REVIEWS...

Automn 2006 - www.maelstrom.nu

interview by: Alisa Z.

Darkness gave birth to many morbid artists. Minas Tirith is one of these very artists. Confined to solitude within the cold lands of Norway, their music reaches out to a small portion of the world's population. Even though they have been around for some time, having opened up for Mayhem in their earlier days, they have not managed to gain the respect they deserve. I got a hold of Frode Forsmo, the hobbit-like frontman, in his hometown, a mere hour away from Oslo, a few days after their show in Strommen.

Maelstrom: How did you meet?

Frode Forsmo: How we met? Uh, I guess we have all been just hanging around in the same milieu — environment, whatever you call it. It's a small place and a small environment for metal music. We had all been playing in different garage bands since we were teenagers and we just ended up together in the same band, the trio that we consist of now. And the line-up today is the same; it's been the same for 15 years, since 1992.

Maelstrom: You never had any guests on the records?

Frode Forsmo: We have. Perhaps someone played piano or something, if we decided we wanted that.

Maelstrom: Okay. What is your ultimate purpose when making music?

Frode Forsmo: Good question (laughs slightly). Very good question. For me, the true answer to that question must be to be able to have some influence upon the world, however small it is. To have a voice, to speak... both through music and through lyrics. This is what I think.

Maelstrom: So, you write the lyrics?

Frode Forsmo: Yes.

Maelstrom: Where does your inspiration come from?

Frode Forsmo: Oh... from life, the mysteries of life, from philosophy, from mysticism, from religion — both from Satanism and Christianity — from emotions: mostly dark, sad emotions.

Maelstrom: Do you have any specific dreams when it comes to the band?

Frode Forsmo: Sky is the limit, you know, when it comes to dreams. Yes, I have one dream, I remember now; and that is to record an album with Minas Tirith with an exceptional sound quality in a very expensive, big studio so that people can really hear our music without having to listen and to interpret recordings that aren't optimal.

Maelstrom: Can you recall any moments from the band's history during which you thought of stopping playing? If yes, then why?

Frode Forsmo: Many times. Sometimes, because we disagreed, both musically, personally and because of [administrative] matters. And because, time goes on and you sometimes get other values in life that sometimes need more attention than the music. That goes for us all. Tony and Stian are fathers and husbands, which obviously is more than any other things in life, while I recently started to study at the University of Oslo, which is something new and exciting for me and steals some of the attention from music and the image of [my]self as a musician.

Maelstrom: What kind of musical disagreements do you have?

Frode Forsmo: Maybe I was wrong about that, maybe it's more of administrative differences rather than musical differences...what kind of sound I want from the album, how loud is the guitar or the drums. Stupid things like that. Sometimes it's just so much work to do. That CD I just gave you now (Note: Frode gave me "") I was mixing myself. Producing and mixing it myself. And I'm not a studio engineer! We had no other means to record our album. We didn't have any money or anybody who can help us get money or a studio. So we said, "Let's do it ourselves, try and see... make something worthwhile." It took a lot of my time and a lot of my energy. It burned me out.

Maelstrom: What are you studying?

Frode Forsmo: Philosophy.

Maelstrom: Now, there are many Norwegian bands who have world-wide success. How do you react to that? Do you think it's something you want to achieve?

Frode Forsmo: I'm very proud of that, because it wasn't always the case... that Norway was on the metal map. It was a great move! The US, Germany, other big countries, maybe Sweden a little bit... Twenty years back, nobody wanted to be in a Norwegian band. They do now, and it's great! Simply great. Of course, we would like to achieve similar success but we do not expect it, because we are not of the same genre. You know, the black metal genre, has opened the road for Norwegian metal and I believe it is black metal that people from abroad want to specifically hear from Norway. So, we do not expect to ultimately gain success like Dimmu Borgir, Darkthrone, Mayhem or any of those, because we aren't as heavy or as evil, whatever you want to say. We do our own thing.

Maelstrom: Which market do you think is the most important for bands like yours?

Frode Forsmo: Probably a little older audience. I think when people grow older, they get more mature and listen to a broader range of styles. I think we will reach such an audience, because we are a band that plays... our music style is very broad, in itself. So, if you reach a stage in your life when you like to listen to both death metal and prog metal — you listen to Deicide for ten minutes and then you listen to Rush for ten minutes and then you listen to whatever, Metallica or Darkthrone. With us, you can listen to all those things at once.

