Vargsheim

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The sound and atmosphere of your music and lyrics can be compared to other German bands (not in the sence that you all sound the same) such as Aaskereia, Brocken moon etc. How would you explain this vibe and nature adoration that is present in all these German acts.
In fact there isn´t much nature adoration in our lyrics, especially not in the lyrics of our current album. But in the beginning of our musical history there was something like that, which has probably to do with the Norwegian idols and the will to transform this special atmosphere in something own. It´s a kind of folk music with spiritual character for those who don´t feel free in our shaved and asphalted lands. And of course local Bands with unique ideas have a big influence on the rest of the scene…

You started off under the name Blutrunst, why did you after one demo decided to continue as Vargsheim?
The name “Blutrunst” sounds pretty cheesy in German and did absolutely not fit to what we wanted to do in the future. For me it´s just some kind of first try.

The three of you are all live members of Imperium Dekadenz for quite a while now and you even released a split with them. How come that you aren’t permanent members of this band? Is it because you are just hired for shows and have nothing to say in the creative and writing process?
Sounds hard but it´s the truth. Fortunately we have absolutely no interest to interfere in ID´s song writing because we can evolve all of our creative ideas in Vargsheim. Imperium Dekadenz always was a duo and it runs very well, so why change a winning team? Though we feel as a part of the band and aren´t just mercenary. By the way many bands operate like this, we just don´t hide this clear demarcation between Live and Studio.

If my German is correct, your name can literally be translated to ‘home of the wolves’. Do you feel any connection to these animals like tight group bounds, majestic look, power etc.?
Your translation is right. The wolf stands for everything which is archaic, instinctively and locked out by the habitants of the “modern world”. We three are some kind of wolf pack and face our selves without denying the inconvenient truth that there´s a beast in everyone of us.

Your music focuses heavily on emotions and nature, yet I have seen your music being described as pagan or heathen metal. How do stand towards that yourself?
That´s simply wrong and shows me someone didn´t really deal with our music. We´re not a clear Black Metal Band but it´s yet the main genre in which we can be categorized. For me Pagan or Heathen Metal is more epic and has historical themes, and we´re talking about the good “Pagan” like Bathory, Primordial, Thyrfing. Call us Black´n´Roll, Black Grunge, Blackned Rock´n´Roll or what else but not Pagan!!

The title ‘Träume der Schlaflosen’ holds a contradiction in it. Is there somekind of message you want to express with this title?
I had the idea when I was working night shift in my former job. In the break at 3 a.m. I always took my electric guitar out of the locker and played some riffs. To my surprise I often had the best ideas in this half our and when I told this to my colleague he said maybe that´s because I usually dream at this time. I really liked the thought of dreaming without sleeping and so we had our album title.

Did you start from a central concept when you wrote the album or can each song be seen as an independent entity?
The songs and their lyrics grow simply by their selves and over a longer distance, so there isn´t a compelling concept behind them. In the end they fit together and built a unity like it always was on our albums.

Here in Belgium, you are not yet well known by the main metal audience. When I look at your live calendar and history I notice that you don’t play outside of Germany a lot. Is this limitation imposed on you because you don’t have the opportunities, busy jobs or is it rather a motivated choice to remain in Germany. After all your lyrics are all in your native language which could give the impression that your focus is solemnly on the German audience.
I don´t think that the language barrier is such a big problem for a Black Metal band. It´s just difficult to get a gig-offer for example in Belgium that is not a minus-deal for us. Due our membership in Imperium Dekadenz we were already able to play some double Gigs for example in France or Switzerland which usually would be too expensive for only one Vargsheim gig. So let´s see what time will bring…

How do you see the future for Vargsheim as a band? Are you planning on more collaborations with other artists or projects?
All of our creativeness flows into Vargsheim, we don´t have much interest in founding any new projects except a new album.