a tribute to carl-michael eide

::  r  o  a  d  b  u  r  n      s  p  e  c  i  a  l  ::

in the presence of greatness

a personal tribute to Carl-Michael Eide

Music is an amazing thing, it has its own life. You sort of give birth to it and then you leave it behind, it evolves on its own…and people pick up on it. You don’t make music thinking that this is going to be cult or anything. You just make music. I think it’s just a big misunderstanding, people are directing a lot of credit to the individuals making the music. And that’s not right, because music is already there, you’re only molding it. All I did was just learn to play guitar at some point…

Czral
April 2011, Oslo.

a piece put together exclusively for Roadburn Festival

thoughts, words and all live photos of Aura Noir at Inferno 2011

by Stefan Raduta

You know, metal fans can be very interesting characters, especially a fun bunch to watch whether in small or large gatherings… how they dress, the way they talk about their music, how they discuss/debate the influence of this band or that band on the entire scene, how this musician changed everything or how that album is pivotal to you understanding the very meaning of life. Metal is a serious business man, passions run deep and people are loyal to those who shaped them into who they are…more often than not heated debates arise. Entombed or At The Gates? Root or Master’s Hammer? The deeper you go in the underground, the more visible it becomes that people take their music very personal, even more when you’re always rooting for the underdog. This was never a joke, pal. Especially in the black metal/thrash/death metal scenes…you don’t fuck with these characters, let alone the ‘connoisseurs’. From the bullet belts to the patches, the boots or the obscure bootleg metal t-shirt you’re wearing that no-one else is supposed to have, that ultra rare 25 year old vintage Bolt Thrower long sleeve that everyone (who was alive back then) wants even if it’s just about to fall apart…or the faded Messiah t-shirt you just spotted, you know that guy knows.

This piece is as personal as it can get for me, so I’m gonna make it short and bitter. If you claim to own your stuff but you don’t know who Carl-Michael Eide is, then brother, with the risk of sounding like a jerk, mark my words: you’re completely delusional and you don’t know shit just yet. 

listen and learn..

where the flame resides…

It’s been said over and over again that Norway’s finest export is black metal…might as well just be, everyone recognizes Darkthrone, Emperor, Mayhem, Satyricon, Enslaved, Dimmu Borgir, Immortal or Carpathian Forest as names fronting hundreds of other groups that popped up like mushrooms. In most cases (whether you agree or not) their heyday is long past. Just to put it out there, out of the bunch Emperor to me stands as the one fine example of character and integrity, Ihsahn putting an end to it while being at the very top, refusing to compromise, to lie to himself or the fans. That’s something rare these days, and to be admired. The rest continue, some either not giving a rat’s ass, others selling out or just milking the cash cow…to each their own.

Others keep reinventing themselves but dance in obscurity, always so away from the superficial ears of the masses...

The real beauty of the Norwegian underground to me always lied in the lesser known/publicized/accepted acts that dared to go somewhere different, bands/artists that stepped outside of the box and provided something unique, challenging, distinctive. I’m talking about names like Ulver, Arcturus, Dødheimsgard, Borknagar or Solefald, Code, Red Harvest, Slagmaur and more recently Vulture Industries, Leprous, etc. Even if bands like Strid, Thorns, Tartaros, Fleurety or Mysticum were only active for just a bit, they did something different and that’s what always appealed to me more, those who broke out of the norm, the visionaries, the gambling weirdos.

And above all, I’m talking about Ved Buens Ende and Virus. 
Or simply put, a genius by the name of Carl-Michael Eide.

it’s all gone weird…something furry this way comes

There is absolutely not a doubt in my mind that today, Virus is one of the finest, most exquisite musical exports Norway ever had to offer. Period. If you want real value for your buck, place your bet on this name because Virus is the new kind of music, very much like Ulver always had the potential to be and eventually became. Come to think of it, you put Virus and Ulver together on a bill and nothing can touch it, nothing. It’s no surprise Czral and Garm have are still friends, even if Ulver went further than anyone could have anticipated. In fact, Virus’s first ever show was this year on March 22^nd in London as direct support for Ulver. If Agalloch were not playing their first ever New York City show that very night, I would have totally gone…and now that I think about it, considering that I really don’t remember too much from that night (don’t ask..), I really regret not being there. Alas, Hole In The Sky can’t come soon enough, just a few more weeks..

fantastic footage from the first ever Virus live performance

for those who have ears to listen
this right here, is metal at its finest moment

Anyway, coming back to my herd…if there ever was any doubt, those who once fell under the spell of Ved Buens Ende sixteen years ago can today once again affirm the obvious: that Carl Michael Eide always was and always will be the daddy of all things weird, disharmonic, alien, psychedelic, avant-garde, both brilliantly fucked up and yet constantly alluring, addictive to the fucking bone.

