The legendary Kim Carlsson triumphantly stands as one of the greatest contemporary musicians, frontmen, and composers. By means of his uncompromising and ingenious creations, he has achieved immortality. In 2005, Carlsson, or “( ),” founded Lifelover, which he helmed, with Jonas “B” Bergqvist. Upon their very first meeting, the two immediately recorded a thoroughly mesmerizing promo, confirming their supernatural chemistry. Already in 2006, the group made history with their masterpiece of a debut, Pulver. Reflecting Carlsson’s excellence as a visual artist, the unsurpassed cover features one of a series of iconic and poetic photos that he took of his friend Eleanor, drenched in blood and lying amongst white flowers. In 2007, Lifelover unveiled their equally brilliant sophomore album, Erotik, another one of the most gripping and daring milestones imaginable. The additional canonical gems followed: Konkurs (2008), the EP Dekadens (2009), and finally Sjukdom (2011).

Looking back, it is nothing short of a miracle how Lifelover was able to establish their revolutionary identity so quickly and continued to experiment with each title. While Lifelover rests at the top of the black metal hierarchy, as true innovators, the band has also transcended the movement, incorporating elements of diverse genres and crafting a thoroughly individualistic style of their own — mimicked by countless acts across the world but, of course, never to be successfully replicated. Lifelover would come to an end with the tragic death of B on September 9, 2011. The band took the stage on the 11th and played a pair of other concerts that year in honor of B’s memory. In 2015, Lifelover again celebrated their illustrious career live.

Lifelover doesn’t need to be active in order for their legacy to persistently snowball. Nevertheless, the sublime Kall has been referred to as the hallucinatory phoenix that rose afterward. Different as Kall proves, the outfit bears the same spirit of creative evolution and beautifully engineered rebellion, the will to keep conquering new peaks. Kall dropped their self-titled album in 2014 and their second full-length effort, Brand, in 2020. Their intensely rewarding, genre-reinventing compositions are like mantras, constantly dwelling within you. We eagerly await Kall’s third full-length as well as the re-recording of Kall. In the meantime, Kall will present Lifelover in concert at different events next year with a special 45-minute set, the answer to fan prayers. This thrilling announcement came as greatly unexpected, major news.

We must not forget, however, that Carlsson’s formidable following also owes to his achievements with the pioneering Hypothermia, which could be described as his main band in a sense. B and Carlsson actually connected because the former had been an admirer of Hypothermia. Fortunately, Hypothermia’s most recent offering, Kaffe & Blod II (2017), which boasts a cover painted by Carlsson in exactly what its title suggests, was unleashed, as others, by Carlsson’s Unjoy — Art & Ritualia, which grew out of Insikt, whose emergence dates back roughly 20 years. Hypothermia has new gems planned, and we also have high hopes for the future of Unjoy.

On November 11 and December 9 of last year, Carlsson stunned us with two previously unheard sonic wonders from Consider Suicide, a moniker that Carlsson conceived back in 2006. Recorded in Belgium in 2019 and 2024 respectively with the esteemed Déhà, Gudalik II and Avstånd prove impossibly powerful spiritual journeys — gorgeous, meditative, cleansing, emotive, and, despite or rather because of their wordless majesty, impossibly thought-provoking. These two opuses represent Carlsson’s return to the spotlight after taking some time away — time during which a string of terribly exciting developments has been brewing under the surface, and, fortunately, more than we’ve already mentioned is currently in the works. I am beyond ecstatic that Carlsson has come back from the shadows with such glorious vengeance to put others to shame by virtue of his superior example.

On March 8, Unjoy dropped Ritualmord’s This Is Not Lifelover — a breathtaking triumph. The cover serves as a recreation of Pulver. However, Carlsson now takes Eleanor’s place as the focal point. Carlsson, ex-Lifelover bandmate 1853, and Déhà have constructed a gorgeous cinematic nightmare that confirms their enduring superiority and will to continue exploring new territories. This Is Not Lifelover equates to a highly complex offering that slashes listeners to the core, transporting them to the depths of pain and emptiness while also elevating and ennobling the spirit through the very suffering contained.

We eagerly await Carlsson’s future releases with his project A Symphony to the Void. Of course, we likewise encourage listeners to check out or revisit what Carlsson has accomplished with Horns Emerging, Nothing but Nothingness, and Kyla. Life Is Pain, his super-duo with Czechia’s revered Trist, furthermore spawned the three-song Bloody Melancholy (2006), which I view as among the best and most underrated recordings. It is simply too potent, a brutal trip directly into the heart of the abyss.

