"It has been amazing, can almost not believe it. All the reviews and sound-check positions all over have been over the top. It will be a hard task to out-do this on the next album, but so far we have some really great new tunes so we are confident."

This fairly new Norwegian three-piece metal band called Communic is brilliant. It's a fact around these parts. It was really cool that I got to pick the band's frontman (vocalist-guitarist-songwriter-lyricist)'s brain a bit with help from fellow kvltbloggers and fanboys Chacko and Prachit . Oddleif had just returned from a band performance at Wacken Open Air when we got in touch with him.

Hello Oddleif, how's it going?

Hello, we are doing great, loads of stuff to do and having a great time playing some cool festivals this summer, so we can't complain.


So how did Wacken go?

That was a great show, and an amazing audience. Nice weather and some fun days at the site. I got to see some other bands that I was looking forward to. Our fellow Norwegians in Immortal, Dimmu Borgir and some other bands. I even got the chance to join Destruction on stage as guest vocalist together with Bobby from Overkill, Peavy from Rage and some other great vocalist, that was a really cool moment for me.


I heard about Possessed playing there. I went 'what the fuck' when I heard about it but I wouldn't mind seeing them at all. Did you catch them?

I didn't get to see them, but I heard that it had been a great show.

It has been a year since Waves came out. How do you think the reception has been and how has it been with Nuclear Blast so far?

It has been amazing, can almost not believe it. All the reviews and sound-check positions all over have been over the top. It will be a hard task to out-do this on the next album, but so far we have some really great new tunes so we are confident. Nuclear has done a great job supporting the album, we did tons of interviews and promotion after the release, and we are still doing some interviews, so we have nothing to complain about.


Alright, what's with the ridiculous number of good metal bands coming from the Scandinavian peninsula? We had a theory that parents kick their kids into the woods and don't let them back in until they absolutely kill on both guitars and vocals. Basically a variation of "only the strong survive" and those who fail go on to form bad black metal bands. Are we right or are we right?

Ahh, I don't really know. Maybe it is the weather. The dark nights, long cold winters that just keep us inside and so we have nothing to do other than playing the instrument till the ears and hands are bleeding. I was never kicked into the forest as a kid though, but I guess Norwegian bands always have found loads of inspiration in nature, especially many of the Black Metal bands hailing from Norway.


Let's get the influences out of the way. As a guitar player and for Communic as a band, what are your primary influences?

My main influences comes from the American Thrash metal from the early 90s. Bands like Megadeth, Testament, Slayer and later I got more into the progressive side of it and into bands like Fates Warning, Queensryche, Psychotic Waltz and just developed my own style from all that.

And as a vocalist?

Again, Megadeth played an important role in the early days, and R.J. Dio, Rob Halford and Devon Graves are my personal favourites even today.

Were you always a vocalist?

I started out on the guitar and I could not sing at all. But when I started my first band called "Clairvoya" back in 92/93, I didn't manage to find a vocalist that we could have in the band and it ended with me just having to do it myself - and it sounded horrible. We even recorded a mini CD and it sucks. The music is still cool to me today, but the vocals on that disk are totally useless. After this recording, we managed to find a good vocalist that was playing with us for a while, when he suddenly dropped out and never came back. Then it was back to the mic for myself and it has just developed from there. After some singing and just blocking out when the other guys were complaining how bad it was, it got better and I found the way to get "power" in my voice. It was there all the time, but it just took me some time to get it out and discover it. Now I can listen to myself and not be ashamed :-)

A lot of people seem to think your sound is inspired by Nevermore. How far did that band directly influence you? Is it more a case of you drawing from the same influences as them? I know the first album you ever bought was Sanctuary's. Those vocal stylings and harmonies on Communic are quite like Warrel Dane's.

