interviewpage
Dharok - interview Mars 2004 |
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Victory: Hi Dharok. First of all I wonder about your artist name. From where did you get that? Dharok: Well, I have always been a huge fan of the Warcraft games made by Blizzard. I have played each of them extensively. I used to play Warcraft2 against my friends and I always seemed to end up being the Orcs. Dharok is merely a stylized Orcish spelling of my real name. Victory: When I read the booklet I quickly realize that you've done almost everything on your new album, Arcane Path. Are you a musical genius or something? Dharok: hehe, no I am not a musical genius, I just work really hard. Even though many people will be hearing Sympathy for the first time with the release of Arcane Path, I have been working at developing my musical and production skills for around 10 years. So it might seem strange to some people that one person did everything on Arcane Path, but it has taken me a long time to get to where I am. Victory: Ok, when talking about your new album. How would you describe it to a person that haven't heard it yet? Dharok: Good question. I think that I would say that Sympathy is death metal, but that the term Death Metal doesnt give you the whole picture. I try really hard to bridge the gap between thrash, death, and black metal. I also try really hard to have elements of sheer brutality, technicality, and atmosphere. A friend of mine, Shannon Frye of Avenger of Blood, said that Sympathy is blackened death metal, and it has stuck with me. I kind of like the term blackened death metal. Victory: Are you happy with the result of Arcane path? Dharok: There are always things that I hear in my own work that I wished I could have done better. I still hear some small musical phrasing problems in some of the lead guitars, I wish that I could changes some small things about the mix, and I think that I could have done a little better arranging some of the riffs in some songs too. But it is always easier to see those things afterwards, and on the whole, I am very pleased with how Arcane Path has turned out. Victory: About the lyrics, they seem to be quite dark. What do you want to tell the listeners with them? Dharok: The lyrics are quite dark, but that is how death metal usually is: it is a dark genre. Also, just because something is dark, I dont think that it must also be discouraging. On the surface, the song Surrounded by the Dead seems to have quite a dark message, but really it doesnt. The song is about t believers inheriting a faith that has been passed on to them through the generations. I would agree that the lyrics seem quite dark, but I would encourage people to dig deeper and to see if the message of the song is dark too. I think that most of the messages are very positive. Victory: It surely must be quite difficult to arrange live gigs with Sympathy when you do all the stuff. But are there any chances to catch Sympathy live some day in the (distant) future? Dharok: I would really like to get a full lineup for Sympathy so that we could tour the two discs that I have done. That would be great. But as it stands right now, that would not be possible. In the past, I have done a few shows by myself. I dont like doing it, and it can be a little boring for an audience to watch a single person on the stage. . . so I am not really interested in doing that anymore unless I have others playing with me. Victory: It came to my knowledge that you'll have your album distributed throughout europe. Does that mean that we'll find your album in the big stores as well? Dharok: Well, Fear Dark has a standing relationship with Displeased Records, and they managed to get distribution for Arcane Path with them. I am not really sure what all of this means, but I think that it will mean that Sympathy will get a lot more distro through Europe and will be in some major record stores. I think that by asking Fear Dark you would get a better answer. Victory: Finally, name your 5 favourite CD's. Dharok: five favourites of all time? Awesome! 5. Sonata Arctica Winterhearts Guild 4. Hate Eternal Conquering the Throne 3. Nightwish Wishmaster 2. Carcass Heartwork 1. Suffocation Pierced from Within actually, this list is always changing, but Suffocation will always remain King!!! Victory:Thank you very much Dharok, you rule!! /Victory |