A project that artistically paints whatever can be defined as decadence, lack of hope, horror, hate, filth. Humanity in one word. So, highly inspired from this purest manifestation of self inflicted agony, I let myself go, trying to get the darker side out of Kim Sølve, the mastermind behind this weird project. I wanted the dark, he destroyed the meaning light. Enjoy the dialogue. It may take your point of view to some extreme sides. Mostly the dangerous ones. (Versione in Italiano)
Hail there. What a dark album. It hit me big time. It left me breathless… until your promoter suggested me to ask you few things, awakening me from my slumber. Here we go…. I ignored your project. And when I got it it kinda disappointed me during a first easy, not focused, listening. Then it went “Wow”… because this is literally fucking darkness, in a darker way. The cool thing is this is not metal (genre I take care of) but its filthiness is way sicker than most metal projects. So: how you define yourself? I think “industrial” is too limited, and I guess you’re the most qualified to answer or either badge your own project.
Thank you, Luca. Blitzkrieg Baby comes from a dark place, that’s for sure. Honestly I still find Industrial to be a suitable term, as I don’t see the limitations in that definition. Other than that I guess Electronic music is as good as any. The album may take some time to get into because we don’t stay true to any dogmatic formula. But it is not a difficult album in my opinion, some tracks even have choruses that could push us in the direction of Pop music. Pop music from the heart of darkness, that is. I agree, of course it is sicker than most Metal. I seldom find Metal to be sick anymore. To me, who was onboard the Norwegian Black Metal scene as a young teenager in the early nineties and was taken by the sense of true danger, Metal lost a lot of its real hard-on and darkness in the mid-nineties. Metal, like many other commercialized and commodified undergrounds, is for many the first go-to when people are searching for alternatives to the mainstream, making it more like a faux-dark sub-mainstream now which means that a lot of the usual themes are worn out and don’t have the same effect they used to have. I am sorry if that provokes anyone out there. Well, not really. Anyway I still play Metal in Manimalism myself so make of that what you will, folks.
Press info says your music contains “any musical element that BLITZKRIEG BABY deems necessary to pound its points in as deeply as possible”. What is the limit? The boundary? Where you wouldn’t ever go?
Blitzkrieg Baby’s muse is my own chronic negativity, the mental carpet bombing of negative impressions that I get served daily and all day long simply from being a a pig in a pig supremacy. That is a consistent feeling running through all of Blitzkrieg Baby’s work I believe, and therein lies much of the identity. It is difficult to pinpoint exactly what that is, but it is there, and it is not bound by genre, formula, or any need to belong or be approved by anyone. If there is a line or boundary then that must be when something doesn’t feel like Blitzkrieg Baby anymore.
In my review I dared to say “macabre poetry”. Where is the line diving your music from your poetry?
Blitzkrieg Baby is just as much about the lyrics and the artworks as it is about the music. It all comes from the same miserable place, and is delivered with the same wry smile. Some of our work begins with lyrics, some begins with music. Sometimes the music is there primarily to support the vocal delivery, sometimes I write a proper Pop tune, sometimes we skip vocals altogether.
Somehow I can think that everyday I could watch TV or get your music. The level of horror and decadence is similar. Your, at least, is art. The rest? We call it news. How is it possible that us, the so-called most evolved race on planet, are in reality such a monstrosity?
I ask myself similar questions every day. We are and have always been pigs. We destroy even without trying, even when trying to do the opposite. We demolish and wipe out everything around us. We are pathetic failures of nature. We are pigs. Sometimes I picture humanity as a sick animal, restlessly crawling forward through the centuries, spreading disease and torturous death without thought or care, always on the verge of dying but still living on forever and ever and ever, causing more agony, sickness and despair to everyone and everything, its mindless journey leaving behind a trail of the most inconceivably horrible death. However, there is always the pursuit of pleasure to distract.
Let’s look at what level of indecency we humans managed to push ourselves. Blitzkrieg Baby’s reaction? Laugh? Smile? Scream? What about the feeling: Irony? Horror? Love? Hate? Pleasure? Disgust?
Everything at the same time. The full spectrum is unavoidable, followed by emptiness and apathy. Disgust comes in daily doses. I am no better than anyone else. Blitzkrieg Baby is not about elevating myself over anyone else, I am no better. I am a pig. “Here are pig, there are pig, everywhere are pig-pig.”. Pleasure is a must. Which is why Blitzkrieg Baby is a slut. You know, when we are facing extinction and there is nothing more we can do, just dance and fuck and watch the huge bright light swallow the horizon. Just make sure you don’t trample the fucking flowers when you’re waiting to die. And make sure to follow Blitzkrieg Baby’s official Facebook profile while you are at it.
