Deaf Forever with Einherjer

The legendary pioneers of Norse Heavy Metal, Einherjer, has released their latest single, Deaf Forever on Indie Recordings! on June 21st, 2024.  The track is a cover and tribute to the legends in Motörhead and it comes just in time for Einherjer’s performances at major summer festivals like Tons of Rock, Summer Breeze Open Air, and the iconic Wacken Open Air in Germany.

Founded in 1993, Einherjer has been a powerful force in the Viking Metal genre for over three decades. Hailing from Haugesund, Norway, the band draws deeply from their Norse heritage, creating music that is both a cultural homage and a modern interpretation of the epic sagas of old. With nine studio albums and two Norwegian Grammy nominations, Einherjer has solidified their place in the annals of metal history.  Highwire Daze recently interviewed Frode Glesnes, guitarist/vocalist and one of the founding members of Einherjer to discuss all things Motörhead as well as their own absolutely amazing legacy in music!  Read on…

We’re here with Frode from Einherjer. First of all, the first part of the interview is going to be all about Motörhead. So, what made you decide to record Deaf Forever as a tribute to Motorhead?
First and foremost, I think that Motörhead has been part of us, especially me and Gerhard, maybe since the early days when we started to listen to heavy metal and that stuff. So, I always wanted to do a cover of Motörhead, and I always thought that it would fit into our soundscape as well because they are very gritty, and the vocals is kind of easy to adapt to my type of singing.  So, I think Motörhead was kind of a natural choice.

What made you decide on that particular song?
Deaf Forever, it’s a really cool song, and I really love the ’80s Motörhead. I don’t know what happened during the production, but the whole Orgasmatron album sounds really bad, and I don’t think that the songs are done justice with that kind of production. So, I think it was kind of a win-win. It’s an awesome song, and it doesn’t take much to make a better production for it. Also, I think it kind of fits us and Lemmy, lyrically, he’s also kind of just a little bit into the whole Scandinavian approach there. So, yeah, I thought it was a good fit.

When was the first time you saw a Motörhead concert, and what was that experience like?
That was probably the early ’90s sometime. Yeah, it was. Because we are living on the west coast of Norway, and all the cool bands that were coming to Norway during the ’80s and stuff, they were only playing on the eastern part of Norway, Oslo and that area. And we live on the other side of the country. So, as kids, we weren’t allowed to go to concerts and stuff, traveling to Oslo by ourselves. So, we had to wait until you got a little bit older. So, I think it was the early ’90s. That was the first time I saw Motörhead. I’ve seen them many times since, but yeah, that was the first one. I just tried to figure out what tour it was. It must have been, I don’t know, ’94 or something.

I live in Los Angeles. I go to the Whisky a lot, the Rainbow. Everyone here in Los Angeles has had a Lemmy Motörhead story or encounter while he was alive. Did you ever get to meet Lemmy or encounter any member of Motörhead? And if so, what was that like?
Yeah, I met a few of them. I met Lemmy a few times, actually in LA.   Just like everyone else, he was sitting there playing that machine and drinking whiskey. He was the only guy that was allowed to smoke indoors halfway down the stairs. Everyone else had to go all the way out to take a smoke. But for him, it was okay to go in just halfway down the stairs. There’s a window, and he was allowed to smoke there. Also, we did a show in Chicago once, and we were just going to see his other band that he’s doing with that rockabilly thing.  It’s The Head Cat. I think we were just in that area where they were playing, and we’re just having a few beers at the bar, and suddenly, I noticed a familiar guy sitting at the next table. Just his back to us was like, what the fuck? Isn’t that Lemmy? Of course, it was. Yeah. He was just out having a few pints before the show. So, that was cool. And also, I met Mikkey Dee quite a few times. He’s from Sweden. So, we’ve been in the studio of Andy LaRocque, the King Diamond guitarist. Mikkey Dee used to play in King Diamond. So, during that time, we met him a few times. Really nice guy. Fabulous drummer.

I believe you just did a show at Tons of Rock. How did that show go, and what were some of the highlights?
That was totally awesome. It’s a really big festival, especially in Norwegian terms. It’s by far the biggest festival there is around here for that type of music. We played an awesome set, and the crowd was really wild. So, it was a really cool thing to do. It was kind of the first big thing that we’re doing this summer. So it really got a boost for more. So, now just a few weeks of vacation, and then it’s a few more of the bigger ones like Wacken and Summer Breeze.

What are you looking forward to the most about your upcoming shows at these legendary festivals such as Wacken and Summer Breeze?
Yeah, they are monstrously big. They are so fucking huge. Personally, I do prefer the festivals a little bit smaller. But of course, it is an experience playing those kind of festivals. I do really love that, too. It’s meeting all those people that are into the same stuff, and it’s kind of overwhelming. We’ve done both of those festivals quite a few times now, and if it were up to me, I could come back every year. They are really cool.

