I\u2019m not very good at technical stuff, but it has a big board, ProTools \u2013 every effect and stuff that you could ask for, and also a lot of guitar amplifiers. It\u2019s two studio rooms; one bigger recording room, and one smaller one. We can record vocals and stuff in the smaller room at the same time as maybe someone playing guitar. Also, we\u2019ve lived there (laughs). It\u2019s like 24\/7 for two weeks. Yeah, it\u2019s a fully equipped studio with everything you could ask for, and also a bed, kitchen and toilet, and whatever you want (laughs).\u201d<\/p>\n

King Of Asgard\u2019s musical stylings touch upon several metal subgenres. \u201cI would say we\u2019re a very straightforward classic black \/ death metal band, really,\u201d Jonas describes. \u201cPowerful metal music with aggression and seriousness, I would say. I think we\u2019re musically influenced by early death metal and black metal periods, like Swedish death metal \u2013 Entombed, Dismember, Unleashed, and that stuff \u2013 as well as the more Norwegian black metal like Satyricon and the more folk\u2019ish stuff like Isengard, Norse folk music and stuff. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s Bathory of course, and also an artist called Jan Johansson who is a jazz pianist from Sweden. He kind of captures Swedish melancholy, as they say (laughs). That is something we also kind of hook up on, and want to bring into King Of Asgard \u2013 the melancholic side of music. It\u2019s a blend of all the stuff that we\u2019ve actually listened to ourselves through the years, and what we appreciate the most is our influence, from classic metal to death metal and black metal, and so on. That\u2019s what we are (laughs).\u201d<\/p>\n

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The addition of guitarist Lars T\u00e4ngmark was confirmed on September 5th, 2010. \u201cWe looked for a guitarist for quite a while,\u201d the bassist remembers. \u201cWe asked all of our connections, but no-one was really available \u2013 they were all in other bands, and stuff. Then we came across Lars, who was a longtime friend as well. He played together with Karsten in Dawn and some other projects, so he\u2019s a longterm member of the scene as well here in Sweden \u2013 he\u2019s been playing black metal and death metal for many years. We asked him, and he wanted to join. That\u2019s how it went. He started just after the release of Fi\u2019mbulvintr<\/em>, so he\u2019s been along almost as long as I have. The main reason for taking him in \u2013 or at least another guitarist \u2013 is to be able to perform live, and get the songs out as they are on the record really.\u201d<\/p>\n

July 2012 sophomore outing … To North<\/em> was the first to feature the axeman. \u201cThat was after should I say the success of Fi\u2019mbulvintr<\/em>,\u201d Jonas chuckles. \u201cNot really success, but yeah, it was a good start. Then we came to the studio to record … To North<\/em> and the songs on that album, which we were really proud of. We felt this was something we looked forward to recording. It was a blast and we had a good time that time as well, and we\u2019re really proud of how it came out. Many good songs on that record, I guess. Basically, all of our recording sessions work the same. We\u2019re well-prepared; everything is finished before we enter the studio, so we merely go into the studio and record it (laughs). It\u2019s already done, but yeah, we\u2019re proud of … North as well. It\u2019s a good record.\u201d<\/p>\n

July 2014 affair Karg<\/em> is King Of Asgard\u2019s third overall. \u201cWriting started like a year before we went into the studio,\u201d the four-stringer reveals. \u201cWe put our stuff together, and started making the new album. We started without a guideline, just jamming the songs together. Maybe the first song we wrote made the rest of the record, kind of, in terms of what way we should go. We also found a title for the record, which is Karg<\/em>, a Swedish name. It translates to \u2018barren\u2019 in English. We just thought that it fit somehow with the material that we had written thus far. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt kind of expressed the feelings that we wanted with the music, I would say, and we also think that it\u2019s a nice word. It\u2019s a cool album title and yeah, it fit the overall concept with the art and everything, really. We used that word as a guideline for the music, sort of. We wanted this record to be harsher and stripped down, more direct, and a darker album than the other ones. So yeah, it was planned all the way maybe, but not from the very beginning.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a rehearsal space, and we rehearse once a week \u2013 sometimes more before recording, or before live sessions and stuff. Me and Karl Beckmann the vocalist, we write all of the music together. We rehearse at home, me and him, and put the songs together and record them. We\u2019re quite effective that way. We rehearse and work at home together as well. That\u2019s how it goes. We worked very hard for a year with the material, making pre-production with vocals and everything. We went into Sonic Train Studios when we were finished, and recorded for two weeks, almost three. That was how it went.\u201d<\/p>\n

