Photo Credit: Andy La Rocque’s Sonic Train Studios
The prolific Thomas Bergli is regarded as a legend within the extreme metal community. In 1991, Bergli converted to black metal and formed the pioneering band Tulus after witnessing Darkthrone rehearsing for A Blaze in the Northern Sky. At that point, Bergli actually played drums in Valhall, an outfit that Darkthrone’s Fenriz had temporarily stepped away from after founding in 1987. Darkthrone’s Nocturno Culto has provided vocals for Bergli’s solo project, Sarke, from the very first album, Vorunah, which was released in 2009.
Upon signing with Satyr’s Moonfog Records in 2000, Khold originally represented Tulus with a new name and a slightly modified style intended to be more straightforward and conducive to live gigs. However, Tulus was clearly resurrected, and today the two groups run parallel. Khold currently consists of Bergli, as “Sarke,” on drums; guitarist Geir “Rinn” Kildahl; vocalist and guitarist Sverre “Gard” Stokland, Bergli’s Tulus co-founder; lyricist Hilde “Hildr” Nymoen, who has likewise been part of the Tulus team since their iconic debut record, Pure Black Energy; and the outfit’s newest addition, bassist Steinar Gundersen, known here simply by his first name. Khold’s music has much more groove and bass than one typically finds in black metal. Their work is raw, aggressive, old-school, poetic, and wonderfully dark. The team crafts beautiful melodies while crushing listeners with the heaviness of their riffs and pounding drums.
We were honored to have the opportunity to speak with Bergli about Khold’s remarkable eighth studio album, Du Dømmes Til Død, which dropped on March 22. Fortunately, we were able to touch upon Bergli’s other projects as well. Please enjoy the conversation that follows.
I love Du Dømmes Til Død. Congratulations on the release. I was wondering if you could please describe the creative process. Was anything different this time around? It’s my understanding that you write most of the music for Khold.
That’s true. Yes, I make most of the music. I will say that the process was almost the same as it was for the last album. There are just two years between the albums. Maybe this album is a bit more catchy. Maybe the last album was a bit more dark. This album is a bit more available, if you could say it like that.
I think I would agree. Did Rinn and Steinar contribute to the songwriting? I know that Gard did.
On this album, I wrote most of the music. They contribute a little bit. When we’re at rehearsal, sometimes they do things a little bit their own way. We make the songs at rehearsal, but I make mostly the riffs and ideas. We put them together at rehearsal so that we know that the song is also good live. It’s, of course, different sitting at home and making the songs than being at rehearsal with all of the members. To get the finished product, we do it together.
Steinar works with you in Sarke, so he immediately fit right into the band, yes? There was no trouble establishing chemistry with him?
No. We have known him for a long time, and he’s also a good bass player. It was very easy to bring him into the band. I’ll also say, on the last album, the guitarist [Rinn] did make some songs, and also Gard did a song. So, on the previous album, the others were involved more in the songs. But on this album, I was mostly doing the songs.
I was just wondering why Crowbel, your former bassist, parted ways with Khold because he was so great for the band, and he’s still playing with Tulus, I suppose.
Yeah. That’s true. He’s not a black metal guy. He likes mostly, you know, ’70s prog rock, and he has his own band also. And he doesn’t like the makeup thing and stuff like that. So, it’s actually not his kind of music.
It’s a shame that he left, but Steinar obviously did a perfect job filling his place. So, Du Dømmes Til Død is a concept album, and its title gives away what that concept is. I’ve said this to you before: Hildr is one of the greatest black metal lyricists, in my opinion. You’ve collaborated with her for such a long time — since the very beginning of Tulus. Did anything about her work surprise you this time around, or do you just basically know exactly what to expect from her at this point?
I am surprised that she still writes very good lyrics all the time, and that she doesn’t go empty of ideas. So, I’m very surprised by her high quality through all the years. But we know we will get good lyrics. I would say there are no big surprises. She delivers very good stuff, so that inspires us.
Did you and the rest of the band speak to her as she was crafting these lyrics, or did you just let her do her thing totally?
We do have ideas before starting, so we talk about the themes and what we want to do. This time, we also talked about having a concept album. Of course, with Khold, it’s always about death or something in that path, so we talked about that. We also like to keep it in Norway, you know, Norwegian nature, the old days in Norway. So, I think that concept fits well with Khold. So, we talked about that, and then she did the lyrics.
I’m very interested in Andy La Rocque’s work. Andy is fantastic, and he made a guest appearance on Du Dømmes Til Død. This is the second time you have recorded with him; you recorded Khold’s previous record, Svartsyn, with him. What would you like to say about working with Andy?
That’s very good. He’s easy, and the social thing is also very good with him. After the studio, we go out to eat, and we talk about everything. We ask him about King Diamond, of course, since we are all big fans of King Diamond. And, you know, we have met his wife, and we have been at his home. He’s a very-very nice guy, and he’s easy to talk to, and he has a very nice studio. So, it was a very easy choice to go with Andy again. We had a very good sound and production on the last album, and we were sure we would get it again.
How did that solo come about? Did you ask him, or did he just offer?
We asked him. We listened to the song, and I thought that maybe it would be cool to have something there. And we asked Andy if he could do it, and luckily for us he did.
For the LP, you have an alternative version of the cover by Kjell Åge Meland. Obviously, you worked with him for Sarke’s Allsighr and also for Tulus’ Fandens Kall. How did the decision to have two different versions of the cover come about?
