### The Fall Of Every Season - Marius

#### 08/04/10 || Global Domination

This interview was conducted by ex-staffer/cocksmoker Euthanatos. And with that we will jump right into it, simply becoz today we do not give a shit abou tlengthy intros. That, and you like the penis.

Global Domination: So, Marius, so far you’ve released on album, “From Below”, under the “The Fall of Every Season” name, but you also seem to have released two demos previously. How did the idea of making this project come about?

Marius: My career as a musician before The Fall Of Every Season was very short. It was more the music I listened to, than me actually playing music, that inspired me to start the project. I simply discovered that there were bands out there that put atmosphere before skill or popular conventions. That’s a real strength in the doom metal genre, but can of course also be a disaster if it’s not executed the right way. I noticed that melancholic music could be incredibly beautiful, and felt that I could actually contribute with something. It was an epiphany, because I had never considered myself to be a technically competent musician before. The first demo was never released, but merely just existed for my own sake. People listened to it through the Internet and seemed to really enjoy it. That sparked a new demo from me, which was sort of released. In a very limited amount. Actually, an extremely limited amount. “From Below” was when it really started, though. When it all came together.

Why be a one-man band? Ever thought of bringing other people into the fold?

The Fall Of Every Season has become such a personal thing to me that I’ll probably never bring anyone else into the creative process. I generally have a very personal view on music. I’m involved in a couple of other band projects and really enjoy playing music with other people, but those are also projects where one person writes the music. That’s the way I prefer to work, as I’m not really much of a “jammer”. I have full control over everything in The Fall Of Every Season. Down to every detail, except for the artwork, which I know that my friend Robert Høyem from At The Ends of The Earth Designs always will execute the right way. The music is as personal as it can get. The really cool thing, though, is that I think I’ve found a live lineup for The Fall Of Every Season, and I’m really excited to see how that will work out. The plan is to start rehearsing as soon as possible, so if anyone’s looking for live-bands in the future, do contact me!

You’ve gotten pretty much all good reviews for “From Below”, our own review here at Global Domination gave it a 9. Did you expect such a positive response for the album?

I’m really glad to hear that I got a 9! That’s incredible. The response has been overwhelming. This type of music is such a small niche, that I honestly didn’t think the amount of positive feedback I’ve gotten was a possibility in the first place. I’m still an inexperienced musician, and I primarily made this album for myself, so it’s surprising to me that it resonates so well with such a variety of people out there. One thing is the reviews, but also the personal feedback has been great. I guess I have more to live up to with the next album, but hopefully that one will be embraced the same way.

“From Below” seems to be a concept album. Would you care to enlighten us as to what it’s about and where the idea came from?

I don’t like to go into too much detail on these types of questions, as I feel it’s important that people should have some room to interpret for themselves. Suddenly songs mean things to people that I hadn’t even thought about. That’s often interesting. I can reveal, though, that it’s a tragic story about a highly dysfunctional relationship between father and son, with the mother being deceased. With that backdrop I try to say something about the concepts of longing and regret, as they can be so bittersweet. I’ve also tried to portray that bittersweet feeling in the music. It is this feeling that really drives this project of mine. I take that as a starting point, writing music that can make me and hopefully others re-live it in a good way.

You’re about to release “Amends” this year. What can we expect from your second offering? Is this a concept album as well?

I’m so anxious to get that album out there! Hopefully it’ll happen very soon. It’s indeed a concept album that deals with the relationship between the weak and the strong, the old and the young, and once again regret. A noticeable change from the debut is the varying tempo and riffing. The first album was very much a typical “doom”-album in that regard, with repetition and slow tempo pretty much all the way through. This new one is at times faster and more progressive. The riffing can be a bit more complex and the sound has got more layers to it. I think it’s a lot more varied than “From Below”, but it was very important to me to maintain the atmosphere or mood of the debut, which I think I managed. The few people who have heard it really like the direction, so I hope that the fans also will.

*I listened to a new track that’s available on your MySpace, “The Mammoth” I believe it was called, and I found it a bit heavier than the stuff on “From Below”. Would this be a fair assessment, and also the direction of the new album? *

“The Mammoth” is probably the heaviest song among the new ones, so it can’t speak for the rest of them. At times it is definitely a heavier album, but it’s also soft. I tried to put more emphasis on dynamics this time around. There are actually also big differences between the songs, whereas the heavy songs on the first album are in a more similar vein.

How do you go about writing your music? You play all instruments on your album, but do you begin by a guitar riff, a keyboard pattern?

It’s very often either a melody that suddenly appears in my head or something I gradually improvise on guitar. I see myself primarily as a guitarist, so that’s probably why the guitar is the instrument I usually grab to write music with. It can also be useful for me to just sit down by the keyboard at times, as I find it to be more sudden in the way it produces melodies. I’m not very riff-oriented, and that probably separates me from a lot of metal musicians. Melodies are what I focus on.

