SATYRICON Frontman Feels 'Pretty Good', Two Years After Being Diagnosed With A Brain Tumor

September 7, 2017

Vocalist Sigurd "Satyr" Wongraven of Norwegian black metallers SATYRICON says that being diagnosed with a brain tumor back in 2015 made him realize that the band's upcoming album, "Deep Calleth Upon Deep", could be the group's last. "[It] made me think, 'Wow, that's it. I can't do this anymore, I guess,'" he tells Revolver magazine in a new interview. "Even when I found out it wasn't so bad and I could still do this, you never know what's around the next corner. It's important to realize what a privilege it is to make a record."

Although Satyr no longer feels that "Deep Calleth Upon Deep" will be SATYRICON's final album, he admits that "as a human being, you never know. I love playing, and I feel fine," he says. "I'm in good shape and I live a normal life. On the other hand, I had a neurosurgeon say to me, 'Even though you feel fine now, the chances are that you'll get worse and eventually have to have brain surgery. There's always the chance that you could do miraculously much better, but that would be hope more than science.' That kind of message, that sucks. [Laughs] That makes you think, 'Let's have fun while we still can.'"

Asked what his current prognosis is, Satyr said: "Well, I don't have cancer — it's benign — so that's good. It's just not good to have stuff in there that's not supposed to be there. To be honest with you, it's tougher mentally than physically. Let's say my arm starts shaking or something like that — it's not painful, but it's a disturbing experience because you don't understand what's going on with your body. Even if my neurosurgeon has told me that it's very common. You have all these thoughts about, 'What would I do if that happens while I was playing the intro to 'The Pentagram Burns' onstage?' I wouldn't like that. But for the most part, I feel pretty good."

"Deep Calleth Upon Deep" will be released on September 22 via Napalm Records. The disc was recorded in Oslo, Norway and Vancouver, Canada, during early 2017 and mixed together with revered studio guru Mike Fraser, who previously worked on SATYRICON's 2006 album, "Now, Diabolical".

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