Nordheim Interview
About Dinosaurs and Folk-Metalheads
2017 has seen the return of the epic Nordheim from north of the border in Quebec Canada and what a return it has been. With the release of their new album “Rapthor” they broke thru into my top albums of 2017 with a blend of speed, brutality, epicness and humor. Guitarist and Vocalist Warraxe answered some questions for us regarding the new album, the delays with it coming out, touring and few other things… check it out…
Congrats on your epic new album “RapThor”…..what has been the response to it so far?
“Thank you! Response has been great so far, we could say it is our best album according to the reviewers.”

About Dinosaurs and Folk Metalheads
What inspired the title of the album “RapThor”?
“Well, the album is about dinosaurs and generally folk metalheads like their band to sing about vikings so we made a pun with it.”
How did the artwork for the album come about? Who is the artist and what is the concept (if there is one)?
“We shoot ideas to the guy, he draws and then we say Yay or Nay! It’s as simple as that! We just wanted something ridiculous and completely stupid that nobody could ignore.”
It has been a long 4 years since your last album (2013’s “Refill”)….what has been going on with Nordheim? Did it take that long for the songs to come together for “RapThor”?
“The songs are made since 2014 I think.. The problem has been mainly financial and also we had to find a way to get out of our previous contract so yeah… legal shit…”
Painful Task
What is the writing process for Nordheim? Does everyone write or does one band member write the tracks/lyrics? How many tracks did you have ready for this album?
“Usually I’ll be writing what we consider the skeleton of the song, main riffs, basic drum beats and keys, etc… Once it is done I pre-record it with samples and shit so the guys know how it will sound like and they put their own modifications or suggestions. If ever we argue it is generally decided by votes hahaha. Once it is decided I undertake the painful task of writing every single instrument down in midi so we can add tracks for live and studios etc. Long process.”
What category or style do you think works for Nordheim? Are you OK with something along the lines of melodic death folk metal?
“Call it as you wish! It depends on what you focus your ears on I guess. I personally think it’s a kind of black/death metal with epic and folky touch, like if Dissection decided to party instead of hating hahahahaha.
What is your practice schedule like? Do you get together on a consistent basis or is it more when you need to?
“We jam when we need to but we still see each other almost every weekend. We hang out together a lot and of course half of what we’re talking about is the band hahaha.”
Have you always wanted to do tracks that are both a combination of serious and comedic as you have done on your albums? Is it important to not take things so serious all the time for you guys?
“We like to play good music, but being a serious viking with his arms crossed is sooooooo not for us. It is waaaaaay better to be the happy moron singing about bacon and dinosaurs and people treat you as an equal and they can see you’re not faking anything and that’s what makes our contact with our fans so great I think.”

Screwed
This album is being independently released as opposed to being thru a label….is this a better situation for you? What are the pros and cons to the label route?
“It is better for us because we got screwed with our previous deal and lost ALL the income we could have had with our two previous albums. Labels basically take the major parts of your band income in exchange of distribution and they may help you to record your album ( financialy ) and print your merch. If you got the pesos to do that on your own, just go for a distributor like CDBaby, a publicist or something alike.”
Who are your biggest influences both in and out of music? Please include books, movies, TV etc……
“Our band is influenced by the pionners of course like Finntroll, Moonsorrow and Ensiferum but we are also influenced by other bands that we love like Rhapsody, Blind Guardian, Windir, Immortal, Darkthrone… anything really. We also are big fans of fantasy movies, action movies ( especially those with Arnold ), slashers ( mainly the 80’s ) and we are also big video games lovers ( retro and modern ). There are references to everything we like in Nordheim and it kinda influenced us also hahaha.”
Quebec has an incredible history of metal music… what sort of folk metal scene is there? Who are some of the bands you can get us familiar with?
“There are almost no other bands of folk metal in Quebec city hahahaha! There is Trollwar from Saguenay and you might like Valknacht (pagan black metal).”

Opportunities
Will there be a tour to support the album of some sort? What are your thoughts on touring and playing live in general?
“We are currently waiting for opportunities to play with big acts but we still have plans for little gigs here and there. We really like to play live but usually the pay is not even enough to break even so we have to pick our shows strategicaly.”
Thoughts on the ease of downloading music without being compensated? Are you OK with it if it gets your music out there?
“Totally. It is exactly how we came to be known and there is nothing to hate about that. Real fans will buy the album, they’ll support you 100%.”
Favorite tunes/albums from 2017?
“Malokarpatan – Nordkarpatenland is pretty cool because of the oldschool sound to it. I like the sound of the 80’s so it’s hard for me to find new records that hit this mark hahahaha.”
Closing thoughts?
“Better it is to shit a fart then to fart a shit.”
By: Jeff