Interview:	BRYMIR
Title:	Complete transformation

On their new album „Voices In The Sky“ Brymir are the great epic summoners of all MeloDeath powers. The enormously varied work presents the mega-broad, lively sound of the Finns not only on the compositional top, but also in masterful arrangement art.

As lead vocalist Viktor ‚Storm‘ Gullichsen reports, it felt strange for him to have to experience the pandemic.

„Covid was a very strange time to be an artist. For us, we had just been on some seriously epic tours, we felt very inspired and had already set up plans to spend 2020 writing new music… Then world suddenly stopped and while we finally got to sit in our studios with unlimited time at our hands, there was just no inspiration to be found. It was then that I realized just how essential traveling together and playing live is for us and how real interaction with an audience is a driving force for new ideas. There is a certain sort of validation artists only get when looking the audience in the eyes... When all that disappeared, I entered zone of insecurity – which is the worst kind of poison I know for writing new music. It took some time to accept the new situation but at some point the distant memory of touring and the longing to get back on the road kicked in really strong and drove our creativity to new hights. Making our new album was quite a rollercoaster but I truly think it’s our best yet. Maybe it’s true what they say – no pain, no gain!

Who of you guys composed the lion's share of the new song material?

„I have been Brymir’s main writer since our previous album ‚Wings Of Fire‘ (2019).“

How did your collaboration for the new work go?

„Even though our new stuff usually comes from just me writing and recording demos by myself, the songs often actually become songs when we get to sit down together and figure out how to really make it rock. I’ve also often presented the guys with new demos in the tour van or written initialsong notes based on adrenaline-fuleled conversations after shows… Having to work outside this whole ecosystem was a surprising, but in restrospect obvious, hurdle that made the process longer and harder.“

Were any Ups and Downs during the songwriting?

„I think songwriting is all about riding the Ups and Downs, to harness the euphoria while on an uptrend and to surf the wave down into the abyss. The biggest down was during the beginning of the pandeming but I that one was simply crushing. It took a year to get back on the horse but after that every inch of joy, grief and hate has been channeled into that disc of music.“

Nearly everything has changed since Covid - the world, the music business, the societies - how much have you changed, how much have your views on true art changed now?

„As I mentioned earlier, I have come to appreciate human interaction so much more than before. But at the same time, I have also become disillusioned about humankinds capability to pursue even a common sense of common good. Or a common truth. As we have come to see, truth can mean many things... but at the core it means honesty. Same goes to art – if it’s honest, it can be true.“

Your catchy sound with Brymir is highly various - which styles of music do you like to hear nowadays then beside Metal?

„We have a very wide and varied taste in music, but I can reveal band members also listen to electronic music in some form. I’m really into dark electronic music and psychedelic soundscapes – like what can be heard on trance music from labels like Parvati Records of Zenon Records. Those don’t have a big impact on my writing for Brymir per se but you can definitely hear some similar atmospheres hidden here and there on the new album.“

© Markus Eck, 01.08.2022

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