1. Greetings to Norway! Works on Black Flux are done, album is occupying shelves of musical stores and distros, and now it is getting the full barrage from critics. But now I´ll ask you how are you doing and if enjoyed some rest after the hard working?

Einz: Hi, actually we have started working on new material, we are pretty fed-up with the songs on the album,having worked on them for so long. So it’s a blessing to have new music to work on. Other than that, not much to report, except that the response to “The Black Flux” has been very good, which of course is a good thing.

2. You´re not a well-known band inside the metal (eventually rock) community. Could you depict some events around the birth of the band? I can´t defend myself from the thought that you are somehow posthumous child of Ved buens ende.

Einz: Virus was a band Czral wanted to start up when Ved Buens Ende was discontinued. It carries his trademark guitar sound from that era but is a different band in most other respects. He asked me (Einz, drums) and Plenum (bass) to join in late 2000 I think, and in 2001 we recorded some demo songs that got us a deal with Jester records, who put out our first album “Carheart” in 2003.

3. Another annoying question will be about the description of the Black flux. Could you enlighten the fans with which themes is the album dealing, what inspired you during composition, and most importantly what are the responses from public? In my opinion it is an unbelievably elaborated successor of Carheart! My praise to you.

Czral: It’s a very abstract album. It’s no exact themes going on, but all in all you could say that it’s dealing with the end of the world, somehow. Not in an “Armageddon” sort of way, but more in a personal or individual way.

4. I´m not familiar with the lyrics of Virus. Could you shortly describe what is the Carheart about and most importantly what is the lyrical concept of “Black Flux”?

Czral: There’s no concept. I’ve written about half of the lyrics together with other people. So they are song-lyrics put together to create a whole, more than poetry. The lyrics are there to fulfill the music. There are no messages. There are a lot of metaphors though, but it’s up to the listener to find them and to find meaning in them. On the carheart album, we wanted to go over the top. We wanted to be as surreal and absurd as possible. Even I have problems figuring that album out.


5. During the recording you published a few informations. You have stated that If 'Carheart' was the "Monty Python" album of Virus, 'The Black Flux' is definitely the "David Lynch" one. So I guess that you have some affinity for both. Can you tell us something about them?

Einz: Well, that was just something I said to sort of sum up what’s different about the two albums. Carheart is the lunatic one, absurd and all over the place, whereas The Black Flux is psychotic on a much deeper and darker level. You could say they both represent different sides of what we want to achieve, but I guess The Black Flux is probably more indicative of the direction we are pursuing now, simply because of the period it was made. We were different people in the Carheart days, at least in some respects.

6. When listening to the novelty (but this happens also when listening to the old one) I feel like tripping under the influence of several hallucinogens. Not just composition but also sound and atmosphere helps this feel. Some could think that such music comes from the mind of drugs-abusing maniac. Is this claim out of place or not?

Einz: Well, I see your point but even though it might sound like it to some, it does not come from drug use/abuse as far as I know. Czral’s way of writing music is far enough out there as it is, I don’t think drugs would really add anything. I think it’s more a matter of how to perceive things. We’ve always looked at things a bit differently than most people I guess, both when it comes to listening to music, watching films etc. I guess we are a bit more attracted to things if they aren’t too plain and/or self-explanatory. Style AND substance.

7. Another prominent sign of your band are your unmistakable vocals. You already showed them in Ved buens ende. But I think that you found your tessitura just now. What made you to use this type of vocals? You wanted to be different not just musically but also with your vocals? Personally I like it a lot, but I guess that many metalheads will criticize it.

Czral: Well, I wanted to make the best out of it of course. Using the voice that I have. The vocals were the aspect of the songs that we had prepared the least for when we entered the studio, so it took some time nailing them. I just did what felt natural for the songs, and went for it. Nothing deliberate. It just has to feel right in the end, you know. That’s very important when you’re recording music, ‘cause there is no direct spot where everything is “finished”, like when building a boat or something.

8. You have once commented that Virus sounds like a mix of Voivod and Talking heads. But I think you´ re a little bit crazier band. In addition, you´ re slowly moving from metal territory into more rock-influenced one. Can we expect, that with another release, you are going to evolve into a new territories?

Einz: Expect the unexpected. Or I don’t know. Like I said we are working on new material and it sounds very Virus. But it’s too early for me to say how the next album will differ. It probably will though, in some ways. It would be boring to make the same album several times.

