I think the "dawning of a new era" sounds a bit pretentious, and to me it's simply a step closer to my roots, and thus yes - I do feel liberated by this. I know many dislike this move, and I suspect that it is not really the dawning of a new era, but rather a move to a style which sells less records

We pick up the lost bits and pieces, from the grass where we left them, and bring them with us into a future that will be made up of so much more as well.

Your music has been a powerful vehicle for your philosophies.

I am too conservative to use another studio than the one I am used to, so I "had" to travel all the way from France to Norway every time I wanted to record an album. That was about 3,500 km each way in a Lada Niva with a cruising speed of 90 kph.

The only negative thing about murder is that when you kills someone they can no longer suffer

Initially it was a fascination for Tolkienesque Fantasy, and role-playing games, with time I realized that it was the mythological elements that fascinated me the most, so I moved more and more in that direction.

I like Iron Maiden and a few other bands, but by and large I don't like metal music. Most of it simply put reeks. This meant that it was no great loss for me to drop the metal music altogether.