Marduk's Blasphemy Returns To North America

Marduk

The legendary blasphemous band Marduk is currently on the end of their US Plague Tour supporting their latest creation "Wormwood" which had crossed over onto Canadian soil in Toronto and Montreal earlier this month. They will be in the US until December 16th before heading back to Europe for their Funeral Nation Tour which will last until February 2010. When you look at Marduk live what do you see?

"You see a very visual band, which represents the visual side of the music and a natural reflection of the music which helps you get into that certain state of mind" says Morgan "Evil" Steinmeyer Håkansson, Marduk's guitarist and founder.

To find out why it took this band over 8 years to return to the States, where their name came from and how their songs reflect what they believe - listen it to our exclusive RockStar Weekly interview with Evil.

Wormwood marks two years together for the latest version of the band. How is it working out?

What happened to some of the guys you lost over the years. Some were in the band for a long time.

After doing 10 albums, what did you want or feel you needed to accomplish with Wormwood?

Album covers have always seemed important. Wormwood is no different. What was the thought behind the album cover?

Has Mortuus designed all the album covers?

So it was easier for Mortuus to get an idea of the album cover than previous people?

How does this album differ from what you were doing back in 1991 when you were releasing your first demo?

It’s been over 18 years since that first release, do you think you’ve accomplished being the world’s most brutal and blasphemous band?

With that brutal and blasphemous thought in mind, creating the band’s name from an obscure Babylonian God was brilliant.

The band has sung about Satanism, anti-Christianity, the bible, World War II and Nazi Germany. Do your personal beliefs match what you write about?

What is it about black metal and the darker side that drew you to write such things?

All your new songs are in English, do you prefer to sing in English?

Do you write in any other languages?

Being such a controversial act, have you had any difficulties playing shows over the years?

Are you banned from playing in any countries because of the content?

Why the delay in getting the band back to North America? It’s been about 8 years since you last played here.

You have a couple select Canadian dates. Too bad you didn’t make it to Vancouver with this tour.

It must be interesting crossing all those worldwide borders and telling the customs people you’re from a black metal band, do you have any great stories you can tell us about?

The band has a unique look that truly captures evil. How did the look develop?

Is the makeup and stage persona important?

I wanted to ask about Abruptum and Devil’s Whorehouse. Will we ever get to see those or other side projects from you again?

I’ve noticed some of the older Marduk albums have been reissued or packaged into box sets like Plague Angel. Will we see more of that in the future?

So after the US tour, you’re off to Europe and UK. Is there somewhere you’re looking forward to returning to?

Do you have a favorite song on this new album?

Interview by Avril Savoie
RockStar Weekly