9. Since the debut, line-up remains same. There is probably no reason to change it, if everything works well. Fortunately you´re a band where no member has to handle several instruments, so theoretically you are able to play live. But I have never found anything about the gigs, so I guess you´re not a concert band. Have you ever thought about it? I think that your music has to be really interesting live and I wouldn’t hesitate long when thinking about going.

Einz: We have discussed this a little but for the time being we have no actual plans of playing live. Performing a Virus show would require a lot of work – rehearsing, hiring guest musicians etc. Plus we wouldn’t wanna just play an ordinary concert, it would have to be something a bit more special than that, adding a visual dimension to it for instance. So, although I’m not saying it never will happen, it’s probably not going to happen in the foreseeable future.


10. You also performed in several well-known acts. Could you somehow elaborate about the playing in bands like DHG, Ved buens ende, Satyricon or Aura noir? How do you recall the time in mentioned bands, what the playing in such a bands gave you and If you want you can also betray some nice background gossip to us. Readers are always eager for the interesting stuff, which is nowhere to found.

Czral: Some of those periods are like black holes in my memory, so there’s not much to tell, really. I have a very “before and after”-thing going on memory-wise from after my accident. Ofcourse, now, when playing in two different bands like Aura Noir and Virus, it’s natural to say that I have two very different creative outlets.

11. I bet that involvement in such a bands influenced your actual view on the music. What do you personally like and what do you need to hear in music? What type of listener are you and are there a bands of which you are a die-hard fan?

Czral: Lately I have discovered Scott Walker. I think his later works are real masterpieces. Ofcourse, he was a traditional crooner back in the days, but there’s a lot of twisted stuff going on in the background, in his early works as well. It’s really subtle. I think it’s fascinating that now, at the age of 67, he makes dark avant-garde music, while earlier on he made easy listening music. It’s boring to make lists, but I have a broad taste in music. Needless to say, I like avant garde, twisted stuff. Apart from that, I’m an old thrasher. That’s the kinda music that’s in my veins.

12. I suppose that you´re not negligent to a musical evolution in Norway. What do you think about it? Do you feel too, that music Norway has evolved quite largely since the nineties? Could you name a few Norwegian bands about which you think that they are going to have a deep impact on the scene?

Einz: We don’t really follow any scene. We are of course aware of it whenever a new Darkthrone album comes out for instance, them being friends and all. The music fads come and go – but only the really interesting artists will stand the test of time. Thus the music we listen to is mostly music that exists regardless of what is popular right now. Regarding evolution I guess you mean when black metal bands started going in different directions, like DHG and such. Evolution is necessary to any artist I guess.

13. I hope you won´t mind if I ask you about incident, which was largely discussed and rumoured on internet. In 26. march 2005 you allegedly fell (jumped?) from the 4th floor. After then you have spent some time in the hospital. So, are these informations true and could you elaborate more about this accident?

Czral: That incident is a private thing for me. It is between me and my family/friends to discuss, and not in an open medium. Needless to say, the accident has affected the way I work with music. I don’t play drums anymore, for example. But I’m ok with that.


14. I guess that you´ re a person opened for a new possibilities. It´s obvious that stuff like computers, internet or audio/video devices are not new for you. I want to direct this answer mainly into the topic of internet. You use this medium as a tool of communication between the band and fans. I guess that without it, at least half of the fans wouldn´t know Virus. But on the other hand it also seduces into illegal downloading (Czech republic is a leading country in illegal downloading :-)) etc. What do you think about this problematics?

Einz: Myspace, for instance, is great. We have used it to promote Virus actively for a couple of years now, and we have had hundreds of thousands of plays. It’s great to keep that closely in touch with the fans, and we have some pretty serious fans, that’s for sure! The downside is of course when the album leaks before people have had the chance to buy it. After it’s released you can’t really fight it anyway, I mean, back in the day we copied stuff to tape. It’s just a different medium. As long as you release something really good, with a cool packaging, and reach out to people, some will always buy it. But I guess both artists and labels have to start thinking “outside the box” to come up with new ways of making money. And one can’t deny money is necessary to keep going, both as an artist and as a label.

15. In this last question I have to ask you about your future plans. Any new project on the horizon? Or some new material for already existing project? I hope that I can expect some new stuff like Black flux on which I can get addicted again.

Einz: Yeah, like I’ve mentioned a couple of times, we are working on material for the third album as we speak. It still early, so I’ll be careful to say too much about when that’ll be out though. For now, I hope people will check out “The Black Flux” if they want something a little out of the ordinary.

16. Well, I think it´s been enough of the obtrusive questioning. Thank you very much for your time and music. I wish you and band many successes and I hope that someday I´ll see you live. Last words are yours!

Thanks for the interview!