Words by Paige Cobos
When you think of black metal’s origin, the darkened Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Iceland all come to mind. Decades later, many might think that this homeland wouldn’t still produce sounds new and exciting for the genre. Many would be wrong. One band from the shores of Denmark is bringing something particularly new and exciting to the old ways.
Offernat infuses doom and sludge into their harsh sound of black metal on the release of their sophomore album, Where Nothing Grows. One half of the duo, Anders Bork talked about the purpose of lengthy tracks, personal themes, and other favorite bands breathing new life and sounds.
Off Shelf: How have you been since the release of Where Nothing Grows earlier this year?
Anders Bork: We’ve been keeping busy trying to set up concerts. Working on new merch and writing some new material as well. This release has been a big step for us joining up with our local label, Indisciplinarian and hooking up with a booking agent. We feel the record has been well received in our little community.
OS: Having done a couple of shows this year already, how has performing live been after the album release?
AB: It’s been great! We love playing live, and the songs are very fun to play. We can also feel that they hit the audience in a different way compared to the older material, so that’s really awesome.
OS: Going back further – to the beginning, how did you guys form up?
AB: Well, Jonas [Bangstrup] and I have been playing music together since we were 16 years old. We found an instant bond in Metallica and Mercyful Fate and we’ve been friends ever since. Offernat came to be in 2020. We had been jamming and writing songs since 2018, trying to find our way musically. Doing all kinds of stuff, dabbling in a few genres, but it culminated in Offernat where we found out what we wanted to do, our red thread. William [Frøland], with whom Jonas studied music, joined in, and Offernat was born. We have since parted ways with William and we now work as a two-piece in terms of writing and recording. We have a live bassist and we have thought about adding an extra guitarist to the live setup as well.
OS: What has the creative process been like in the writing and production of Where Nothing Grows?
AB: Creatively, it was quite a quick process. Before this material came to be, we had basically written a whole other album but we were not really satisfied with the songs and we were kind of in a lull. So we decided to throw all the material we had away and start again! This decision really renewed our creativity and after two or three months we had written Where Nothing Grows – except for “A Voice in the River,” which we did in the studio. Production-wise we worked with our good friend, Simon Sonne Andersen from Danish black band, Orm. We recorded it in his studio Full Moon Studios – seven days of recording and one to two months of mixing. We have recorded all our stuff with him and will probably be working with him again when it’s time for a new record. It’s very easy and fun recording with Simon. We worked together closely on the mix which we enjoyed a lot.
OS: What were some of the personal themes you wanted to explore with this album?
AB: The themes revolve around depression, alienation, loneliness, suicide, trauma, and mental illness. It’s a very personal record for me, as the lyrics are written in the lowest part of my own depression and suicidal periods. It was very cathartic writing these lyrics and helped me a lot at the time, trying to make sense of my life and why I chose to keep going. I hope in reading the lyrics the listener can relate and get something positive out of it. Just as so much music has helped me along the way to not feel so alone and to see that there are other people out there that feel the same way as I do.
OS: The track “Like Blood in the Snow” pops out as the more ambient track among the other four tracks. What was it like writing this particular song?
AB: This one is birthed out of our love for Black Sabbath and Mournful Congregation. They always know how to set the mood with a brooding instrumental. So, this is our version of what that might sound like. The writing itself was fast. As soon as the first part came about, the song came together quickly. We are really happy with how it turned out.
OS: The album has some lengthy tracks to it. How does song length influence particularly this album overall?
AB: We have always loved long songs. We feel you can really immerse yourself in a long piece of music. With different moods and shifts, you can tell a story with the music and not just the lyrics. We feel the length of the songs on this album really contribute to the feeling that you lose yourself in the music. Especially when some of the tracks transition into each other.
OS: Do you have a favorite personal track from Where Nothing Grows? What stands out about it?
AB: I think Funeral Fantasy is the favorite of both of us. I think it’s because of the emotional intensity of the lyrics and the music itself which really goes hand in hand together.
OS: What are some of your favorite metal bands right now?
AB: There’s a lot of amazing new stuff. But some faves right now would be Civerous, the new record Maze Envy is just amazing. Then there’s Sulfuric Hatred, Ancient Death, Asphalt, SlimeLord, Thou, Dream Unending, Mournful Congregation, and the list goes on! Pretty much anything from 20 Buck Spin and Sentient Ruin right now, it’s just so excellent. Not to forget The Flenser as well.
OS: What is next for you?
AB: We’ll be playing shows in support of this album for at least the rest of this year. After that we’ll maybe play some more shows, or maybe we’re ready to record some more music. Maybe both! [laughs] Time will tell.
These sound like some really fun folks! Excited to check out the tracks.