You’re not the only one interested in filthiest human manifestations. As an atheist I keep looking at where religions are driving our lives. Days ago there was this “news” about two guys having their hands cut off (live, not in a surgery!) for having touched a sacred book but not belonging to that religion (or something of same level stupidity). They fucking filmed the whole amputation (with all screams), including the ritual, the prayers, reading of sacred book. Religion is such a great source of human horror. What about Blitzkrieg Baby and religion?
There’s not much hope, is there? Like most people I yearn for something more, something outside of the ordinary and more valuable than the purely physical, perhaps something sacred. I don’t believe in the templates of commodified holiness that human history has regurgitated and shoved down our throats. Anyway, Blitzkrieg Baby is not about expressing anything of those parts of me. I do that in Swarms. Blitzkrieg Baby is a mental fistfuck, drugged-out pop icons in a hail of bullets.
On my review I said this Norwegian project is sick cynicism, extreme cynicism, sadistic cynicism, sarcastic cynicism. Scaring people off with a primordial terror. I also quoted Nietzsche who said “when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you”, and I added that “Kids’ World EP” is pure abyss. Our daily abyss. Do you agree
Yes, I guess so. I have constantly stared into the abyss since I was 3 years old. Some of that darkness manifested into Blitzkrieg Baby and took on a life of its own, some of it manifested elsewhere, some of it has nowhere to go.
Let’s go technical, let’s see how you create the sound: you’re four guys, but all of you either manage synthesizer or vocals. There’s not really a fixed role for each member like in a regular band. How do you compose then? How is a track developed? Origin? Samples? Topic? Reveal the creation of your darkness…
We are not a regular band, not at this point anyway. I am the founder, main creator, driving force and spokes person of Blitzkrieg Baby. I make pretty much all the music, but I rely heavily on input from a few others to get the result where I want to. The main four partners up to this point have been, and still are, Mr. B who does a lot of the vocals and co-writes many of the lyrics with me, Anders B. who does electronics on quite a few of the tracks, to a considerable degree on “Kids’ World EP” especially, Bjeima whom I collaborate with regarding the recording and arranging of many of the tracks as well as the the mixing and mastering, and Trine who does the visuals together with me. I usually work on tracks by myself and when I feel they are going somewhere I get my cohorts in. It is a similar process with the lyrics as well, often Mr. B. takes my lyrics and arranges them to fit his own intention and style of delivery, sometimes he writes them from scratch, and sometimes they are used just the way I wrote them.
A label related question: I love vintage things, I am an vinyl supporter. Beläten is famous for tapes. How come you decided to go this uncommon and somehow antique support? Mostly because you sound “so digital” (read it “modern/futuristic”) and tape is somehow a sign of a tradition that won’t go away…
Thomas Martin Ekelund who runs Beläten is a friend of mine and his Beläten label is superior. We had a mutual wish to do a Blitzkrieg Baby release on his label and “Kids World EP” is the result. That he releases on tape was not really a factor in that decision. However I think the current tape boom is much welcome. Listening to music on vinyl and tapes removes some of the hectic listening habits often experienced with digital-only playback. Let’s give music more time.
OK: I usually ask the band to say some hello to fans and readers of our webzine, with a messsage. But you’re no metal so maybe there’s no fans reading this here, or no metalheads caring about Blitzkrieg Baby. So say whatever you want. And maybe this will be the attraction, getting people reading this…. Thank you!
I don’t expect to find fans anywhere, although I think Blitzkrieg Baby should sell millions. If people are into Metal because of antics, posing, style, tradition, trends, and general closed-mindedness Blitzkrieg Baby is nothing for them. If they are into Metal because they are searching for a match between the darkness in themselves and the music, then I am sure Blitzkrieg Baby can be of interest. So if anyone out there is listening: give Blitzkrieg Baby a couple of spins and see if it does anything for you. Lastly I would like to extend my gratitude to you for this chat, Luca. I appreciate that you took the time to get Blitzkrieg Baby under your skin. Hopefully it won’t break out in a rash.
(Luca Zakk)
Few words about Kim Sølve: a human being created in Oslo, some 30/40 years ago. He has contributed to the Black Metal and avant-garde music world from behind the scenes during ages, through running Trine + Kim design studio with his partner Trine, doing album artworks for the likes of Ulver, Mayhem, Enslaved, Arcturus, Dødheimsgard, Solefald, Shining, Manes, and many more. He is also active in the metal band Manimalism (formed in 1992), Swarms, and has played in the Black Thrash band Delirium Bound. Since 2009 he has co-run the Avantgarde Metal label Adversum, releasing artists like Alfa Obscura, Yurei, I Left The Planet, Delirium Bound, and Stagnant Waters. Kim Sølve is the founder, main creator, driving force, spokes and damned soul, assuming he has a soul, behind the Industrial/Electronic act Blitzkrieg Baby.
