Dead Rhetoric: Wyruz as a band encompass a wide variety of influences from Bay Area thrash to death/black metal nuances which I believe helps the group gain their own style. Has this come to the band naturally, and are you very critical in the songwriting/lyrical content to get the best final tracks?
Larsen: On our first album Fire at Will we actually were stricter (about) how we should sound when it came to be more genre-specific, and it was a good start. We found the basic foundation for Wyruz, and brought this with us when we wrote Judge and Jury. The foundation was thrash metal, but things changed a bit when we started to write Judge and Jury as the songs got faster, way faster actually, and they changed in terms of arrangement. We just said fuck it! We are gonna write what comes out of us without going through any genre-filter, so yeah it came naturally to us when we just write the songs without thinking too much about it. In that way, we found the sound that we feel Wyruz should have, and we feel it fits us very much.
We are very critical when it comes to songwriting and arrangements as we discuss this a lot, and we try to agree on details as best we can. Judge and Jury has 13 songs that all of us felt had their place on the record and we all agreed on that. It’s a lot of hard work writing the songs that we do as we try out a lot of different arrangements, try out different solos, drum parts, basslines, take riffs out, put new ones in, and use a lot of time to get the vocals to fit in before we are satisfied. We make pre-productions of the songs and take notes so that every member of the band gets to speak their mind about the songs and so on, and I think in that way we (created) a much more varied album, and in that way, our songs get better with all four of us using our ideas and creativity.
Dead Rhetoric: What are your thoughts on your local Norwegian metal scene in general – you seem to have a great variety of bands in terms of styles, decent venues to play and notable festivals as well? Would you say that there is a strong, tight-knit community that helps keep everything alive and thriving?
Larsen: We are so very fortunate that we are from Hamar! The music scene in Hamar has always been very good, and especially the metal scene! Hamar has a population of only 30,000, but on our release gig we drew a crowd of 300 people. It`s very important to have a crowd who always supports you, and we also have one of Norway`s best venues in Hamar. We actually played two release gigs in our hometown, and one of them was to support the local band House of Culture on a Thursday night with free entrance for everyone and no age-limit. If only one of the people in the audience that night starts a band because of us, we have succeeded I guess?
The problem with a lot of bands is that they give up to soon. There are many distractions you need to overcome as you grow up, and sticking to something should be one of them.
Dead Rhetoric: Who do you consider benchmark bands that can be considered models for Wyruz to aspire to as far as longevity or professionalism in the metal scene? And how important do you think band friendships/ chemistry is to the overall mood and career goals for the band?
Larsen: One band that we can agree on, and I think I can speak for everyone in Wyruz that one of those bands is Behemoth! I don`t think they`re models, but a huge inspiration in the sense of professionalism, stage-presence, badass music and what they have achieved as a band.
The list would be a year-long, but I could also mention bands like: Exodus, Slayer, Death, Testament, Morbid Angel and so on.
As (far as) friendship and chemistry goes, we have been friends for a very long time! Some of us in the band have played together for over 20 years in numerous bands. We are very good friends, we have a very good chemistry and this is very important for us! I personally think this helps us to be a better band. We know where we have one another all the time, we can discuss things, have a “healthy” argument and can be done with it very quickly. I personally believe it`s a key element for a band to have an understanding if you want it to last over many years without changing the line-up all the time.
Dead Rhetoric: What concerns you the most about the world that we live in today?
Larsen: Well there are many things that concern us about the world today, but one of the most scary ones is technology and the time people spend with it. The smartphones of today make people live in/on the internet, and not on the outside world. It’s a very negative thing, and people get addicted to their online lives, following memes. (It’s) very important that people get their heads out of their asses, and learn to think for themselves.
Dead Rhetoric: How do the band members like to spend their free time away from music activities when you have the free time to pursue them?
Larsen: Well that differs from each member of the band. But we all have families, so that is important. But besides that, some of us like to drink and party, others like to work out, others like to take their dirt bike out for a spin in the forest, or take a trip on their Harley! Some like to ride wakeboards, snowboards and skateboards, or go fishing so there is quite a bit of hobbies going on in the band.
Dead Rhetoric: Have you begun songwriting work on the third full-length, and if so will the band continue to develop dynamic nuances to advance the Wyruz platform while remaining in the thrash style?
Larsen: As I mentioned earlier on Judge and Jury we found the style that fits Wyruz, and yes it will have the basic foundations and roots in thrash metal. We have started to write some music and riffs, there is one finished song to this point I believe. Everyone in the band plays guitar and makes songs, and has different approaches to how they write their riffs/songs. On the next album, we have been thinking about writing the songs a bit different. We will do more jam-sessions and play it out more together rather than having each member writing the songs mostly at home on our computers. The next time we want to have a more live feel when we write the third opus of the Wyruz.
Dead Rhetoric: How do you see the next six to twelve months going for Wyruz as far as touring, promotion, etc.? Do any of the members participate in any other outside bands/projects that you would like to share with the readers?
Larsen: As for the touring part, we are trying to get a tour this fall or early next year in 2017. We`ve had some offers to this point and we missed out on one of them, but you can’t win them all as they say. Our main focus would be to tour Europe first and foremost. We will see as we now have management working for us on the case. As for the promotion part, we plan on doing a new music video which we hope to have finished by the end of November. We are not going to reveal which song yet, so you`ll just have to wait and see.
As for other bands Vegar plays with the 70’s inspired rock band Souls of Tide, and they released their debut album, Join the Circus earlier this year, and Kim has a band/project through the place where he works. Atle has another band called Aleister Kane. They are still working on their debut album, and the style is more in the vain of stoner metal. Kenneth has a project that he works on at night in he’s basement, no one knows what it is, but it`s related to something in the vain of horror and metal.