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Interview for DEATHTHRASHER MAGAZINE by
ARMANDO MUTILATOR
DT: Did you ever play under the name of SPIRAL ARCHITECT? of did
you use any other before? ... if so why the name SPIRAL ARCHITECT?
Asgeir Mickelson : We have never had any other name than SPIRAL ARCHITECT. Lars went through his LP-collection at the time (92/93) searching for a cool name and we obviously took the title of a BLACK SABBATH song. We feel the name sounds kind of technical rather than doomy Black Sabbath style.
DT: Define yours style? ... Have you ever played the same style?.
Asgeir Mickelson :
We always wanted to play complex music. When we started out we wanted to take off from the most technical moments of FATES WARNING, DREAM THEATER and WATCHTOWER (and later CYNIC) and add jazz/fusion. If you make a melting pot of Complex Metal and jazz/fusion you get Technical Metal. SPIRAL ARCHITECT is a disciple of Technical Metal.
DT: What topics do you consider in your lyrics?.
Asgeir Mickelson :
Somehow most of the lyrics ended up as questions about life and why people live in lies (like religion). Take this example from "Cloud Constructor":
"Emptiness struck as he realized
There's no answer to "who am I? what am I?"
He then saw why men must construct for themselves
A Cloud of Unknowing"
Think about it. If you lived your whole life believing in and worshipping a god and then on your death bed you realize that it was all a lie - a human made fairytale. What a waste.
DT: Talk me about the compilation CD "A Gathering..." (1995)
Asgeir Mickelson : It was released on my own small record label, FACEFRONT, in 1995 and it had eight more or less Progressive Metal bands from Norway. We went into PANZER studio and recorded our two songs live. "Purpose" was done on first take and "Fountainhead" was finished after 4-5 takes. We got Leif J. Knashaug to do the session vocals and he actually had pneumonia when he was in the studio. After the "A Gathering" was released in September 95 we printed the two songs as a Cassette Demo which we sold, sent to Magazine / Fanzines and used to shop for a deal. I must have sent out a couple of hundred Demos.
DT: Your fave bands?
Asgeir Mickelson : I have no special favorite bands at the moment. In one period I can listen to a lot of black metal, in another period I listen to pop and in another period I only listen to radio... I really don't care what I listen to as long as I like it. Last album played at work was Return To Forever "Where Have I Known You Before?".
DT: Do you consider gore movies horror stuff as an influence to your style and image?.
Asgeir Mickelson : Absolutely not.
DT: Are you satisfied with your Demo Feb, 1996?
Asgeir Mickelson : Yeah, it was pretty cool. In retrospect it has too much progressive metal in it but we did our best at the time to be as tech as possible.
DT: How is work with Producer NEIL KERNON (YES, BRAND X, QUEENSRYCHE, NEVERMORE) ?
Asgeir Mickelson : Neil is a great and very nice person. Working with him is a dream because he's a Master at what he does. Unfortunately he got sick the week he was in Norway to work with the material so we didn't get as much done as we wanted to but it turned out pretty good anyway.
DT: Your musical productions? (include rehearsals, demos, etc), and your best productions?.
Asgeir Mickelson : We have only released a Demo and an album. We've been on a couple of compilations and Magazine-CDs too. In my opinion our best performances/productions are on the songs "Spinning", "Cloud Constructor", "Moving Spirit" and "Insect" (all from the album).
DT: Are you a Satanist band? ... what do you think about ALEISTER CROWLEY?.
Asgeir Mickelson : We're atheists.
DT: A "Sceptic's Universe"Japanese Edition have a Bonus Track?
Asgeir Mickelson : Yes, it had the FATES WARNING song "Prelude To Ruin" which we reworked completely and recorded for the FATES WARNING tribute "Through Different Eyes". When we got a deal in Japan we had nothing else to offer them extra than the cover tune.
DT: How was your experience in the Tribute to FATES WARNING?
Asgeir Mickelson : Not much experience other than trying out a new studio... It was cool to rework some other band's song though. We learned the original first and then worked our way through the song remaking every riff. We ended up doing an acoustic version of the intro riff and then go over to a blast beat.
DT: In this moment ØYVIND HÆGELAND continue in ARCTURUS?
Asgeir Mickelson : Yeah, he's fully occupied rehearsing with ARCTURUS now. He's currently rehearsing for some gigs and then a new album.
DT: How many gigs, concerts, tours, have you played Did you ever play in other places besides Europe & U.S.A.?.
Asgeir Mickelson : We haven't played that many gigs but we've been fortunate to travel to both the European and the American Prog Power festivals.
DT: LARS K. NORBERG and STEINAR GUNDERSEN continue with SATYRICON?.
Asgeir Mickelson : Yes, they are very much committed to doing tours with SATYRICON and they have a US-tour lined up with MORBID ANGEL.
DT: Which was the best audience you ever play for?.
Asgeir Mickelson : The Norwegian and the American. It's however impossible to experience a full fledged Headbanger audience with so technical music as ours. People generally just stand there watching us and wonder what the hell is happening on stage. Are we playing the same song at the same time?
DT: ASGEIR, actually do you play in BORKNAGAR?
Asgeir Mickelson : Yes, I do. We're actually mixing the next album this weekend. It is BORKNAGAR's 6th album and my 3rd album with them.
DT: Have you ever consider playing in this part of the world? (I mean Shouth America),
Asgeir Mickelson : We will consider playing anywhere if it's worth it. However, the Atlanta-gig a couple of years ago probably was our last gig.
DT: Tell us about your experience in TESTAMENT?
Asgeir Mickelson : I got the gig through STEVE DI GIORGIO which I got to know because he's a SPIRAL ARCHITECT fan. We've been emailing a couple of years and play together on the Vintersorg albums so when TESTAMENT needed a session drummer for the No Mercy tour then they asked me to step in. I rehearsed with them for 1-2 weeks and did a show with them in San Francisco before the 2 week tour in Europe. The TESTAMENT guys are really cool and it was of course an honor to play for them.
DT: Your Future Plans?.
Asgeir Mickelson : We will start writing new songs as soon as my studio is ready.
DT: Your last comment for DT. Readers where can they find your stuff?
Asgeir Mickelson : Check
www.spiralarchitect.com
for info.
Regards,
Asgeir Mickelson/Spiral Architect
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