To me, he remains the daddy of all that and nobody can touch him.

The vast array of bands/artists Czral has played/collaborated with over the last two decades speaks for itself. He started and still remains the main engine behind the world’s ugliest band, Aura Noir. You may have heard the name, but if you worship anything from Sodom to Destruction to Venom and still have not listened to their 1996’s Black Thrash Attack, please find the nearest brick wall, run as fast as you can towards it and hit it head on…if you black out will do you good, you deserve it. Aura Noir is as essential to thrash as Master Of Puppets is to life itself. And then there’s the collaborations with early Satyricon, Ulver, or later recording with Dødheimsgard, Infernö.  

And let’s not forget about one of the most insane acts to ever come out of Norway, Cadaver Inc. You think Frost and Hellhammer are fast? Listen to the drumming on Discipline…I think at the time Czral could roll both of them in a joint and smoke their asses, I dare you to fight me.

 

 once upon a time...

 

today..

 

 

 

 

It’s very hard to describe the universe of Virus, simply because no one writes/plays music like this today. This is completely new…initially it could be perceived as a mixture of 70’s psychedelic and kraut rock fusion with jazz and metal, but it’s just so damn weird and trippy man. I just don’t get it how this man writes music so bizarre while being catchy as hell. It may seem all over the place and rugged at a first listen, but give it a chance to grow on you and you’ll see it’s in fact very well polished, full of class and elegance. 

The beautiful madness one must hide inside to be able to write music as twisted as this, so disharmonic and draining but so incredibly blissful, sumptuous. What gets me is that it’s so stylish to the point where it almost has an elevated, aristocratic feel to it, starting with Ved Buens Ende’s Written In Waters. It’s pretty much a disguised mockery of almost everything else happening in Norway right now, from Dimmu Borgir to whatever you want that’s soooo well produced but is completely empty, having no identity or character what so ever. 

...and then BAM!

Listening to Virus today it becomes painfully obvious that this is once again a whole different ball game, it’s a higher class of musicianship dragging you into yet another crazy, demented dance between eternity and oblivion. It’s music either to smother the demons inside or give them a completely new life, you don’t really know what the hell is going on, but one thing is certain: once you take the bait you have this dirty old fish hook in your lower jaw, you’re being pulled in all directions but you’re just loving it man, you can’t have enough of it. To hell with the term progressive, what Carl-Michael Eide does is otherworldly, sublime.

You either get this or you don’t.  

Virus is undoubtedly not for all ears, most people can’t even digest it. A lot of things have to come into place in order to have that eureka moment when you realize “Holy Hell, this really is incredible!”. It’s always the case when you listen to pure genius, it takes a bit of madness to understand real madness, you can’t really be normal if you like this…so people either go nuts for it or just plain don’t get it. Until one day it hits them and they’re hooked on it like on crack. Basically you have to leave your comfort level and just step off the cliff, whatever happens happens…you’ll be in for a treat. 

Every time I listen to Virus it’s as if I take a syringe and inject hundreds of trolls on a bad acid trip in both my knees while laughing hysterically and hitting a 4 foot bong packed with psychosis. And that’s right after I head butted the mailman and set my neighbor’s house on fire. Seriously, it’s as if embracing the severe mental disorder I always knew I had but never really wanted to deal with...over and over and over and over again.

