Interview with Johan Hegg of Amon Amarth, Part Five

Johan Hegg in Chicago (April 19, 2010)

KS - “Varyags of Miklagaard” is a song you wrote about the Varangian Guard in Constantinople. Why did you use the term “Varyag”?

JH - We wanted to use the Swedish word, but we realized that people were just not going to understand it. We found that “Varyags” is another term – an English term – that you can use as Varangian.

“The Varangians” was really difficult to say. Ha! We chose the simpler version for fans. Ha!

Olavi Mikkonen in Chicago (April 19, 2010)

KS - Is “Prediction of Warfare” about Olaf the First in Ireland?

JH - That’s not historically correct, technically. It’s inspired by Olaf the First, of course, by his journey to Scotland and Ireland.

KS - Like in the last line, when he throws his sword.

JH - Yeah. I wanted just to write a story, more or less, inspired by their trips to England and Ireland. It’s not historically correct.

Johan Söderberg in Chicago (April 19, 2010)

There’s a lot of stuff in my lyrics that are not either historically or mythologically correct. Sometimes I just want to write a story.

KS - You’re still more “correct” than Manowar. Have you heard Gods of War?

JH - Ha! Unfortunately, I have.

Ted Lundström in Chicago (April 19, 2010)

KS - There are current folk metal bands – like Heidevolk and Folkearth – that incorporate traditional acoustic instruments such as jaw harps and ram horns into their music. Is Amon Amarth ever going to go down the folk path?

JH - That’s not our thing. Sure, we could incorporate elements of it into a song. I mean, you should never say “never.”

But it has to be a really good idea, and we’re not going to do it as an entire thing, then, for an entire album. That’s not going to happen.

As I said, for us, the music that we want to write is the music that we play now, and it’s always been about the music first, for us. The lyrical concept has always come second, somehow.

Johan Hegg in Chicago (April 19, 2010)

I think it’s been very important for us to stress that. I think it’s something that I hope will separate us from a lot of other bands in this genre.

Not that I dislike the fact that the pagan thing has become very popular, but, like all trends, it’s important to stick out, to be something special. Otherwise, when the trend fades out, you’re going to fade out, if you don’t stick out somehow, you know.

Interview with Johan Hegg of Amon Amarth, Part Four

Johan Hegg in Chicago (April 19, 2010)

KS - Were you brought up in the Lutheran Church? Was your family religious?

JH - I was baptized. My dad is an atheist, always has been for my entire life. Actually, my mom is very spiritual, but I wouldn’t say that she’s religious. I think that I stopped believing in God when I was like seven or something. Ha!

I decided, “Nah, that’s bullshit.” Ha! I didn’t want to go to church with class and all this stuff. Because I was baptized, I was a member of the church until I was eighteen, when it was legal for me to leave to the Lutheran Church.

Ted Lundström in Chicago (April 19, 2010)

You have to be eighteen to legally leave, if you’re baptized. Nobody can leave it for you, and you have to be of age to sign that paper that “I don’t want to be a part of this,” which is stupid, I think. It should be whenever you go, “Yeah, I don’t want to be a part of it.” That should be it.

I got this very funny paper sent back to me - “Since you’re not going to be a part of the church anymore, we can’t guarantee your place in heaven.” Ha!

Olavi Mikkonen in Chicago (April 19, 2010)

Growing up, I didn’t come from a very religious home. No, I didn’t. I was always brought up to question stuff, to look into it - “Does this make sense?” That’s how I was brought up.

I’ve always been interested in history. I think that’s also one of the reasons why I got into Viking history and Viking mythology.

Johan Söderberg in Chicago (April 19, 2010)

KS - Has the Swedish Asatru Society, Nätverket Gimle, or any other pagan group in Sweden asked you to be their spokesman?

JH - No. I’ve met a couple of guys, but only briefly. It’s never been long discussions or anything.

None of them have contacted me. Honestly, I don’t think I would want to, either.

Johan Söderberg and Ted Lundström in Chicago (April 19, 2010)

I know it sounds kind of weird, since some of the lyrics are kind of preaching, but I don’t want to preach. I don’t want to be that guy, to tell people what to believe and what not to believe, especially since I’m an atheist myself. It wouldn’t be logical for me to do that.

Interview with Johan Hegg of Amon Amarth, Part Three

Johan Hegg in Chicago (April 19, 2010)

KS - Since about 1990, there has been an explosion of folk metal and pagan metal. It’s not only a Scandinavian phenomenon; there are bands in England, Germany, Greece, the Middle East, and elsewhere that are turning to their own local religious and folk traditions for subject matter.

Do you think that this reflects a nationalistic or religious trend in young people, or is it just something that’s currently fashionable on the metal scene?

JH - I think it could be any of those. It’s really difficult to say. I guess I could only answer for myself.

We don’t really see ourselves as one of those bands doing pagan folklore music. The reason we took the Viking theme and mythology theme as a lyrical theme for the band was, perhaps, more accidental from the start.

When we wrote the first song with Viking lyrics, we felt it was a topic that suited the music that we wanted to write really well.