Verily, not enough can be said of Carlsson’s merits. The proper reaction is speechlessness. Carlsson brings unmatched authenticity, total commitment, profundity, and the rare flame of genius. In fact, when I listen to Carlsson’s art, I become aware that almost all else fails in comparison. It simply does not deliver the same level of unmixed truth. Carlsson excels at forging works that are extreme in the literal sense as well as that which might initially seem the opposite yet ultimately amounts to the epitome of extreme in terms of what it awakens within you.

We were humbled and honored to have the opportunity to catch up with Carlsson toward the end of 2024. His music is potentially life-changing and one of the few things to love about this wretched existence. 

What can you tell readers about the reunion?

I wouldn’t call it a reunion because we’re the same members as we were when the band disbanded, but, of course, this is not Lifelover; this is Kall presenting or performing Lifelover, which is a very different thing. The main point that we’re trying to make with this is that over the years, of course, we’ve gotten a lot of requests worldwide, but most of them don’t really follow up anyway because they just want the name Lifelover on their poster. They don’t really care about the story of the legacy of the band itself, which is important to us because if we do a lot of watered-down, just surface-level events that don’t really have any devotion behind them, I feel like it would be insincere towards both ourselves and our fans, both new and old. That is why we’re doing this kind of “presenting” instead because we will never tour with Lifelover. We want to really underline to both our fans and organizers that this is something else — it’s the same but different. That’s especially the case with next year being the 20th anniversary since the first time that me and Jonas met and formed the band — that’s what we’re celebrating. It’s not about any specific album. It’s about the beginning to the end of Lifelover, what that represents, and what it means to us. It’s somehow trying to tell this in an honest and loving kind of way.

Are you able to reveal which special guests might be joining you onstage?

So far, we haven’t really planned any special guests for these concerts. We already had a pretty good lineup in the past. When we did the 10-year anniversary, the second guitarist was Fredric Gråby from Bloodline and formerly Shining because, of course, he was a good friend to Jonas and the rest of us too. So, it made a lot of sense that he would play Jonas’ guitar parts. That was a lot of fun.

What are your hopes for Prophecy Fest? Of course, you played at Prophecy Fest in 2015.

Yeah, at the first edition. It also feels nice that for the 20th anniversary, we’re kind of celebrating the 10th. So, there are a lot of coincidences aligned. Somehow, that seems to always happen. I don’t plan on it, but somehow a lot of different timelines always intersect.

I would love to hear more about the way you and Jonas worked together. I understand that on top of your musical contributions, you provided a lot of Lifelover’s artwork.

It’s no secret that I’m the main person behind the majority of the artwork for the albums because Jonas was the kind of person that would shut himself in a lot. He would take walks at night, but, otherwise, he would be more secluded and just sit with his headphones and keep recording music. And that’s why we were so productive — he was always composing and writing music. While I do that too, his method was by performing at it. He got better at it and made his songs by just continuously recording, which is the same for Déhà. I have a different approach to composing music, and that is by being outside in nature or even in cities, just wandering around. Whatever sounds I hear when I’m out, I perceive them as melodies or textures that can become chords. I make mental notes of them and arrangements, and I don’t touch a single instrument before I have the song ready in my head. Then, I sit down with a guitar. During those walks, I always make sure to have at least one but preferably several cameras with me because you never know when one might stop working, or you need extra batteries, or whatever. And you never know when you will find something interesting. So, on all those walks over the years, I’ve always had cameras with me to take pictures, or something to record music with, and pen and paper to write something down with. I think that should go for anyone interested in creating something meaningful and worthwhile — whenever you are going out, even though it’s nice to have as light a bag as possible or none, it’s better to have something without needing it than needing it without having it. You can’t count on your fucking phone to work if you’re out in nature. If you get an idea that you might not remember, write it down. So, that’s how I usually come up with titles for songs, and concepts, and all of that too.

That’s fantastic. Speaking of your visual art, that’s obviously magnificent. Have you made any progress with the idea of a conceptual artbook with a soundtrack to accompany it?

