Just like Communic (a fave of Blistering.com), Norway’s Pagan’s Mind faces the perpetual uphill battle of being a progressive metal band in the black metal-tinged netherworlds of Norway. The band is no stranger to prog metal circles, with two memorable appearances at ProgPower in the US under their belts along with a string of snappy, adventurous albums in the form of 2005’s Enigmatic Calling and this year’s excellent God’s Equation.
Indeed God’s Equation has all the makings of a state-of-the-art prog metal album. Forsaking traditional Dream Theater and Yes elements in lieu of more muscular and American influences coming from the likes of Nevermore and yes, Slipknot, Pagan’s Mind have altered the state of melodic metal and have emerged with something of a mini world-beater of an album with God’s Equation.
Led by the soaring vocals of Nils K. Rue, Pagan’s Mind is in every sense of the word a collective force, with a veritable spread of varying influences brought to table, allowing for the band to create a healthy mish-mash of songs like the engaging title track, or all-out aggression of “Atomic Fireflight,” and the soft melodic crawl of “Painted Skies” all the way to the dramatic closing of “Osris’ Triumphant Return.”
The very affable Rue checked in with Blistering to fill us in on their North American adventures, the new album, how they cope with being a prog metal band marooned in Norway and their ambitious plans. Here’s how it went down…
Blistering.com: You recently played ProgPower in the USA. How did that go?
Nils K. Rue: A tremendous success in every way. Just check out ProgPower´s message board and you’ll know that we really ”owned” the festival this time. The two times we have played there have been the greatest moments EVER for us. The people are welcoming, the arrangements and everything around it is perfectly taken care of. I have no words for what Glen Harveston and ”his men” are doing – for us, the other bands and the fans - just a fantastic job. The whole thing has been filmed and will appear on a DVD that we currently are planning to put out within a year or so.
Blistering.com: What were your impressions of playing in the US?
NKR: As mentioned above, the greatest moment of all. We feel cherished and loved in the US. We have a strong and true fan base and to be honest I think the US is one of our best potentials. It’s maybe because of our sound and how we act- we are not so ”German” haha...maybe more of free spirits. Honestly, the trips to the good ole ´States have been the best ones ever. We just love it there and can’t wait to get back on tour there, hopefully as soon as possible. It’s funny, coming to the states to play makes us feel like rock stars for a weekend and it really puts the confidence and ”go” into the band in every way. We really want to give that extra and it is a vitamin shot for us in every way.
Blistering.com: The band has usually been active on the road – can your oftentimes complex material be pulled off faithfully live?
NKR: Pagan’s Mind never disappoint live. Many think we are more of a live band than a studio band, and luckily, most think we are both. We always put a lot of energy into sounding good live and to deliver exactly the same sound as on the albums is very important for us. We don’t want to disappoint the fans live, and I believe we never did.
We rehearse a LOT, and that does of course make a difference. Pagan’s Mind is said to be a furious and hard-hitting live experience and I’m flattered about hearing that.So dear Pagan’s Mind fans, come see us live and find out for yourselves.
Blistering.com: God’s Equation is perhaps the most cohesive Pagan’s Mind album to date. What were trying to accomplish in relation to Enigmatic Calling?
NKR: It really makes me glad to hear that. We are extremely pleased with the result and all the hard work putting it together – both the last two years of songwriting and the recording process this summer. We were totally pale and unpresent to everything else really were hard. Being in the studio is not always a fun thing. It’s hard, hard work and you don’t have time for anything else during that period – everything and everyone in our lives are completely on hold during that period. So greater is the joy when things turn out good – as we really think it did.
It is partly a concept album, that is, not telling a story from A to B, but dealing about the same topics throughout, it deals not only with origins of mankind but the origin of everything. It’s a most enchanting two worlds – first off was Albert Einstein talking about and releasing the “God’s Equation” though in the 1930´s – his theory about the ever expanding universe which was “God’s Equation,” he later declined his theory until recently scientists has proof that he was right. It’s mathematics, physics and religion all together. You know, everything in life is really mathematics – numbers and equations – which sows everything together. God’s Equation is also a real equation that explains the formula that everything organic and alive in the universe is built upon. Really true – and it really makes you think, because when knowing that all living things has an equal factor – that specific formula – how can you say that it is all coincidental? In addition, we think it’s cool and kind of provocative when the album title is “God’s Equation,” a manly entity grammar-wise, but showing a female – a goddess! The “Mother Goddess” was what the old Pagan religions believed in long before the great religions of today. Nature people have always believed in mother earth, the nature and the universe. All that is represented in the Goddess on the front cover. She is holding several known religious symbols in her Shiva-inspired arm pairs, to illustrate that everything comes from the same source – the energy of life, which you can call God, Vishnu, or whatever. The same, original equal divine source…
I think all the albums have great stuff to offer and that they really live a life of their own. All of the releases tend to be someone favorite – which is good, because it shows diversity in our fan base. I’m really fond of our latest release which I believe is the most professional to date looking to production, song-writing, and album cover etc. etc. On the other hand Celestial Entrance appeals a lot to me because it’s young, hungry and energetic. It shows a band which maybe hasn’t established the sound really yet, but the drive and eagerness for success is very, very present and you can really hear that in the music.
Blistering.com: Tell me about the first single/video, “Atomic Fireflight.” It might be your most aggressive song to date.
NKR: It certainly is our most aggressive song to date. Fun to do! The clip was ”rushly” filmed in a local video studio because time was short and we had to put it out on the ltd. version disc two. On that video, we didn’t had the time to put up a lot of effects and stuff – just had to go for a crazy, fast and simple ”naked” video – which is cool in a way – and therefore, a more ”epic” song from the album wouldn’t have fitted the simple concept in the video. We had to pick a song that had so much energy in it so it could live a life of its own in the music. We are currently working on a new video for promotion which will have a completely different class. More epic and grand with a bunch of effects – will start working on it pretty soon I think.
Blistering.com: The title track is loaded with memorable choruses and vocal melodies. Was it an obvious choice to start the album or did the song take on a whole new form upon its completion?
NKR: My personal favorite on the album is just that song, and when hearing the mix at Toytown Studios, it was obvious what song had to come first. I love the feel of it, the different arrangements and the ”godly” atmosphere. Really, I think we already before the mix decided that it was to end up as the opener, but the choice was even easier after hearing the mix for sure!
