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Cadaver Inc.

This interview takes place on a hot day in New York City at Earache's offices. It's noisy and the band is eating lunch and watching videos of the Haunted, Anal Cunt and other crazy stuff on the TV. Cadaver Inc. took some time before going to slay Milwaukee to discuss both their music and their subversive plot against the Norwegian government.

METAL UPDATE: Catch me up on what you've been up to lately.

CARMICHAEL a/k/a CZARL: The album came out in April in Europe. We did a tour with Morbid Angel and Zyklon in April and May that went really well. We've been relaxing and came here yesterday. Tomorrow we're going to Milwaukee to play there on Friday and then on Sunday at CBGB's.

MU: How are the American audiences?

C: I don't know yet.

MU: Is this the first time you are playing in America?

C: Yes. I've heard that the American crowds are quite intense compared to the European crowds that just stand there and look at you.

MU: Tell me about the website. Whose idea was that?

C: The website has really taken off. I think we had like 10 million hits or something. The rumors about it have spread all over the internet. People are just logging in like crazy. We had some trouble with the Norwegian government too. Have you seen it?

MU: Yes and I heard the news about the Norwegian government. You put their phone number on the website? Was that Anders' idea too?

C: Yes, of course.

MU: Do you have something against the Norwegian parliament?

C: No. It's just for publicity. Any publicity is good publicity. A spokesman for the Norwegian government said it was bordering on criminality. There have been discussions over here in the States about people actually disappearing. So, in relation to that discussion over here, there were some discussions about the website. I think someone over here, some politician, was speaking about it too. We are actually under investigation by the Norwegian government for the website.

MU: Excellent. Congratulations. Like you said any press is good press. That must make you feel really good. Do you actually have people sending you mail and contacting you through the website?

C: We actually have people that want to work for us. They send their CV's and stuff to us. There have been a lot of actual orders for us to do some clean up work for them. Some people just send emails for fun. There has been lots of interest.

MU: You guys have no interest in doing that as a second job?

C: (laughs) It would be nice. No comment.

MU: What are you influences?

C: Our influences are taken directly from the old trash metal stuff from the 80's. That's the music we grew up with. It's in our blood. So whenever we play metal, it's gonna be that way. I think it's quite progressive as well. We're not a retro band. We're taking the old trash metal into a new context fitting it into modern times.

MU: You all played in other bands before Cadaver Inc.? Give me a brief history.

C: LJ and me play in a band called Oramore which is a purely retro thrash metal band. We play old style thrash. We're actually too lazy and don't have any ambition. When we come together we were smoking and drinking and not being creative. It was great when we met up with Anders because he is a very ambitious guy. He wanted to get big and that is good for us. I've played in Dimmu Borgir. I did a big tour in Europe with them but didn't play on any albums. I've played in various other small bands. Apollyon and I did some vocals on the new Dark Throne album.

MU: Mostly in Europe though?

C: Yes, this is the first time I've ever been to the states. Never been here before. When I came here, it was like being in a movie.

MU: It's great that you guys have finally gotten to the states. I would like to get in touch with you in a couple of months after you have had some chances to play here and to see what you think about it. Are you going to do a tour of the States?

C: I hope so. We want to do one really big tour maybe to support our next album. I want to do some gigs here before the end of the year.

MU: So are you just here for these two shows?

C: Yes, just for these two shows then we go back on Tuesday.

MU: No time to do any tourist stuff. Do you feel connected with metal community in America? I know you get a lot of hits on your site, but that's not really a band site.

C: Yes, the site is more of a gimmick. We're doing a lot of press here. This weekend we'll meet up with a lot of guys at the Metalfest and leave our mark here.

MU: What are your favorite songs on the album?

C: Song number four "Rupture" is quite cool. The guy from Dark Throne is actually singing on that one. Song number two "Deliverance" is good too. I 'm actually quite pleased with the whole album. My experience has always been that two weeks after you finish an album you always think about things you could have done better. There is always some ambivalence about an album when you are done. However, I know our next album will be much greater.

MU: Have you started writing yet?

C: Yes, a couple of songs. I think we will have it finished in the beginning of next year.

MU: Is it going to be more progressive and heavier?

C: Yes and more fast and brutal. More complex.

MU: Who do you see yourselves touring with?

C: We want to do some more touring with Morbid Angel. It's a good show with the two bands. In November there's been some talk about touring with Extreme Noise Terror - maybe a small two-week tour. We want to play all the festivals we can. We love playing festivals. It's like a family gathering with musicians. I hope we can play as much as possible. I love playing live - it's the best feeling.

MU: Do you have any good touring stories with Morbid Angel?