Yeah, it’s something that I’m working on, but I’ve gotten sidetracked by this movie that I’m also working on because, beyond the artbook, there will be a CD of the soundtrack to it and a DVD. It will almost be like a box set edition of an album. I’m going to release it myself. I think that will bring me, as an artist, out more on the author kind of market so that publishers can get statistics on my engagement and sales and things like that. That will make it easier for me to maybe get a proper publishing deal for my next book. And I think I will at least break even with what I’m doing. So, that money will be used to release that artbook.

Really excited for that! I know that you’ll have a lot of success with it. I should ask: How did your recent performance with Kall at The Sinister Feast go?

It was a really good performance because we’ve had the same lineup now for almost two years — that’s when we changed from our previous drummer, who was on our second album, to our current drummer, who is also a member of Craft and some other bands. He’s a very good musician and a really nice person to work with and just be with, which is important when you’re rehearsing and touring. And then, sometimes, we can’t have a saxophone player with us because that’s a bit difficult to have onstage properly. The person we had for the last concert is one of the sound engineers that we have had with us at previous concerts too because he’s just the kind of sound engineer and musician who can play almost anything. Besides helping us to get our sound right in the sound booth, he also brings some synthesizers with him. So, he can play sax-like stuff but on synthesizers and just synthesizer stuff. Synthesizers work pretty well with metal too if you do it right.

Sofia [Kall’s studio saxophonist] is still with you, right? I really enjoy what she brings to the band.

Yeah, she’s on the next album. That’s confirmed.

Did you find a new drummer for Hypothermia?

Yeah, and by coincidence, he’s the same drummer that I used for Horns Emerging over a decade ago. Of course, he’s friends with a lot of my old friends in Gothenburg. We used to hang out in the past. And then, when I told one of my friends that I was looking for a new drummer, she was talking to some of his friends. We had some meetings and some rehearsals, and it feels right.

You’re still going to get back on the road with Hypothermia too?

Yes. I don’t know if it will be at the same time as the other things, but we’ll make sure that something happens this year.

That’ll be fabulous. Do you think you’ll come to the US soon? I hope so.

Yes, that’s something we would like to plan. I want it to be a shared experience in that it’s something that we do to elevate whatever black metal is right now. It needs something that elevates it. Because it’s been some years since Hypothermia did any performances, me and my new lineup are also making sure that any new performances we’re going to do are going to put old performances to shame. We want to really prove to people that this is an experience worth attending and being a part of — that it’s going to be a memorable event, that it’s not required to have a lot of blood or fireworks just to be a concert, that’s not what a performance is necessarily about. Sure, all of that looks cool in pictures and videos, but if your concert needs it, I think something is missing.

I agree. You’ve incorporated blood in a way I love though, whereas most bands that try just fail. I hate these groups that abuse flames and all to cover up their boring and generic music. By contrast, I am totally in awe of your power as a performer. Your pure emotion is worlds more memorable than these false displays of Satanism or whatever, which are really just insults to true believers. You are really transferring something of worth to the audience and, as you said, creating shared experiences. So, your vocal performances on Dekadens are, of course and as always, beyond words. This is the 15th anniversary of that EP, which I had hoped to see marked in some way. But I guess you’ll mark it in the future?

Yeah… But if I try to remember the anniversaries of everything that I’ve ever done, it will take too much of my energy and focus from what I’m doing in the future. I will focus on celebrations connected to the band as a whole. I think it’s better for people who like these releases to celebrate them in any way that they want or can.

That makes sense. I assume the interviews you did for Konkurs are still going to be saved for later?

Some of them are unusable because of the weather, and the equipment failed, and stuff like that. Sometimes, the sound disappeared. And since then, I’ve learned how to do these things properly. Part of what I’ve learned is to have extra cameras and microphones that I didn’t have then. We’re going to have new interviews. But instead of releasing a DVD, I’d rather have the video available to all on the internet. So, we’re going to make a special feature with some conversations with myself and other people about each album because I want the story and the legacy of Lifelover to be available to everyone past, present, and future. That’s the point of this anniversary.

Is your YouTube return going to be soon? [Note: By now, Carlsson has made his comeback to the platform, so check out his new videos!]

Yeah, and I’ve been struggling to get the right kind of vibe in this new studio that I have. I’ve rented some other rooms, but I’ve had problems with echoes. I have proper microphones and proper cameras. So, I’ll be able to do something in this spot.