It was not the first album I bought, but the first CD I bought. I was buying LPs before that, but I can't remember what was first. In the beginning I was listening to Slade, Quiet Riot, Black Sabbath and later on a friend in my class, copied a tape of some different bands, and there were some songs on that one from Mirror Black and it hooked me at once. A really cool album, and I listened a lot to that one. I don't think it has had too much say in the development of the sound we have today in Communic, I think that is a blend of everybody in the band. Erik, for example, didn't check out Nevermore till after the name of that band started to pop-up in reviews regarding Communic. In some ways it is cool to be compared with Sanctuary because it was a unique band, and hopefully people will see that we have our own unique sound in Communic, it just has to sink in and develop together with our releases.

So from 'Conspiracy in Mind' to 'Waves of Visual Decay' what were the changes in approach to both songwriting and production? What were the lessons learnt from the experiences recording and releasing the first two albums?

Conspiracy was our first time in a "pro" studio, with a record deal, so things started to become serious. We were well prepared before we entered the studio and I think everything went as planned for the first one. On the next round, only a year later, we were a lot more relaxed, I think. We knew the producer better and dared to try out more stuff, especially with my vocals, I could take more risks and not be afraid of anyone laughing their asses off if I made a mistake, and my (self)confidence (for what I wanted to do) was better. Also the fact that we wanted a bit more energy into the Waves album, but still keep the dynamic changes that we have live and what we feel that the songs have when we play them in the rehearsing room.

You guys as of Waves, have settled down on writing expansive songs with one interesting part leading into another and on the whole, the songs ending up sounding dynamic and intense.  No dull moments whatsoever so far. Of course, most of your songs end up being comparatively long. It's a unique band, walk us through the songwriting process.

I usually make the basic ideas for a song at home, mostly bits and pieces, but sometimes more complete ideas, this is where I make the vocal lines as well - Then we jam out the stuff together, adding drums and bass - as I like to get the other guys ideas into the song as well, and then new stuff develops and we add even more ideas that we just have to add, and suddenly we have a song that last for 8 minutes that feels like 4 minutes when we play it. Strange, but I have tried to write shorter songs but it always fails - maybe some day!!!

You have any home recording setup? When you have some ideas for riffs, melodies etc., what do you do till you meet the band for a jam and figure it out with them?

I have some possibilities at home where I can record some guitar, and can add some vocals if I want. Pretty simple stuff. I also have a handy (handheld) recorder that I use to tape the songs in the rehearsal room so new and cool ideas will be remembered. Most of the times the idea is in my head until we jam it out together, and then when I go to sleep at night - I re-arrange in my head...


The rhythm section is pretty kickass. The drummer knows when to hold back and when to let loose. Every drum part seem well written. Do you guys get together and figure these out or how?

I usually have some ideas on how the drums should be done, but when Tor-Atle is putting his head together he always comes up with stuff that is way better - therefore I never tell him my ideas. Only when he is out of ideas do I make some hints - but usually he kicks ass. Also Erik is his own master when it comes to the bass, and makes his own lines that works together with the guitars that I do. We consider the bass as just as important as the guitar in our sound, and usually he plays something totally different than the guitar is doing, and that is an important issue in our sound, and the way the final composition will be sounding.


What are your thoughts on the radio edit of the 'Conspiracy in Mind' title song?

I don't think that it justifies the song, but we needed a track for some sample CDs and compilations and even radio plays so we had to cut it down to 5 minutes and it sucks, but we didn't have a shorter song so it had to be done if we wanted to get played or get spots on the samples.

And the production. Waves came out much better sounding. Talk us through the production process.

More or less the same way as the debut album, but we used the same studio and i guess Jacob, the producer knew better what to improve. But we had been doing some festivals and done an European tour, so we had more energy with us into the studio this time, and wanted it to sound a bit more gritty, but still clean so all the ideas would shine through. Also hide the secrets even better so you as a listener wouldn't recognize them until the album has played for the 10th spin, making the album last longer.

Did you have any reference points for how your album should sound or you just left it to what came out best? What would you change about 'Waves...', looking back?

We wanted to take the sound that our guitar/bass and drums makes in our practice room, just taken into the studio quality and that was what we tried to do. Jacob is a master in getting a close to perfect drum and guitar sound. I believe we still could have gotten the bass some degree better but that will come next time around.