Johan Söderberg and Olavi Mikkonen in Chicago (April 19, 2010)

KS - Was that before you became Amon Amarth?

JH - It was kind of when we became Amon Amarth that we wrote that song.

KS - What was the first song?

JH - “Thor Arise.” Not very good lyrics, but still we felt that the topic and the whole thing kind of suited us, and it was something different, as well, from a lot of other bands.

In Sweden, I think only Bathory and Unleashed had done anything like it.

Ted Lundström in Chicago (April 19, 2010)

For us, it was to do something different, to stand out a little bit, to use those lyrics. But it wasn’t necessarily going to be the theme of the band from the start.

It’s been one of my major interests since I was a kid. I wouldn’t say I’ve studied it. I read up on it. Every once in a while, I read the Edda and read some sagas and stuff like that for inspiration.

It’s always been music first for us. We want to write this music, and then the lyrical themes have kind of grown into it.

Now it’s at the point where it’s hard to change it, because people expect us to do it. On the other hand, I don’t think that we want to change it, because it’s a topic that I feel that we can get a lot more out of.

Fredrik Andersson in Chicago (April 19, 2010)

KS - As a child, did you study Viking history or mythology in school?

JH - Unfortunately, when I was a kid, they didn’t teach you almost anything about the Viking history and heritage. You didn’t get to read the Edda or the Younger Edda in school.

You got to read a few stories just to know that “this is it.” It was just a very small thing, not a big historical thing.

That’s how my interest started, reading that in school, and then I started looking into it.

My sister was a lot into it, and she’s five years older than me. She, of course, inspired me a little bit, as well.

Johan Hegg in Chicago (April 19, 2010)

When I was eleven or twelve, I borrowed the Younger Edda at the library in my hometown, a small village. I went to the library and borrowed it and read it, and I thought it was fantastic. When I got a bit older, I went for the Poetic Edda.

There were these Danish comic books called Valhalla, which were describing some of these really cool old mythological stories, and I loved reading those. It was a lot of stuff like that, as well.

Interview with Johan Hegg of Amon Amarth, Part Two

Johan Hegg in Chicago (April 19, 2010)

KS - More than any other popular music today, metal seems to have religion as a subject matter.

Thirty years ago, Black Sabbath defended the pope on Master of Reality and regularly used pro-Christian imagery. Early Bathory and Iron Maiden sang about the Beast; Stryper and Trouble sang about Jesus; Enslaved and Tyr sang about Odin. Motörhead’s “Orgasmatron” railed against religion in general.

Why do you think that metal, for its entire history, has had religion as a central subject? What makes the topic so attractive to lyricists?

JH - I think it’s a very sensitive subject, especially if you do the anti-religious bit. It’s a very good way to revolt against society, in general.

A lot of the stigmas and a lot of the so-called standards and rules are made up by religion or religious people. So, if you want to rebel against that, you have to take the opposite stand.

I think it’s a good way to rebel and something that everybody can relate to, as opposed to maybe doing more political stuff. That could be more sensitive, actually, in a way, especially if you look to the US. If you would be a left-wing band here, that would be kind of tricky.

Ted Lundström in Chicago (April 19, 2010)

KS - The right-wing bands seem to do pretty well with country music. Ha!

JH - No offense, but here in the States, the right-wing thing is kind of condoned. It’s like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah.” They try to shove it aside.

I think it has a lot to do with the fact that you have basically two political parties who are, in my opinion, looking from our society, from our side, are quite close together and both, by our standards, are pretty far to the right, politically.

That way, the right wing is like the norm here.

Johan Söderberg in Chicago (April 19, 2010)

KS - Sweden, on the other hand, has a parliamentary system.

JH - Yeah, we have a parliament and a prime minister. Even though we have a king who is technically head of state, he doesn’t have political power.

In Sweden, we have several parties. We have two big ones, and we have, I think, five smaller parties, but then you have different political blocs.

So you have the left wing and the right wing and the liberals in the middle, but they tend to lean more to the right.

Olavi Mikkonen in Chicago (April 19, 2010)

KS - How are you viewed in Sweden? What is your audience like in Sweden?

JH - Actually, a few years ago, we didn’t get any shows in Sweden. We had difficulties with people accusing us of being racist. We had that for many years.

Not so much in Europe, in general, but in Sweden, definitely. It was kind of difficult for us to make people understand, that’s not what we are.

KS - In the liner notes to Nibelung, the metal band Siegfried distances itself from “every form of fascism, racism, religion, intolerance, and stupidity.”

However, their lyrics have lines like, “I see your church burn and your cross burnt to dust.”

JH - Ha! I have some of that stuff, as well. In my lyrics, that stuff is mainly rhetorical, I would say. It’s a matter of turning the blade, sort of.

Johan Hegg in Chicago (April 19, 2010)

The way Christian religion has gained dominance with violence, prejudice – spreading prejudice and fear – it’s just wrong.

It’s one of the most violent movements in history, and yet they portray themselves as “turn the other cheek” and all that shit. It’s bullshit, you know.