Updated: 09/22/02

A cult black metal favorite for years, all Thy Primoridal albums will now be available, re-released through Candlelight Records with an early rare album showing up through World World III. Their latest, The Crowning Carnage could easily be a soundtrack for the end of the world. Read on for our interview with guitarist M. Andersson.

Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Thy Primordial, and how long the band has been together?

Hi, M. Andersson answering this interview. Lead and rhythm guitars are my position in the band. Thy Primordial was raised from the ashes of an old Death metal band back in 1994. So we have plagued the world with our music for eight years now.

How do you think The Crowning Carnage compares to your previous releases? And where did you come up with the idea for the album title?

The Crowning Carnage is a bit more varied and it shows a more technical side of the band then our earlier albums, although I see it as a natural follower to the last album. The title of the album was chosen among the song titles we got; we thought The Crowning Carnage represents the whole album.

What did producer Tommy Tagtren contribute to the overall recording process on The Crowning Carnage?

He hasn't anything to do with the song structure of the riffs. He basically just handled the sound and made sure that everything ended up on tape. He might come up with some ideas during the mixing process but I don't know for sure since I wasn't around during the mix. He is great both as a person and as a sound engineer. I personally hope we are able to work with him again.

You've recorded three albums for Pulverised Records out of Singapore. What difficulties did you face working with a label that was so far away?

We have both good and bad experiences with Pulverised. It started off really good when we first signed to them. We were the first band they did a full-length album with. At that time we were only two bands, so we were pleased with the work they put into the band. But after a while they lost their heads and signed tons of new bands and it didn't take too long before it was out of control and eventually ended up in a moment 22 situation. All the cash they earned was put into new recordings and the promotion suffered a lot and therefore they didn't sell too much. After the recording of the Heresy album, we had enough. We thought that the label kept the band down - I mean we take this band very serious but it seems like they did Pulverised as a side thing for a bit of extra money.

What made you go with Candlelight/Blackend for the new CD?

After the three albums we signed for at Pulverised records we decided to go separate ways with them. We sent out promotion packages to a great amount of labels, a handful were interested and in the end of it there were two labels to choose between. The deals they offered were pretty identical but Blackend was chosen because they had more experience, better promotion and so on. It basically seemed more safe being on Blackend then this other pretty fresh label with no history to look back on. The Candlelight distribution in the US was something Blackend made after we signed. Both have been great to deal with so far. They have done a better work during a few months then Pulverised managed during the three years.

Where do you get the ideas for some of the lyrics found on The Crowning Carnage?

I am not the guy you should ask this question since I haven't wrote a single line of lyric since the last album, although death in general is the red wire through our lyrics. Death is an endless subject ever since At The World - it has been the major subject in our lyrics. We try to write our lyrics so the listener can find their own meaning between the lines. The idea of the lyrics comes from many sources for example books, movies or from such simple thing as the newspapers.

Is there any chance of Thy Primordial playing some shows here in the States?

We haven't played anything live since 97. The reason for that is that Morth spent five years in Stockholm, working in Sunlight studio. So it has been already hard for us to gather the whole band for practice for the albums. Anyway, he has returned to our hometown, so we have some plans to start doing some live performances again. We probably have to start with small gigs in Sweden and go from there. There have no plans for any tours either in Europe or America. But it might be possible in the future.

What do you think has made Thy Primordial stand apart from other Black Metal bands?

Hard to say, probably it's a result of several things. We, at least don't hook up on every new direction within black metal, as we try to keep up with the style that we worked on since 96 or so. We try to be as uninfluenced by other bands in the scene as possible. Of course it's impossible to be totally isolated from inspirations from other black metal bands. We also have our roots in the death metal scene so a bit of that time ends up in our material. A great deal can also be put to the way we perform our instruments - for example Morth differs pretty much from other drummers.

Are you, or any of the other members, involved with any side projects?

Not anymore, most of the members have a past in other bands. I and Albrektsson have a past in a thrash/death metal band called Indungeon. During the three years the band existed, we made two albums - the debut called Mashinegunnery of doom on Full moon productions and a second album called Misantrophocalypse on Invasion Records. But we ran out of inspiration so the band just faded away. Other bands any member from Thy Primordial been involved in is Dawn, Niden div 187, Unmoored, Solar Dawn and Cranium (I might have forgotten some).

What happened to N. Nilsson, the member that left Thy Primordial? Do you still talk to him at all?

He lost the interest basically. He packed his stuff and moved to another city to study. I personally don't have much contact with him - I maybe see him once a year, but Albrektsson talks to him on regular basis I think. There is no hard feeling between him and the band - if we ever need someone to fill in for a gig or something he is the first to ask.

In your opinion, who is better, Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera and why?

Pop is really not my thing. Although I have to admit that, for some strange reason. I have one Britney album in my collection. As for this Christina Aguilera chick, I hardly heard anything with her just that she seems to be very inspired of soul music. I can't stand the way she sings. So in this case I think Britney is the most talented of them, after all some parts are pretty good, no thanks to her since she is just a face of the producers music.

Thy Primordial is invited to contribute a song on an All Star Black Metal tribute to Abba. What Abba song would you cover and why?

Once again a band that I really don't care to much about, they have one song that rocks a bit I think. It's called Gimme! Gimme! I think. Now when I think about it, it could be pretty cool doing a black metal version of a song like that. Those guys Bjorn and Benny from Abba would probably go mad about it.

What are the future plans for Thy Primordial?

We haven't been too active with rehearsals since we returned from the Abyss studio last year. But we are picking up our gears again any day now to work on new material. As mentioned before, this is the first time in five years with the full line-up in the rehearsal room. It will hopefully be like a new spark for the band since it's quite difficult to develop ideas without the whole band. I mean we have worked out our material with a lousy drum machine for the last two albums and then recorded it with a real drummer. If I liked to test a new thing out it took about two hours to reprogram the damn thing - with a drummer you do the same thing within minutes. So we hopefully see a bright future for the band. During the production of the new album we'll hopefully throw in some gigs. A new album could realistic be out late 2003. Meanwhile Blackend/ Candlelight will re-issue Where Only, At the World, and The Heresy album during 2002, so if you failed to get hold of it from Pulverised you shall be able to get a copy pretty soon.

Any messages for long time Thy Primordial fans or those who might want to check out your music for the first time?

For those who never heard us I suggest that you check out our album if you are a fan of violent aggressive black metal in the traditional way. To our older fans I can just say thanks for the support throughout the years and hope you keep up banging your heads to our music. Keep on ruin and decay!!

If the world were to suddenly end, what song would you want to hear as the Earth is being blown into oblivion?

Our own song Worldecay should fit prefect for such moment both lyric wise and motion wise. Hehe