Sometimes things are not as they seem. Norway’s Sarpeon released their full-length debut album Anomic Nation in December through Inverse Records though 2015 marks the tenth anniversary of the band. Sarpedon plays a darker, more melancholic brand of progressive metal, but gazing at the cover art of Anomic Nation brings to mind other images. Seeing a sleeping baby (which is actually just a doll) brings to mind the infamous Black Sabbath Born Again devil baby cover art, but the grey textures and disheveled lines behind a striking, sharp “Sarpedon” logo presents the Norwegians as maybe a black or death metal band. The guys recently took some time to answer questions about their troubled history; like a former bandmate calling out mainman and guitarist Torgeir Krokjford to settle a dispute “like real men”), Anomic Nation, fitting a black/death metal drummer in Carl Engstrøm into the band, their logo and baby cover art, and more.

BraveWords: The band has been around for almost ten years, but 2014 saw the release of your debut album Anomic Nation. Describe the hurdles and challenges the band had to overcome to reach this point to reach this point and how Sarpedon was picked up by Inverse Records.

Torgeir: “I won’t ask if you want the long story or the short, because I suppose all journalists always want the long one – but without going into way too much detail we’ve had our share of fuck-ups with former band members (it was indeed a strange night when one former member called me ten times and sent twice as many text messages asking me to ‘meet him in the park to settle this like real men’). Still, though, this album could have been done way earlier if we had been able to retain our focus and our goal despite the internal struggles. So in the end it’s only our own fault – I have spent lots of time on my day job, Carl has had lots of other (more successful) bands and Eirik (Krokfjord, vocalist) has completed his education and been able to create a career for himself as a classical singer.

“Still, though, although we might have been able to get the album out in 2010 or 2011, I think it would never have been as good as it is now. We are better musicians and have matured as individuals as well (no more settling things in the park), so eventually the whole delay – as frustrating as it was at the time – might have been for the good.”

BraveWords: You guys play a style of progressive metal that reminds me of Nevermore and is more interested in the structures of the song rather than long, drawn out songs and Eirik's vocals remind of Warrel Dane. What set the band to play this style of progressive metal and how did Eirik develop his vocal technique?

Eirik: “It's interesting that you should compare me to him, because I think the basis for our use of the voice are broadly similar. We're both classically trained baritones, but the classical influences are far more prevalent in my timbre than in his - currently, at least.

“A couple of years ago, I actually thought doing the vocals on Anomic Nation would signify my parting with metal, but when Sarpedon got signed out of the blue last year we all agreed that it felt natural to get back together. By then my voice had grown considerably and become far more robust and flexible - so although I just finished my education a few months ago and work full time as a freelance classical singer (fruitless, endless admin, that means), I like to think that that flexibility applies musically as well. This meaning that my schooling shouldn’t stand in the way of the music I’m doing, be it renaissance, contemporary, metal or lyrical 19th century opera. I certainly intend for this to be the case, anyway. I'd rather say it's a resource rather than a hindrance - knowing what you're doing doesn't hurt.

“As for Warrel Dane, he's probably my favorite vocalist out there, and a huge inspiration. I have immense respect for what he's doing, and he’s certainly one of my chief influences – let there be no doubt about that.”

BraveWords: Looking at the cover art and the "Sarpedon" logo; it would be easy to think that the band might be a black or death metal act. Intentional move to look this way? Where did the idea of the cover art come from?

Torgeir: “I suppose it was deliberate, yes – we all knew what Christophe Szpajdel stands for, and I contacted him because I (as many others) first came across his work through Emperor’s logo. We also wanted a slightly darker image than many other progressive metal bands – both to separate us from the ‘norm’ which definitely is established within the genre, but also because I’ve never identified myself with subjects prog metal bands often deal with - dungeons & dragons, outer space, etc. The lyrics also reflect this – several of them deal with actual events, and even the more abstract ones deal with specific subjects related to our actual society. We wanted this reflected in the cover art also, and I think Teemu (Liekkalla) really nailed it. I think the pics turned out very well also – but I’ve worked with photographer Øistein Norum Monsen at a newspaper for several years, so I knew he would do fab work. That being said – the little baby doll which gets its five nanoseconds of fame through our album cover was something we found by accident. When we were shooting our promo pictures the janitor came by and mentioned that some amateur actors were rehearsing for a play in the building next door. He got us a key, and we found the doll among the props for the play they were working on.

