1. Hello Warrior! How are you doing? Your new album is going to be released after 7 years of “silence” with full-length albums. Could you tell the readers what was the reason for that long period without new full-length album?

Nazdar!

There were various obstacles. We ran out of fresh good ideas that we can honestly put in new album. Second guitarists came and went and it consumed time to teach them songs all over again. Big commercial folk metal boom threw us in some kind of depression –we even wanted to start playing something different or stop it at all. And finally of course there was our personal life: shortage of time we can spent with band due our daily jobs, families and personal problems.

Though we was around all this times – playing concerts and fests with our old stuff.

And in 2005 we re-released our old demo with 4 new tracks inside.

2. To be honest, I’ve been afraid during year 2008 when your official web pages shut down. But now, everything seems without any problems, new and nice site is running, you have a new label etc… But let me ask you about the label. Like I saw, bigger labels are going to make deals with pagan-folk metal groups more often than before; for example you, Arkona etc. Do you think this genre is going to be popular again? Because I think the biggest boom ended some years back. Or do you think that big labels just want to release new albums from classic representatives of this style? Isn’t it calculation?

I don’t know im not into all this crap. To my thoughts pagan/folk is still there and downfall is just started, that’s why maybe labels still sign this bands. But as with other left aside styles, I think, there will be always people around who will listen to that music and stay fans. Maybe it is even better, as those commercial bands will jump off now and leave place to all honest and real pagan /folk bands, who worked in a background for years and didn’t changed to make good out from that “folk boom”.

Anyway those bands, which were signed lately by bigger labels, are not that bad at all and why no one cares if another metal core or death metal band is signed there too? Answer can be: folk boom is still here? He he – just a joke.

As for Metal Blade, as far as I know, they don’t have that much pagan bands at all, possibly they signed us because of this. But anyway we are not big band there and we know it well, there are (on Metal Blade) more important bands they work with.

Still we are happy with all help we can get from them, as with their support we can spread our name and music in much bigger area than before. Though again we still work a lot by ourselves to promote Skyforger and Kurbads.

3. Why did you stop the cooperation with Folter records? Any internal problems? From my view, Folter Records seems to be a small, but great company… Maybe I’m wrong. And if you’ll compare Metal Blade and Folter records, where is the biggest difference? Is it more professional or something?

We are still in touch with Folter! Joerg and other guys there is really great people and they helped and still (!) help us a lot. We even asked Metal Blade to give Folter rights to release Kurbads on LP and they agreed.

Why we went away? The problem is that Joerg is a bit too lazy to my view; lately our manager Andy did all the things for us. Folter gave us first push and opened new possibilities, but we continued more or less on our own.

Comparing Metal Blade with Folter is hard, as they are on different weights, you know. Folter (mean Joerg) doing almost everything by himself with help of few friends, while Metal Blade is solid company!

We wanted to make some step forward, as we saw that Joerg are not interested that much to go up, so we signed with Metal Blade.

As band from Latvia, a small country which is outside of metal scene, we need some real help to make our word and music to be heard in rest of the world.

4. I hope that previous questions did not annoy you, because it wasn’t the intention. I don’t wanna talk about business, but I need to have those things clear in my head. The main topic is of course “Kurbads” and I have the vision to use YOU like a narrator… So I hope you agree and your words will tell us more about the release…

No worries at all!

We started to work on songs years ago, but it went slow in the beginning. Finally when all possible songs were ready we went to studio and suddenly our second guitarist Rihards left the band. So I was tasked to do all guitar jobs there. It took some time again to learn riffs and to rearrange everything to my taste. At first we did raw record and listened to it for a while to make all possible changes for the best result. We changed a lot even in recording process, as we had no rush.
We recorded everything here in Latvia, in our band-mate’s Kaspars studio. So we hadn’t that much stress as we was alone there, it was like you are recording everything in your friends home. We recorded things, then went home and listened to them and if we aren’t satisfied next time we rerecorded them. Kaspars asked not that much money for hour as we will spend in big professional studio.
After all we did all of our albums this way –mean here in Latvia, in our friends’ studios. I think we are used to it and possibly cannot record anything good in time limited professional studios!
Lately we went to our sound engineer Gints’ studio – our old good Phoenix and did all mixing plus mastering there.

That how it all happened in a few words.


5. So let me ask you, Peter, is Skyforger in 2010 different in something? Did you use some new elements on the album? And if you’ll have the chance to stay before people and in have to say in few words why listen to your new album, what words will you say?

