Vredehammer’s second album Violator is an incredibly enjoyable 35 minutes of blackened aggression that I can’t seem to stop listening to. Wanting to know more, mainman Per Valla provided me with some more information…
For those who are unfamiliar with your band – introduce yourself!
We are Vredehammer from the north of Norway. We play extreme metal. Some people compare our music to Decapitated, Keep of Kalessin and Testament etc.
Give us a bit of background to Vredehammer
I started Vredehammer as a soloproject in 2009 without putting too much effort into it really, but when people seemed to like it and I had several offers from labels, I decided to start taking it more seriously. Before we started doing live shows Vredehammer had already released 3 EP`s. After this we signed to indie recordings and started releasing albums and doing tours etc.
What are your influences?
Probably the same as for all metalheads my age I would say. Testament, Pantera, Metallica, Megadeth, Sepultura and so on.
What are you listening to at the moment that you would like to recommend?
At the I am listening a lot to the new Dream Theater album “The astonishing”. I definitely recommend it. A real masterpiece!
How do you feel that you fit into the wider Black Metal scene?
Personally I don’t think we are a black metal band, but more just an extreme metal band. Given that we live far north in Norway we don’t really associate with the rest of the Norwegian bands, this way I think we have more freedom to do our own thing and create our own sound with time. Besides that I feel we offer the same amount of quality as other established artist in the genre.
Give us a bit of background to Violator – any particular concepts or ideas you want to discuss?
The music was inspired and written after having done a couple of tours with Six Feet Under. I was never really into their music until I saw them live, and the power they distribute with their groovy material. I wanted to adopt this feeling and offer a more groovy sound and feeling live. The lyrics are mainly inspired by books from Stephen King, war and some personal lyrics where I share my views on ignorant people and the state of the world.
Tell us about the album artwork
The album artwork was created by Remi Juliebø and Indie Recordings. They thought it looked cool and so did we hehe.
How do you go about writing your songs?
I write all the raw material and the lyrics. In the studio all members of the band put their personal touch on the songs through their instruments.
How did the recording process go?
This time the recording process was insanely smooth. No bumps in the road plus we had a really great studio technician Stamos Koliousis. Basically I tracked the guitars at home, sent the files to our bass player who did the same, and in the end our drummer Felix tracked the drums in a studio in Oslo.
What’s your favourite song on the album and why?
My favourite song is Deadfall. It’s a heavy motherfucker!
What does the future hold for Vredehammer?
Hard work and quality releases. That’s basically what we can offer. The rest is up to our listeners, promoters, festivals etc.
Wonderbox Metal 