Telephone interview from May 10th 1999, from NIGHT RITUAL WebZine

1998 ruled because I got to see both KING DIAMOND as well as MERCYFUL FATE in the same year, I don't think that's ever really happened before, not in the U.S. for sure...
No no I don't think so.

So, was it really hard for you to tour both bands so close together?
Oh, no, not at all. A tough thing that we did was a tour in Europe, a double headliner, KING DIAMOND and MERCYFUL FATE. So, two shows back to back....

Was that Hell on your voice?
No....but it was tough! I try to be careful when I'm on the road, and I try to get whatever sleep I can, I have a hard time sleeping on the bus. I usually will arrive at a stadium, perform, and then I go to bed. That's the way it usually goes. You've got to be careful when you're all sweated down, you have to get a hot shower quick or you'll get sick! Even if it's hot outside, it's so much hotter inside, so, even going out into a summer night, sometimes I can start shaking because I'm cold. But, that's something that can be a little hard for the fans to understand, I really can stay around and sign a ton of autographs after a show, I HAVE to get into a shower. The voice is what you're depending on, it'd be great if I could just change vocal cords whenever I wanted to, but that's not the case, so you have to really take care of yourself. It's a way of showing respect as well for the fans, that you have made your best efforts to be in good shape for all the shows. People pay the same money, and I owe the people that make it possible for me to do what I do, it's a mutual respect thing that goes both ways.

Okay well sadly we're pressed for time, so I'd like to talk about "Dead Again", which again has a very cool cover!
Now, you guys made a video for "The Night"? I'd heard something but I wasn't sure.......
Yeah they shot some footage from the metalfest.....

So it's a live video?
Yeah.

He just accepts it.
Right he just accepts it. But for me, it doesn't explain my beliefs, it does explain SOME of my beliefs, if I had to explain my beliefs it would take eight hours......
(We laugh) (ed note: I'd really love to have those eight hours sometime!)
Well you find find it in a book anywhere you know!

Yes I know!
But the Satanic philosophy, I've always lived by it....

It pretty much seems like the ultimate common sense to me.......
Well it is! It's pure logic. And, there are no two people that are exactly alike. No two people are identical, even identical twins are not identical, and for that very same reason, we can't ALL believe the same thing.

So then, how you do you deal with bouts of depression that come in your life?
How do I deal with what?

Depression.
I deal with it.
(we laugh)
HOW do I deal with it, oh I don't know, definitely in a logical way, as logical a way as possible. There are things you'll never get answers to. It's easy to feel sorry for yourself. I have those days too, when I wake up and go 'god, what the hell happened today? What is this shit!?" But I don't sit there and go 'oh why this and why that' , it's more like hey, go for a drive, do something, get out of there!

"Dead Again" tour I was only able to see once, but it was fucking cool to have so many old songs and new ones.... opening with "The Oath" !
And I felt that all those songs went so well together!

Yes! And it's great for maybe some of the younger or newer fans, who maybe didn't get to see you play during the
earlier tours, to have the chance to see those songs played live! Did it feel good to play those songs on stage?
Oh....BIG TIME!

So, I'm listening to "9", I've only had it a couple of days.......but, I'm going to say.....maybe it's the heaviest MERCYFUL FATE ever. Would you agree?
It's very aggressive...

It is very aggressive, especially a song like "Insane"........it's........it's fucking insane!!
Yes, it really is! That's why I gave it that title because, of course I had the music first, but whenever I listened to it I was like "god damn man!!"

Right! And the drumming just makes it so much more brutal. But all the songs......I mean this is some heavy shit! "The Grave", so slow and HEAVY......
Yes! You know you really cover the spectrum, also "9" the title track, "Church of Saint Anne", there's even almost a SABBATH like feel, some of it may remind you of like "Nuns Have No Fun" kind of style and "Don't Break The Oath" kind of style, it has a lot of that old aggressive attitude. Also I think the vocals go more in that direction. On "9" the vocals sound more like I hear my voice when I'm playing live. And it's strange, because if you have this kind of microphone, that kind of microphone, they all change the sound of your voice, and you try to get as close to your natural voice as you possibly can. And then you're going through some compression, and things like that which you HAVE to do in the studio, to record, you can't get around that no matter what. But the tough part is if you don't get close to your own voice, it's like you stand there singing but you hear something else coming out. But this time it was right fucking on!