I liked your idea of making some kind of audiobook with Phil A. For readers, I’ll note that Phil A. is clearly part of Craft, and he’s, like you, insanely talented. That’s immediately apparent when listening to Kall, Hypothermia’s Kaffe & Blod II, and anything else he’s been a part of. Does Craft still rehearse in your space? I was surprised that Mannevond has joined them.

What I can say is that several of the members — the guitarist, the drummer, and the bassist — all live in Stockholm. Usually, they don’t need the full band to rehearse. They just go through the setlist. But because the other two members are living in other cities, it is easier for them to just go to the concert. So, it’s not official that they rehearse with us, but it happens.

Is there anything you want to share about your studio and maybe new gear that you’ve acquired recently or technical discoveries?

Right now, I’m still in the mood or place of exploring because I haven’t had time to record the albums that I’m planning. But whenever I buy something new, it’s for the purpose of sound design — that I need a certain type of atmosphere. And then, I buy maybe some synthesizer or effect pedals and things like that. So, for example, for the first Ritualmord album that’s going to be released in January, my main focus with that production was that we wanted to create a sound that was as broken as possible because that reflects a lot of the themes and lyrics and the subjects of the album in a nice way. I’m going to make videos about this too on my YouTube channel.

There are many nice brands that make effect pedals that make things sound a bit old and broken but still keep the sound quality high, so there’s the option of how much you degrade or break it. The two manufacturers that I’ve been using most equipment from for this specific album are Chase Bliss Audio and Benson, which are two very good American companies. I think that you will probably see them on a lot of lists and people’s videos. And then, there is a Norwegian pedal-maker from Bergen, and they’re called Pladask Elektrisk. I’ve used some of their stuff, which is also weird glitchy stuff, on the album too.

The two new Consider Suicide albums are unbelievable, as previous releases, and I, of course, highly recommend that readers go to your YouTube channel and listen to what you and Déhà have already said about the project.

And why it’s called what it’s called. Obviously, now that I’ve decided to release these albums, I have even more reason to restart my channel because I want the features about these albums to be out by the time that the second album, Avstånd, gets released on the 9th of December, which happens to be my mother’s 60th birthday, so it becomes like an added gift.

I hope your mother is doing well. Do you still create art together nowadays? I know you’ve collaborated in the past, and she had a hand in Sjukdom, for instance.

Yeah, she’s made some art for one of my upcoming releases that I’ve talked about before that was made with the input of fans — they made requests for what instruments and kind of production I should use. My mother made the cover for that album. I know that I will be able to finish that this winter. And then, I’m going to make some more videos covering those topics. So, there’s always something happening — I’m also recording the last winter sequences for my movie, and then we’ll start editing that together. I’m making this movie together with my friend Martin Strandberg. He’s done several videos for Shining before.

He’s really talented, so it’s excellent news that you’re working together. And that’s so cool about the cover — I remember you told me about that. Gudalik is still going to have four parts, right?

Yeah, Gudalik has four parts, and there are more that are composed but not recorded. But there are several other releases before in the schedule.

Do you think you’ll give these albums physical releases because they really deserve that?

Yes, definitely.

Your photographs for Gudalik II and Avstånd are stunning, as always. You’ve exhibited your visual art internationally, of course. Do you have any exhibition plans coming up?

So far, the only thing I’ve been doing for the past three years is that me, and my mother, and two of our friends rent an old mill, like a water mill, or a grain mill rather, but it hasn’t been used for a long time — it’s owned by companies that let a private organization rent it a few months of the year. So, every year for two weeks, we rent the mill to have an art exhibition. I have my mixed-media paintings here and there, which was nice. Then, of course, my mother makes woodcuts, and other prints, and paintings that she has around the place. And then, one of my other friends is a glassblower. She makes glass sculptures, and glasses, and things like that.

This year, for example, me and Alex, or “Phil A. Cirone,” did an acoustic performance where we played some Consider Suicide and Hypothermia songs in the upper part of the mill, which is like a lodge. Every year, I bring effect pedals and instruments and create a new sound collage. So, it’s part of the exhibition that I create a soundtrack that’s unique every day. It goes through effects. There’s a kind of granular synthesis engine that cuts different parts of the sound and rearranges them. One hour later, the melody that you have put into the looper is slowly shifting. So, it evolves. At the end of the day, it’s not the same song as it was in the morning. It’s really nice to have that kind of evolving soundscape combined with the waterfall outside of the window and other nature sounds. We hide the speaker behind cloth, so it’s part of the exhibition.

Wow! Great to hear that’s still running! It must be totally overwhelming to experience all of that. As a painter, you’re always experimenting with different ingredients and seeing how they interact. Have you made any new breakthroughs lately in that regard?

So far, I’m a bit stuck with my recipe, or whatever you want to call it. Until I finish my artbook, I’m going to keep on doing what I’ve been doing for the past decade because I want to properly make it like a thesis. It’s something that I could publish, and bring with me, and do lectures on, and things like that, not that I think I would have time for it, but it’s nice to have the option. That’s what I think about when I make a bigger concept — it’s powerful and potent enough to stand on its own, but to truly transcend time, it needs to be able to do many other things. It would be easy to just make a book, but anyone can save money or take a loan and print something. This needs to be something more, so that’s why it’s taking time.

Again, I’m very much looking forward to the result! So, it’s the 20th anniversary of Kyla’s Glory of Negativity. Is there anything you want to say about that?

That’s just something I did because people asked me to do it. Back then, it had a similar purpose to what Consider Suicide has now in that it had ideas that would have become something else in the future. But Hypothermia has always had the problem, which I imposed on it myself, that I want it to be recorded mostly live or entirely live in a special location. That demands that me and several other people have time to meet at a place at least once a year. And usually, that’s not possible every year. That’s one of the reasons why Kyla was first created — I could just go to one of my friend’s home studios and record everything there instead of waiting another year until I could create another Hypothermia recording. And then, of course, that evolved over the years. After a while, I had more and more ideas, and more equipment for recording, and effects, and things like that that didn’t fit with my very purist view of what Hypothermia needs to be. So, that’s why Kyla died when it needed to and then resurrected kind of into Consider Suicide. But they almost existed at the same time, so it’s not the same thing, even though… It could be the same thing. I’ve thought about making something with Kyla, but I’d rather make that album as something else. I’ll see what happens. I have a lot of funny ideas that would be like insider jokes, but I’m not sure.

I would love to hear those come to fruition. Lifelover had some unforgettable humor. Obviously, in your bands, you’ve incorporated sax, as we mentioned, and violin, to name another example. Are there any other instruments that you haven’t experimented with that you want to try including?

One of my friends in Mexico is a very good cello player, so he’s going to be on the next Hypothermia album together with the violin. And then, of course, Déhà is a very good piano player. He plays bass on one of the unreleased Hypothermia albums. But Déhà is the kind of person that doesn’t like to travel. He prefers to be in his studio and work from there. But, of course, if the studio is in an interesting place, then he might be interested in coming. In my earlier years, I used to be a bit counterproductive and stubborn and only do recordings with everyone in the same place or not at all. But over the years, having Déhà record bass and the violinist record violin at their own studios was the only way to do them justice and make good recordings. I’d rather do that than make a shitty recording just because it’s live. It removes the power from it if it’s half-assed, stressed, or doesn’t have the right mood or atmosphere.

Your artistic connection with Déhà is unreal. Again, the Consider Suicide albums, recent and old, are phenomenal. You’ve also worked together with Déhà in Aardling and his eponymous project. Is there anything that you want to say about how the two of you collaborate? It’s just seamless, it’s mind-blowing.

Yeah, it started with him contacting me many years ago because he wanted to have permission to make a cover of one of my songs but with a French title and his own lyrics in French. I heard his version of it, and it was amazing. So, I said: “I trust in your judgment here.” And, of course, the first time I met him was at that concert with Lifelover two days after Jonas had died. It was a really interesting context to meet someone. Since then, we’ve been very close and met many times and collaborated a lot. The crazy thing is that from when we made Gudalik II, Alltid Allena II, and Elva, we also recorded a collaboration, me and Déhà. That’s going to be released next year.

It would be unfair to call what we do when we record seamless because we are perfectionists, so we throw things away, and we do retakes when it’s necessary. But it’s still as close as you can come for that term to be valid because we are very effective when we work together. The albums that you have just heard, Gudalik II and Avstånd, were recorded like in the same week. It’s crazy if you try to compare that to what bands do nowadays. Labels fund bands to go into the studio for weeks or longer — that’s one of the reasons why the black metal, or metal industry itself, is stagnating. Either people get too much money, and they have too many options, so they make something really mediocre because everything just gets flatlined. Sure, it sounds good, but it’s nothing special. Or people get the money, and they record their album at home, but they don’t have the right experience. They don’t have the intuition, and that’s something that I think you and other people can attest to. Both me and Déhà have over 20 years each in this field of recording a very special kind of music. Our intuition is very high and can’t really be compared to much else. So, I feel privileged and proud to work together with him because every time we sit in a room for a couple of days, an amazing album is going to come out of it, and that’s really true.

