A Fist in the Face of God Meets... Condor

The town of Kolbotn gets a lot of coverage on VICE. Not becasue of its sleepy, cozy village vibe, and excellent kebab shop, but because it produces so many insanely cool metal bands. And that fountain of metal purity is still flowing like an escalator straight out of hell, with three school kids calling themselves Condor, the latest addition to the prestigious Kolbotn Thrashers Union.

It was pretty tough to get an interview what with their dedication to both school and band rehearsals, but here it is. They're named after a condor that was going around stealing babies IRL, by the way.

VICE: Hey guys. Can you give me some background info on what you do outside of Condor?
‪Condor‬: Well, Magnus is an active skater and pops many sweet ollies in his spare time AND school time. Christoffer just became a mailman besides school and Herman is an active deadhead. Christoffer is also a hiking metal punk. We all love to share good laughs. Together.

OK, I see. Wait, you're all still at school? How old are you three?
Herman and Christoffer are 18 and Magnus is 18 in May. Yeah, we're all in school, but it's Herman and Christoffer's last year now.

Whoa, impressive. So you started Condor back in what, 2009?
Yes. It was Herman and Magnus first of all with Christoffer joining in 2010. They liked his other band Repellent, asked him to join, and the rest is a secret.

Repellent was great. So you guys come from the famed metal town of Kolbotn. Was it tough for you to come out with your own band at such a young age, given the high standard of what Kolbotn spits out?
We didn't think about that at all at the start, we just played like the other bands—Darkthrone, Nekromantheon, Obliteration, etc.—did before us. We believe it is our influences that define our sound, not the geography, but who knows. However, being from Kolbotn and knowing about the metal scene here has helped us a lot, both in terms of inspiration and them hyping us very much, haha.

But you weren't afraid of being able to live up to the mantle of being "another band from Kolbotn"—i.e., that people will expect you to KILL?
No, not really. We were surprised by all the kind words and that people liked it so much. Our next album will absolutely kill! Like a murder. Killed for the very first time. Magnus would like to add that he has killed a few people, of course.

Yeah, I heard that about him. So what's the fascination with baby stealing, then?
Magnus, again—he has a problem. Haha, no. We read it in a scanned picture of an old news article. We saw the word "condor" and the picture, and just had to use it as a title. A baby got stolen by a condor, and that's pretty badass, hence the title.

But you're also named after the Aura Noir track "Condor" right?
‪Y‬es! CONDOR!

So let's talk about the first demo a little. Was it recorded live in your rehearsal space?
Haha, thanks for the compliment! That's the way it should be, but no, it wasn't. We used one mic on the drums and got a very nasty bass sound, so it doesn't sound very good, but maybe it fits the music. The music was made in Condor's early days, so the songs are very different from each other. If we could have the opportunity now, we'd cut a few tracks, except from "Lumberjacks from Hell"—that's the coolest song in our eyes! Also, we used a cowbell which was supposed to be used in just one place on a track, but Herman went crazy and played it on all the songs until we removed it from the set, haha. We guess we're the first band from Kolbotn that does NOT need more cowbell. But hey, maybe in some years people will refer to it as "The Cowbell Demo." That would make us proud.

I love "Lumberjacks from Hell." So onto last year's demo, Speedwagon, or is it an EP? It's an EP, right?
Don't know that it is, really, haha. We call it an EP, it sounds cooler.

Alright, EP it is, then. It sounds almost as if you guys went and sold your souls to the devil at the crossroads in the year between releases…
Well, funny story—we actually did! No, of course we did not, haha, we are die-hard Christians. Thank you, Jesus!

That's a really funny joke.
But seriously, we feel the same way. It's completely different, much better. The new stuff we make is in the Speedwagon style.

Yeah? How far are you into the next release? And is it an album this time?
It's an album, alright. We're done with some songs and it sounds good. Three titles to get you sweaty are "Blood Fever," "Heavy Metal Demon," and "The POSSESSOR!" Are you possessed, Dylan?

What!? Of course I am. I'm possessed by both weed AND metal. So when can we expect this new Condor assault?
Late this year. We're looking forward to it.

What else, other than your local heroes, baby-stealing condors, skating, and school, are you guys influenced by?
We're influenced by many punk/ thrash bands at this moment. Stuff like Bad Brainds, D.R.I., Adrenalin OD, Puke, Faff-Bey, etc., and the usual thrash bands.

What about stuff outside of music? I see the news dictates some of your lyrical content.
The weather is an influence, it decides your feeling, and it's so cold here up North in the winter that you have to play fast to keep warm. Christoffer is especially influenced by the woods and we're all getting angrier and angrier every day at the conformity in our society. It sucks, but it keeps us from playing anything other than thrash!

What do you mean "the conformity"?
Most people seem to wanna look and be the way that is socially accepted and don't even dare to be different. Everyone is turning into make-up. It's not good. This development also influences the music, it kills the soul. And the boys are now more feminine than the women…

A‬lright. Keep it Christian, guys!

†ROCKWELL†