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Amon Amarth - Johan Hegg

18/03/05 || Lord K Philipson

Old staff-member Josh Thorne interviewed Johan Hegg for the old GD-site and had this to say at the time:

For those of you who have been living under a rock for the better part of 6 years, Amon Amarth is a band that you should all know and love. These fellas have been creating some of the best music in metal for a long time, and now, they’ve released their best offering yet with “Fate of Norns”. Vocalist, Johan Hegg, was kind enough to give me a call to discuss everything that was going on with the band. The poor guy had been working non-stop all day and at the time of our conversation, he was just getting to relax. But enough of my rambling and on to what really matters…Amon Amarth. Also, this interview was done in October of 2004, shortly before my computer crashed. Only recently was it recovered and sent to Global Domination for your viewing pleasure.

Global Domination: Johan, how are you doing man?

Johan Hegg: Just fine. I’m sitting here having a little beer and scotch.

First off, congratulations on “Fate of Norns”.

Thanks man!

What was the overall writing process like for this record, especially after the success of “Versus The World”? The music here seems a little more somber and melancholic than your usual fare.

We never really think too much about what we’re doing. The creative process is very spontaneous, so when we start writing material, we take the ideas we have and those that are good enough, we keep and the ones that aren’t good enough, we reject. I guess we all felt topping “Versus The World” would be a tough task, but it was a good challenge to try and do it. In some ways, I think we did and in some ways I think we didn’t. It’s a very hard album to top.

What were some of the ways in which you felt you surpassed “Versus The World”?

Personally, I think the stuff on this album is more mature, as far as the sound and music goes. There are more thoughts behind the songs, than on “Versus The World”. On the other hand, I do miss some of the faster, more brutal stuff but we didn’t have any ideas for that. We wouldn’t write a fast song just for the sake of writing a fast song. The best ideas we had for this one were all mid-tempo.

Lyrically, this seems like the most Viking-oriented thing you guys have done in a while.

Well, “Versus The World” had a lot of Viking themes as well. This is more of a historical perspective to the Viking theme. I put a lot of effort into the lyrics to make them historical.

How long have you been fascinated with the Viking culture?

Oh man… um… probably 20 years. It’s been with me for a very long time. I started reading about it when I was in school and my sister was very much into it when I was growing up. Using it for lyrics was not something we were thinking of doing in the beginning, because no one had done it except for Bathory. But then, I wrote the lyrics for one of our earlier songs and after that, we began incorporating the Viking imagery into all of our songs. This made me very happy, because like I said, this is something that is very close to me.

You also decided to record at Studio Berno again. Has working with Berno opened any doors for you, as far as what you’re able to do as a band?

Oh yeah, I definitely think so. Obviously, we were satisfied with how “Versus” turned out and we felt that we were able to take a big step forward with this one. It always helps to bring new people into the production and for this album, so we took it a step further and made Berno more involved. He helped us to make the sound more cohesive and he made the instruments work together more. Previously, we’d produced everything ourselves but Berno is very good and open-minded. He’s great at giving the right response and if you don’t do something 100% right, he’s great at letting you know how to make it that way.

The rough mix of the album was leaked a few months before the actual mastered version was released. Were you surprised?

Not really. That’s why we used the rough mix on the promo. You don’t want to put out a promo that sounds like crap, because people review that stuff. So we put something out that sounded good, but not too good. There were also digital disturbances in the record in Europe. We knew it would happen, and I don’t mind it spreading over the web. It’s a good way for people to hear an album and decide if they like it. However, personally, I don’t like it when the album’s on the internet before it’s released.

Before I go any further, someone wanted me to say hello to you.

Really?

Yeah, Kenth Philipson.

Oh! Kentha! Goddamn, how’s that bastard doing?

Just fine. This interview is for his site.

Oh yeah? Well, tell him he can go fuck himself.

He also wanted me to be sure and mention that your beard is a joke.

Well, he’s a wanker. What can I say?

Will we see you guys coming back to the U.S. any time soon?

We’ve had a few offers to come back, but none of them have been working out for us. But hopefully, we’ll be able to come back very soon and we’re just hoping it will work out soon.

The last tour you did was with Vader and Nile, which was a huge success.

Oh yeah. Vader and Nile are very popular in the U.S. as well as in Europe. That was a great tour, because everything ran smoothly, all the bands were taken care of and it was great getting to know Nile and Kreator. It was a great tour and we had a lot of fun there.

My next question has to do with your vocals. You definitely have one of the most unique voices in death metal.

Wow, thank you.

Is there any sort of conditioning that you do to keep your voice in shape?

Scotch! I would say I eat a lot of pussy, but that’s too obvious.

Do you guys get many groupies?

Actually, there are groupies around but I’ve always had a girlfriend at one time or the other and I’ve just tried very hard to stay faithful to whomever I’m with. I’m not the kind of guy to screw around, but there are definite chances. All of us are tall, blonde and the women really like us.

Could we see an official Amon Amarth DVD any time soon?

Yes, we’re working on it right now. We’re going to do a whole new live recording to be the centerpiece of the DVD and then add a lot of bonus stuff. We’ll see what happens but it will probably be some time next year.

Will you be doing a video for any of the tracks on “Fate of Norns”?

We’re trying, but we’ve not had very good luck in that field. We’re trying to find a director that isn’t too expensive because let’s face it, there’s no use spending a lot of money on a video that’s only going to be shown 4 or 5 times.

That’s understandable. Are there any bands in the scene right now that you’re getting into?

As far as metal goes, Impious is really impressing me. Those guys sound like The Crown on acid. We’re going on tour with them in October.

That’s right! Who is going to be on the tour?

It’s us, Impious, and Disillusion. It should be fun.

What do you see as the fate of Amon Amarth?

Hopefully, we will just continue working hard, making good music and being able to tour a little more than we have in the past.

On the subject of touring, as you just mentioned, does the band work day jobs or are you able to make a living solely off the band?

Well, we still have to keep day jobs but we’re starting to make money off the band. It’s still difficult to make enough money to make a living off of it. We’re getting there, but it’s going to take a while. It would be cool to live off the music, but it’s great to be doing what we’re doing anyway. The media response isn’t that big to make you break out in a big way, but the scene isn’t as popular as most other genres of music.

Any last words for the Global Domination readers?

The album is out now, try and catch us on tour. Cheers! That’s about it, dude.

Thanks again, Johan.

No problem, man. Take care.

Interviews