This is Virus, the new kind of music for the eternally demented. Try it, see what happens.

bad luck hits where it hurts

Two years after the brilliant debut Carheart surfaced, in 2005 something terrible happened, close to tragedy. Carl suffered a severe injury after a fall from a four-story building. It’s unclear whether it was an accident or he just jumped, but after months of hospitalization it became clear that he would never be able to play drums again, as his legs suffered severe damage. As tragic as that was, it’s safe to say that everyone knowing him was relieved to find out he was safe and out of the woods. It’s a miracle he’s even alive. The massive amount of respect everyone has for him cut short the need for any debates, hypotheses or useless questions. People are just not touching the subject and that’s that, because none of it matters, fans and friends alike are just so relieved that he’s well today, what’s important here is that he survived and he’s back. And when The Black Flux came out everyone who got it was both floored and even more than that, relieved - the journey continues.

The Agent That Shapes The Desert

The flares of life, the torches
The things to see when you slip into reason
The flares are there, dancing in the corner
Subtle reminders

And you see now that all around you
is dancing silently
as if to be discreet
As if life was all a discreet landscape
just dancing subtly around you
In the flame or where it resides
Next to the spent candle

Little containers, shrubs in your garden
Just light them and see
They have a way of showing you what you
were missing
The seem eternal to me

You need a light to see in the dark
Here they come to life
Come to you little flowers of the dark

Little flames in an hourglass
traveling towards death
Like us, they move down
showing their descent
to the eyes they have illuminated

Take it or leave it but the new album is plain and simple, ridiculous. Clearly one of the best things I have heard in many years, I’m still in disbelief every time I listen to it. And I can’t stop listening to it, I just don’t know what the hell to do. I think I need help. Wovenhand, anyone? Right, like you didn’t see that one coming…

I like the way this guy puts it: If Voivod had written a sequel to Nothingface while tripping on cactus juice in some plot of endless red sands and twisted Snake's genitalia until he had become some lurid baritone, it might sound like The Agent That Shapes the Desert.

Dissonant, claustrophobic rhythms, guitar riffs that are just plain Satan wicked, a fluid bass that so criminally twisted it creates a its own weather. Then once again there’s Czral’s creepy, unparalleled and almost out of tune vocals that get under your skin like a disease, backed by an alien, polyrhythmic jazz drumming…and then of course there’s the really messed up, incomprehensible lyrics that fuck with your brain even more, adding more twists to this already existing chaos in motion. Just listening to the first three songs back to back you wish you had an epilepsy attack only so that your body could properly respond to it. 

the return of Agressor

Last year when I was talking with Blasphemer (don’t you just love these names?!) I found out Aura Noir were discussing a special show in Oslo to officially welcome the return of Aggressor. I think from that moment on my blood pressure went up and never really quite returned to normal. As soon as they were confirmed for Inferno 2011 I imagined that had to be it but still nothing was ever confirmed, it was never made official. Nevertheless I still flew to Oslo right after Roadburn was finished, I just could not afford to miss it. This year’s bill was a bit strange even for my taste this year (too many names that just did not fit), but all I cared about was one name and a rumor: Aura Noir with Agressor. 

And it happened, and man, what a killer night that was…I really can’t put it into words, I was in the ultimate thrash metal heaven, just going nuts, finally witnessing something I had been waiting for fifteen years. OJ and Rune were played songs Carl wrote that they never played without him out of respect….so the set list was pretty much nothing short of obscene.

Very rewarding to see an entire Rockefeller Plaza finally rooting for the right cause (last year for example you couldn’t drop a needle through Finntroll’s set while the place was barely half full during Destroyer 666 – seriously, what the hell is wrong with people in Scandinavia?!?) screaming his name, welcoming him back…their set went by in a blink of an eye but felt like the best kind of forever. 

 

Aura Noir with Agressor at Inferno 2011
…fucking Hell !!

...and the money shot @ 2:40. this moment alone was worth my trip

 more stills from hell 

 

 

 

  

   
I was given chance to talk to him after the gig. The manager only allowed my friend Roy and I about 10 minutes backstage, but we took it without hesitation. 

once again in the presence of greatness

I have to admit I consider myself to be a very lucky music fan. I've met some amazing musicians in my life (Ihsahn was a pivotal moment for sure) but nothing beats this: in the span of only one month, I sat down and chatted with two of the most important people in music for me - Carl-Michael Eide in Oslo and Brendan Perry here in NYC. Never felt quite as honored and humbled before...