And it’s amazing how many albums he pumps out on his own as well. Speaking of intuition, it’s hard to even fathom how your Lifelover promo from 2005 managed to be so haunting; it’s incredible to think that it’s something that you and Jonas just kind of improvised during your first meeting.

It was just real atmosphere from how we were feeling after we had mailed with each other for about a year before then very frequently and had very good contact. It made a lot of sense to meet, and that’s something that I’m going to make a bigger feature on for the anniversary editions — to really tell the story in detail. Yeah, some months ago, I was cleaning out my old email inbox, and I still have the receipts from that week in 2005. It was interesting to see that.

That’s insane. Lifelover just brings back so many specific memories for me and with such clarity. In that regard and many others, there’s really nothing like it, as far as I’m concerned.

That’s one of the interesting things with music, and art, and liner notes. A lot of the lyrics are from those days when we were out many nights and talking to a lot of homeless people and junkies. And back then, it was before streaming channels, and you just used peer-to-peer networks. It was easy to find really weird underground documentaries about different drugs and things like that. So, that was a small obsession back then — to just find any darkness that society had to offer, and we would immerse ourselves in it and live it ourselves, as a social experiment kind of.

I can relate totally, and that kind of thing can be a lot of fun and quite fruitful… So, to address one thing that isn’t so fun: I hate the term depressive suicidal black metal… like it’s so stupid…

Yeah, it’s ridiculous.

Although mostly lovingly, these dumb terms have been thrown at bands like Lifelover, which rests at the top of the pyramid with Shining — something that’s kind of ironic because you’re opposites in some ways… But, anyway, obviously, a lot of the beauty of Lifelover is that it’s so complex — it can and will make you feel any and every emotion. We all know that things like bliss and pain, angst and laughter, eroticism and horror, and exhilaration and sickness are all linked. These so-called depressive bands that are just painting in black-and-white strokes aren’t being intellectually honest. So, I was wondering about maybe the most unexpected fan reactions… or the most touching.

Well, most people that I’ve met have just been very heartfelt and honest. Their reaction was joy. It’s really weird that it was never the intent with anything I’ve ever done, but most people that contact me or interact with me thank me because something I’ve done has helped them to overcome something difficult in their life. That’s usually what happens — that people just come and thank me.  

Which I should do right now…

You’re welcome.

I thank you sincerely, and I don’t want to sound too sappy or anything, but your music has really-really-really-really helped me a ton and at different points of my life. For a while, I experienced intense physical pain. It was a 10. During that time, my taste in music became much narrower. I would say that about 99.9% of bands I had thought I liked just melted away because, in that state, I saw that they weren’t good enough. What they were doing wasn’t authentic enough. But Lifelover and your work in general, Tor-Helge’s, and that of a couple other artists [including the magic B-word] remained and acquired new meaning even.

Yeah, that’s one of the other main reasons why when I started releasing things with Consider Suicide, it’s very intentional — the way that I designed the covers and also the way that I present each album. It’s supposed to also be an option to have in the background — it’s good background music, even though you can listen to it with intent. When you come to that part of your day or your life where your tolerance for bullshit is very low because you’re distracted, or in pain, or feel bad, you can’t sit and scroll through your playlist, or go through your record collection, or whatever you’re using. So, then, it’s good to be able to trust those artists to provide you with something that works. You can choose any release from my projects, and it will usually serve that purpose. I think I have a similar thing — I’d rather listen to nothing than the majority of what’s presented as black metal these days. If I’m not sure what to listen to, if not Forgotten Woods, then I put on Manes.

Exactly! You’ve said that you have an obsession basically with finding something as close as possible to silence…

It’s rather how silence makes me feel. That feeling. That emotion. That purity. That’s what I’m trusting.

