Nifelheim

Photo: Kristian Bengtsson

Until recently, twin brothers Hellbutcher and Tyrant of Nifelheim have been famous mainly for their extreme taste in studs, their Iron Maiden obsession, and living in a castle. But then they released their latest album,

Envoy of Lucifer

, and now, whether they want it or not, Nifelheim are touring the world, selling t-shirts by the pound to those weird metal-t-shirt-collector types, and having all their old albums rereleased. This is all happening about 18 years into their careers. But does this make them happy? No sir-ee, these Complainy McGrumpypantses won’t be happy until they blow up their devoted audience. Good luck, Nifelheim!

Vice: How was Nifelheim born?

Tyrant:

At the end of the 80s, at the same time that true heavy metal died, me and Hellbutcher started to feel like everything was so goddamn pussy. There were brown suede jackets with tassels as far as the eye could see. We wanted spandex pants and studs and corpse paint so we decided to start a proper fucking brutal band that could hold things down. We were very much into genuine black metal, like Bathory and Mayhem, so it seemed natural to play the most brutal and uncompromising music we could think of.

What was the black-metal scene like during the early 90s?

Black metal wasn’t always just fun and games, the way it is now. It was before you could buy Dimmu Borgir albums at Toys “R” Us. But after Euronymous was killed it blew up like an atom bomb. Bands grew out of the underground like fucking weeds. There must have been a million black-metal bands forming during the ’94 to ’95 period, and that’s when a big part of the genre died, at least to me.

Back then you said that you wanted to kill your audience.

One day, we will! We just need to do a few more gigs to build up for the ultimate ending, but it will probably come with bombs and napalm. Just liking Nifelheim won’t buy you a free ticket to escape the final judgment.

Yikesy. Your new album, Envoy of Lucifer, doesn’t sound like it was recorded in a dumpster 200 feet away. Are you getting soft?

Hell no! Throughout the years we’ve come to realize what absolute brutality is. It might seem like an utterly screechy noise is the most brutal sound in the world, and you might think that when you’re a teenager, but when push comes to shove, it’s the soundscape on

Envoy of Lucifer

that is the ultimate sound. You should be able to listen to it in the car without hearing just “kiiiiiish.” We’ve found the recipe that in the end will turn out to be the truth.

What’s the ultimate goal for Nifelheim?

It’s Armageddon! The ultimate termination. Everything will die. Much more than just the world, everything should die! Death is everything, life is nothing.

OK, thanks!