Sterkvind are one of the few Blackmetal bands in Portugal that remain faithful to the Underground spirit. Ogham paciently answered this interview.

- Hail Ogham, first of all I would like to thank you for answering this interview. Let's start by telling me how and when did SterkVind came up.
- Sterkvind has started about six years ago in order to spread death and chaos among humanity. Lord Morfolk and I were quite into the Black/ Death metal scene and we felt like we could start our own project since we had already started our musical learning since we were quite young. So we had the musical skills, the spirit and the flame within, it was only a matter of start composing the songs and the lyrics.

- Please name me the current line-up for SterkVind. Is it the same as it was when you started the band?
- Yes, the line-up is precisely the same. Sterkvind started has a two-men-band and it remained like this because we couldn’t find members combining good musical knowledge/skills and the right spirit. We would like to have a complete line up which would give us the chance to play live but it won’t be easy.

- What were the purposes of this project when you started it? Are they the same today?
- When we started we were quite similar to the bands we worshiped, both lyrical and musical. Then, as time passed by, our sound became more personal combining the typical raw Black Metal and the Iberian folk spirit. Some guitar lines are inspired by the ancestral Iberian melodies but in a raw and cruel way. In the beginning our lyrics were quite similar to the ones created by the Scandinavian hordes but we have started writing about our own pre-christian past. It was a logical evolution and I think that we have achieved a quite mature stage. Our purpose is to glorify the Indo-European past and re-establish the ancient moral principles and beliefs. Fight the sub-human scum and destroy their ideologies.

- What were the bands that influenced you the most when you started Sterkvind? Are they the same now? If don't, do you keep respecting those bands?
- In the beginning we listened to bands such as Abigor, Belphegor, Ildjarn, Gorgoroth, Beherit, Mayhem, Old Funeral, Emperor, Burzum, Necromantia, Filii Nigrantium Infernalium, Decayed, Rotting Christ, etc… I respect all the mentioned bands because of their work on the past, but I must confess that I don’t listen to most of them anymore. A lot has changed, everything is quite fucked up, the spirit isn’t the same for sure. Nowadays I like to listen to complete Underground hordes because I associate their spirit with the one we felt some years ago, no fucking commercialisms, no fakes, no posers; everything was quite subterranean those times, the flame of brotherhood among all metal fans was a true reality.

- You released a promo cd-r in the last year named "Agrat-Bat-Mahlat", what do you think of the reactions to that promo, were they good? And what can we expect from your new effort "Our Ancestors Still Breed" is it in the same vein?
- Well, the mentioned CDr wasn’t released last year but a good couple of years ago. It contained a quite old song called “Agrat Bat Mahlat” so it was a promo track. We decided to release it in order to leave a mark concerning to the work developed on the past. That song has nothing to do with our actual musical/lyrical performance but that’s also part of the idea because it allows people to witness our development. So, it wasn’t a matter of reaction because the track was known, we only gave this artefact to our comrades and supporters. The tracks for “Our ancestors still breed” were released on MC format by Hell War Productions, it was a split release with the Portuguese band Inner Helvete under the name of “Burning the false idol”. Two of those tracks will be released on vinyl soon (Rebirth of ancestral purity). This tracks are quite fast and raw, although there are some approach to Pagan ambient sometimes, but there’s no wimp melodies or violins/ female vocals, don’t worry!

- I've heard the samples in your website and I think that your new sound is a bit more mature, what do you think?
- Yes, it’s definitively better in every aspect. The songs have a great rhythmic structure, and extreme brutal and raw guitar lines. The lyrical concept was quite improved if compared with the early years and the sound quality allows one to understand clearly every instrument but it creates a raw/ obscure atmosphere too.

- About the lyrical concept, did you kept faithful to your roots, or you decided to try a different approach with this new release?
- There’s a new concept which was being developed for the last years. The lyrics are about the ancient tribes that inhabited the Iberian Peninsula and Europe in a pre-christian era. They deal with the grandiosity of the ancient mentality and the hate and wrath towards the ones that raped our Pagan harmony. The Asiatic conspiracy has invaded the White men’s land and turned mankind into an obsolete being by imposing them weak moral values in order to dominate us by fear. The few warriors left must destroy the blind followers of the false idols and impose everyway the ancient code of power, strength and glory. Devastation is only a logical consequence of human (d)evolution.

- I've noticed that the Portuguese Blackmetal scene has grown bigger in the last couple of years, what's your opinion about this growht of Blackmetal in Portugal? Do you think it is good, or do you think that this is just a temporary trend?
- I think that in the last couple of years good bands were created in Portugal and I must say that actually I talk frequently with lots of people involved on those hordes. Of course there are also lots of crap and poser/ ignorant pseudo-black-bangers but we must have the soberty to distinguish them. I think that we should have some good places where those bands could play and show their work with good sound conditions. It would be also good if everybody involved on the scene went to the gigs and supported the other bands. A couple of labels making a more professional work on the national underground would also be quite positive.

- In my opinion the Portuguese metal scene (and in particular the Blackmetal scene) has a a lot of conflicts due to a great lack of brotherhood, do you aggree with me?
- I agree 100% but things are getting different, I think that we are reaching a better stage in what concerns to the true underground. I feel it.

- About the worldwide metal scene, what do you think of nowadays Blackmetal and the trends that keep infiltrating the style?
- There are lots of greedy busyness guys using the designation “Black Metal” to sell extremely well produced albums from bands using lots of melody and weak sound. Sure there are lots of dumb kids and posers that buy shit from bands like Dimmu Borgir, Cradle of Filth, etc etc… But I don’t consider that as Black Metal although the sell-out media insists on put us on the same bag as them. The pure Black Metal underground is not a mirage it is strong and fortunately isn’t reachable for all.

- Have you bought any albums lately, if so, what is you current playlist?
- Well I am listening more to:
Graveland – in the glare of burning churches
Juvenes – creed of iron
Veles – Black hateful metal
Nazgul – when the wolves return to the forest
Nokturnal Mortum – goat horns
Sterkvind/ Inner Helvete – burning the false idol
Holocaust Winds SS – humanicide
URN – 666 megatons
And so on, so on….

- Thanks again for answering this interview, and feel free to give some final words/advises/whatever you want to Sinful Obscurity readers.
- Support the true European/ Vinlandic underground specially the Portuguese national scene. Remember, to exterminate their god you must kill the followers. Our era will soon arise, when all the swords will be condemned to a crimson shine.

Shemahmforash