GAAHL On Decision To Retire From Metal: 'For Me, It's Not Heartfelt Anymore'

Louise Brown of U.K.'s Terrorizer magazine conducted an interview earlier this week with former GOD SEED/GORGOROTH frontman Gaahl (real name: Kristian Espedal) about his decision to "retire from metal music." A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Terrorizer: So, we've all heard by now, officially, that you've left GOD SEED, after weeks of rumors, is that the truth?

Gaahl: "Yes, I would say that I've basically retired from metal, or at least metal appearances."

Terrorizer: But not from music?

Gaahl: "Yes, I would exclude TRELLDOM since that I've never considered that metal either, but I guess for people it does fall into the same genre. Of course that's my lifetime project."

Terrorizer: What was the impetus behind this decision, the happenings about the GOD SEED/GORGOROTH came that last year must have taken their toll?

Gaahl: "Well, it's been something I've worked on for quite a while in a way, already since the firing of Infernus, basically. I did try to make it work but I just decided to obligate it [GOD SEED] I wasn't sure where it was going, but I decided basically to carry on then. I don't think that [the court case over the same for 'GORGOROTH'] has anything to do with that, it's just that, for me, it's not heartfelt anymore, and if it's not heartfelt, you shouldn't do it. I could have done it and achieved something that I myself wouldn't put myself into and that would be wrong. I wouldn't do anything half-hearted."

Terrorizer: But will GOD SEED and King Ov Hell carry on regardless, without you?

Gaahl: "I don't know what he does [laughs]. I know that they came with a statement but I gave my interview to Rock Hard [German metal magazine] a month back so I don't know if that's been published yet, so I basically don't know, it's not like I check up anything on the Internet or follow the media so..."

Terrorizer: Gaahl, the personality, has become a cult of sorts in a way. You've almost become a larger than life character that extends beyond your music. People seem to be more intersted in Gaahl the man, instead of Gaahl the musician? Has this affected your decision?

Gaahl: "I've just been myself. But I noticed this when I lived in Spain for two months and got away from every person in the world, apart from Robin, who of course came with me, no phones or no connections to the outside world. It was a feeling that I needed to be away from absolutely everything and I think that made my decision even easier, even though I was supposed to have the last show before I moved there. I was thinking of having the last show in Finland, but there was circumstances and certain things so we didn't manage to pull that show off so we had to do two GOD SEED concerts in the summer time so otherwise this would be old news by now."

Read the entire interview from Terrorizer magazine.

Romania's Metalhead TV conducted an interview with GOD SEED at this year's Hellfest, which was held on June 19-21, 2009 in Clisson, France. Watch the chat below.

GOD SEED's lineup for the Hellfest performance consisted of the following musicians:

Gaahl Vocals
King - Bass
Teloch - Guitar
Sir - Guitar
Dani "Garghuf" Robnik - Drums

Gaahl and King lost a court battle in early 2009 against guitarist Infernus (real name: Roger Tiegs) over the rights to the GORGOROTH band name.

Speaking to U.K.'s Terrorizer magazine, King stated about his band's decision to use the name GOD SEED, "It's actually strange because there's lots of excitement, of course, around it. Because we are starting a new era and changing the name, there's a big symbolic value in doing that — but at the same time it's strange because we've worked under the GORGOROTH banner for so many years. Since dramatically nothing is changing on our part, it's the same thing, me and Gaahl making music and working, so the same things are happening behind the scenes. It's just that we are not using the GORGOROTH name anymore."

Interview:

Performance: