THROUGH MIRRORS SURREAL – AN INTERVIEW WITH TILINTETGJORT

A few months ago, I had the great pleasure of receiving and reviewing an utterly exciting and seductive debut offering entitled In Death I Shall Arise by the experimental black metal outfit Tilintetgjort, which turned into one of those revelatory and deeply meaningful listening experiences that are addictive and ceaselessly rewarding. Their brand of filthy, unpolished, and pitch-black metal music is as unique as it is original and stirring, and the only thing that made any sense was for Eternal Terror Live to catch up with the intriguing and skilled band from Oslo in order to discover more about what makes them tick and what inspires those claustrophobic soundscapes of theirs.

Photo by Carl Eek @ Necrolust Productions / NLP

Greetings, and thank you for taking time out of your schedule to talk to Eternal Terror Live today. Allow me to start out by congratulating you on having crafted one of the most inspiring and inspired black metal-esque releases that I have had the (mis)fortune of being utterly consumed by. It is a stately piece of work that ticks all the right boxes for me. What are your thoughts on it now that some time has passed since it was wrapped up and finished? 

T: We are very pleased with the outcome. We have worked on this album for a long time, and it’s good to see how well-received it is by the community. All the minor and major decisions we have made along the way seem to have been the right ones – we’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback, which is reassuring. Of course, some people don’t like the album, often because of the production. You don’t like black metal production? Maybe you just don’t like black metal.

Could you briefly tell us how Tilintetgjort came into existence and what events spurred on its creation?

T: In the early months of 2020, we had an intense writing period for (the band) Whip, where Sturt:, Den Gamle and Hazzlegard were members. We all had a seemingly bottomless well of creativity bottled inside us, and through the spring months we made a huge amount of music – from serious black metal to the most insane and ludicrous compositions. After looking at all the different and crazy things we had created, it was clear that we needed to establish a new band for the black metal parts of our creations (of course mixed with some of the insane bits). We recruited Tybalt on drums and Svik on vocals, which fulfilled the lineup. Then we set about honing the riffs and songs into what would eventually become the album. It was through rehearsing the songs vigorously that they really came alive – which was the main reason for the decision to record the album live.

How did the performance at this year’s edition of the Inferno Festival in Oslo go and were you satisfied with the outcome and result? 

T: It was a roaring success. The venue was packed, and we felt we delivered one of our best live performances.

I am curious as to what some of your shared musical and lyrical influences are. The thing is that the record transcends the raw black metal genre in quite a few ways, and there are elements and ideas that one could associate with claustrophobic noise and hellish dark ambient soundscapes – at least in terms of the vibe and atmosphere of the compositions. How exactly did your unique sound come about and who or what inspired it?

T: We are all of course inspired by ´90s black metal, but also progressive rock from the ‘70s and many other genres and styles. We do not think very hard about what we want to be inspired by; it flows naturally through us. But of course, we share a view on what we think of this world and life in general. Something is not right.

And then there is the cosmic horror and frightening aura of the album artwork – I get a Lovecraftian feel from merely glancing at it, which is obviously a huge compliment. It seems to me that nothing was left to chance with respect to the overall presentation of the LP and that each aspect of it is intertwined and related. Am I correct in that assertion? 

T: You are correct. Every detail of this album has been deliberate, and it has taken a lot of time to make everything line up. We are big Lovecraft fans, and the myth of cosmic horror, something horrific hidden in the web of space, is one that seeps through all our music.

The title of the album is rather evocative and intriguing, and it is pulled from the third and final part of the epic closing track named ‘Dommedagsmonument’. I keep coming back to the line that goes “I stare into the darkness for wisdom and clarity,” which, frankly speaking, haunts my mind. Is there a philosophical angle to the whole endeavor, i.e. the lyrical content of the entire album and could you elaborate on some of the thoughts that went into the words and music? 

T: Everything under the sun is visible and evident. It is only in darkness one can indulge in the mysteries of existence and find new paths where none were discovered before. In ‘Dommedagsmonument’, the narrator seeks to lay bare the hidden truths behind the veil of life – to discover the ancient truths that are impossible to comprehend by the living. We believe a lot of people seek counsel in the darkness, only to find that they are unable to cope with the answers they are given.

What does this year hold for Tilintetgjort? Live activities and recording sessions? Have you started working on the follow-up to In Death I Shall Arise?

T: The next album is in its early stages – but we are working continuously on it. We are playing at the Imperium Festival in early July and are looking for more gigs. Hit us up!

https://tilintetgjort.bandcamp.com/album/in-death-i-shall-arise

https://www.facebook.com/tilintetgjortnor/