Interview by: K.N.
Every now and then some music passes through us at NHR/VFTU that really catches our attention and makes us take notice. Grendel
was indeed one such act. They sent us one MP3 for our VFTU E-Compilation and every single one of us at NHR was blown away. The
scope of the music was so epic and everything was done so professionally that it really stood out amongst everything we’d heard up
to that point. After some due diligence, we convinced them to work with us on their newest CD, Dragons Awakening. With crushing
riffs and a truly grand atmosphere, they have raised the bar for both themselves and their peers. We recently spoke to Chainerdog
regarding recent line up changes, the new CD, and the future of this great Italian band.
Greetings Chainerdog, Congratulations on your most recent (as yet to be released) Dragons Awakening CD. Everyone at NHR is
amazed by the quality of your newest masterpiece. For any of our readers who may be unfamiliar with your band, please give us a
little information on your band and members.
Thank you for the interest and compliments. Grendel born in 2004 for the will of Mordred, the old singer, and myself (named Klingsor
at that time) at guitars. The idea was to form a black metal band with epic influences like the first Ulver, Immortal etc. . We
contacted Loathing (Gothmog in the first release) at drums. In 2005 we decided to record our first album ispired by the Anglo-Saxon
poem Beowulf, it has been released by an underground label called Narok records. From that moment we were still up to 2008 with
the desire to conclude with another album the story of Beowulf. Dragon awakening is our new album with Loathing at drums and me
on all the rest.
Obviously the concept of the band was derived from the classic Beowulf poem and its influence was very evident on your Beowulf
debut CD. Will this these be continued on this new album and in the future or are you expanding your lyrical themes now?
This album ends the story of Beowulf began with the first release. Regarding the future I believe that lyrics will not be part of a
concept but they will be more personal.
Speaking of your debut CD, it received some great reviews and was well received by the metal underground. Looking back on that
release are you still happy with it or are there any changes you’d make if you could?
I am very happy with the first album, obviously if I have to re-record it I’ll omit or change some things, but I still really like the way it is.
In what ways do you feel that Grendel have evolved since the release of Beowulf? Do you see a definitive direction for the band on
future releases?
It’s changed the approach with music: previously the first singer and I were very affected by pagan metal(especially Mordred). Since
Mordred have left we lost his strong epic interest, but I think Grendel will always carry an epic atmosphere.
Dragons Awakening, at least to me, seems more Blackened than your debut. There are less clean vocals and an overall more violent
feel to the tracks. Was this planned out or did it just come out that way?
Nothing has been planned, I just followed the feelings that the plot suggest me. For example in “the end is near”, which talks about
the battle between Beowulf and the dragon I tried to capture the motion of the fire and the flames spitted by the monster and the
violence of the battle itself.
One of the things I like most about this new release is the more violent approach to the songwriting as it stands in contrast to some
of the more epic moments of the material. There’s almost a schizophrenic element that really works well throughout the album.
Where these structures designed in a similar way to motion picture scores to accent your lyrical themes and help tell your story?
Exact, it was my approach during the songwriting .
Seeing as you are an Italian Black Metal band, has the culture and traditional music(s) of your country influenced your sound in any
way?
No, it hasn’t at all.
I noticed that you have undergone some major line up changes recently. Will this have an impact on the direction of Grendel in the
future?
Mordred wasn’t involved anymore in the project, Loathing and I decided to continue our work without him. This change should give
more stability to the band.
Will you be reassembling a full band in the future or will you be continuing as a duo? Are there any plans for live shows when and if
you reform Grendel as a full unit?
At the moment we are not going to do any live show for various reasons. We might change our mind in the future though.
Being very unfamiliar with the Italian metal community, how is the underground scene in Italy? I see a new influx of Black Metal from
that region. Is the scene growing or is it stagnant?
Honestly I don’t know, actually I don’t like very much most of the Italian black metal bands.
Do you care about the Metal scene in your country/city or are you more concerned with the bigger picture (ie. the scene in Europe)?
At the moment I’m not following a specific scene, I care about music which can communicate me something good, regardless of its
genre and country of origin.
Lastly and off the topic of Metal, as many of our readers and web visitors know we are avid Football supporters. So I was wondering if
any members of Grendel were Football supporters and if so, for whom?
We aren’t football fans nor sports in general, sorry.
On behalf of VFTU and NHR I would like to thank you for doing this interview with us and for releasing this album through us. Any
closing comments, announcements, or information for our readers?
Thanks for the interview. If you like good evocative yet extreme music listen to “Dragon awakening” and you will not be disappointed.
I would like to assure any readers out there that this album should not be missed as it’s one of the most epic and memorable Black
Metal releases to cross our paths in some time. Be sure to visit Grendel’s MySpace page for updates as well as clips and videos from
the new album, Dragons Awakening, out now on NHR Records.