Are there going to be any videos from "9"?
Well there's not been planned anything yet, but the thing is everything was done in such a rush, because the thing about going and doing these shows with METALLICA came all of a sudden, we were supposed to do a European tour but it was supposed to have been later. So really there's not even been time to think about a video.

Going back to how you were talking about the microphones and stuff....I noticed, all the times I saw you perform last year, that, whatever club you were at, that all of a sudden, you're crew brought out a bunch of YOUR OWN monitors. Because I bet it must be hell for you if you can't hear yourself on stage!
Yes! And what has happened there is..... it's cool that you noticed that because our sound engineer is from Norway and those monitors were the only ones in existence. They are totally custom built. After the KING DIAMOND tour he brought one with him home so they could copy it, so they had a safety. They are extremely powerful, at the same time they are very good and clear, I can hear good when I'm close, and then they have a special long range horn that throws the sound back to me when I'm up on the platform or something like that. So wherever I might be on stage, I get the same sound. I hear myself well and I hear my natural voice. I don't even have anything coming out of any other speakers, I just use those four. And that helps the other guys as well, if they do a solo and they go up to the front of the stage, and those falsetto vocals......they can KILL you.....
(we laugh)
But they don't have to worry about that anymore.

I'm sure it was rough in the early days......
Oh yes! You know, it's like you come from one place to the other, and sometimes you have old boxes where only half
the unit is actually working, and some of them have no bottom end, and we can't do anything with that! Others don't have
the top end, a lot of times in those days I'd be guessing by how my throat felt, I know how it should feel to be in tune with
this or that note.

The MERCYFUL FATE song that I can't sing to, even though I try, is "Devil Eyes".
I think that's the only MERCYFUL FATE song I don't like.

WHAT!?
But it's not to do with the vocals, it just feels amateur to me. I refuse to play that live actually. I really think it's something about the beat to it....

That kinda disco thing on the high hats? (laughter) But anyway....I couldn't sing that song to save my life. Anyway King, I know we only have a few minutes....but I just wanted to thank you for something. When I was very young, I went to Catholic school, which sucked!!! It messed my head all up!! But anyway, I still discovered my love of heavy metal, and then, when I was 14,15, and 16 I discovered MERCYFUL FATE..."Don't Break The Oath" in particular, and, the lyric for "The Oath" really made me think about what this shit was they had crammed down my brain! And so, listening to that, was really something that made me go think and search out other things for myself. Like it made me realize "Hey, just because THEY say it's like this, does not mean it's like this!". And I want to thank you because you really inspired me to go out and find my OWN truth.
That makes me feel good! And see it doesn't matter what you found, whether it was Buddhism or whatever, the important thing is that YOU made your own choice.

Exactly. And I'm happy! I'd probably be miserable if I was still living a life of bullshit.....
You'd probably have a lot of guilt.

Right! I'd probably think I was condemned to hell.
You'll probably notice on the new album those lyrics are much more straightforward.

Yes! Much more religious.
But you know I have lots of friends that are christians or whatever, as long as they don't cram it down my throat. But it brings up a lot of times about "God", like with those tornadoes coming, and bad things happen, it blows my mind. But some people, they believe in god, and if it really helps them that's fine, ....But in my own book, when I look at it I'm like....hehehehe. Look at this 'god'....he took everything away! What, god is not in control of the weather? But some people say "oh but god spared my life". But I'm thinking....But he took all your shit!! He ruined your life!! Things like that I have a hard time dealing with. And if god is really so all powerful, why didn't he just destroy Lucifer when he created him? Why didn't he just go, "oops I made a mistake" and destroy him right there? But that's a whole other...

Well I hope everything goes well, and I wish the best for you and the whole band, for your health and everything. What else can I say? STAY HEAVY!!
Yes....and YOU TOO!!

   
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