On the eve of the release of the new Borknagar album, Quintessence, Jens called the Metal Pages on his cell-phone (which died part-way through the interview) to talk about the new album, life in Borknagar, and whatever else happened to come up. We began by talking about the new line-up for Borknagar...

Chris: How were the choices made for the new members in the lineup?

Jens: Lars, the new keyboardist, has a band called Solefald. They just released their second album half a year ago, they had a live line up going, because they're only two guys, and he asked me if I could play guitars as a session live guitarist for Solefald, and we started working, and, after a short while, they found out there was not going to be a live line up. Still, I got to know him, and then, there was some months, and we did the US tour and it came up that we were going into the studio and I talked to him occassionally now and then, and he asked me if we needed a keyboard player, and I said "yeah, if you to try it ou, then we'll try it out"...

Chris: This marks a change from The Archaic Course, when there was no stable keyboard player.

Jens: Yeah, he was a member... I mean, he was in and out, he didn't want to tour with us. So, for The Archaic Course, we just had him do the studio part, and we just kept on playing without keyboards live. This time, we'll be going out (on tour) with a keyboard player.

Chris: How do you think that will affect the live sound?

Jens: I don't think it's going to be too different, it's still two guitars and all the same stuff, so, he's going to contribute to a bigger sound, and you're going to hear all the melody lines that the keyboard does on the album.

Chris: The name, Quintessence, does this have a special meaning because it's the fourth Borknagar album?

Jens: No... Actually, the name doesn't have a big, deeper meaning. I don't know, Oystein came up with the thing, I'm not sure where he took it from. It's kind of the whole Borknagar idea about, down to nature, the four elements and all that stuff. The Quint-Essence is the power that links it all together, and also it means kind of the top, the best so far... It's also because the chemistry within the band is so good, with the two new guys, it's kind of the best, comthing is keeping us together here.

Chris: You chose to record Quintessence in Abyss Studios, why the change from Woodhouse (where The Archaic Course was recorded)?

Jens: We needed a change, when you get the album, you will hear that it was a good change. The Woodhouse Studios is a good studio by all means, but when we got to Abyss, we really learned how easy it is to work with the people that think the same way as we do. The Woodhouse people are more general in music, not metal, but Peter Tagtgren and Lars Szoke there, they're metalheads, you know? They speak, and drink and talk in the same way as we do, and so it's very easy to communicate. And since we produced the album ourselves, we made the technician to do whatever we tell them to do, without any intention of making a sound that suits the studio, they make a sound that suits us.

Note: At this point, Jens' cell-phone battery let him know it was dying, and so he went off in search of another phone...

Jens: I had trouble finding a phone that will work with my card, because I left my recharger at work for some silly reason.
Chris: What do you work at?
Jens: I work with Manpower, do you know the firm?
Chris: I'm not familiar with it...
Jens: They hire me as an employees, and then they hire me out to different jobs, whenever I have time...

We then got back to talking about Borknagar and Quintessence...

Chris: You've managed to make a name for Borknagar within the black metal scene, and at the same time avoided a lot of the controversies that tend to interfere with bands in that scene. Was this an intentional move, or just something that has occured?

Jens: I don't know... I don't think it was intentional, it just happened. The band was never started as a black metal band to begin with, but the signals that the band sent out, was kind of, with all the guys from the black metal bands, all that stuff just happened.

Chris: You don't think of Borknagar as a black metal band?

Jens: No, I never did, I think, we called it, after The Archaic Course, we called it Epic Metal, and, really, that doesn't cover the whole this anyways, and a journalist with the English magazine Terrorizer called us Post-Black Metal Weird Shit, and I think he put us in the same boat as Arcturus and that stuff. I think that Post-Black Metal tag is something I can stand for. It has never been Black Metal with the intentions and the style and the image and all that stuff, but it's still out of that basket.

Chris: There are a lot of folk elements in the lyrics of the previous albums, does this theme carry through with Quintessence?

Jens: Yeah, I think you'll find the lyrics close, it's also the progression, music-wise. We're not changing themes or anything.

Chris: And Simen is the vocalist again, is he dedicated with Borknagar?

Jens: Yeah...

Chris: How was he originally chosen?

Jens: Basically, he said "I can do this"... Actually, Garm, Malstrom, the vocalist on the first two albums told us to talk to Simen. So, we did. We expected him to be able to do the vocals anyway, and we tested it before the first tour and it worked out good, so, we just kept working. The thig also that we enjoy, or look for when we pick out guys for the band is that we need people that we can work with close, that we're all buddies. We need the cool guys. And he was at level at oonce, so there was no problem.