Maelstrom: As for the future of the band, where do you see it going?

Frode Forsmo: To Hell! (Laughs) It's like dreams versus reality. When I'm sitting here being interviewed by you, and you're from the US, I'm thinking, "That's cool, that's very cool." Big country.

Maelstrom: I'm not actually from the US. I work for an American zine.

Frode Forsmo: Oh, now I'm disappointed. (Laughs). Whatever, an American magazine. It doesn't have to be a big magazine, necessarily, but it probably reaches to a far greater audience over there than the biggest magazine here in Norway. Less exciting and that is uplifting. It gives hope, gives a sense of meaning to play music... to sometimes use your fate in what you do, like all the world is fighting you and you aren't strong enough to fight back.

Maelstrom: What's your philosophy concerning your artistic inspiration? Who affects you, whether it's a writer or a musician?

Frode Forsmo: As a fresh philosophy student, I think I'd say that "the ethics of virtue" is closest to my heart, which roughly says that what is right to do is what good people, people who inspire you, have done before you. So it is the virtue of the idols. The idols are the forefathers of what comes next, and to do what they do now... like Lemmy, for instance. Great, great idol to have because he is wise, intelligent and witty. And, instead of calculating what is right to do you should follow the example of those who have done things right. Whether you make it like them or not, that is the right thing to, to follow their example. There are many good people out there, among the stars.

Maelstrom: What are your musical influences?

Frade: Like bands and such?

Maelstrom: Yes.

Frode Forsmo: It's difficult to define, because they are very broad. They change with time. At one stage of my life, I used to listen a lot to Deicide and a few years later, I listened a lot to Type O Negative, King Diamond, Metallica — in the kid days of course — and all those thrash bands: Anthrax, Testament... I've been living through defferent eras of music. Speed/thrash metal, there was no clear definition; it just became thrash metal. Death metal... and then came this Norwegian thing, black metal and I guess things are still developing and are changing. There is a greater variety of directions within metal. The Norwegian bands are developing and moving away from how they began. As a rule, metal itself is a religion. Metal is the base of how I see myself, it's my life. Metal is my life.

Maelstrom: Do you have any ideas about what you'de like to do for future albums? Anything new you'd like to try out?

Frode Forsmo: Yes, I'm doing some vocals for Funeral, a doom metal band from Drammen. So I sing a little bit for them. On their album, I've been singing mostly clean vocals and in a different way, which is exciting. When it comes to Minas Tirith, the eventual future releases... I cannot say for sure, but I'm playing with the thought of somehow doing things a little different. Maybe go a little softer, maybe try to tune down the grim vocals and sing more clean. As I said earlier, preferences change all the time so you change your mind all the time. "No, I want to go heavier." It becomes what it becomes.

Dec. 2004 - www.heavymetal.no:

Minas Tirith
Dissertatio Prophetae

Klisjeen om at noen skiver åpner seg først etter mange runder er vel noe alle kjenner til. Men det som er så synd er at
mange skiver aldri blir kodet og knekt før de havner i hylla – slik blir mange band avfeid med å støve ned i hyllene rundt
omkring i de tusen hjem. Minas Tirith. Bare navnet forteller en historie, og da ikke i den mytologiske verdenen, men innenfor rammene av den norske metalscenens historie. Det har gått utrolig mange år siden bandet slapp sin debut i lydform, og jeg skal
ærlig innrømme at vokalen har vært mitt ankepunkt fra dag en. Jeg har ofte vært innom bandet og hørt det meste de har gitt
ut, til og med hatt gleden av å se gjengen på Bootleg for mange år siden, men da kun festet til en gammel slitt vhs-tape. Så vi snakker om en solid bit av metal-legeringen her til lands.

Det som alltid har slått meg er at Minas har nektet plent å dra dit band har valgt å snu kappen, for også innen norsk metal har trender kommet og gått. Minas var vel litt "pop" da de startet opp, for jeg husker godt hvor godt fotfeste thrashen hadde den
gang, ca 88-90...++. Da var det teknisk thrash med innslag av caps og shortser som gjaldt. Minas var heller ikke særlig opptatt
av slikt, men satset på å holde seg til det de mente var bra metal. Og det gjør de ennå. Hvorvidt de duger er vel strengt tatt
opptil enhver å bedømme, men siste skiva som kom på Face Front er blitt ei relativt mesterlig skive. Den vokser med andre ord
ennå...

