1. Greetings Imperial, great that we can have you on Mortem zine again. It has been long time since the Blue Miasma was released, if I count correctly, about four years. Can you just briefly tell what has happened at the Krieg's camp in those four years?

I have been working with other bands and projects, some public, some private. Once the urge to continue Krieg grew to it’s strongest I began carefully planning how I wanted things to work out in order not to repeat past mistakes or create future disappointments. So probably more work, less sleep, and more stress are the themes of the last few years.

2. The Isolationist is somehow a very difficult album to listen. On one hand it carries on the style of Blue Miasma and The Black House on the other it is showing us a different way which your future work can go. So were you trying different way of concepts in your music during the Isolationist's recording process?

I had the opportunity to really be able to take my time in the studio and work through different ideas, especially with layering and sound manipulation which I was curious to try in the past with Krieg but never had the opportunity due to certain limitations. I’ve long wanted to have Krieg be more dimensional with its use of noise/melody balance but I think this record is more a natural evolution than a direct attempt to force change.

3. One thing i have to say about your new release is that I really love the cover painting. It's dark and very creepy, by the way who is the author of that picture?

Rebecca Clegg. She’s done art for Nachtmystium, Urfaust, and quite a few others. I’ve known her for years and always thought she was extremely talented and unusual in her artistic endeavors. The painting was actually done in 2003 and was kept framed in my house for some time. When the time came to decide on art for the record it was a natural idea to ask her to use this piece since it relays the album title and themes very vividly. I was fortunate that she agreed to let me use it. I believe she’s starting to do gallery shows and very shortly a great number of people will recognize her immense abilities.

4. In the track called „All Paths to God“ one can hear an usage of keyboards, which are not one of the typical instruments for Krieg so may we expect more of such an innovations in the future?

I feel any of the analogue/Moog noises Sanford did on the record were done in a way that blended well with the overall mood of the music and were subtle. I don’t want people to get the impression that because there is some synth on the record that we’re at all orchestral or going in that direction. I have a deep fascination with power electronics and noise music in general so to work with someone who has an arsenal of this equipment at hand meant it was time to really explore this side of my tastes. I don’t know if I’ll return to that sort of thing on the next record.

5. From the promo materials and your MySpace of course, i have read that on „The Isolationist“ there is Jeff Whitehead aka Wrest playing the bass guitar, which reminds me your cooperation during the recording of the first album for project Twilight. Tell me, was the Twilight your first musical cooperation and did the idea of joing him to Krieg line up came during Twilight?

Twilight was our first collaboration but “The Isolationist” is not his first time in Krieg. He played drums for some live shows in 2005 and that’s when the idea of a second Twilight record and potential other projects came up. When the second Twilight came to fruition it was extremely satisfying to work with him again and so I asked if he would be able to take part in recording for Krieg.


6. If we stay just for a while with Twilight, I personally think that this project has changed a lot in American extreme music scene. Since the release of the first album i can see that there started something like a „fusion“ maybe, or something like. Now i can see the bands like Nachtmystium and former Xasthur doing tracks with the band around Southern Lord label or with some post rock musicians. Is it just a coincidence or the scene in U.S.is changing?

It’s just the natural ebb and flow. Scenes, genres, and most of all, people change constantly. I’m sure there are those out there who try to force change or go out of their way to please the non-metal elements in the crowd but I could see that happening anywhere.

7. Once I have spoken with some guy from States about black metal scene there. He told me that it is very difficult to be a black metal musician in States, because there is almost no audience and no one generally cares. This was actually something like 6 years ago, and I would like to ask, what's the situation nowadays?

With things like Myspace I’m sure it’s a lot easier for bands to get some kind of exposure without putting in the work that used to be required for it. Which in turn means less work (probably) put into their music, bands putting up skeletal ideas in order to get instant gratification from their friends and “fans” and an overall cluttering up of the musical landscape. At the same time it’s probably still difficult given the geographical distances between the places you generally would see tours go through. Personally I haven’t noticed much of a change, I still work mostly with the people I did years ago in terms of doing shows so it’s not been much of a hurdle for Krieg.

8. Your last album came out at Candlelight records, which is considered to be a big black metal label today. How do you feel about releasing on that big label? Do you think that your albums will now reach more people when they will be issued on major label?

It’s preferable to releasing the record with someone who cannot help with a studio budget or any real kind of promotion. Will it reach more people? It was just released this week in Europe and last week in North America so I suppose only time will tell.

9. How have you been satisfied with the No Colours records? To be hones I was quite surprised that „Blue Miasma“ was issued on that label which is mainly connected with pagan black metal or NSBM?

As far as No Colours being a purely “NSBM” or pagan label, I think you should talk to the Chinese band they released, or some of the deathtrash bands, or Forgotten Woods etc. No Colours is a black metal label, the fact that they released NSBM/pagan bands or continue to do so is not my concern as I no longer work with the label. They’re free to deal with whatever they want. If they release something you don’t support, then don’t purchase it. Spend your time better by working on something you do support. In terms of my satisfaction with them? Many things could have been done differently on my end as well as theirs but they did do exactly as promised.

10. How does Krieg work regarding the composing and recording of the music. Do you compose the songs by yourself or do you let the other band members to come with their own musical parts or even whole songs?

Depends entirely on the situation. For “The Isolationist” Joseph contributed a full song and a good amount of riffs and ideas. Both Wrest and Grigg added their own fingerprints to the overall picture. Unless it’s something that needs to be done exactly as I wrote it I encourage the musicians I work with to contribute ideas as long as these ideas fit into the framework. This recording was a fortunate time for that because I worked with such like minded people.


11. What about the lyrical concepts for „The Isolationist“? I know that you are using the topics mainly about nihilism and misanthropy; however in some of your texts i can see some dark theology there. What is the source for this negative spirituality?

While it’s not an overwhelming theme there is an obvious distaste for organized religions, especially as I get older. I find this kind of emotional and mental slavery to be disgusting and against the nature of humanity. Plus the arrogance of man to think that he has the absolute answers for questions that are so vast and unconquerable is a disgrace.

12. Are there any specific authors who influenced the lyrical concept of „The Isolationist“?

Not as directly as in the past though Bataille and Bukowski, as least in a general sense, had their place. In at least a physical sense I did use the cut up method that Burroughs worked with again, but not as extensively as in the past. I think I might have pushed this technique to its logical conclusion within my work.

13. It has been a long time since your last live performances in Europe. Do you plan to return to our continent in the near future?

I’m looking into it for 2011, all that it will take is proper time to get the lineup ready and a fair offer.

14. And do you think you can tell us about your musical plans in general, like what is going to happen in Krieg, Twilight, former March into Sea or if you plan to do any guest performances on the albums of other bands?

Krieg will have a few things released shortly, the split 7 inches with Dead Times and Gravecode Nebula respectively, as well as some reissues. Twilight will record again most likely sometime next year but nothing has been planned yet. The Royal Arch Blaspheme will do a second album and possibly some shows in 2011. N.i.l will have a mcd released by Regimental Records and a full length in the new year. I recently did vocals for the third Hidden record and will be doing guest vocals for Caina as well. I have a few other projects in various stages right now as well, but nothing that needs noted at the moment.

15. Thank you very much for you time and your will to share your thoughts with our readers. Good luck and see you in Europe!

Cheers and again thanks for the chance to speak.