Photos by Lars Gunnar Liestøl
(In September Season of Mist released a new album by the Norwegian progressive metal band Green Carnation, the first album in a three-album trilogy. Below you’ll find Comrade Aleks’ interview with the band’s vocalist Kjetil Nordhus, a discussion that delves into both the new album and the status of the ones to come.)
Initially, the name of the Norwegian band Green Carnation was firmly associated with its founder, Terje Vik Skye, better known as Tchort. He already had a reputation for his work with Emperor, and his new project, at the intersection of doom metal and prog rock, broke the mold. A series of successful albums in the 2000s earned Green Carnation a reputation as an artistic, emotional band with a keen eye for good melodies and well-developed ideas, so their departure from the scene in 2007 was not taken lightly.
However, Green Carnation returned ten years ago, and after a long hiatus, they released not just a new album, but the first part of a trilogy—the progressive and melancholic A Dark Poem Part I: The Shores of Melancholia. The band’s vocalist, Kjetil Nordhus, agreed to shed light on some details of this release, and the opportunity was unmissable. However, not everything is ideal in this world, and the interview could have appeared a few weeks earlier, but the situation was out of my hand. So here we go.
Hi Kjetil! How are you? How are you busy with Green Carnation’s things nowadays?
Hi. It is extremely busy, to be honest, which is a good thing, I guess. We have finished the writing and recording of the three new albums, but that doesn’t mean that we can sit down and relax. We needed to rehearse the material to be able to perform live, and of course there is a lot of promotional work, like this. Which I don’t mind at all.
First of all, it’s just good to see that you’ve returned and you have an ambitious plan at hand. So, A Dark Poem Part I: The Shores of Melancholia is not just a new album, but a part of an entire trilogy. How did you come to this idea? How was A Dark Poem started?
The idea was born many years ago, before we disbanded in 2006. After coming back to the international metal scene in 2016 it was something that we really wanted to do, and when discussing the future possibilities with Season of Mist we decided in 2017 that we would make an attempt. It took some years, but that makes it even sweeter that it is now going to happen.
It’s said that you returned to storytelling in a vein of Light of Day, Day of Darkness. Why did you choose this album as your guiding light this time? Don’t you feel a necessity to develop the band’s sound further in another direction? I mean… were you influenced rather by nostalgia than the urge of evolution?
I wouldn’t say that we are using Light of Day, Day of Darkness as a guiding light at all. I understand that people are comparing the two projects, but that is because of the level of ambition more than that we are trying to copy something we have done before. That has never been interesting for us at all.
Kjetil, you’ve said that this epicness unfolds in a three-album frame, so how do you think – will each album of the trilogy work separately? And do you aim to keep all three in the same way – melancholic, melodic… humanistic or even life-affirming?
This is something that the listener has to decide. We have been trying to make a monumental trilogy fit together as a whole, but also we have been trying to make all of the three albums be something that makes sense by themselves. The three albums have their own DNA but we hope that the total DNA of all three will make the listener have an even bigger understanding.
May we expect extreme songs like “The Slave That You Are” in the next two albums? Or is it just an exception from rules?
I think that song is certainly within the rules for this trilogy. There will be other thing on the next two albums that I think will surprise people even more than that song. But it is important for me to stress that 100 percent of the music on the albums are 100 percent within what we wanted the trilogy to be.
As I understand, the lyrics of new songs aren’t just emotional, but personal. What drove you to compose texts like this? How much of the real Kjetil is in the new material?
Stein Roger has written most of the lyrics, and we have had many, many hours discussing his lyrics. I think it correct to say that the lyrics are very personal, but on the same time they are universal. They are discussing issues that can be related to on a personal level and they also deal with struggles that we face in our time.
By the way, originally you wrote lyrics together with Tchort, how was it this time? Also I was surprised as Metal-Archives didn’t mention him as a part of A Dark Poem lineup. A kind of error probably.
We have been several members of the band writing lyrics, but this time Stein Roger wrote most of the lyrics, and I did the lyrics for “In Your Paradise,” which ended up as the first single. Tchort is a part of the A Dark Poem lineup, but he came back to the band (after a break for 2-3 years) after we had been to the studio to record.
After all, Green Carnation is a metal band, no doubt, of course. Do you feel a kind of writer’s block regarding some topics you’d like to raise in your texts?
As mentioned, Stein Roger is the main lyricist in the band, and there seems to be no end in his need to express himself, musically or lyrically. Which is good for us, of course
The concept of this trilogy is slightly based on Green Carnation’s unreleased (and unrecorded) album The Rise and Fall of Mankind. What didn’t work with this project? Why didn’t you develop this idea to the end?
The Rise and Fall of Mankind was Tchort’s idea, but since coming back in 2016 it is myself and Stein Roger who have written the music for Green Carnation. The original idea wouldn’t be possible to fulfill for anyone else than Tchort.
I guess that it’s a sort of obligation now, as it’s easy for listeners to lose their focus while they wait for a new chapter of A Dark Poem. How soon do you plan to release the second and third albums? Are they ready already?
They are both written and recorded. The two next chapters will be released in 2026.
Is Season of Mist ready to release all three new parts as a The Trilogy, an LP boxset containing the albums Journey to the End of The Night, Light of Day, Day of Darkness and A Blessing in Disguise?
Oh, that has not been discussed at all. We have agreed on releasing A Dark Poem in an LP boxset, and I think that is SO cool!!
Kjetil, you are also a producer of A Dark Poem — is it your first big experience in this field? How deep were you involved in the process alongside Stein and Endre? Was it just a formality?
Since I have been a co-writer on all the songs, it was important for me to follow the process all the way to the end. I have produced a few albums earlier, so it is not something that is new for me, but it was a very natural process for both me, Stein Roger and Endre to do it this way.
Are you interested in supporting A Dark Poem release with a tour? How difficult is it today to coordinate the schedules of all the band members and hit the road?
The schedules are really hard to coordinate, yes, but we are all extremely eager to present the new material on the road. Of course, Green Carnation has not been the most active live band the last few years, but we believe our new material will have audiences, concert and festival promoters wanting to see us live. And we are ready for that!
Kjetil, you take part in Art of the Departure, the project of your former colleague Tarald Lie Jr. from Tristania. I didn’t find much about it, is there any news from this side?
Tarald is one amazing guy, and I took part in his project with great joy. This is a very much independent project, of Tarald himself, and he doesn’t have too much help from labels and stuff. I know he has some new plans, and hopefully his music will be enjoyed by more people in the future!
Thanks for the interview Kjetil! Did we miss something important? How would you like to sum up it?
I think you covered most, and more. Thank you so much, and I hope you are happy with the answers!!
https://orcd.co/greencarnationadarkpoem1
https://greencarnationsom.bandcamp.com/album/a-dark-poem-part-i-the-shores-of-melancholia
https://www.facebook.com/GreenCarnationNorway
https://www.instagram.com/green2carnation/