Sjekk ut syngelinjene på fjerdelåta, Gods of gods god. Her er vokalen meget fint justert til både tempo og groove. Og det at man minner om Depressive Age (få band som gjør det i dag) og Metallica type Justice gjør vel heller lite. Egentlig kan vokalen minne
om en litt nedstemt Hetfield, for sistnevnte har vel aldri heller fått cred for å være der oppe i vokalsammenheng. Akkurat i Minas er det vel bare snakk om å spille skiva om og om igjen, slik jeg har gjort den siste måneden. Kontinuerlig spinning på pc og i bil har gjort underverker. Først spiste vokalen, som jeg nok en gang synes var for monoton, opp det meste av musikkopplevelsen - men etter at undertegnede falt for mesteparten av stemmebruken kontra musikken, åpnet luka seg. Det musikalske som bandet ifølge meg er meeeeget flinke til å presentere er nå en god og varm faktor. Nå kan jeg nyte alt, men det var en stri tørn. Og dette er jo ikke på noen måte for å disse strupearbeidet, men for å si at jeg nå har sett lyset...jeg var også fast bestemt på å "knekke" bandet denne gangen. Da hjelper det at bandet for første gang, synes jeg, klarer å få en kledelig produksjon.

Jeg har dessverre ikke cover, og da ikke detaljer/tekster tilgjengelig akkurat når dette skrives, for skiva; den kom fra bandet selv...som kopi. :) Tekstene er vel som vanlig mørke og ubehagelige med et snev av å ha litt mer innsikt i sakene enn den gjengse metal-lyrikker.

Hvorfor man ikke ser noe promoarbeid forruten ett og annet intervju slår meg som litt kjipt; men det har nok en gang litt med at Minas Tirith velger å fokusere på det de selv ønsker å kreere. Det tror jeg de selv er fullt inneforstått med og at de nok ikke blir å finne på forsiden av verken det ene eller andre magazinet.

Det er litt kjipt at jeg ikke kan anbefale alle å kjøpe skiva; dette er musikk for musikere, langtidsmetallere og for Dere nytilkomne som virkelig ønsker å bruke tid på musikk. Dette siste er vel en av de verste farsottene i dagens metalscene; det at band, selskaper
og andre relaterte faktorene peser alt og alle. Alt skal komme fort, selge mye og forsvinne for å bli erstattet av nye band eller nye produkter. Minas Tirith er en gjeng som nok taper litt på denne greia, men jeg fant i hvert fall ei skive som åpnet seg godt opp og står som en overraskelse. 7/10

Jan. 2005 - The Omega:

MINAS TIRITH - Dissertatio Prophetae

A wonderful album of true originality, Minas Tirith stands alone. A fresh take on progressive metal, this Norwegian
trio have evolved along similar lines as bands like Enslaved, Solefald and In The Woods..., also recalling newer acts
such as Frantic Bleep, but more organic and earthy. Despite the comparisons, Minas Tirith are competely their own entity
in every way.

Feb. 2005 http://www.lordsofmetal.nl

Minas Tirith, once again a name taken from Tolkien's works, is a remarkable Norwegian underground band. I never heard of them before and yet this trio plays together since 1989 and they have played several times as support act for Mayhem in Norway. They released earlier two demos, an EP and two full length albums. Since August 2004 this 'Dissertatio Prophetae' is available.

There hangs a veil of mystery over the band and this hardly moves after hearing the album frequently. Points of contact in order to serve any clear genre description lead to nowhere, I can only conclude that the material is rather of unequal quality and the clean vocals are not that superb. Although I am a fervent fan of laments, something is missing here, for it sounds rather monotonous. Luckily, there are some incidental grunts, especially in the latter part of the album, this brings on some power.