Has Einherjer ever played here in the States or in the Los Angeles area? Or is that something you’d like to do in the future?
We never played in L.A. No, never. We’ve only done a few festivals in the US. So, we’ve never done a proper tour, and we never played on the West Coast. So, that is something we should definitely look into someday. That is on the to-do list, I think. At least the bucket for me to play. When we have been growing up, we knew all the bands from the Sunset Strip and everything. You kind of just love that vibe and all that ’80s stuff. It is something you really want to do, play those clubs, especially The Whisky. It’s a special place, and I’ve heard the stories.

You released your previous album North Star during the height of the worldwide pandemic. What was that experience like releasing an album during that historic time?
Well, seeing it through our eyes now, it probably wasn’t the smartest thing we did because the world wasn’t really functioning at all. So, it was really weird. Everything was weird. We couldn’t go out to do any gigs or support it anyway, and when we finally could do that, the album was out already a year and a half or something. So, the material already kind of felt old. So, that was weird. Maybe the smart thing to do was to just wait it out, just okay, let’s just keep this album for a year and then release it. But who knew? Who knew how long this would last and everything? But then again, it is what it is. Now it’s actually a few years ago. So, after the summer now, we will rig up our gear here in the studio and start recording again. Hopefully, for our first half of 2025 release.

You have a few anniversaries that have just happened or are happening.  Blot just had its 20-year anniversary last year. When you look at that album and the fact that it’s been 21 years, what do you think of it now in retrospect?
It’s a very, very interesting melodic piece. There’s a lot of stuff going on there. It’s actually a guy, the drummer, that wrote almost the whole Blot album. And that was the time when he was really focused, and he didn’t stop with a song until it was 100% perfect in every layer. So, when you’re listening to some of those arrangements that is going on in that album, it’s pretty fucking far out. It’s really good work. And it was a bit heavy on the keyboards for us, maybe. So, we had a little break after that album. When we got back together, when we were discussing the future and where to go, the keyboards, I think, was the main thing to discuss because we didn’t agree on the amount of keyboards that we used. But I think we agreed, actually. I think both me and Gerhard felt that the best path for us is to have a more rock and roll approach to the whole thing and maybe not be so considerate with every detail. So, I think we loosened up quite a bit after that album. And yeah, we got more of a rock and roll approach. I think it fits better. When we’re doing this for such a long time as we have, it seems like there’s an anniversary every other year for some.

Yeah, for sure.
Everything we’ve done is fucking 20-plus years. Feels weird.

Well, we’re about to go to another anniversary. Your very first recording, Aurora Borealis, the demo, came out in 1994, which is 30 years ago. When you look back on that demo and the fact that it’s been 30 years, what do you think of that now in retrospect?
Yeah, it’s a funny thing because we have just started this year incorporating the Aurora Borealis song into the live set. We haven’t played that for quite a while, and it’s a really cool song. I do remember us at the end of ’93, while we were in the studio, that was in between that weekend between Christmas and New Year’s. We had like 3 days, 2 days in the studio, I think, and one day mixing. We didn’t know anything about anything. I also remember that I actually broke my fist just a few months before, so the hand wasn’t even really healed up when we started to record. I was the only guitarist, so that was also weird. We were just mixing it, and we didn’t know. Nobody told us anything about mastering or anything like that. So, we didn’t know anything about it. It was like, “Okay, now it’s mixed. Now, what do we do?” We just copied them up on cassettes and started releasing it that same day. It was a different world back then.

What do you think has kept you so passionate about music and about Einherjer for 30 years and counting?
I think the main thing is that me and Gerhard are very close friends. We still are. And we are sharing a musical view about what we are doing here. We tend to agree about most things. As long as we keep this fun, I think we will go on. Another thing that has been important for us is that we’ve never been a band that has been touring extensively. So, we haven’t been that fed up with each other, really. That might be a good thing because when we are out playing gigs now, it’s still fun. Still looking forward to it. I think that’s very important if you want to do this in the long run. Keep it fun.

Are you currently involved with any other bands or projects outside of Einherjer?
No, not now. I did one album with Twilight of the Gods, but that is also quite a few years ago now. We were signed to Season of Mist with Nick Barker on drums and Alan Averill on vocals.

Do you ever want to do anything with Battered again?
I’m not sure. We did one gig here in our hometown 10 years after we quit the band. That was really good fun. That’s now almost 10 years ago. Maybe we’ll do one more gig in a few years, but there are no plans for anything. If we’re going to do something, it will be just one-off shows. Just for fun, really. I would never imagine that we would do an album or something with Battered ever again. But you never know.

True. You never know what the future is going to bring…
No, you don’t.

Do you have any messages for your fans here in the States?
Yes, fans in the States. Those few times that we have been over there, it has been really fucking good. So, I’m really hoping that maybe in 2025 we get to come back to do something. It is very hard and very expensive to do shows in the US. The whole visa situation is hard to do and it’s expensive. It would be so much easier just like in Europe, but that’s not up to me. Someday I really hope we can come back and play some heavy metal for the US crowd again.

(Interview by Ken Morton)

Follow Einherjer:
Website: https://einherjer.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/einherjerofficial
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/einherjerofficial/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/einherjerofficial