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 THE CALL OF THE HEATHEN HORNSBornholm is a band known far and wide, even outside its native Hungary. Although there are only two full-length albums (On The Way of The Hunting Moon, March for Glory and Revenge, plus a demo), both have been very well received in the metal community and established Bornholm as one of the better known Hungarian black metal bands.
Hi, how are you? Thanks for agreeing to do this interview. Hi, thanks a lot, I'm fine! Giving an interview is always a great honour to me! It’s apparent from the lyrics that Bornholm has pledged its heart to Nordic mythology and history… What can you tell us about the name Bornholm? Why choose this particular name for the band? Hah, yes the strangest name ever for a metal band - long time ago our very first singer gave that name to our band and we surprised too when we heard it first time. We were a little band from north-Hungary and never thought that people will now us abroad, hah! But we liked the sounding of the word and we said yes for the name. The original meaning is 'the home of the burgunds-or longobards(long beard). They came to the Carpathians in the 6th century and there was a longobard kingdom in the land of Pannonia after they arrived here in the era of the Roman Empire. Odin's true warriors land.And there are a lot of occult places out there-so that is the story of the name. It’s been six years since your debut album On the Way of The Hunting Moon saw the light of day. Six years is a long time… Why such a lengthy break? The waiting was well worth it, since this newest album is fantastic, but what was the main reason? It's a very long story... In 2006 Vlad left us, after that Vozargh came as permanent guitarist and Thorgor as vocalist. In 2007 a new drummer D joined us from Sin Of Kain. Saterion left too after recording the new album. We had all problems that can be during the recordings and before, we had to work all day to do the band and it was too hard for some members. Hungary is not the dream-scene for a musician. There were hard times and it's not easy to do a band. While I was looking for members I worked on that album and the most work done by me again. So musically there are not so much difference but the songs are much stronger I think. In 2008 a new bass player came, an old friend of mine, Hjules from Sin Of Kain and the line-up is full now. I guess I found the right members and this is the true line-up of the band. Can you tell us a few words about that debut release, before we move oto your latest album? What is On the Way of The Hunting Moon about? That was our first full-length album and it was very important to us to step ahead after he demo release. When we started to record it we had no label at all.There were two permanent members in the band, Vlad and me – the others were left after the demo released – and there were really hard times. The whole music written by me except the drums, that was played by a guest drummer Ferenc Gyöngyösi. That time I moved to Budapest but this album was made and recorded in my hometown Szerencs. We worked in a little studio far from everything in north-Hungary and it had very special atmosphere. After the recordings the album stayed in closet until 2004 – we sent promos for several labels and some pieces were distributed as author's release-, that a little french label wrote back to me that they want to release the album. That point was the most important and in early 2005 the album officially released by Melancholia Records. Before it released we made a video for one of the most characteristic song of the album called “Acheron”. The album were distributed in whole Europe and it was the right start of the band. There was one question regarding the first album that I’m eager to ask. The third song Acheron… If I’m not mistaken, it was inspired by an infamous city from the stories surrounding Conan. However, all the other songs on that first album seem to be centered on Norse mythology, so why make an exception regarding this one? Whose initiative was that? I always liked Rober E. Howard's stories and it is a kind of tribute I think. We are not a conceptional band. If any theme hits my fancy I write about. Not only about nordic sagas or mythology – The Age Of Death, Blood And Iron is more fantasy too for example. There are more dark fantasy-like lyrics on the first demo and several dark pagan philosohical tends on the new one. So it is a salute for the for the dark literature. And now a few words about the theme behind the second album… How much does it differ from the first album, when it comes to lyrics? On the first album the lyrics were a mixture of nordic atmosphere and fantasy inspired themes. On this album I wanted to express something else, the paganism from different points of view. The organized religions make you a servant. Your life is ruled and the personal and ideological freedom is almost impossible. Every Gods die when people forget them. The ancient pagan religions based upon the the laws of nature. This is what makes men really great and this is the reason why cannot live people together with nature nowadays. We have no messiah and never had. The pagan religions contains a very strong virile attitude what are totally erased from the christianity for example. The strength of the soul and the proud heathen existence is the most resisted thing by christianity. But all organized religions hate the strong individuality. We say this is what we are, there are no foreign God commands us, we live on the way that we choose. But we don't want to preach for anybody. This is not a so-called concept album. Mostly based upon forgotten ancient battles, dark, gloomy myths and legends and it has a very authentic atmosphere I think.I don't want to explain the lyrics, if somebody wants to know more, will read them.It means different to any people I think.The themes I mentioned - or moments of history - ,are only different points of view. Paganism or heathenism have several faces, ideologies in different ages. For example Arminius and the battle of Teutoburg is a symbol. It was the shining age of heathenism, a real last golden age. The lyrics are about the triumph of pagan souls, mighty landscapes, war and the taste of victory. I'm interested in ancient history and I red a couple of books in the theme. It's all about endless power and walk your own way to the end. But this end is a new beginnig...  