Unearthing The Almighty Reveries of Jordfäst
Unearthing The Almighty Reveries of Jordfäst
Jordfäst is a Swedish duo who has joined their creative energies, unleashing their own brand of melodic black metal artistry in its finest hour. Their debut album Hädanefter has been presented to the world via the Nordvis compound, and the two selections contained within are brimming with an epic sense of imagination and intrigue. Highwire Daze recently interviewed Elis and Olaf, the co-conspirators behind the Jordfäst manifesto to find out more about the sweeping auditory adventures found throughout the almighty reveries of Hädanefter. Read on..
Introduce yourself, tell me what you do in Jordfäst, and how long the band has been together.
Olof: I’m Olof, originally from southern Sweden, but now I live in Tromsø in northern Norway. I do the harsh vocals and I’m the main author of the lyrics and Elis does the clean vocals and plays all instruments, except drums. Jordfäst started out as a simple studio project in Elis’ apartment sometime around 2016.
Where is the band based out of and what is the local music/metal scene like there?
Olof: We have developed from a simple studio project to an elaborate studio project. Still based in Elis’ apartment in Malmö.
Elis: The music scene in Malmö (pre-corona) is very much alive, the best local venue is called Plan B, books everything from black metal, death and grindcore, to spandex dressed synth bands – a very much alive city.
How did you wind up on the Nordvis record label?
Olof: I discovered Nordvis through Saiva and Armagedda, both very influential bands for me. There are many great artists and bands on the label which all share a similar atmosphere and lyrics about the wild forces of nature and the ways of old. It felt like the natural place for Jordfäst. We contacted them with our material and were met with open arms and sincere interest.
What does the term Jordfäst mean?
Olof: It’s an old Swedish word for being buried, loosely translated to “attached to soil” or “bound to soil”. It goes hand in hand with what we aim to do with our lyrics – unearthing the forgotten past and exploring the fates of our forefathers.
Is there any overall story or concept behind the album title Hädanefter?
Olof: Hädanefter means “henceforth” and is both a statement about what is to come and an allusion to what happens after death. Not in a metaphysical way, but what the death of human means to the world.
Who did the cover art for Hädanefter and how much input did you have on it?
Olof: It was made by Jarmo, a maniac from a small Finnish archipelago called Åland. We met him in between vodka shots at a local bar in Malmö as he was passing through on “business”. After hearing our music, he decided that he would do the artwork for our album. He kept on sending us sketches in the middle of the night, but every time we came with suggestions or input, we got a completely new sketch with a different motif. This continued until we one day got what is now the cover art, with which both Elis and I were fully satisfied with. We haven’t heard a word from him since.
Elis: That guy was really something taken out of a comic book. Totally crazy, and he made me rather uncomfortable when sending me sketches, drawn pictures of his “dreams” as he called them. Weird shit like a “wave in a wave in a backward sunset” or “Half eagle, half man in a castle of fire” as he called it. The one that made me laugh was “The angel that wept like a child” picturing a malformed Alkonost on a mountain with baby hands giving the international sign for metal with its fingers sticking out of his eyes. I guess someone got a good deal on psychedelics.
What has it been like to record and release new music in the middle of a pandemic and so much social unrest in the world?
Olof: We were lucky with the timing. We recorded the last parts of Hädanförd in February last year and I came back to Tromsø a week before the border between Sweden and Norway closed. Other than we not being able to record new songs, it hasn’t affected us negatively. We have found a lot of time to be creative and focus on the music. I feel like I’m living in a bubble up here in northern Norway, only a tiny fraction of the community is infected, and most things has remained open. I have the mountains and the ocean just outside my doorstep and I spend much of my time in the wilderness.
Elis: From the perspective of Jordfäst, it really doesn’t matter if corona is around. It wouldn’t have been comfortable waiting it out, and I wouldn’t see the point in doing it either. I mean, there is less competition right now maybe, since bands that rely financially on music want to tour and sell tickets to their shows when releasing a new album, we don’t have that “problem”. I would argue that it has been good for me, I have spent more time writing music and all in all being more creative in many other ways since spending time on transport going to work is gone, time drinking beer and going to shows is gone, and all that time is invested in my creativity. People often say “I don’t have the time doing this” or “if I had the time I would do this”, but that is often pure self-deception. And now when they have that time, they realize that they didn’t do all that stuff they never had the time for, they were just lazy and lying to themselves and others. And that is depressing for them, and in general actually. But I thrive in creating, I feel worthless when doing nothing, I would get depressed not being creative.
Has Jordfäst ever played live and if so, how did the shows go?
Olof: Unfortunately not. We are still a studio project and the focus has been on creating music. However, we are open for the possibility in the future.
Elis: It would take a massive amount of time to get ready for live shows, and that would demand a massive amount of people digging what we do. But yeah, I for one am open for it.
If Jordfäst could open for any band either now or from the past, who would it be and why?
Olof: If we should open for a band it would have to be for the greatest – Mercyful Fate.
Elis: Haha, I like Olof’s answer here, let’s go with that. But I would probably have said PLF or Organ Dealer since one song of ours equals to around 20 of theirs, lengthwise. And I always enjoyed mixing different kinds of music when going to shows myself.
Are you involved with any other bands or projects outside of Jordfäst?
Olof: No.
Elis: Yes.
What do you hope the rest of 2021 brings for Jordfäst and for the worldwide music community?
Elis: First of all, I hope people enjoy the songs on the album and get to know us and see what we can contribute with. Of course, I want this pandemic to be over, all my friends in the music scene to have their health left and to meet them again. I want Olof to be able to fly over to Sweden again so we can record the follow up to Hädanefter. This year gave me a lot, but it drained me socially, I miss going to gigs, playing shows, party and just being me.
Any final words of wisdom?
Elis: Doing what you love is not the same thing as loving what you do, but if you find yourself doing one of them, you’re doing good for self.
Olof: In the words of Hellhammer: “Only death is real”.
Check out the “Hädanefter” trailer on YouTube:
https://youtu.be/TA59m9w3hHI
(Interview by Ken Morton)
