There have been many interviews done with Mayhem, a good majority of them being unfocused or treading on tired ground. Certainly by now everyone knows the history of these Norwegian black metallers as it's been repeated countless times over and over in the metal media, but what of their sound? What makes Mayhem sound like Mayhem?
To unveil that curtain, I would need the help of Mayhem's guitarist Rune Eriksen, also known as "Blasphemer" to the Mayhem horde.
Ultimate-Guitar: Did you grow up in a musical household?
Rune Eriksen: Well, I believe it was my father who first introduced me to the guitar actually. He used to play in a Shadows cover-band and sometimes he was rehearsing the tunes at home. I actually believe that to be my first encounter with the instrument, hehe. But apart from that, there werent any real musical household in the sense of the word, apart from my late grand parents who used to sing and entertain in more biblical riddles. Also another key aspect was that my 7 year older sister were the one to introduce me to the more harder sound of things- bringing me to my first ever metal-show. It was a Motorhead show in Oslo back in 1985, I was 10 years at that time and it goes without saying that from there and on everything was changed.
Was the guitar the first instrument you had picked up? And do you recall what you were listening to which led you to your fascination of the guitar?
Yeah, it was always about the guitar, and all about bands like Judas Priest, Kiss, Motorhead, Maiden and Scorpions. Even the norwegian hard rock band TNT were a favorite at the time. I guess the tougher they looked the bigger the chance was for me to get into it, hehe. I was also fortunate enough to be able to go see all these metal shows with my sister around 85-86, as I previously mentioned, and that really branded me. Even though my metal interest started years before that, it really meant something and even today I catch myself thinking back to those shows. I believe Ive seen most of all the good tours from that "golden era", some of them includes "Somewhere In Time", "Turbo", "Sacred Heart", "Theatre Of Pain", etc. I even remember the odd support acts at the time as well, bands like Keel, Paganini (never heard from them again), Warlock etc. In terms of guitar heros it is likely that Gary Moore had his impact on me as I saw him in late '85 or early '86 during the "Run For Cover" tour which further led me to check out his stuff.
Some of the first vinyl albums I bought was Accepts "Accept", Judas Priest "Defenders Of The Faith" and some early Maiden stuff. But the real BIG calling was the "Live After Death" double vinyl with Maiden. Perhaps that one, above any other, was the record that triggered me to wanna play. Other albums I do remember are Whitesnake "Slide it in", some Alice Cooper stuff, WASP (the 1st single) and Kiss "The Oath". It was my father who actually bought me my first guitar, and I remember clearly that "Creeping Death" by Metallica was the first song i learned to play, well, atleast I thought i knew how to play it, hehe. Hetfield?s way of riffing caught my interest immediately, and influenced me immensly, and since then, they have been my all time fave band. And it still is today.
Do you feel it is neccessary and also important to have a broad taste of various music genres in order to grow as a guitarist?
I really do believe that is of importance, yes. When I started out it was only metal (of course!) but as I grew, in both age and skills, the wider the influences went. These days I can listen to almost anything, as long as it has this often quoted "quality stamp". I listen everything from Industrial and militant music of Cold Meat Industry, Renaissance/Medieval tones, Celtic/Folk, 70..s prog through synth goth and devastating Funeral Doom. There are so much interesting vibes and musical colours out there. Grab it and open your mind. Also the more "educated" you are, or more open minded, the more interesting the music you create tends to be as well, atleast in these ears.
You primarily use the B.C. Rich onstage, but does that stay the same in the studio?
Well, its true that with Mayhem Ive always used the BC Rich Warlock, both for live and recording, especially recording. These days I have only one left as I actually sold my American BC straight after the recording of Ordo Ad Chao. I felt it had gone full circle and I also got a decent offer for it, so I thought "What the hell". It was already retired, hehe. Actually that specific guitar I won in a contest courtesy of a Norwegian music magazine called "Musikk Praksis". I didn't actually do anything except for writing my name and address and ship the letter off. 4 weeks later I got the reply. This was in '93/ '94 or something, and the actual colour was yellow. A bit Lita Ford-ish, hehe. Anyways, I did a few rounds with color spray and it was fit for fight. With that guitar I actually recorded all Mayhem albums since '97 and "Wolfs Lair Abyss". However, with Ava Inferi I play ONLY with my 2 Ibanez Prestige series, and this goes for both live and in the studio.