Now, in my mind the perfect interview with Carl-Michael Eide would take place inside the underground space ship in his backyard (I know it's there!), talking for hours while sipping a fine bottle of Bulleit Rye, smoking Cuban cigars and listening to anything from old AC/DC to Magma and Voivod. But hey, you can’t always get what you want…so we settled for what we were offered and we were very grateful for that.

Amazing show tonight Carl, I was really impressed. This was the first live gig you played with Aura Noir in Norway since the accident. How did it feel for you, were you nervous?
It felt good to finally get it out of my system. I think I was a bit nervous but once I got on stage everything was honky-dory. The time spent having anxieties about it was wasted time…

I never got to see Aura Noir with you behind the drum-kit. Saw them two years ago on their first US show…but tonight was just spectacular, so much energy both on stage and in the crowd…were you happy with the response from the fans?

Yes, very happy indeed.

How many Aura Noir ‘reunions’ like this happened already?
We did two shows, one at Brutal Assault in Czech Republic and another one at Party San in Germany. Crazy, crazy shows. OJ (ed-Apollyon) and the other guys in the band are so used to play in front of thousands and thousands of people, but for me it’s something completely new. I mean they’re very blasé and relaxed about it, for me it’s different, I’m not used to play in front of big crowds, it’s a totally new experience.

Really, you never played in front of large crowds?

No, not at all. Before my accident the largest crowd I played in front of was about 2,500 people. I was doing session drums for Dimmu Borgir at the time. So that was my first experience like that.

Okay…so now after this third major success with Aura Noir, can we say that you’re finally over this anxiety?
Yeah but I have to look for new anxieties…[laughs] I’m not content with being honky dory all the time, I always need to see something going in the other direction.

Aura Noir is working on a new record. What can you tell us about it? Blasphemer is now a full member again…

Yes, this time around it will be a joint effort. Rune is back, yes. On the last record I wrote a few songs, Apollyon wrote a few songs…but this time all the three of us have contributed. If there was a gap in the song, someone else would chip in with a riff, and so on. Actually I’d say that 60% of the new Aura Noir album is written by Rune.

So we can expect something really crazy then…

Absolutely…following him, trying to put myself on his level is a very daunting task, to put it mildly…

Well that’s where some of your anxiety is coming from maybe? From trying to keep up with him?

[we’re all laughing] Actually you’re right I think. When Apollyon and I are jamming together, I can play with him in my comfort zone. But when Rune steps in I have to put myself on his level, which is not possible…it’s really difficult, my arm gets pretty fucked up…

Looking back on everything you’ve done on Aura Noir, what’s your favorite album?

I would say our last record is always the favorite record, because we always try to improve…but the closest one to my heart has to be Black Thrash Attack, because I remember those days very clearly. It has a lot of nostalgia to it, even if we would have done it way differently this time around. Playing those songs today on stage brings back so many memories…

Speaking of memories…How is today’s Carl-Michael Eide different than who he was fifteen years ago? It seems that Aura Noir has more success today than ever…

I think I may have finally gotten back to being myself again. There’s this thing that I had to come back from…it’s really a very heavy question. What I can say is that I’ve been through this mess, and now I’m back and it feels good.

Let’s talk about Virus. What is The Agent That Shapes The Desert about? As much as it sounds like a very bizarre and twisted recording, it sounds to me like a very personal album.

The Agent That Shapes The Desert is about Time. That’s all I can say, Time.

Are you aware about the cult status surrounding Ved Buens Ende? People are spending crazy amounts of money for that Misanthropy vinyl…it seems like people are finally recognizing that the music was way ahead of its time. How do you feel about it?

Well, it feels good of course, when people appreciate what you’ve done. But it’s not like I’m looking for recognition, or praise. Music is an amazing thing, it has its own life. You sort of give birth to it and then you leave it behind, it evolves on its own…and people pick up on it. You don’t make music thinking that this is going to be cult or anything. You just make music. I think it’s just a big misunderstanding, people are directing a lot of credit to the individuals making the music. And that’s not right, because music is already there, you’re only molding it. All I did was just learn to play guitar at some point…

to be continued…

This year's Hole In The Sky (last edition ever) line-up looks insane, especially from the bottom up.
My highlight will be Virus, without a doubt.
new photos and hopefully a more in depth interview coming soon


later!