I do feel we live through what I like to call The 2nd Renaissance, but although I foresee a widespread return to the European religion I don't foresee a return to the past. The world has changed, everything is different today, and so will Paganism be.

Return to a simpler life, and you will see that behind the expensive cars, the fashionable clothes, the empty celebrities, the fancy houses and the thick layers of make-up life has real meaning. Behind all the lies there is a deep well of wisdom that we can all drink from, and grow wiser, healthier and happier.

The metal press has a certain type of audience, and I think most of them support the magazines' negative focus on me.

Out of pure spite we pretty much always said the opposite of what the other said, no matter what they said, only to mark distance. That's how we ended up calling ourselves Satanists, despite the fact that we absolutely were not. There was not a single Satanist in the whole Black Metal scene in Norway in 1991-92.

I'd say the modern world has moved yet further away from me, and I don't think whether or not I am incarcerated has had much to say in this context. Living with your family changes you, for the better, and that would be the reason for the accelerated growth in the post-prison period, so to say.

Words and ideas can change or influence the mind just like music can - yes, like a spell. Regarding the effect of my "spells" I think it varies; my music communicates with some, and I think it has had a positive influence on the minds of those who like it. I hope it helped them see the world from a different perspective.

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.