For me, Consider Suicide is intentional listening material because it demands my attention and thought. It makes me feel so much, so, even if I try to use it as background music, it becomes foreground music. But I did want to bring up some beautiful words from your YouTube channel that concern Nattmelankoli and, I suppose, Consider Suicide as a whole: “It needs to be there like a mantra in the background. It’s not supposed to be your focus, your focus is supposed to be the embrace of nothingness — to let that melancholy and emptiness expand, and be in and beyond you, and lead you to different answers and paths of thought that you may not find with other distractions.” So, yeah, there’s a lot that Consider Suicide does, and it definitely purifies my mind so that I’m able to think more logically and come to conclusions.

It’s good that it’s working.

It couldn’t be more effective. And I was going to say that, in one respect, it’s ironic that the project is called Consider Suicide because it fills me with hope, but then again, no it isn’t because considering suicide is a very good and productive thing to do, in my opinion.

Yeah, and more people should at least think about it because that means that they are taking accountability for their actions. They should be prepared to die for what they believe in. Most people are not because they don’t believe in anything. They say they do, but if you question them about it and say, “Yeah, but if you have to choose between this and this, what is your choice?!,” they’re going to take the easier option usually because that’s what creates stability, and people are not used to the absence of stability.

A lot of supposedly extreme musicians seem to be like that. Maybe this is a silly question, but what would you like to see more of in black metal these days, or what do you think can be done to help the present situation? There isn’t much quality or truth because there are just so many posers, clones, and weaklings, and we see magazines rewarding these bad bands.

Too much of the current social media platform is still rewarding short-form content, and that’s not where any metal or black metal shines. Usually, if it’s a good production, sure, it can sound good immediately, and you want to hear more immediately. But with most albums, I think it takes one or two songs until your ears have grown accustomed to the kind of production and atmosphere that they create, and that is what makes them special. Anyone can make a professional recording nowadays, but to make something personal and atmospheric is a completely different thing.

Yes! And it drives me crazy that so much of today’s music isn’t actually dark beneath the surface. And even on the surface, it tends to just be laughable and whiny. It has no complexity or nuance.

Yeah, and in many cases, sure, the musicians are young, so their perception of a difficult time or having a bad day is like the bar that you can reach during that stage of your life. To have a bad day is pretty low compared to what it will be in the future. They don’t even know what it means to have a bad day, or a bad month, or a bad year. That’s very clear to me when I see how a lot of their albums look, or their titles, their lyrics… I just can’t take any of it seriously. And, yeah, it doesn’t feel right to call it a joke because I like jokes unlike what they’re doing…

It’s a travesty.

The fortunate thing about it is that time always weeds out the weak, but, unfortunately, that’s not a comfort because we have to listen to these bands today or like five or ten years longer until they give up. Sooner or later, they will give up. With those kinds of bands, it’s a hobby, it’s not a lifestyle. But black metal is a lifestyle. I think that’s why bands like Craft, Manes, or Hypothermia are still active after so many years.

Obviously, one of the many things that I love about your art is that it’s so ingenious. You never stop presenting listeners with new types of sonic experiences. I think Brand, for instance, was a really big moment — it’s something that I send around a lot as an example of modern music done right. Like your Lifelover material, it shattered my preconceptions about genres and has become anthemic to me. There’s an enormous amount of love and respect for what you’ve achieved, but it’s really disheartening to see how some fans, jealous artists, and label owners don’t generally encourage creativity but the opposite. As Yusaf from Dødheimsgard explains, especially in black metal that’s supposed to be about breaking the rules, it’s so bizarre that there are so many people complaining: “No you shouldn’t do this, you shouldn’t do that.”

Manes 1995 is not the same as 2025, and that’s the fucking point. And I love their first album and demos, but I also like their new stuff because it’s just as inspiring. There are two kinds of inspiring for me when I hear music: It’s either that I get so fucking angry because it’s so mediocre and soulless that I will just feel like proving people wrong about what music is supposed to be like, and I will start creating something better, which is not that hard. But the second inspiration is from what bands like Manes created. It’s honest, and you feel like this is someone who’s done the most with their capabilities, and they keep evolving. That’s inspiring because that shows that everyone should try to be a better artist, not just settle for what sells albums, or what is a guaranteed next album deal, but to just push the boundaries and do something sincere and interesting.  

And as I said, you and Manes are two of the very most inspiring artists! Thank you, Kim, for this fantastic interview. Again, I really can’t thank you enough for your work!

(Visit Ritualmord’s Bandcamp, Consider Suicide’s Bandcamp, Hypothermia’s Bandcamp, Kim’s Instagram, and Kim’s YouTube channel.)