The guitar tones are crushing. Take us through your recording and live gear.

On the two albums I used my ENGL savage 120 amp. This was also my main amp on the tour that we did. Now I have sold this amp and will look into some new stuff for the next album. As for guitars I use a Jackson KV2T as my main guitar, tuned down to D with '011 strings and Duncan pickups. This is also my live guitar. Melodies and solos on the albums, I used my old Ibanez RG770 that still has its bite after 14 years of abuse.

So when you record, do you keep in mind and tell your producer/engineer to do so too, that you're a power trio with just a single guitar?

Live, it's only one guitar, but in the studio it is two or even more dubs, depending on what part it is, and then panned. I don't know the exact details, as every producer has his own secret to get "the" sound.

I was asking because after listening to the albums, it's scary to imagine how all this stuff can be pulled off live. What are the primary differences in the approach and sound of the band, if any, from what we hear on the record and live? How do you manage with a single guitar, playing all those complex parts and singing? In short, how do you pull it off?

It's a bit different in the live situation, because you have more energy in the sound and I believe that people would not notice that something is missing. We play most of the parts exact live, but when I play solos, there's only the bass backing up, and it works perfectly. It depends if we have a good sound engineer on the live shows that understands what we want. As for backing vocals, I'm kicking Erik's ass to sing more then he does today on stage, but all the "main" parts will be played live, and so far the feedback from the shows that we have done, even some of the biggest festival stages is that people are asking us where we hide the other musicians, but we are only 3 people on the stage, and nothing on tape.

Who handles the vocal harmonies/backing vocals live?

Erik does some, but not many, so we are working on getting more of the backup into the live sound, but people won't notice that they are missing.

Back to 'Waves of Visual Decay', the keyboards are much better integrated into the sound of the band. How much did Endre Kirkesola have to do with that? He generally filled up all the spaces without intruding and added a nice gloomy atmosphere to the music. You won't notice it but you'll find something missing if it wasn't there.  Is it just a studio setup, do you plan to work together again for the next album, or is it too early to say?

This is only a studio setup. We don't use the keys live as we don't feel that we need it. In the studio it is different. Then we use the keys as a filling for some spots, some secrets, that makes the album more interesting to listen to over a longer period of time. Endre did a great job, but if it will be him or someone else on the next one - time will tell.

So what are the plans now?

Now we have one more festival to do, Summer Breeze in Germany. Then we will do a European tour together with Threshold, and then we have one single festival in USA at ProgPower, before we lock ourselves down, preparing to record a new album that will be released early 2008 if everything goes as planned.


So the new songs, how have they evolved? Is there a progressive evolution from CiM and WoVd to the songs that'll eventually make it to the next album? How do you feel about these new ones?

So far we have many ideas for the next album ready, and we will start to get all the details done after the tour. I think it will be a natural continuing from where WoVd ended, and I have huge belief in the next album. It will be the important third album, and it will surely kick some ass.


Hey, Scariot is still at it with a cool new album featuring half of Spiral Architect. You heard it yet?

I have heard the album, got it in the mail from the guys, and I think it is an OK album, but to me the vocals are a bit odd. Maybe it is because I remember many of the ideas from the time that I was in the band, and personally I think it would have worked better with more aggressive vocal-form. It is a bit too straightforward, and there's not much room for the vocalist to make good melodies. but that is only my opinion. I really hope that the album and the band get the chance that they deserve.


What made you decide to redo your Ingermanland song 'At Dewy Prime' for the new album? I haven't heard the old recording so how different is the new version? How close to Conspiracy in Mind was the sound you had in the Ingermanland demo?

I see Communic as the natural development from where Ingermanland left off. The main difference is the new drummer. In Ingermanland we had a drummer that was oriented around Jazz and that made the music more progressive, and now with Tor Atle behind the drums, it is more powerful, dynamic and groovy. The music is more or less the same; the different playing style of the drummers makes a huge differance, but the way of thinking and composing is just the same. The idea behind the re-recording of At Dewy prime was that I thought that the song deserved so much more than just to be on the demo from the old days. The drums especially are the most noticeable difference from the early version, but you will easily catch the song in both versions. Maybe sometime later we may pick up some more old stuff, but time will tell. There's truly some great stuff that never was released that still has great potential.