People says that this album is more thrash/classic heavy metal influenced than before. To some point i can agree. But If you listen some old songs like Colonel Briedis, Nāves sala/Death Island or Tumsā un salā/ In Darkness and Frost, for example, you will hear that same oldschool heavy metal riffs there! Maybe that raw sound made them to be not heard that clear, I don’t know!

We want people to not judge album only after one listening and with unfulfilled expectations for another Latvian Riflemen or black/folk metal. Just give it another try - read lyrics, catch atmosphere with artworks and listen it as a story…

We always say that we are different from album to album and Kurbads is different! In our view it is not another Viking metal album, we think we have our own way even here – it is more metal than folk.

6. Name of the album “Kurbads” might not be absolutely clear for all people. So what can you tell us about the name, the main idea of the album (or concept?) and of course the texts globally?

As for the story of Kurbads: (sorry, copy – paste as I have this question in every interview, hope you don’t mind?)

Kurbads is a Latvian fairy tale/legend survived from olden times. There were some folk enthusiasts, who traveled the land and recorded all possible folk stuff from people in 19th century. Those tales was given from generation to generation in verbal way.

Among others there was fairytales about man who was born magically from various things (mare, iron, ox, dog, wolf etc), but mostly from bear. This man grew up very strong and went out to the world to help poor people and fight evil.

I found this tale very interesting, but knowing how popular in Latvia is tale about Lāčplēsis (Bearslayer - man who was born from bear), I took another variation (less popular but known very well) about Kurbads, son of mare.

Whole album tells Kurbads story: from time of birth till death in the last battle. His adventures and fight against his archenemy Snake Witch. There can be found very archaic topics, like ritual of initiation, venturing into realm of dead (underworld), ancient witchcraft and magic as well as old customs and way of how people saw our world. Even act of how Kurbads born is magical, I thought its roots came from times of Stone Age, when people took some magical beast or god as procreator of all kin.

7. Do you think “Kurbads” is the most mature work of SKYFORGER, if yes, why?

Yea, we think Kurbads is our best creation up to date, especially songs as compositions, all arrangements, technical level and whole album, song after song together. We worked much harder here than before to make everything sound great. Did a lot of re-arrangements to songs to make them better.

This will sound strange, but at the beginning of record process we were up to make some raw sounding, harsh album. Somehow on the way we started to work too much on make everything as best as we could and forgot about our first aim. So in the end album sounds as it sounds – at least when I listen to it I am satisfied more than i was with our old albums.

8. How about the artwork? How to understand it as a listener?

Yea, at first look it maybe looks like some stupid cliché painting. But for me it and all albums’ artwork have a great mood - the mood I wanted! To my mind it all looks like it comes from some fairytale book and this is from where it came after all!

On the cover we can see last battle of Kurbads: he already killed ogre Black Rider, but Snake Witch managed to spit her venom into Kurbads open wound on his shoulder.

To my view all painting is mystical with that dead tree and black cave behind it – it make something like symbol of Underworld and tree’s branch is like a upper ground and you can see forest and moon above on it. It’s like Kurbads is stepped with half step in the Realm of Dead already!

We don’t want another mainstream CD artwork, every band has lately. I don’t want to offend Mr. Kris Verwimp, but almost every pagan (and not only pagan) band has cover made by him. People are used to them and now when they saw ours, they say: what the hell this crap is there!

When you look all artworks in album , you’ll see that Martins (our guitar player who did all paintings) have his own way, different for others and to my liking his way is perfect here for such fairy tale as Kurbads is!

9. Will Metal Blade release some special issues of your new album? Like digipack, LP or something?

As far as I know we are making digipacks for first. Then somehow they don’t want to continue with them here in EU and we will fall back to normal CD, but in USA there will be only digi-packs. As I told above, we will make LP too for all those who like to collect them. LP will be made by German Folter records.

Metal Blade told us that they don’t want to “”rob”” customers or make some in better status than others, so we put all possible songs we had into all formats. In the end there will be only minor design changes from digipack to normal CD to LP, but songs remain the same.

They told us that digipack isn’t any special today, but it comes like friendlier to nature than plastic CD. I can agree on this.


10. In the meantime you played many gigs all over the world. I saw you two times in Czech Republic, first in Prague (Matrix club), second in Svojšice (Brutal Assault). To be honest, I love the performance in Prague, but was dissapointed by the performance in Svojšice. Not because of you, but globály a lot of gigs at the festivals haven’t the right feeling. What shows are you enjoying the most? In clubs or festivals? And what mean live performances for you and the group?