What is it that you find comfortable about the B.C. Rich? Many maintain that the guitar's weight is often an obstacle.
Well, I know that the BC's may have some issues with the weight and the balance, especially the latter. But I don't think that the Warlock has that problem, at least not to the same extent as The Mocking Bird, or the Iron Bird. No, I believe that as long as I play in Mayhem I will stick to the Warlock. It got kinda symbolic, expected and typical for my stage-behaviour in that band. It's an aggressive guitar with a kinda "unorthodox" shape, and it fits the vibe of our expression. With Ava Inferi, however, it's a totally different experience. I separate it purposly as it is channeling and promoting different vibes, in sound, expression, colour and motive. However, these days I'm in contact with a different brand for possible sponsorship. We will see how that goes.
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| "I believe that many of my riffs are born out of thought, and not just improvisasion." |
During the recording of Chimera I've read that you used the Crate Blue Voodoo amp which is know for it's clean gain. Did you use anything different for Orda Ad Chao?
Yeah.. At that time, I got a sponsorship from Crate distribution in Norway and I got a fresh copy of the BV150H days before entering the studio. We (Borge Finstad and myself) tried several amps before settling with the Crate. We serie connected and tried out different things but nothing really stood out, if you know what I mean. Since I've actually played live with the Blue Voodoo for many years prior to the BV series as well, I was sort of familiar with the ..although there are several differences) of the amp. As for "Ordo" I wanted everything to sound like shit, more or less. No joke. I wanted a really disturbing and muddy sound, totally opposite of "Chimera" and especially "Grand Declaration of war", which both are very sterile, cold and clear sounding. I wanted to do the opposite of that and also to turn my way of thinking towards the album. Both in riffing and arrangements. For that album I simply used my 10 year old POD Line 6 for the recording, as over time Ive fine tuned it into sounding in a special way and I wanted that sound exactly in the studio. So, it was a simple set-up, haha. Plug in the Line 6 and go! All overdubs with the "horror" cleans etc are from the POD as well.
Onstage you've incorporated the Peavey 5150 for your gear. Has that stayed the same as well?
It goes a bit back and forth I guess, but lately Ive been using the Engl Powerball and the Peavy 5150 for Mayhem. Both amps to create a fuller live sound. For Ava Inferi however, I use a totally different set-up. The amp I use live is a DIEZEL VH-4, whom I also used on "The Silhouette", Ava's sophomore album. I complete the settings with TC Electronics processors and MIDI switches to able to present the material live. Ava Inferi is a lot more demanding to perform and execute live, due to several semi accoustic parts and more sensitvie approaches. Top notch sound, I tell you.
How often do you practice when you're not touring with Myahem or Ava Inferi?
I believe I am an workaholic really, and therefore im continuesly creating and composing. It's not about how many hours a day I "practice" or play guitar, it's more the efficiency of the riff. What I come up with, in other words. I actually do alot of practicing in my head as well. I believe that many of my riffs are born out of thought, and not just improvisasion. It may sound weird but sometimes thats how I work. I have total control of the vision for the riffs I'm creating in my head. Actually, when I composed the Grand Declaration Of War album, which I still regards as one of my absolutely best works, at least guitarwise, I was walking for hours a day to come up with bridges and arrangements to make everything fit perfectly. Sometimes I created 3,4 or 5 riffs that in itself could work both independently and on top of each other. I used to play with those things to create the tension and the desired "grand finale". I really worked hard at those things then, to evolve it intosome sort of science, but I must confess that I'm probably leaning more to just feel the vibe of the riff these days, as I'm not that much into technicalities anymore. At least nowhere near how I used to.
What tuning are you using for the new album? There are speculations that you tune down to C.
No, its simply the tone of the world; C. Both for Ava Inferi and Mayhem.
It seemed as if solos were almost forbidden in black metal's early days, meaning tapping or even certain sweeping techniques. Do you feel that this not only constricts the player but also the music?
Yeah, I believe so. But then again, its all about the desired atmosphere. I have used a few sweeps in my time, but only for the purpose of the riff. Not to show off.
Ordo Ad Chao definitely shows much more technical work than your past work in Mayhem. Does having a skilled drummer such as Jan help you fulfill your creative process when writing? Meaning, you won't have to limit your playing possibilities?
