Written in Waters (1995)
It must have been sometime in the year of 1996. After having a few years behind me of heavy metal introduction, followed by the seemingly inevitable evolution to its more extreme forms of death metal and black metal, I stumbled across Ved Buens Ende…. In those days, discovering underground artists independently was a chancy, haphazard operation. There wasn’t much distribution of MP3, legally or otherwise; YouTube was still years away; and the few bands offering low-quality samples of their work had to be popular enough to be featured on larger sites as Yahoo! Unless you were regularly involved in tape trading, you had no options to sample lesser-known artists prior to placing a wager via a mail-order payment. Over those few short years, the contents of my music library grew, based almost entirely on the terse reviews and descriptions of others, or by chance, when perusing a photocopied catalog and all-at-once deciding, “This band has a cool name, I’ll give them a shot.” This largely randomized practice of discovering new music quickly became a costly operation. When it came to VBE, my recollection is that Varg Vikernes mentioned the band in passing in one of his interviews interspersed with his bigoted ramblings. I decided to give them a chance, and my perception of music reached a critical moment where it seemed the world had forever changed. In my mind, its creators bore the weight of their music both by being entirely self-invented and incredibly foreign to everything else in the world. I had discovered, what I believed at the time was the one of the few bands to exist in a vacuum with the same import of Jimi Hendrix, or Black Sabbath.
Nearly twenty years later, the debut (and only) full-length album of their project still gives the impression of being ten years ahead of its time. I decided to re-examine the work with ears of my present experience, and further research the inception of the group, its demise, and the contributions of its members to their later projects.
How could one describe their music?
This inevitable question is a problematic one. If it could be claimed that Ved Buens Ende does exist in a vacuum, or without directly discernible influences, the application of genre is an impossibility. Nonetheless, the component parts of VBE are made up a trio of guitar, drums, and bass. Through their respective instruments, each contributor brings a uniquely different skillset and approach to the process of composing[1]. At the very least we can attempt to classify the elements they all appear to represent, even if the result lacks a more easily identifiable sub-genre. The universal consensus is that they are “Avant-garde”, but the nature of that label is in itself a term that already bears the implication of just being ‘miscellaneous’. Another and perhaps clearer element seen in their musical style is jazz, or more specifically jazz fusion, on account of the rock/heavy metal roots. This is directly evidenced by the complexity of the drumming, which not only favors poly rhythms and syncopation, but retains the same stop-start rhythm often seen in many jazz songs. One could say that the drumming shows clear application of improvisation, but with the locking in of all three instruments to follow a more rock-like structure in place of freeform. The final element to mention would be however one might describe ‘dark music’, in terms of the musical tone as well as the philosophical direction of the material presented. Since the previous works of each of VBE’s members is grounded in black metal, one might then default to describing their music as, “Avant-garde Jazz Black Metal”. Although there are sections in the songs which bear that stamp clearly, I find this final descriptor to be imprecise as it is not reflective to the total work of the band.
The Creators of Ved Buens Ende
Drums: Carl-Michael Eide/Aggressor/Czral/Calle/Exhurtum- Born in 1974, Norway
Fire Marshall Carl
Carl-Michael Eide is a multi-instrumentalist with a preference for the guitar, but he also provides vocals for various projects and has been praised for his skill as a drummer. He claims full responsibility for the clean vocals on all Ved Buens Ende recordings. Prior to that, his introduction as a metal musician was in the first iteration of Satyricon when it was a death metal band called Eczema. This was to be a short-lived love affair as he was dismissed after recording a single demo. Soon after, he met Garm and went on to become the founding drummer of Ulver. Ultimately, that band followed a new direction of Norwegian folk influences and romanticism that did not appeal to him, so his departure of Ulver led directly to the formation of Ved Buens Ende with bassist Skoll, and fellow thrash-fan Vicotnik[2]. The composition of his and Vicotnik’s work together has been described by Carl as fifty-fifty[3], which left Skoll to essentially provide tertiary bass lines. During the same time as his work with VBE, he had also been a member of Aura Noir and Inferno in various capacities.
Carl-Michael’s drumming style is the product of being self-taught, along with the influence of some advice from established drummers in his circle of friends. The complexity of his drum arrangements deceptively indicates a well-schooled and practiced drummer when, in reality, it is much more the product of experimentation and intuition[2].