Instead of doing the old, boring “what are your influences” questions, I’m going to name a few bands, and you can write a word, or a short phrase of your thoughts on them;

Burzum: I actually haven’t listened that much to Burzum, but it’s clear that it has been an influential band project. At times it can be hard to separate the man from the music, and I guess that has both hurt and benefited Burzum. The music can certainly be atmospheric and well suited for some occasions, but other than that it’s not really my cup of tea.

Opeth: Really great band that has done a lot for the metal genre. I miss the old Opeth, though. I don’t listen much to the last couple of records because, although they are good, the old magic is missing, in my opinion. I respect the fact that they want to experiment and do new things within the progressive framework, though. It can get boring to repeat oneself, but there’s something really, really special about records such as “My Arms, Your Hearse” and “Still Life”. MAYH was an important inspiration for the new album.

Ulver: Another really great band. Even though I don’t listen too much to the new stuff, they are clearly brilliant and non-compromising in what they do. I really enjoy their film-scores, and the good old “Bergtatt” must be one of the best black metal-albums ever made.

Katatonia: I probably started playing metal because of Katatonia. Their songs introduced me to a way of writing music that was very compatible with me and what I knew at that point. The “singing” mournful lead guitar over the repetitive riff has certainly been inspiring, even though my overall style is different. And what a career they’ve had. Great new album!

My Dying Bride: They’ve done a lot of stuff. Some of it I really appreciate, other things not so much. They’ve no doubt been really important for the doom metal genre and also an inspiration for me. “Turn Loose The Swans” and “The Dreadful Hours” are a couple of fantastic records I really enjoy.

Anathema: I actually have pretty much no relationship with this band at all. I’ve heard fragments now and then, which didn’t really grab me as much as I expected, but I’ll have to sit down with them someday. I don’t have time to listen to nearly enough music!

Darkthrone: Fun band! They certainly don’t take themselves seriously and it actually benefits the music. I like the new stuff, but of course also old classics such as “A Soulside Journey” and “Transilvanian Hunger”.

Tiamat: Same as with Anathema; not much of a relationship. I think it might be a bit too much on the gothic side for me.

You seem to have played live on occasion, mainly in the acoustic format. Would you ever, if you haven’t already, take The Fall of Every Season to the stage with the music as your recorded it, i.e., with drums, guitars, bass, a full line-up?

As mentioned earlier: That is the plan! And I can’t wait to do it. To actually recreate these songs in a live setting will probably give new life to them for me. I’m gonna be extremely picky about things sounding representative. This probably means that the band will take up even more of my time and I’ll probably have to start prioritizing differently. The acoustic gig was great, but it felt very obvious that this really didn’t capture the whole spectrum of what The Fall Of Every Season is about. It was a bit plain. It was a compromise.

Tell us about Trondheim. Is it a good place to live? Does it inspire you? Where else would you like to live, if not there?

Trondheim is definitely a good place to live. I really shouldn’t complain. It’s not too big of a city, but the surrounding nature is beautiful and can be very inspiring. I do miss less winter and more hectic city-life at times, though. I used to live in Brighton (England) and certainly wouldn’t mind going back. Although that’s not a giant city, it had a lot to offer (and the beer was of course insanely cheap compared to Norwegian prices). I also think moving to Oslo could be nice. Actually I think moving anywhere could be nice. New impulses are really healthy at times.

Is there a “scene” in your surroundings, and do you exchange any ideas with those people, or does your music flow solely from yourself?

I guess you can say that there are a few types of metal sub-genre scenes here, but none involving the type of music I do. I most definitely flow solely on my own in this city, and that feels good. It’s probably nice to be able to network and push each other forward, but I enjoy my individuality. I’ve always been an individualist.

I’m supposing you don’t make your living out of The Fall Of Every Season, as rarely musicians have that chance these days. Can you tell us what you do for a living?

I definitely don’t make a living out of The Fall Of Every Season, as I barely sell records, but that would be the Utopian dream. I’m actually a student. I’m in the middle of a Master’s Degree in Film Studies. I figured it would be smart to have some sort of an education to fall back on. I also work part-time fixing simple software issues and sometimes teaching IT-stuff to kids at a school here in Trondheim.

Have you ever hugged anyone famous? We need names.

Unfortunately not. I’ll let you know if anyone I’ve hugged becomes a celebrity, though!

Captain Kirk is climbing the mountain. Why is he climbing the mountain?

I can’t be sure, but I think it’s because he wants to make love to it. Could be a result of unfair editing, though! It’s an impressive fetish anyhow.

Thank you for your time, Marius. We’re anxious to listen to “Amends”. Feel free to deliver some parting words to our readers.

Thank you for the interview and for the fabulous review! I really appreciate all the patient people out there who have waited for the new album. It’s long overdue, but I hope to have it out soon, and I’m looking forward to see some of you out on the road in the near future!