Karg<\/em>\u2019s darker nature than the group\u2019s previous two platters might be the result of something specific. \u201cI think it\u2019s because of the melodies \u2013 they\u2019re not on top of the music,\u201d Jonas submits. \u201cWe put more guitars on top of there \u2013 rhythm guitars \u2013 on the other two albums. The melodies are in the riffs on this one because we put the melodies in the rhythm guitars, so it\u2019s more direct, and it is also… How should I explain it? It\u2019s just core, pure power. It\u2019s just simple rock \u2019n\u2019 roll attitude, really. There\u2019s a lot of expression in the songs, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n

For those aforementioned reasons, Karg<\/em> is arguably a better representation of King Of Asgard as a live entity. \u201cI think it is, because we can really perform it in the way that you can hear it on the record,\u201d the rhythmist tenders. \u201cI guess it\u2019s more personal. Everything is written straight from us \u2013 we don\u2019t try to write a hit song or whatever to please others. This is what we like; we do it, and our fans and followers like it as well. I guess the new material will be more powerful when we play them live as well, more true in a way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Should Karg<\/em> be \u201cmore personal\u201d, this perhaps suggests predecessors Fi\u2019mbulvintr<\/em> and … To North<\/em> were less personal. \u201cThey are personal, but I guess it takes quite a while to find the essence of the band,\u201d Jonas muses. \u201cThe first album was more about finding a sound and what we wanted to do, and the second album was about shaping the band a bit more. Now I guess we are at a level where we found ourselves, and we are safe with what we do. It\u2019s kind of a personal sound these days; whereas the other two albums are more reminiscent of other bands and our influences, this is more personal.\u201d<\/p>\n

The man\u2019s bass work, meanwhile, \u201cbeats around the riffs. Me and Karl write the music together, so we sit down at home and write all of the parts. He creates the guitar parts and I follow on the bass, and create whatever the bass lines are to fit in the best way possible. I think the bass is mainly in the background \u2013 it\u2019s not as present as it is in much other metal music. It\u2019s more there in the background, pushing everything forward I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n