Guitar: Yusaf Parvez/Vicotnik/Mr. Fixit/Viper- Born in 1977, Norway (Raised in Stockholm and New Delhi)
Spelunking between sessions
Vicotnik functions multi-instrumentally, with a preference for the guitar. During his time with Ved Buens Ende, he founded Doedheimsgard as the drummer, and has been involved in its primary capacity ever since. His first work in metal music was as the guitarist of the black metal band, Manes in 1993. Although he is the only guitarist in Ved Buens Ende, he has confirmed that the writing process is a collaborative one between he and Carl-Michael [4]. VBE’s guitar riffs employ a lot of upstroked arpeggio notes with a distinct atonal quality. The progressions of those riffs often give the feeling of covering great distances, but with the undertone of something sinister.
Bass: Hugh Steven James Mingay/Skoll- Born in 1974, England (Resides in Norway)
Portrayed by David Duchovny
Skoll is primarily a bass guitarist, with some accompanying work accredited on keyboards. His introduction as a metal musician was as the bassist for black metal band, Fimbulwinter. During his time in VBE, Skoll also performed as the bassist for Ulver. Although he had no control over the composition of Written in Waters[1], Skoll provided a distinct approach to bass which tied the complexity of drums with the eccentricity of the guitars. His walking bass lines elevated the music with creativity that allowed them to shine on their own. Vicotnik spoke of sincere regret for not allowing Skoll’s talents and even-keeled personality to occupy a larger role within the group, which may have potentially staved off conflicts between the other two members[1].
Written in Waters (1995)
In the spring of 1995, our three gentlemen were signed to the now defunct Misanthropy Records and released their debut album that October [2]. Both Vicotnik and Carl shared a deep love for thrash, which bled into their interest to black metal. Carl-Michael had become particularly disenchanted with what had constituted a ‘scene’ in the black metal community that many bands of the time had favored. The fruits of their labor in Written in Waters would be panned by many metal fans and musicians (with notable exception of Fenriz)[3].
The lyrics were entirely composed by Carl- Michael (with the exception of track #4, which is credited to Vicotnik). Vicotnik supplied all of the black metal vocals, and performed all of the guitar parts.
The album begins with a track that Carl-Michael has stated as the composition of which he is most proud[5]. And after dozens of listens to this album, I would also describe it it as the perfect summation of Ved Buens Ende and most certainly the opus magnum of their collaborative efforts. And what an introduction to this band it is. The guitars are strangely driven; a very compressed mid-range heavy tone that retains a lo-fi methodology and yet counters much of what one expects within black metal music. The riffs themselves are presented strangely. The disharmonic chords- which are frequently up-stroked- rarely end in a consonant manner. It leaves the listener waiting for that resolution that never comes- a feeling of a stranger just around the corner, but one who never shows his face. It might seem overly illustrative to use this type of description, but when experiencing music so very foreign to all else, such statements become nearly impossible to avoid. The bass guitar is often one of the few ‘sane’ elements, which the listener can hone into while the chaos sweeps around them.
The clips of each song I’ve compiled are not the full songs, only the more memorable sections I’ve thought to include. I have a heavy bias against the black metal guitar and vocal sections on this album, and so they are almost entirely avoided here.
2003 Reissue Artwork
1. I Sang for the Swans
Sing for the Lurker
Sing for the One with horns
We pity the feather, we devour the wing
I sang for the swans
One minute into this song we see our first directional change, a staple of this album that will repeat often throughout. VBE are certainly masters of the unexpected. It is a feat in itself to present something eerily creative, but it is even more impressive to then challenge that with left turns that are further derived in the eccentric; you scarcely know when the crazy ride will end. In attempting to identify what exactly is going on in this track or from where it may have come, I am forced to think of music of the Far East, or another other region where the instrument tuning and scales do not follow the conventions of modern western music. The bass guitar groove challenges us at times with the odd choice of when and how it harmonizes with the uniquely shaped guitar composition. After a few minutes of this track, the music sweeps us again into a new void, though one of possible optimism. After several more minutes of dark, wondrous riffs, we are pulled in yet another direction as the muted chords are broken up by Carl-Michael’s strange crooning.
Let the fallen hear, it never rains around here
In the opening song, there is heavy usage of double-vocals with some unidentified effect behind it. Additionally, Vik inserts his coarse black metal style vocals to mirror the more violent lyrics near the end of the song. By the time the song does end, it is a mystery how the album will proceed.
2. You, That May Wither
Although CME and others may consider the opening track to be the album’s crowning moment, there are still new and equally strange elements to be experienced as it proceeds. For example, the second track offers another shift of tone, which is rounded by a more nightclub jazz feel (if the club’s patrons had a sonic filter of Quaaludes). There is a repeated technique of never ending a riff ‘cleanly’- that is to say, the natural musical resolution one would normally expect never quite arrives. It gives the impression of hanging on to the last note as it bleeds into the next. The key changes are performed in an equally disharmonic fashion. It is important to mention that amidst all of this strange beauty, we note the beginnings of some very deep flaws in this album: much of the singing is absolutely atrocious. It is nearly fatal to the experience as one is forced to wonder if the performance is supposed to be comically absurd, such as in the case of Primus. In any event, there are many cringe-worthy moments that are brought to us directly from the vocal microphones of both performers.
3. It’s Magic
This shore is for the throne
This track amazingly reaches a new depth of the abyss with the intro featuring perhaps one of the darkest riffs I’ve ever heard. It is simple enough as it is, and yet with the well-conceived bassline, it is extended into new territory. The style of that opening riff reminds me a bit of early Burzum (I’m thinking Spell of Destruction). But, once again, we are met with incredibly bad vocals. At this point, I am forced to consider that it was all a cruel joke. An adult teasing a small child with a toy just out of arms’ reach. Why in the hell would you taint such beautifully crafted music with an Andy Kaufman sketch in a horrid voice? It is an enigma I’ll never understand. Nonetheless, the musicianship is top notch, such that I once again find myself in awe.
4. Den Saakaldte
And a fallen star they gather
I feel at this point of the album there is a distinct emotional shift. All of the dissonance and darkness is there, but the tempo and style at times breeds a strange sense of traversing a great distance. This is probably further amplified by the lyrical content mentioning ‘deserts’ and sojourning, which is a theme that some of the contributors will carry with them to post-VBE material. The trademark left turn into further darkness happens here near the two minute point in their equally-signature stylized key change. The walking bassline once again carries this tune to a new height, bridging the gap of strangeness with something more tangible. The song degrades by the halfway point after three minutes and slows before turning to some black metal exposition in the usual manner. The clean vocals are over-exposed with odd doubling that would normally heighten the song with aesthetically pleasing harmonies, but we have no such luck here. I prefer to truncate the song at the point before the black metal begins and all of the magic has been lost.
5. Carrier of Wounds
I slumber through my years, like the desert moves with the wind
frozen and flickering
In the continuing theme of barren lands the last song began, we hear a further exposition but in a similar approach. The guitars have a long sweeping context, with well-driven bass lines. The trading off between two different riffs within the verse give a well-structured format, glued with the jazzy and catchy drums. Very moving riffs indeed.
I threw their masks away. Lit my torches and burned their eyes
For the second half of the song, I used the recording from the demo, Those Who Caress the Pale, for one purpose: the bassline is drowned by the awful black metal vocals immediately in the full length release. In the demo, we are at least afforded a few bars before the vocals appear (and in a slightly better form than the successor). While the production suffers here, we get a much better insight into what Skoll was trying to accomplish, and he does it very well (there are real-time volume adjustments to the mix as the song progresses to boost his performance). Vocals aside, it is yet another example of a music passage I’ve never heard the likes of anywhere else.
6. Coiled in Wings
This song features perhaps the finest ensemble performance by the band thus far. It is over five continuous minutes of well-crafted music with vocals that may fall short, but do little to weaken our listening stamina as the song progresses. The track opens with a clean electric tone not previously featured on the album. I personally find it a bit too ‘clean’ and unprocessed, but it is a pleasant change of pace. The bass guitar and drum accompaniment is fantastic in the intro and through much of this song. Carl-Michael works to provide some well-paced jazz shuffling amidst the usual outstanding bass work. The chorus features the beginning of far too underused female vocals that provide only a delicate addition to this track. The song is marred, once again, by the inclusion of traditional black metal, but prior to that, the recapitulation of the clean intro with light overdriven distortion appears and is quite a welcomed change. There are moments of guitar on this track that burst with such energy that it is absolutely striking to experience.
7. Autumn Leaves
We are the daughters of the One with broken wings and horns
This is an absolutely pitch-perfect clean electric track from start to finish. I would say this is the only radio-friendly and thoroughly consonant song that could be presented to any person without fear of rebuke for the vocal performance or tremor due to shoddy black metal sections. The vocals are doubled by a wonderfully gifted female vocalist, who graces the song and provides credence to help this to be considered a serious track. Similarly, the musicianship on all fronts is equally outstanding. It would have been interesting to see this group of four to be featured as some dark neo-folk project in Europe (though, I doubt it would be favored by the band itself). By the end, the song shifts in true Ved Buens Ende fashion. There is no flaw in this as well. The highlighted lyric above brings a wicked finality to the show, rooting the listener right back to the abysmal place this album creates. A truly memorable performance.
8. Remembrance of Things Past
If the previous track stitched together all the pieces the album had wrought, this one smashes them again a hundredfold. Proust probably did not foresee such a song in the translated title of his great work. For years, the beginning of this song has reminded me distinctly of Primus, at least until the second riff. The bass has a newfound presence with some very attractive growling contour not previously heard in this recording. At a certain point, it degrades to black metal but in a much better posture than in past attempts.
By the bridge, we are rewarded with the distant atonal chords reminiscent of track numbers 4 and 6. The vocals are also much more controlled and, in comparison to the rest, offer a more approachable performance. As for my listening experience, this is effectively the final part of the album. I always skip the last track, which is essentially a strange performance of Carl-Michael singing while playing an accordion along to the melody of the previous song.
Long lost photo of Skoll with his Fender Jazz Bass
The Ved May Wither
In the three years since the debut of Written in Waters , the band members had a terrific run of supporting other acts. From 1995 to 1998, the aggregate total releases of the lineup netted an impressive seventeen. Carl-Michael was fully active and contributing each instrument for Aura Noir (with the help of Apollyon), as well as all of the guitars for Inferno. Vic was primarily the drummer for Doedheimsgard initially, and later contributed guitars throughout their timeline. Skoll provided bass accompaniment for Ulver and Arcturus. It was during these highly prolific years that the project of VBE remained firmly on the back burner without interest from either Skoll or Vicotnik to see it rekindled. There is also the possibility that the lack of continued development in the project may have been due to the lack of ‘mainstream’ acceptance and interest at large from the industry. I say mainstream- even in this hypothetical context- cautiously, as I do not think they would ever intend to be pop/rock gods, but rather seek to bolster a strong presence within a significant record label (metal-centric or otherwise). Though it is probably a safe assumption that there is a ‘cult’ following for Ved Buens Ende, I do not think it had translated into sales figures that could rival their already active (and occasionally touring) bands.
A Closer Look at Contribution
Having first listened to and read about Ved Buens Ende all those years ago, I first could not decipher which portrait corresponded to which member in the CD artwork. This is hardly an important (admittedly trivial) bit of knowledge to be without, however, I had assumed at that time that the guitars were the sole product of one ‘Vicotnik’ just as the drums were the sole product of Mr. Carl-Michael Eide. I could have certainly been happy with this assumption, and would have continued to believe it, if it weren’t for one fateful comment by a random Norwegian fan that I had a conversation with on an Internet chat room all those years ago. He made what I perceived at the time as a bold statement, “Well, basically all of the guitars were written by Carl-Michael anyway.” A strange claim, and one that I had never been able to fully confirm nor deny in the contexts of interviews, descriptions, and liner notes on the CD itself. It could very well have been a throwaway comment, which had no basis in reality; by their own and independent accounts, both men claimed mutual contribution. Yet there is one key incongruity that I’ve never been able to reconcile: many compositions produced by Carl-Michael in the time since performing in VBE have a distinctive quality that make them sound nearly sufficient to be considered the former material proper. Conversely, none of Vic’s subsequent contributions have had any remote similarity to the aforementioned work. Again, this may seem to hold little relevance on the surface, except if we wish to see future creations of the project with new recordings. And so, if Carl-Michael is truly the torchbearer of VBE, then what exactly would be required from Vic in order to see this come to fruition? It is a possibility that Vic had served as a sort of muse in the process or, perhaps more specifically, contributed much in the black metal sections that mirror his later material more directly.
We have another problem: half of Ved Buens Ende lies in the brilliant rhythmic contributions of Carl-Michael’s drums and Skoll’s basslines. Carl-Michael could not effectively provide both of these elements, and so Skoll would also have to show interest in rejoining the band. Furthermore, there is one fatal issue to resolve if we wish to see the sufficient product of VBE with Carl-Michael on drums: the fateful events of March 26, 2005.
Smoke break directed by Guy Ritchie
Why are you here
Insect of the mind
Flying high over the rooftops
Tiny insect wings
Displace the ray and rusty
And the sketches in my brain
Are erased
-Carl-Michael Eide (Be Elevator, Virus)
When investigating the events that transpired on that night, the one recurring phrase is “it’s unclear whether he fell or jumped”. Put bluntly, Carl-Michael descended rapidly from either a four or five story building into a fractured state of unconsciousness. Carl retained absolutely no memory of the incident or the specific circumstances leading up to the event. Luckily, we do have the account of his close friend and Aura Noir bandmate, Apollyon.
