Oystein Brun is the founding member of the Norwegian progressive black metal band Borknagar. The band released their 9th studio album titled “Urd” on March 26th via Century Media Records. Media Mikes had the chance to talk with Oystein about the release and the bands plans for the upcoming tour season.
Adam Lawton: What can you tell us about the band’s new album “Urd”?
Oystein Brun: The album covers a wide range. It is progressive, epic and metal. It’s all those things combined with the bands trademark sound. We have gotten some really amazing feedback and are very excited. I think we took a step further production wise with this album and we are very happy with how it turned out.
AL: How does this compare to some of this the bands previous work?
OB: I think the production element of the album really shines. Some of our previous releases really lacked the production that should go along with the type of powerful music we play. With the new album we really did take a huge step. Everything on this album feels really satisfying. The band this time also had a great process and we all took a step up. It was great being able to have our hands in all the different aspects of the recording process.
AL: Does the band do any pre-production prior to going into the studio?
OB: I will generally come in with my songs and the other guys in the band will bring in their songs and we start there. This time around we spent a lot of time on the recording process. I think we spent around 6 months just on the recording process itself. We tried different ideas which made things nice. We didn’t have a time crunch or anything so we were able to spend quite a bit of time on the various stages.
AL: What has it been like returning back to Century Media Records?
OB: We were with them back in 1996 when the band was first signed. We did 6 albums with them during our first signing but after those we decided to just try something new. We wanted to try working with some different people. We started to notice that our material was becoming harder to get in certain areas of the world. At the end of the day things just weren’t working. We have shared so much history with Century Media that it has been really great coming back to that label. They know how the band works and have helped get everything back on track for us.
AL: Have there been any talks of touring?
OB: There have been of course talks. (Laughs) First and for most we like to create music. The big issue for us right now is that we don’t want to tour that much. We all have things outside the band and some of us have small babies at home. We will try to do something as I would love to go back to some places in Europe.