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King Of Asgard (l-r): Jonas Albrektsson, Lars T\u00e4ngmark, Karsten Larsson and
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The majority of King Of Asgard\u2019s lyrical content is authored by Jonas. \u201cI think it\u2019s like 60%, maybe,\u201d he estimates. \u201cThen comes Lars the second guitarist, who did the rest for this album. Karl wrote one lyric in co-operation with me maybe, so Karl isn\u2019t involved very much in the lyrics but more in the music side of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt differs quite much from the other albums that we\u2019ve done, which were more about telling the Norse mythological stories and such. These days on Karg<\/em>, we\u2019re more getting down to our history that\u2019s near or close by, or should I say our ancestral past. We live in a rich, historic ground with rune stones and history around the corner, so we kind of try to get that more into King Of Asgard as well as regular or should I say Norse mythology \u2013 retelling stories and stuff, which is our basic foundation maybe. Some of the songs are about stuff that is close to where we live and so forth though, so it differs quite some from the other records I guess.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Remnant Of The Past\u2019 is a tribute song where we\u2019re praising a rune stone for example, which is close to where we live and not far from our rehearsal space. It\u2019s very present; it\u2019s one of the oldest runes in Sweden and even northern Europe, I guess. It was erected in the 800s, I think. It has the longest inscription for that time period. A lot of mysteries surround it, because no-one has ever been able to read the stone perfectly or whatever else. They can\u2019t read all of the runes, because there\u2019s some sort of mystic thing about them. Yeah, we celebrate the stone actually. Also, we want to show that history is strong and stands no matter what, really. Christianity put it away and stuff, but still it\u2019s standing there. \u2018Omma\u2019 is a story about a queen of mist on the mountain near where we live, and it\u2019s like a fairytale, really. The mountain is called Omberg, which is also some relation to Norse mythology. So yeah, they\u2019re the clearest examples I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018The Runes Of Hel\u2019 happens to be Karg<\/em>\u2019s lead composition. \u201cThat\u2019s a story taken from Norse mythology, the region called Hel which is comparable to Hell maybe,\u201d the four-stringer informs. \u201cIt\u2019s pretty similar to that, but yeah, it\u2019s the realm of the dead \u2013 where the dead end up. The warriors go to better places, but the thieves and people that die a normal death end up in Hel. It\u2019s not the best place to be (laughs). It\u2019s the lowest world in the tree (Yggdrasil), in the bottom roots.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe recorded a video for \u2018The Runes Of Hel\u2019 in June, and it was finished three days ago I think. It\u2019s gonna be released within a couple of weeks, I guess. It\u2019s not official yet I guess, but that\u2019s how it goes. It was recorded with Rickard, our good old friend and video \/ photo session maker. It\u2019s the same concept as on the other albums \u2013 he did photos for the record, and also the video. We recorded it in the city where me and Karl was born, called Vadstena. Yeah, it\u2019s in a castle from the 14th century I guess. We played just like on the other videos, but inside one of the circular turrets \u2013 where they have cannons and shit (laughs). So yeah, it\u2019s gonna be cool I hope. I haven\u2019t seen it yet, but I will in the next couple of days.\u201d<\/p>\n

Recording sessions began in March 2014 at Sonic Train Studios, Andy LaRocque spearheading production yet again. \u201cWe\u2019ve done all of our records in Sonic Train together with Andy LaRocque, and this time also with a guy called Olof Berggren,\u201d Jonas shares. \u201cWe were there for two weeks, and then some more days for mixing and mastering and stuff. It went good. We worked as we usually do. We\u2019re getting to know Andy very well \u2013 we\u2019re like friends getting together. It\u2019s become a really professional way to work. He helps us realise our visions, so to speak. It was good to get back there. We know what we get, and he can help us with it. He also likes to work with King Of Asgard, so that\u2019s a perfect combination.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rhythmist views King Of Asgard\u2019s relationship with Andy as being quite friendly. \u201cHe really enjoys working with us, I think,\u201d he feels. \u201cHe thinks it\u2019s nice when we come back. We talk to him during the year or years when we\u2019re not there, so we\u2019ve become friends. He wants us to come back. He likes to work with us; we get along very good, maybe because we know him. He likes it, and he likes our progression as well, our songs. He\u2019s really into power in music; he likes to help us bring that forth, and yeah, he likes our music. I remember when he heard \u2018The Runes Of Hel\u2019. After we recorded that one he was like \u2019Oh fuck, this is some shit\u2019 (laughs), so that\u2019s cool to hear from a legend like him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andy\u2019s role is motivational in nature. \u201cHe brings out the best of us; he pushes us, kind of forces us to do our very best (laughs) \u2013 like \u2018Come on, you can do it better,\u2019\u201d Jonas compliments. \u201cIf we tell him our ambition for the next King Of Asgard album, that we want it this way or that way, he\u2019s like \u2018Okay, I think I know how to fix it.\u2019 So yeah, he kind of fixes our intentions with King Of Asgard. He doesn\u2019t produce much on the songs, except maybe some stuff like adding something or taking away something that is too much. But yeah, the structures are already made, and they stay the way they are. Yeah though, he helps us a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Olof Berggren worked in co-ordination with Andy. \u201cSometimes we worked in both studios, recording drums and maybe bass in the other studio, as well as vocals in the evening when Andy was off,\u201d the bassist divulges. \u201cOlof worked in the small studio, and he also helped Andy out with mastering. When they worked together, it was cool. Olof recorded all of the vocals this time, and that was interesting. He\u2019s been a lot of good at helping, as well. Also, the piano intro was recorded by him \u2013 all the sounds and stuff for the song \u2018Omma\u2019. So yeah, he did a lot as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