His demon-titled friend released a statement that he had been speaking with Carl-Michael via telephone mere minutes before the unfortunate event. After Carl had hung up the phone, he said goodbye to the last few guests of the Inferno Festival after party, took an outside elevator to the top of the building, and plummeted shortly thereafter. At first, doctors were unsure if his recovery would include paralyzation from the waist down[6] as he suffered a total of twenty-six different fractures, with extensive damage to his heels and spine [3]. He was kept in a medically-induced coma for an extended period of time. According to Apollyon, their telephone conversation had given a strong impression that Carl-Michael was under the influence of drugs and that he had ‘taken too much’’[6]. Whether or not he had fallen completely by accident, or had made a drug-fueled attempt at ending his own life is unclear . In speaking of the incident, which he is often asked about, Carl-Michael has tersely responded that the event was a private matter between him and his family/close friends[7]. Like Vic, he has, by his own account, struggled at times with various mental health issues [3]. With regards to their personal relationship with each other, Vic spoke plainly in an interview, “[Carl-Michael] and I experienced a lot of psychological shit together… An [sic] relationship like that is impossible to maintain, we just knew each other to [sic] well in the end, and at the same time it was really exhausting for both of us to be so transparent in relation to another human-being.”[1]
Neither musician will credit and in some cases will outright deny the influence of drugs on their psyche as a contributing factor to the creation of Ved Buens Ende. Though, by many accounts there has been experimentation both large and small at various points before and after the project. What we are left to imagine is the unanswerable question: Is it drugs, failing mental health, or just inherent creativity that weaved the complex dissonant wonder that makes up this band?
Back to the larger question: Will there ever be a future for Ved Buens Ende (can it be replicated again)? The continued (and tested) answer from both parties is a resounding ‘no’. Nine years ago, after an attempt at reunion was dead and buried, Carl-Michael spoke of the new material as mediocre. He stated that he and Vic had grown too apart musically[8]. Even in this iteration, however, Skoll was absent, as he is no longer producing music. Due to injuries sustained in the fall, Carl-Michael cannot perform on drums, so where would that have left us? Fortunately, we do still have the remnants of one track of their attempts available online*[9]:
The guitars still hold that signature VBE sound without any contention. But, the drums no longer bear any of the jazz fundamentals present in the original work, nor is there a discernible bassline equal to Skoll by any stretch of the imagination. On this track, both Carl-Michael and Vic were playing guitar in a dual capacity, another first for the project.
The song was eventually released as Carl-Michael’s spiritual successor to Ved Buens Ende, Virus:
This version is strikingly different from the originally titled version. The signature guitar sound appears to have evolved technically, and yet is still distinctly reminiscent of its predecessor. The rhythm section is still lacking, however, so is another element: Vic on guitars. Does the song at all seem to suffer for it? At this point, I would say that the claim of a ’fifty-fity′ cooperation for the guitar composition was gratuitous to say the least. I have nothing but the utmost respect for Vic as an accomplished metal musician, but his contribution to the core of what makes VBE great appears to be negligible. One can never know what goes on in a rehearsal space between the musicians involved. Virus, on the other hand, seems to repeat a lot of itself much in the same way Tool never seems to change.
Nonetheless, let’s take a closer look at their accomplishments before and after the time with Ved Buens Ende.
the official throwingstar of DHG
Vicotnik in 1993: Manes**
The guitarwork is simple to say the least. It is certainly standard black metal, albeit with some of the expected charms. The performance unequivocally has nothing in common with Ved Buens Ende from a creative standpoint, nor by virtue of the ability employed.
Carl-Michael in 1993: Aura Noir***
If the riff at about the one minute point sounds familiar, it is because Carl-Michael used it in the publication for that Virus song, Shame Eclipse.
Although it is important to point out that ultimately, Aura Noir turned into a quintessential thrash metal band with the addition of Apollyon; the demo solely with Carl-Michael clearly indicates a strong precursor to Ved Buens Ende. He did perform the instrumentation in its entirety, but with the notable exception of the jazz elements. Perhaps the rhythmic jazz influence of VBE was helped or introduced by the bassist, Skoll? We may never know. However, the bass work that Skoll performed in his earlier years was with run-of-the-mill black metal acts that featured no experimentation of the same magnitude as VBE.