Chris: So, you'd known him before (he started on as vocalist)?

Xy: No, I haven't met him before at all, it was just, we had a party, and some rehersals, and just hung out, and it just worked, both musically and personally.

Chris: So Borknagar is made up not only of band-mates, but of friends?

Jens: Oh yeah, we hang out, we party a lot, and all that stuff.

Chris: Your new drummer, Asgeir Mickelson, is also in Spiral Architect, are any tours planned with them?

Jens: Oh no, that would be total trash, don't you think? I mean, he's a good drummer, and they're all very good musicians, but, I kind of, that's not the album I listen to a lot, all respect to them, but, it's fun to listen to, to watch them show off, but, not more than that man.

Chris: Personally, I found it a little bit too technical for my tastes...

Jens: It's supposed to be like that, from them, that's what they wanted to achieve, it's not my side (slice?) of the pie...

Chris: How do you feel about the progression made with Quintessence?

Jens: Oh yeah, I'm really satisfied this time. I have to admit, I wasn't all that satisfied about The Archaic Course. This time, it works for me. The progression is out of experience from live playing, and the fact that we have two new guys, and the change of studios. So, when you hear the album, you will hear, it's quite, you will hear the changes. You'll still recognise the parts that are our specialty, but you will hear that progression there. But, we're not being a Kovenant, it's still the same thing.

Chris: Do you feel that this is what Borknagar is meant to be, sound-wise?

Jens: Yeah, now, now it is. I don't know where we'll be in a year, and of course, I think that The Archaic Course was good at the time, for what we did, and where we were, but now, the Quintessence is Borknagar. That's what we stand for, that's totally, it's the true face. Of course, the band changes and progresses as a band too, the whole time. My point is that we're not turning over and start playing country music, we're not going to do that. I have to say, I like the new Kovenant album, but still, I think they made an awesome leap.

Chris: Maybe it might be too much of a leap for people to deal with?

Jens: Yeah, I think that might be a problem, they should ease it off just a little bit, but I don't think they have the patience for that. I think they've more found themselves with the new album than the last one that they did. It seems natural for them, that's what they wanted to do, they feel that they've hit the point, for us, that would be a bit too much. I mean, different bands do different things, it's how it's supposed to be. I mean, it's like the new Mayhem album, have you heard it?

Chris: Unfortunately, no, I haven't...

Jens: Yeah, they're gonna blow you off the chair, because they're going prog-metal.

Chris: *BLINK* Wow.

Jens: So, that's a bit weird. I like it still, you can hear that it's still Mayhem, but, they're doing as big a leap as The Kovenant...
I'm a bit curious to get all the responses from our new album. One guy said "Urijah Heep on full-throttle", can you believe that? It made me laugh.

Chris: Have any live shows been performed with the new material and line-up yet?

Jens: No, we're doing the first one at a festival in Leipzeig, on the 10th of June, and we're going to be doing some festivals all summer.

Chris: Any plans to tour North America again this year?

Jens: I don't know this year, I really hope we get to go back to North America, cause I had so much fun on the Emperor tour, that was really good. We had our troubles with the agency and shit, but the tour and the audience and all that was killer. I'll be really pissed off if we don't go back on tour to North America.... I have some expectations, and I really hope we get to go to Japan too...

Chris: Has the sales response been good in Japan?

Jens: I don't know what they're doing over there, really, I can't say. I think actually, even The Archaic Course was import (in Japan). It's like here, they're telling us that, I don't know if the album is out in Russia at all, but now they're telling us that some people bootleg it. We're talking about The Archaic Course now, and it sold over ten thousand, just the bootleg, just in Russia. So maybe we get to go to Moscow.

Chris: That's quite an impressive underground music industry...

Jens: Yeah, it is. I don't know if that is true, it's just some rumour we heard from someplace, I'm not even sure where I heard it, but, it's kind of fun. When it's like that, I can't really get pissed off either, I mean, if we have the album out, we wouldn't be able to sell 10,000 copies in Russia. And, if it does that good that it lets us play a concert in Moscow, I don't say shit, I won't say anything. You buy the new bootleg...


And so, with a few short "see you on tour"'s and good-byes, the conversation ended, and my job of transcribing the bloody tape began... After listening to Quintessence MANY times, I have to say that it is definitely an excellent album, well worthy of the Borknagar name. Even if you didn't like The Archaic Course, I highly recommend giving Quintessence a listen.



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