Hmm. In the end I think we love small clubs over big festivals. In small clubs sound is always better on stage and whole feeling is much closer with public than in big fests. Many big fests have really bad monitor sound for band on stage and it is really hard to play and have fun –you hardly hear anything or hear something louder than others. There is always shortage of time for us to make decent soundcheck in fests as time itself is limited for every band.

Sometimes when you went off the stage and have bitter taste about latest show, it is so strange to hear that fans came and say: great show, good sound. Outside maybe it was, but on stage…

I can tell you that we are shy people in the end and before every show we get nervous as hell and want to run away back home, but we chose this way and no step back!

When we are on stage it is like you are not here, but somewhere in another plane, you are not you yourself, but another person. This feeling can be something like going into battle, only you have no fear of death, but you are caught in some kind of whirlwind and dance within it.

Another time I had feeling that I am not on stage, but far away –this is very bad and I don’t like it, but can’t do anything about it. I don’t see people faces, just play something – and when I start to think what I need to play next, I forget everything (mean my guitar parts)!

It s always nice and safe when you play in rehearsals, but on stage! This hell of nervousness makes you do a lot of mistakes.

I know that there are persons who are born to be on stage, they love to live there – we are not. Maybe in our youth time, but not now. But as I said: we chose our path and have no way back right now!

11. Last time you played in Czech Republic was in Ostrava (Beltis fest) and you’ll also play at Hell Fast Attack this summer. Do you have any special relations or memories according Czech Republic? Do you know some groups you played with through the years?

Sure! We have some friends there: Vesna (old Adultery), Trolllech, Hromovlad (though they are from Slovakia) and some other guys. We had great time when we were in Czech Republic – we even visited some old castles and places there. People are so friendly and we had lot of fans to our big surprise in Czech!

I remember how we were going to see Karluv most in Prague and finally went nowhere but in bar with guys from Vesna and spent all time there instead that bridge he he.

12. I know you love beer, am I right? :) What is the main difference between Latvian and Czech beer? I would say like a patriot that we have the best beer in the world, hehe… But you maybe don’t think the same, of course. For example, if I’ll travel to Riga, what will you recommend to visit, taste etc.?

I almost can agree that Czech beer is really the best in the world. Im not talking of course about cheep beer in bottles, but those you can buy in bars or taverns.
Same is here – in shops you can buy cheap ones in bottles, but in bar you can buy same label but with much better taste and more expensive of course.

My recommendations is: Bauskas alus (alus means beer), Tērvetes, Piebalgas and Valmiermuižas. Most of them are good even in bottles and you can buy them in right bars too.
Aldaris is very popular here, but it is beer for tourists, it is not for gourmands, though sometimes it is not that bead in cups in bars after all.
Our beers, even if it says 4 or 5 % of alcohol, in reality is much stronger than those cheap cans you can buy in Germany for example. Three or five bottles and you are drunk already! Those good beers have not that much carbon inside too, some are even carbon free.
I remember in my youth time there was only real, non carbonized beers to buy! If you didn’t drink them out in two days, they turn sour and you cannot drink them anymore! Only good fridge could save you.

There were no chemicals at that time, eh…

For visiting I can recommend places outside old Riga, as they all are for tourists with big pockets. To name few: Rock’n’Riga (this is almost metal rock bar), Pablo, Šveiks (!!! Yea, bar in name of your famous hero and there is Czech beer too!). Ah and come to our metal club Melnā Piekdiena (Black Friday) there is some metal stuff going on and Piebalgas alus as well as Kozel!


13. My last question… SKYFORGER released a lot of materials during the years. Is there any album that means the most for you? Because of memories, working process or something?

Yea – our first demo and whole recording process was “”mystical”” and great to remember. My memories are hazy and this gives only more taste to it. Everything happened like in mist or in dream. When I think about it now, I wonder how we recorded it all that fast (for us of course –one week) and had listenable sound in the end he he. It was small studio (beginning of Phoenix, where we recorded almost all of our albums), early springtime, still snow here and there and dark woods behind window. We worked till very late at night and were so excited to hear our first songs ready! We were young and ready to everything at that time, eh…

The all other recording sessions had they great stories too, but it will take a lot of space to write here about all this.

14. Thanks for the interview, Peter. It was a big pleasure for me. Have a good time and I’m looking forward to the shows of Skyforger. And I wish you big success with the new album!

Děkuji! And thanx for this possibility to spread our name and tell people about Kurbads!

Big thanx and greetings to all our fans in Czech Republic, buy our new album, it is really good metal mixed with Latvian folk stuff, and see you soon on our concerts again!

Peter/Skyforger