In this day in age, I think it’s nice that the vinyl cover is a bit exclusive because we have the normal CD and the vinyl. And, yeah, we talked about having an exclusive version. So, he made the artwork for the vinyl.
For Svartsyn, you were nominated for a Spellemann Award, and I was really mad because you deserved to win. Your album was clearly better than the other picks. But, anyway, is there anything you would like to say about being nominated?
I would say it’s okay to get the recognition for the album. But when it comes to metal, it’s very hard to have a contest. So, it’s pretty strange because there’s a lot of good albums, and it’s very individual what people like. But to have people who recognize it, and say it’s a good album, and say it’s a Norwegian top four album, of course, it’s good. But if we are not nominated, it’s fine with us.
Khold is playing at Inferno Festival. Both Tulus and Khold are performing at Brutal Assault. Tulus is also travelling to Mexico, Germany, and Cosmic Void in London. What are you most looking forward to about these live gigs?
That’s to play for the crowd, of course. To get out there so people have the chance to hear us live. We don’t tour so much, so I think it’s nice to get out there, you know, to be onstage. Hopefully, we get a good sound. And, hopefully, there’s a lot of people. The places we are playing look quite good. We have never been to Mexico before. We have been asked before, but we usually say no. But this time, we feel that it’s a good thing, so we’re looking forward, of course, to going to a new place. Brutal Assault is good. And, of course, in Germany, there are a lot of fans. So, I look most forward to being onstage, having a good drums sound, playing loud, and hopefully people will enjoy it.
What are your future plans for Khold?
Right now, we don’t have any other plans than playing live, so I think we’ll play concerts this year. We’ll continue to play some gigs next year. Then we will take it from there. We’ve had two albums in two years. After the concerts, we will start to see when and what we will do for the next album.
I know you recorded a new Sarke album. Is there anything that you would be willing to reveal about that? I hope that we’ll be able to hear it soon.
Yes, you will be able to hear it soon. The first single is not so far away, actually. I must say that I’m very-very pleased about the new album. It’s very good. It’s very varied, from the very quiet up to black metal. The album cover is also very great. Everybody on the album did a fantastic job. The sound is also good. So, I will say that the new Sarke album is very-very good. It’s very atmospheric.
We spoke before the release of Fandens Kall. It’s a fantastic album, and it was one of my favorites of 2023. So, I was wondering if you could speak about the reception of that record.
We have received very good feedback for it. Lots of good reviews. The documentary has also gotten good vibes. Because it’s a very honest and true album, it seems that a lot of people like that we do it the honest and true way. So, I would say it has been very well-received. I get a lot of mail and good feedback about it.
Of course, as you said, Fandens Kall is a very honest and true album. Part of what made it so honest and true is that you recorded everything live together, except, for example, some of the embellishments like the acoustic guitars and whatnot. Was the process at all similar for Du Dømmes Til Død?
No, Khold is one on one instrument. We use a click-track. We play drums, and then guitars, and then bass, and then vocals. But we don’t use triggers and digital drum kits. We have acoustic drums, you know, and everything like that.
Are you in the studio when the other members are recording their parts and maybe giving them some guidance?
Yes-yes. I wrote most of the songs. But we talk about that before we go into the studio, so it’s no problem if they’re playing guitar if I’m out or something. They usually decide the sound. Andy, of course, helped us with all the guitar sounds and everything. In the studio, we all pretty much know what we want. And the bass player, he knows what sound he wants and everything. So, it’s quite easy.
Speaking of the documentary 3 Decades of Uncompromising Black Metal, do you think that you might do something like that again, perhaps this time for Khold instead of Tulus?
I don’t think so. I don’t think it would fit Khold that well, actually. Khold is a bit of a different band than Tulus. I don’t know, but I don’t see it happening now.
You only work on one project creatively at a time. Are you working on any of your projects right now?
No. After Covid, I made a lot of music because I was at home a lot. So, the Sarke album was made before the Khold album, actually. I wrote that Sarke album maybe two years ago, but we went into the studio later. Maybe that is quite good because I had a long time to work on it.
Which project do you think you’ll probably record with next? Tulus?
Yes, it will be Tulus. I think that we will start making new Tulus songs after the summer, I guess.
You’ve collaborated with Maxime Taccardi, who is an incredibly nice guy. Obviously, he’s an amazing artist and musician. He has made covers for both Sarke and Tulus. Is there anything you would like to say about your collaborations with him?
As you say, he has been very nice. I think what he has done for Sarke and Tulus is very good. He did the Old Old Death album — a very good album, I like that album very much. I did send him a message a month ago, so maybe we will use him on the next album again.
That would be awesome. I would really love that. So, yeah, it must be great and also simplify things infinitely to have three of your bands on the same label.
Yeah, it’s quite easy to have them all on the same label. We’ll see what happens in the future, but now it’s quite good. Jorn is very dedicated to his work.
Is there anything that we didn’t cover that you would like to discuss?
No, just that the Khold album will come out in two weeks. I guess my favorite songs are not the singles, so there are a lot more good songs. You have heard the whole album?
Yes, and it’s fantastic!
I have my favorites.
Do you want to reveal what they are?
I like “Heks.”
Yes! With Andy.
Yeah, that’s very good. And “Skoggangsmann.” I guess those are my two favorite songs.
