1. Can you tell us a little bit about the band for those that have never heard of you before?
Broke: Among Gods, death metal from Bergen in Norway, started out in early 2011 as a 5 piece. We recorded our debut “Among Gods” in September the same year. This is released both on vinyl and cd format, and also available digitally(Spotify, Itunes etc.) Today the band consists of 4 fulltime members. Ripper’s doing the vocals, Broke handles the guitars, Mathis rides the bass and Ivan’s beating the drums.
2.How would you describe your musical sound?
Broke: Our sound could be described as “DeathDoom”. There are also an amount of melodies in our newer material.
Ripper: I think we can be described as something between death metal and heavy doom metal,-but as I am not very found of genres, let´s call it metal.
3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
Ripper: Blood, horror and applepie maybe,hehe..2 parts bad and 1 part good. Maybe the lyric parts that I write comes from a dark mind deep inside me. I guess so, but it´s about good and evil in life. They often lead you on the dark path, but it´s up to the listeners to make up their own mind about the lyrics really. I am just the storyteller.
4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?
Broke: The name speaks for our “higher self” as we all are surrounded by forces that are both good and bad. Music is about feelings and things you can’t describe physically. We find “Among Gods” suitable for our mission in music.
5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?
Broke: We have not done as much gigs as we’d wished for until now. Problems with a steady line-up has caused this. Anyhow, AG’s a strong unit on stage and we will be playing more livegigs in the future. Our best show so far must have been at John DEE in Oslo, or our release-gig at Garage in Bergen.
Ripper: If you sum up each members live experience with our other bands, I guess we`ve done our share of shows. As AG we´re a bit new to this but I can promise you that we`ll have one hell’of a live show during our gigs. The best thing is that we`re ourselves on stage...so there is no fake just true musical feelings shared with the audience.
6. Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
Broke: For now we are doing 2 festivals in the south of Norway. Møllafestivalen in August and Southern Discomfort in September this year. We have managed to get a killer line-up for these shows and our goal is to take this 5-piece out in Europe in 2013/14.
Ripper: First the two festivals as Broke speaks of and then hopefully we have the chance to bring our music to the masses in Europe..we`re ready to hit the road.
7. Currently you are signed to PRC Music, how did you get in contact with this label and how would you describe the support they have given you so far?
Broke: We got in contact with Remi and PRC as a coincidence reading a webzine called “Skullfukker Webzine”. Remi liked our music and gave us a deal, something we really appreciate! The support from PRC has been good in therms of spreading our name and music. This is so important for a unknown band like Among Gods.
8. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of underground metal?
Broke: AG’s got plenty of reviews from around the globe and they have all so far been great. Thanx to Remi and PRC Music our band has made some effort outside Norway !
Ripper: We have gotten national and international feedback on our debut album,-and we´re very pleased with all the good words. I hope that our new album will reached the same amount of good words, but I am sure it will. The new stuff is really heavy and we have taken the band to a new level.
9. What is going on with the other musical projects these days?
Broke: Ripper is doing a new Syrach-album, Broke is doing the second album with Vithr and Ivan’s also working with new releases for both his bands Neo and Vinterbris. Check them all out! We are not wasting our time, hehe.
10. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?
Broke: We have recently been recording drums and guitars for our next album. Next up is bass and vocals, and the new material will hit hard! Our goal is to make music we like ourselves, and hopefully this will create a new take on metal that people will recognise.
Ripper: Well, to my surprise we`re actually much more heavy on the new album but also very melodic. But the new songs turned out to be more doomy and such more groove than the debut. I am very pleased with the result so far. We´re having a new bass player in the line-up,-Mathis is his name,-and we`ll start recording the bass and vocals during the next months and finally mix the new album,-so I think you can look forward for the new AG album in the autumn.
11.What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are to nowadays?
Broke: To many to mention so let’s go for Black Sabbath. We are all listening to different music like world, jazz, funk and trip hop, haha! You gotta be open for different styles if you wanna make an effort in creating good music.
Ripper: I am basically into heavy metal, but I do not listen to new bands,-or I do that very rarely. I am a big fan of NWOBHM, and like classic rock as well. One of my all time favorite is The Police. Being open minded about music is important for us all.
12.Outside of music what are some of your interests?
Broke: Mostly family and friends as the music takes a lot of our time, playing in several acts. The nature is also fantastic here in Norway, so l try to spend time outside.
Ripper: Family and bands (in that order,hehe..) takes most of my time. And on my estate in the countryside I do some fly fishing. The peace and quiet surrounding fishing is pretty relaxing, and the thrill of the catch..and of course, all the nature surrounding.
13. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?
Broke: Among Gods would like to thank all the people out there supporting underground acts!
Ripper: Thanks for the interview. Some cool questions here,-and I hope the readers will enjoy this as well from some down to earth norwegian rockers. Thanks for supporting the underground. Cheers!