WEB: http://www.myspace.com/trona1980
was indeed one such act. They sent us one MP3 for our VFTU E-Compilation and every single one of us at NHR was blown away. The
scope of the music was so epic and everything was done so professionally that it really stood out amongst everything we’d heard up
to that point. After some due diligence, we convinced them to work with us on their newest CD, Dragons Awakening. With crushing
riffs and a truly grand atmosphere, they have raised the bar for both themselves and their peers. We recently spoke to Chainerdog
regarding recent line up changes, the new CD, and the future of this great Italian band.
Greetings Chainerdog, Congratulations on your most recent (as yet to be released) Dragons Awakening CD. Everyone at NHR is
amazed by the quality of your newest masterpiece. For any of our readers who may be unfamiliar with your band, please give us a
little information on your band and members.
Thank you for the interest and compliments. Grendel born in 2004 for the will of Mordred, the old singer, and myself (named Klingsor
at that time) at guitars. The idea was to form a black metal band with epic influences like the first Ulver, Immortal etc. . We
contacted Loathing (Gothmog in the first release) at drums. In 2005 we decided to record our first album ispired by the Anglo-Saxon
poem Beowulf, it has been released by an underground label called Narok records. From that moment we were still up to 2008 with
the desire to conclude with another album the story of Beowulf. Dragon awakening is our new album with Loathing at drums and me
on all the rest.
Obviously the concept of the band was derived from the classic Beowulf poem and its influence was very evident on your Beowulf
debut CD. Will this these be continued on this new album and in the future or are you expanding your lyrical themes now?
This album ends the story of Beowulf began with the first release. Regarding the future I believe that lyrics will not be part of a
concept but they will be more personal.
Speaking of your debut CD, it received some great reviews and was well received by the metal underground. Looking back on that
release are you still happy with it or are there any changes you’d make if you could?
I am very happy with the first album, obviously if I have to re-record it I’ll omit or change some things, but I still really like the way it is.
In what ways do you feel that Grendel have evolved since the release of Beowulf? Do you see a definitive direction for the band on
future releases?
It’s changed the approach with music: previously the first singer and I were very affected by pagan metal(especially Mordred). Since
Mordred have left we lost his strong epic interest, but I think Grendel will always carry an epic atmosphere.
Dragons Awakening, at least to me, seems more Blackened than your debut. There are less clean vocals and an overall more violent
feel to the tracks. Was this planned out or did it just come out that way?
Nothing has been planned, I just followed the feelings that the plot suggest me. For example in “the end is near”, which talks about
the battle between Beowulf and the dragon I tried to capture the motion of the fire and the flames spitted by the monster and the
violence of the battle itself.
One of the things I like most about this new release is the more violent approach to the songwriting as it stands in contrast to some
of the more epic moments of the material. There’s almost a schizophrenic element that really works well throughout the album.
Where these structures designed in a similar way to motion picture scores to accent your lyrical themes and help tell your story?
Exact, it was my approach during the songwriting .
Seeing as you are an Italian Black Metal band, has the culture and traditional music(s) of your country influenced your sound in any
way?
No, it hasn’t at all.
I noticed that you have undergone some major line up changes recently. Will this have an impact on the direction of Grendel in the
future?
Mordred wasn’t involved anymore in the project, Loathing and I decided to continue our work without him. This change should give
more stability to the band.
Will you be reassembling a full band in the future or will you be continuing as a duo? Are there any plans for live shows when and if
you reform Grendel as a full unit?
At the moment we are not going to do any live show for various reasons. We might change our mind in the future though.
Being very unfamiliar with the Italian metal community, how is the underground scene in Italy? I see a new influx of Black Metal from
that region. Is the scene growing or is it stagnant?
Honestly I don’t know, actually I don’t like very much most of the Italian black metal bands.
Do you care about the Metal scene in your country/city or are you more concerned with the bigger picture (ie. the scene in Europe)?
At the moment I’m not following a specific scene, I care about music which can communicate me something good, regardless of its
genre and country of origin.
Lastly and off the topic of Metal, as many of our readers and web visitors know we are avid Football supporters. So I was wondering if
any members of Grendel were Football supporters and if so, for whom?
We aren’t football fans nor sports in general, sorry.
On behalf of VFTU and NHR I would like to thank you for doing this interview with us and for releasing this album through us. Any
closing comments, announcements, or information for our readers?
Thanks for the interview. If you like good evocative yet extreme music listen to “Dragon awakening” and you will not be disappointed.
I would like to assure any readers out there that this album should not be missed as it’s one of the most epic and memorable Black
Metal releases to cross our paths in some time. Be sure to visit Grendel’s MySpace page for updates as well as clips and videos from
the new album, Dragons Awakening, out now on NHR Records.
WEB: http://www.myspace.com/trona1980