Actually, I believe both Chimera, and especially Grand Declaration Of War to be more technical than "OAC". The material itself is probably more difficult to "get" on our latest album, due to the arrangements, but in terms of playing, the previous albums were of much higher standard, if that?s the right word, at least technically. It's simply because, again, I wanted it to sound raw. Even if I did a mistake on "OAC" I probably wouldn't have changed it. Actually, I know a few mistakes that?s on there, but they sounded so cruel that I just let them be, hehe. Very much improvised indeed. However, its important to know that I've spent a great deal of time on the music composing it, as I do on every album, no matter band. "OAC" is no exeption, as I've probably worked on it on and off since 2005 or so. In this way, the compositions are flawless, at least in my opinion. But here comes the beauty, its so shockingly under/over produced that with the initial listen, people don't get shit. Sounds like droning noise, but believe me, there is a whole lot of brain-twists inserted into it. As regarding Jan, he is a hell of a drummer, no question about it. I believe he senses what I want as well as we have a mere 14 years of playing together or so now. He is indeed shaping the music his way as well.
It could be said that Mayhem are not neccessarily a black metal band per se, but rather an evolvement in "dark metal". Would that be a fair assumption rather than to just be stuck on one particular label? It seems that the metal media loses focus on this matter.
It's very interesting, and actually musically I don't see us that much as a BM band, at least not a "traditional" one. I believe there are more of older death Metal approaches in my way of doing extreme music. More progressive touches as well, certainly. The atmosphere, especially on "OAC" is somewhat closer to the BM definition though. Very much so as well. These days you have so many bands doing this old school dirty and raw black Metal, but for me, I was never really into that myself. After my "discovering Heavy Metal" period I started to explore the Thrash Metal scene. And since I came into those things in the 2nd half of the 80's so to speak, I was more influenced by the Bay Area, and the more technical European Thrash Bands. And surely, to a certain extent, these influences shines through once in a while in my compositions as well, alongside all the music ive been touched by over the years. Subcounciously. But back to the question, its easy with a story like Mayhem's to ignore the things that really matters. But then again, it wouldn't be Mayhem without it.
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| "It's easy with a story like Mayhem's to ignore the things that really matters." |
Mayhem is known for recording in offset conditions. Is this purposely done for mood capturing?
Well, sort of. During the Chimera session we (Borge and myself) ended up close to a fjord here in Norway, with a portable studio. The cabin was more like 150 km from Oslo and was the ideal surroundings at the time. I actually don't like so much to be located in cities during recordings as some of the stress can be brought into the final results, I believe. As an underlaying current. No, I like to do things in my speed and the further I get from stressy studios, with people coming in all the time, the better for me. I guess thats what is described as mood capturing yes, hehe. The same thing happened more or less with "OAC", where we ended up in a rebuilt mill owned by Knut Valle of Arcturus. But instead of being there alone, it was Attila and myself who kept on struggeling through the days. Although there was several reasons for choosing the studio, it was also more or less based on the same idea of being remote and totally in focus.
Do your bandmates find it odd that you?ve chosen Portugal as home rather than the cold conditions of Norway?
Nah, I don't think so, but I guess it's not my call to answer that. For myself, I've adapted these surroundings pretty well and im comfortable with my way of living here. Surely there are things that I miss from the North, as it would be rather strange if it wasn't, but the energies flow and there are new paths to be thread. The journey's just begun. Also, with the increased activities and demand for Ava Inferi, I have plenty of things to fill my days with. The compositions for the 3rd album has started and we are also preparing and rehearsing for some European Festivals this summer. Lots of work, so it's hectic times ahead.
It is extremely more common with black metal musicians to engage in various musical outlets outside of their main band. Why do you suppose that is?
For me its all about the energies passing through and the ideas that I associate with it. I believe I am an open minded individual with a diverse and vivid imagination and taste. I have been involved in 4 bands over the years, and it's kinda reduced to 3 now, but they all represent parts of my personality. Ava Inferi, Mezzerschmitt and Mayhem. The 4th was Aura Noir but due to various reasons I am not involved anymore. Maybe I'll join them again sometime in the future.
Many thanks to you for doing this interview and shedding some light on your techniques and gear. Are there any last words you?d like to give to apiring guitarists?
Throw the instructional book and use your imagination.
Interview by Ryk Weston
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