C: No, it's very relaxing. They tour all the time. It's their life. They are so used to it. They aren't heavy drinkers or anything, they just relax. It's a routine for them. But I can see they really love it and love playing. I hope we tour with them again.

MU: You say Anders is the motivated one in the group?

C: Yes, he is the one pushing everybody. He writes the framework for the music and we all put it together during rehearsals. If it weren't for him, it wouldn't be anything. He is Cadaver.

MU: Who are some of your favorite bands to listen to?

C: I like the new Thorns album. I love Voivod. I've always loved them. Everything I do, every band I've been in has some Voivod influences. I naturally add some of that influence into everything.

[At this point, Anders and Carmichael switch places and so that Anders can be interrogated.]

MU: How did you come up with the idea for the website?

ANDERS a/k/a APOLLYON: It was time to do something to piss off the politicians. I was thinking of more things than that, but I just put the address for the Norwegian Parliament on the website. Then they got pissed and came in and tried to shut us down.

MU: They didn't make you take down the site though?

A: No, they just made us take off anything that referred to them.

MU: Are you going to do a new website for the next album?

A: We are developing stuff right now. It's not a static medium. It's gonna change all the time. We are developing a band site too.

MU: I was wondering about that. You guys don't actually have a band site.

A: It's in there if you go through all the links, but we are probably going to make a dedicated band site.

MU: Your website was a very radical and cool idea. How do you perceive the Internet as a tool for getting your message out there? Have you done anything like this before?

A: I've been on the Internet since 1994. I've seen how important it is to have your own websites and I know a lot of programmers and computer people. My main reason for this came about last year when all the internet companies were failing and the stock market was going down. I just wanted to make fun of e-commerce and e-business. People always say you can buy anything on the Internet. Well, then can you also buy a murder? We just wanted to make fun of that by making it look like a real business site. We wanted it to have some web credibility so that people would get confused. One plan I have is that I am going to print out a document of all the email responses that people have sent to the site. I want to send it to the university for someone to study. I think it would make a fascinating sociological study. You know about how people react when they see that kind of thing. Our site was mentioned on some internet portal in Brazil and we started getting resumes and applications from people in Brazil that wanted to work for us. There is apparently a real market for this sort of thing down there. That was strange. We can see all the different domains that are visiting our site. People from all over the world including the US military. Someone in Shanghai was looking for a contract killer. It seemed really serious.

MU: How do you think the internet can be used for music as opposed to murder?

A: You can contact and reply to everyone from all over the world. It's great for international activities. It's the only way to communicate as far as I'm concerned.

MU: Do you keep in contact with fans?

A: The problem is that the fans don't really believe it's you on the other end. They ask all these questions and when you answer, they stop writing to you.

MU: How do you feel about all the press you're getting?

A: For the site or the band?

MU: Both.

A: Most people I've talked to has been about the band and metal. There has been some non-metal press about the site and they don't really know about the band. It's funny. I got this interview with this guy about the site who believed we did what we say we do on the site and I just played along. I said a lot of "no comments" and stuff like that.

MU: This is first time you've been in the States?

A: With this band, yes. I've been here before. This is like my fourth time here. It's good to be back in New York. It's been about two and half years since I was here.

MU: Are you excited to be playing in front of American audiences?

A: Yes. We are looking forward to it and seeing how the reaction is. The album has been out for a while. We did a tour in Europe and the album came out the same week as the tour so people didn't know about it. We'll see how it goes.

MU: How is Earache treating you?

A: Great. This is the best label we could ever be on. It's the only label that understands how we work. The US office has been great to us and is doing really well. I wouldn't even consider being on another label.

MU: What bands do you like?

A: I have many different bands that I like. I don't really listen to much stuff when I'm writing.

MU: What about when you are on the plane, what do you listen to?

A: The stupid French pop music on the airplane radio thing. (laughs) I have been listening to the new Dark Throne album a lot. They are one of the most important bands around. That's what I'm into right now.

MU: How is the metal community in Europe?

A: The scene is small and everyone knows each other. We are from the South in Oslo and all the bands in Oslo hang out. We have a bar where everyone meets. We don't have much contact with other bands like Enslaved and Immortal. We only see them once in a while when they come through. They live far away.

MU: Any words for the people?

A: We want everybody to check us out. We'll be out there so come see us!

LINKS

METAL JUDGMENT
review of Cadaver Inc. 'Discipline'
http://www.metaljudgment.com/albums/cadaverinc_frames.html

CADAVER INC.
http://www.cadaverinc.com

EARACHE RECORDS
http://www.earache.com

METAL UPDATE
http://www.metalupdate.com

CREDITS

Interview: Keith Wittenstein [ keith@metalupdate.com ]
Editor: Brant Wintersteen [ editor@metalupdate.com ]
Webmaster: WAR [ war@metalupdate.com ]

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