Vicotnik in 1998: Doedheimsgard****
Here we appear to have another breakthrough. First, I am grateful to learn that in the five years since Vic’s previous black metal attempts irrespective of Ved Buens Ende, he grew a lot as a guitarist. More importantly, the style and the specific riff at the near half-minute point is very reminiscent of some VBE black metal sections (in the ones I’ve omitted from the examples above). In later examples, Vic shows tremendous evolution as a musician, but in none of those examples will we find an acorn of that eccentric VBE style from their debut.
The Early Influences of Carl-Michael☩
Of the musical inspirations that Carl-Michael has listed[10][2], I’d like to highlight two which I feel show the prototype of his signature approach. Both possess the dark elements as well as the eccentric directions that became evident in his own compositions.
Thorns was the early 90’s project of Snorre Ruch. He was an incredibly underrated guitarist. The compositions he produced were an eerie sort of doomy black metal that were quite uncommon at the time. In the later years of Mayhem, you hear much more of what his nearly forgotten demo had influenced. Carl-Michael lists Thorns as an influence, and considering the eponymous release is composed of nearly all of the material they’ve ever put forth, it makes it an interesting singled out mention that perhaps weighs more in his work than one might expect.
In the prog-metal mastery of Voivod, we hear a much more robust example of what most likely shaped Carl-Michael’s musical endeavors. They were the perfect marriage of thrash and ‘weird’. Thrash is the soul of his interest in metal and most likely music at large. Many of his musician friends including Fenriz and Vic shared a love for this music, which is also the groundwork for much of modern black metal. In Fenriz’s own words when he spoke to Carl about the musical composition of VBE, “You are very Voivod”.[10]
Why Ved Buens Ende Matters
This may be a very strange case to make. If a creative artistic work is still largely unknown all those years after its release, how could it have made that strong of an impact? Or, does the answer matter at all? Is the creation of the work itself (in all of its esoteric glory) truly the priority, regardless of how other bands may incorporate it into their own work? Yet, let’s see what happens if we were to rank the most to least impactful bands of the modern age: would we not essentially be left with a list of what appeals to the largest group of people, irrespective of the quality of the work produced? If that is to be our measure, than any longstanding pop music tropes would be at the top of every list. Unless it is of the same magnitude and import of the Beatles, I would probably disagree with that assessment heavily.
To me, a strong victory is achieved anytime a band successfully breaks the mold of a trend and shatters the constructs of genre with the very soul of the music. Ved Buens Ende had reached a height with startling virtuosity that although, borrowed in many cases from black metal music, still possessed unique qualities I’ve yet to find anywhere else. Written in Waters (their single release) is nothing short of an epiphany.
Still, I’ve yet to find a band that lists VBE as a primary or even auxiliary influence in their own work. This could be a natural side effect of lacking enough exposure of the material in question to affect the masses in their own work, or the quantum of eccentricity is too great. Perhaps it is for the best, in the case of being the originators of something new- isn’t it a least a bit tarnished when crowds come and try their own hand at replicating the same thing?
I still consider Carl-Michael Eide to be the torchbearer who breathes life into the spiritual successor of Ved Buens Ende in the form of Virus. It is an imperfect child, lacking all of the rhythmic structure and jazz approach which I fell in love with in the original VBE. But considering how high they flew in achieving their artistic mastery, the trade-off isn’t so detrimental at all.
Edited by: A. Hochstein
If you’ve yet to do so, please consider purchasing the following albums at your retailer of choice:
Ved Buens Ende- Written in Waters
References:
1. Vicotnik Interview (2013)
2. Carl-Michael Interview (2000)
3. Carl-Michael Interview (2006)
4. Vicotnik Interview (2007)
5. Carl-Michael Interview (2009)
6. Apollyon Interview (2005)
7. Carl-Michael Interview II (2009)
8. Carl-Michael Interview (2007)
9. Einar Interview (2006)
10. Carl-Michael Interview (2008)
Biographical information borrowed heavily from Metal-Archives.
*The original YouTube link for this audio track is as follows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-epd_msHnUo (Re-uploaded to preserve content)
**The original YouTube link for this audio track is as follows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhFYn2F6W7c
***The original YouTube link for this audio track is as follows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcAkwGZ2iNA
****The original YouTube link for this audio track is as follows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJcXWeBsW7Q
☩The original YouTube links for these audio tracks are as follows: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edJipExKCwM, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=seFtjVmQypo
I Sang for the Swans 