Borknagar - Pagan Science
By: Darren Cowan
Classic Bork, circa 2000 with ICS Vortex
Blistering.com: Borknagar albums always relate humanity’s relationship with nature. Early recordings contained a primal/pagan feeling, but later efforts connected the natural world and ancient ideas with modern science. Do you agree with this statement, and if so what are your thoughts about this idea?
Brun: Yeah, I can understand your point here as we certainly have progressed lyrically thought the years, too. To me, though, it is more a matter of a different end- evolving perspective. I would argue that we still have a very pagan core, but through the years, we have brought all this into a “universal” context. As mentioned above, I believe that the ancient, so-called “pagan” cultures were more scientists of their time, rather than religious peoples. To me it is all about preserving the pagan mentality in a modern society.
Blistering.com: Starting with Quintessence, Borknagar began to lean more towards progressive music. The sounds of prog rock often bring to mind Science Fiction scenarios. Did you expand your sound in this way to give your music a scientific vibe?
Brun: Nah, not really. To me, good progressive music usually has a very organic flavor, so adding the progressive elements was more a way to evolve into an interesting field of musical challenges. However, at the same time, the whole thing evolved step by step and we never really sat down and decided to go progressive. I think it’s more in the nature of the band to always scout for new musical changes. At the end of the day, it’s all about instincts and general gut feeling. Actually, I have never really regarded Borknagar as a progressive band, but sure, we have progressive elements!
Blistering.com: From the prog-flavored Melotron keys to cosmic organs to the thought-provoking sounds of a violin, Universal thrives on rich atmosphere. What do you hope your listeners experience when emerging their selves in your atmosphere?
Brun: Music that somehow stirs emotions in a profound way is by far the best music according to my taste. I mean, there is music that gives you something and there is music that just remains some sort of noise. My intention has always been to make music that gives the listener some sort of genuine and profound experience. I am not to judge if we have succeeded in doing that, at least that is my intention.
Blistering.com: Vintersorg presents his normal clean/harsh vocal duality on Universal, but also projects his voice in a manner I haven’t heard before. For example, the track “Reason” shows him assuming a jester-like, mischievous voice. Was this something he worked out his self or did you envision his voice sounding this way to enhance the song?
Brun: Vintersorg has the artistic freedom to do whatever he likes to. As with the rest of the band, we are not afraid to try some experiments and breach some boundaries. We could probably have made everything way smoother and easier to digest for the listeners, but to me and the rest of the band that would be boring. It’s in our mission to always attempt to challenge the listener, same goes with the vocals obviously.
Blistering.com: Speaking of vocalists, you brought in former Borknagar front man I.C.S. Vortex to provide vocals on “My Domain.” How did it feel to work with him again?
Brun: We both had a great time in studio. There was definitely some magical moments going on. Even though we have not been working together for about ten years, I would argue that we still had a good old feeling of musical brotherhood, so was simply great! I think Mr. Vortex would agree to that.
Blistering.com: The song “My Domain” resembles the material from the Vortex days, especially The Archaic Course album. Was that your goal?
Brun: Yeah, actually “My Domain” was written back in the The Archaic Course era. In fact, we planned to record that song for that album, but as we had a strict timetable at that point there was not enough time to do it properly, so we left the song on the shelf for a few years. Vortex always liked that song very much, so when we started to plan Universal back in 2005 or so I talked to Vortex about him doing that song. Well, he did and I think the result is great! As we write the lyrics we always have some reference points back to our earlier material, this song is probably the most visible so far so to speak…haha..
Blistering.com: Now that Universal has seen its release, where does Borknagar go from here?
Brun: I am half way done with the material for the next album. We are hoping to start recording the next album late this year or in the beginning of 2011. Really looking forward to that, as I am now more familiar with the actual musical potential the band has. I’m very excited! Also, we are looking into some live/touring options, but no specific plans for the moment being, but I am sure we’ll do more gigs the next five years than we have done the last five years.
www.myspace.com/borknagar
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