Your love for the ocean theme is evident in your previous band, Ingermanland, as well as some songs from Communic. Would you ever consider doing another concept album about the ocean with Communic?

Sure, and that will most likely happen; I don't know if it will be a concept album, but single songs will probably see the light of day. The ocean is a great source of inspiration for me; I grew up with the ocean side as my closest neighbor and it has always attracted me. My father is a sailor and has been working as a Captain for as long as I can remember, so this is will probably be stuck in me forever.

We've enjoyed a few other ocean-based concept albums - Mastodon's 'Leviathan', Savatage's 'Wake of Magellan', Ahab's 'Call of the Wretched Sea' and Disbelief's 'Navigator'. Are there any that have caught your attention?

I have the Wake of Magellan; that is a great album, and Navigator as well - but that's basically too extreme for me (ha-ha), haven't heard the others you mentioned - maybe now's the time to check them out...

So how's the reception for your kind of metal over there in your home country so far? Who are the bands that you tour with locally and in Europe?

Locally, there's not that much going on. We have a great thrash band here that we have played a bit with called "Harm"; great guys. In Norway, generally the metal scene is not that big, but there are not that many people here, when you look at the size of the country and its population. Black metal has many fans over here, but progressive, thrash and power, has a better market in Europe, especially Germany. So far we have done tours with Graveworm, Ensiferum and Scar Symmetry.

Say if you have a chance to use that damn time machine to go back in time, what bands would you like to be a part of? One each from the 70s, 80s and 90s.

Wow, don't know exactly when these started up, but this would have been great fun..... Led Zeppelin, Fates Warning, Megadeth...

We hear that, like us, you like playing video games. Which ones are you currently playing, and do you have any all-time favourites?

Lately, I haven't had much time to play, maybe when the winter is coming I will get hooked again. I love horror games like Silent Hill, and Resident Evil 4 was GREAT!!!

Have you ever been really impressed by the music in any video game? If so, which ones?

No, not that I can think of. In racing games I usually turn the music down and play some music on the stereo.

If you had the option to play the music for any game of your choice, which one would it be?

Maybe for a future Need for Speed game. Could be a perfect match.

Is Communic enough to pay the bills or do you guys have day jobs?

No, we have normal day jobs. I'm working as an Art Director, and Tor Atle is working as a foreman on an automobile mechanic workshop. Erik is not working, and I guess he never will. Too lazy (ha-ha).

The most memorable gig till date.

Our first big festival gig at the Rock-Hard festival 2005. We were quite nervous, and there were lots of people there checking us out. But it went great and hopefully we can play there again sometime.

The worst Communic gig.

Can't think of any special gig that has gone wrong. There have been some times we have had to play with a lousy stage sound but we always managed to get through without wrecking it all.

What's the most memorable gig you've been to?

Was at Wacken festival for the first time in 1997, as a fan. It was hell to get there but when we arrived, we were in metal-heaven. No special band, but the vibe of the festival was a thing to remember.


Hey Oddleif, meet Thadiyan - he's our mascot.

Who are the 3 bands or musicians who needs to be 'taken care of' by him in your opinion and why?

Metallica - for not getting their ass together and making proper music again, I know they can, and hopefully that will change with the next album.
Dragonforce - get them to slow down a bit...
Emperor - for putting the band to rest. Get them to make a new album!!!!


You should come to India! We'd make sure you get some great food, at the very least. All the stuff that passes for Indian food there is really sub-par.

Would love to come to India some time. I like Indian food, so if you say that what we get here is sub-par, the real stuff must be great. We have some nice Indian restaurants here locally who claim that they serve the real stuff, and I like it.

Anything you want to say to kvltblog readers?

Thanks for reading; hopefully we can come to India some time. That would be amazing. If somebody has a rich uncle with loads of oil in the well who wants to sponsor our flights, we will and play !!!!  Greetings from cold Norway.