I can see the music has changed in some aspects, while it remained the same in others. Bornholm is still partial to acoustic guitars, yet the second album is more aggressive, faster… Some even say that the first album was darker than the second, and that the second is more warlike. Do you agree? Can you tell us, in your own words, the one thing you consider as the biggest difference between those two? Yes, I think so, the new album is totally about war and it has more battleground atmosphere. On the first album I worked with session musicians mostly, for example the drums and the keyboards were played by session musicians. We had not so much studio experiences and we worked in very little studio in my hometown Szerencs. But it's hard to find big differences between the albums because all the music was written by me. Maybe on the new one the songs are more aggressive as the sound and there are much better musicians on it. The drums are more complex and there are no simple themes or slow grooves. I tried to do something else but I wanted to keep the taste of the music. It was important to add some plus elements as the choirs and trombone themes but all these things are only for colouring, they don't change the style of the music or make it softer. It is more organic and warlike stuff than the first album. I see you also have a ‘new’ vocalist? A few words about him? Why the alteration? Have there been other changes in the line-up? He is a very young guy, only 23 years old so he has not so much previous musical life, haha! After Vlad's exit he was already member. We met in early 2006 when it seemed that we cannot continue with Vlad. He sent a record of the track '...On the way Of The Hunting Moon' with his voice and it was very surprising. He has much more grim voice than Vlad I think. But they're different frontmans, Vlad was a bit moderated on the stage, Thorgor is more demonic. This album is a beginning of a new era for us and I think he has enough power to do it. I notice clean vocals on the second album, while there were none on the first. Who is responsible for these clean passages? They add an epic streak to the music! All clean vocals are by me. I wanted to add some plus for this album and I like the kind of heroic clean vocals, for example on the Emperor albums. In live we do it with Vozargh and it works well. Some people claim Bornholm’s music is under the influence of one other paragon of the Hungarian scene – the renowned ‘Sear Bliss’. Care to comment on this? They are great frinds but I think i's not true. Sear Bliss walks it's own wan and we too. Zoltan played some trombone lines on the album because I wanted some live winds and he did it but that's all. Our music is faster and more riff-oriented, and they have their special harmonies. Bornholm’s two official videos are certainly one more thing that draws attention. Where were they filmed? We did the video 'Acheron' in the summer of 2004. And it was far not proffessional haha! We worked with very small crew on it in a forest near Budapest. Only two cameras and a lamp haha! There were 2 days recording and all afterwork was done by me. I did the colouring and the main editing of the clip, so it was real low budget ... But people like it and we did the best we could that time. It is the part of our history and we have a couple of great remembrances. The new video is more fantasy-like. There are a lot of visual effects which was made Hjules and me. It was very hard work through endless nights. The band parts recorded between medieval sets in a rock club in Budapest - we borrowed them from an old friend – so it is a self made video too. We handled the camera and the lights with Hjules – we work in the visual industry together at a game developer company. They helped us a lot finalizing the video and finishing the afterworks. It was good to hold everything in one hand but so tiring and I think we'll work with a proffessional crew next time haha! Are there ambitions to perform in Serbia sometime in the future? Howould the band react to that possibility? Of course it would be great! We heard a lot from the Serbian underground scene! We are planning to go touring and I hope that we cand visit your country! Speaking of performance, I hear you were scheduled to take part in Jotunheim Festival in neighboring Croatia, but it got canceled? Why? It is one of the worst things that happened with us that's all. I hate policy but some antifa asshole thought that it is a nazi-like festival and it was so great pressure on the organizers that they had to cancel it. These shitty political agitators caused a great loss for the audience and the bands who invited too. The organizer stopped doing any concerts in Croatia after this.That's all outcome. Bornholm has nothing to do with policy and I hate political movements, people who are in them and these antifa assholes too. I believe in eternal laws of nature and never believed in organized religions or political movements. It's a sad story. Word has reached me of a particular Hungarian Tribute to Bathory and Quorthon. Tells us a bit more of this compilation, if you can. What is the name of the song Bornholm is donating and what makes it special? One of my great friends – Krisztian Simon or Confused, as he known in the deep underground – the owner of a little label here in Hungary- told me that they are planing a hungarian tribute CD to Bathory. With my side project Invictus I performed a Burzum song on a previous Burzum tribute CD from the same label. I told him immediately yes and in summer the cover of the song 'Valhalla' was born. I always liked the viking metal era of Bathory and 'Hammerheart' is the highlight. We didn't want to make a cover song for such a well-known track – like 'One Rode To Asa Bay'. This is a pretty hidden song behind the others and I think we could show the best face of it. And it fits to our musical world too.We changed the song a bit – much more drums, brutal vocals - and we tried to put in a very monumental choir which makes unique the Bathory songs. We did a beautiful digipack cover for the CD and when Krisztian sent a copy to Boss – Quorthon's father and chief of Black Mark – he surprised that so much great songs are on the CD and he offered Krisztian a license deal. So it is available worldwide now and it's a great success for the hungarian underground I guess. In the end, I wish to thank you once more for taking the time to answer these questions. Eternal hail to you and to the entire band! Hail to all metalheads in Serbia! Thank you for the questions, they were exciting and I enjoyed the interview! Interview was done By Ivan Marković |
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