A cover interpretation of Bathory number \u2018Total Destruction\u2019 is included as a bonus cut on Karg<\/em>. \u201cBathory is Bathory, and we\u2019ve all hailed Bathory in King Of Asgard since childhood really,\u201d Jonas tells. \u201cWe did a cover song on the previous record by Isengard, called \u2018Vinterskugge\u2019 (from the March 1994 album of the same). We thought we should take that away, mainly for live reasons. We picked that Bathory song called \u2018Total Destruction\u2019, and rehearsed it for a while. \u2018Why not record it as well?,\u2019 we thought, because Bathory is one of the greatest influences for King Of Asgard \u2013 both for the band, and for us as persons. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe song is taken from The Return…<\/em> (May 1985), which we all agreed is the one that has made the most impact on us \u2013 a personal impact, maybe. That\u2019s why it\u2019s a tribute to Bathory, really. Lars the guitarist once told me that when he heard The Return…<\/em>, he was 14 years old, and that it was like \u2018Okay, this is how you do it.\u2019 After hearing that record, he started making his own music, and was influenced by such. It means a lot, and yeah. I hope people like it as well. It\u2019s not close to the real stuff, but anyway (laughs).\u201d<\/p>\n

The four-stringer joined Vanhelgd during June 2013, lending bass parts to May 2014 outing Relics Of Sulphur Salvation<\/em>. \u201cVanhelgd is an old school Swedish, dirty death metal project or band.\u201d he determines. \u201cThey\u2019re close friends to me. They\u2019ve been struggling with bass guitarists, or at least they wanted to go further. He was out (Viktor Gustafsson), and I came in. I enjoy playing that kind of music very much; brutal and straightforward, and very much with attitude and seriousness. They\u2019re cool guys and I really like playing with them as well, so I\u2019m busy right now with everything.\u201d<\/p>\n

To date, Jonas isn\u2019t extensively involved with respect to writing compositions for Vanhelgd. \u201cI just started when they started to write the new album, Relics Of Sulphur Salvation<\/em>,\u201d he discloses. \u201cOf course I was involved in the rehearsal place, making some additions to the riffs they had \u2013 maybe the structures, and so forth. So yeah, I\u2019m involved in the songwriting one could say, but not as much as in King Of Asgard \u2013 not at all. Maybe in the future, but King Of Asgard takes my time, so I leave it to them and maybe just help them out. I work together with them in the rehearsal room. It\u2019s cool. We\u2019ll see about the future, how it will be. I will probably be more involved in the future. As I said, I started just before the intense period of rehearsing the new record.\u201d<\/p>\n

Karg<\/em> was released on July 18th, 2014 in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, on the 21st in the rest of Europe, and subsequently on the 22nd in North America, all via Metal Blade Records.<\/p>\n

Interview published in July 2014.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KING OF ASGARD – The Heritage Throne Anthony Morgan July 2014 King Of Asgard (l-r): Jonas Albrektsson, Karl Beckmann, Lars T\u00e4ngmark and Karsten Larsson Mj\u00f6lby, Sweden-based melodic death metal outfit King Of Asgard formed in 2008, King Of Asgard initially being a duo consisting of erstwhile Mithotyn members Karl Beckmann and Karsten Larsson. A seven-track […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,1432],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-king-of-asgard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21709"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21709\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21870,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21709\/revisions\/21870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}