They mention some influences of Red Harvest and I can live with that. This band has released a large amount of experimental albums too, of a various quality. Surely they try to put up a certain atmosphere, by acoustic guitars, spoken fragments and accelerations, but in a song like 'Enemykind' it ends up quite chaotic. Maybe a three men line up is too restricted but after so many years of experience I expected something better. Listen suggestions are the with doomy riffs served 'A Lower Heaven', 'God Of Gods God' which even has a bluesy touch by its angular rhythms and piano and the ravishing 'The Day My Life Lost Me'. Doom adepts who are in for a very basic approach, should check this out, at their website the occasions are manifold.

Rating 63/100

 

Trondheim/PULS (January 2005):

Minas Tirith var neste band ut denne strålende lørdagskvelden, og dette var faktisk et helt nytt,
men meget gledelig bekjentskap for meg. Bandet kjører helt og holdent sin egen greie, og deres tighte
form for prog-metal, gjorde seg suverent i liveformat.

De tre musikerne virket noe stive i sin opptreden, og renvokalen som ofte forsøkte å gjøre seg hørbar,
nådde ikke helt ut, og hadde den en tendens til å drukne litt i resten av lydteppet. Men til tross for
dette er Minas Tirith utvilsomt et band jeg fikk lyst til å snuse nærmere på. Spesielt åpningslåta
”Wisdoms Saberteeth” og ”The Tunnel” viste seg å være vanvittig kraftige låter. Ekstremvokalopptredenen
her gjorde også et svært godt inntrykk.

Rita Trondsgård

Vampire Magazine (Malaysia)
Written by Marcel

Minas Tirith has always been quite a strange band to me. I started listening to Minas Tirith back in 1993 when they released their first cd release called "Mythology". The band released this four track mini-cd on their own label Amadeus Records and to be honest I wasn't that impressed by this band back then. A few years later I got hold of their third cd (their second full-length) called "...Demons are forever" and this was way better. It is even that good that I still play it quite regularly. Though after this album it became very silent around Minas Tirith again. Until now that is because their latest full-length has just been released some months ago and this new album, which again is a masterpiece, is called "Dissertatio prohetae".

Minas Tirith started in 1989 nearby Oslo and they took the bandname from Tolkien's work. The very first gig which they did was as an openings act before Mayhem and Red Harvest though they didn't impress that much back then. In the early nineties the band released two demos and not long after two cd's (of which one is a four track mini-cd) on their own label. Some years later a full-length came out on Face Front Records, their first 'real' label-release. During all these years Minas Tirith only survived through the devotion from both fans and friends. Because they didn't choose to follow the easy path by making black metal like most others from around their area they instead kept on playing their completely own music, which is kind of a mixture of progressive metal and some extremer, almost thrashy metal. With this new album out the band states that this is a recording for the sake of their friends and fans only.

Like I already said earlier, their first mini-cd didn't impress me that much but it was the album "...Demons are forever" which made me a Minas Tirith fan. The music was a bit more complex and definately heavier than both previous albums and the songs were much better worked out. But because that album was already from the year 1999 ánd nothing could be heard from them in years I expected them to be long dead and gone by now. Though that was quite a huge mistake from my side. In 2004 the band recorded and released another full-length which is maybe even better than the previous album. Yet again you'll get a heavier version of progressive metal with lots of pace changes and very skilled musicianship. And in contradiction to other bands in this musical genre Minas Tirith actually manages to make recognizable songs....which in my eyes is an absolute must. I don't care how good some bands can play their instruments and how they show off with that. What I expect from a band are good songs build upon recognizable parts. Songs which stick to my mind. I simply don't care for songs which are build around dozens of riffs and drum fills, I simply don't call that songs anymore.
But despite the progressiveness Minas Tirith really can make good songs with a beginning, middle part and end and I think they are actually the living proof that it really is possible to make good progressive metal songs.
Comparing Minas Tirith to other bands is something I won't, or even can't do simply because they have too much of an own sound and style. The most easy description would be progressive yet heavy metal with clean though sometimes more aggresive vocals. Though to be honest even this description is too limited when describing Minas Tirith's sound.

On "Dissertatio prophetae" you'll find ten tracks within a bit less than 55 minutes and from start 'till end you'll travel on a musical journey through the mystical lands of Minas Tirith. There is not one single moment of boredom to be found here and because of the many pace changes it is always exciting about what to expect next. For me this is an album which I have been playing a lot already and also an album which I will be playing a lot in the future as well.

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