BraveWords: The drumming stands out on Anomic Nation. Carl Engstrom's background in the extreme metal realm adds another dimension to the music. Talk about the drumming and why you are perfect fit for the band.

Carl: I was a bit unsure if I was the perfect match for the band. I wanted to play ‘70s prog rock. But instead of finding someone to play prog rock with, Torgeir asked me if would consider playing prog metal instead. I thought about it briefly and said ‘ok let's try’. But it's true that I've played mostly black and death metal, so for me it felt natural mixing the extreme metal elements with the more progressive and standard heavy metal riffs that Torgeir had to offer. I think the slightly unusual mix worked in a way. It should also be said that although Torgeir has come up with almost all the riffs. Eirik and I have been very involved in structuring and arranging the songs. Overall it has been a team effort.

BraveWords: Seeing as you already have a number of years under your belt, were these songs you had from the beginning of the band or are they newer and have been developed over time? What are your favorite cuts from the album?

Torgeir: “Some of them (‘Mysteries 1 & 2’, ‘Seed Of Evil’) are very old – the intro melody from the latter was written when I was still in high school, 12-13 years ago. Other material is newer, but all of it is at least four-five years old – although we have been updating things a bit in the studio, some of the vocals were for example re-recorded before the album was mixed, and the keyboard arrangements are also new. Still, though, I think all the songs fit together – they all sound like Sarpedon songs, even though they were written when the band had different line-ups.  ‘My Mysteries Unwind 2’ is my favorite, I think. There you get everything Sarpedon stands for in one song.

 

BraveWords: What do you make of progressive metal and progressive music nowadays? How does Sarpedon fit into that equation and what separates the band from others?

Torgeir: “There are some fantastic bands (and quite a few of them are from Norway – Conception, Circus Maximus), but  I don’t think the term ‘progressive’ is very fitting anymore – ‘trying to sound like Dream Theater or Symphony X’ is not very close to making ‘progress’ in my book.

“I’m not saying this to indicate that we do stuff radically different in any way – in the end it comes down to guitar riffs and fast drums with us as well. Still, though, we have had a deliberate goal of trying not to sound like a ‘typical’ progressive metal band (the fact that there is a ‘typical’ progressive metal band shows how irrelevant that term is) – quasi-complex time signatures, high-pitch screaming and (John, Dream Theater guitarist) Petrucci on an off day-solos. We wanted a fundament of proper, aggressive, heavy metal riffs, the bottom line in all metal music, but with all the other stuff we like thrown in as well – Carl’s black metal influences, my Broadway fetish, Eirik’s atypical vocals and huge choirs arrangements, and Andreas’ at times dissonant keyboard work. While we never attempted to reinvent neither the wheel nor other means of transportation, our thought is that if Eirik, Carl, Andreas, and myself put our personal influences into a pot and stirred it, then the result of that would become different than if four other guys did the same. “

BraveWords: Future plans? Any touring? Already new music on the horizon?

Torgeir: We have our release party in Oslo on February 14, at an event arranged by the online metal radio Metal Express Radio for their 30th anniversary – and then we’ll see what more gigs will follow. We are talking about some other stuff but none of that is confirmed yet. What is certain, though, is that we are already talking about our next album. I guess we will begin working with the music for that one sometime in the spring or so, depending on how much live work there will be. I (and others) have some ideas for the next album already and I think I can say that we all have agreed to adopt a fantastic (Yngwie) Malmsteen quote to describe it: ‘More is more’. The riffs will be heavier, the drumming more intense, the melodies (even) stronger, the choirs (even) bigger, and the music more dynamic. Sure to say we can’t wait to get going on writing new stuff.

 

 

(Photo above by: Øistein Norum Monsen)