Interview with Fredrik Djurfeldt of Analfabetism 

Since 2000, Fredrik Djurfeldt has been working on his EBM/industrial project, Severe Illusion (together with Ulf Lundblad), and since 2014, he has started his own noisy dark-ambient solo act, Analfabetism. Since 2014, he has released 10 albums with this project. Which, so far, has been self-released, and on U.S.-based Malignant Records and Polish Fluttering Dragon. He has also been a member of such acts as Knös, Vanvård, Instants, and Alvar. So yes, Fredrik Djurfeldt is a VERY busy man! I reviewed his newest album on Fluttering Dragon, and I immediately became a fan! I got in touch with the bloke and wanted to do an interview, and he said yes. So everything is good! There hasn´t been written a lot about this project, so hopefully, after this interview, I´ll have more knowledge about this mysterious Swedish project. 

First of all, your interest in industrial music. How and when did that come about?

Music as such was never a choice for me; I was born into it. My dad played in a band back in the day, and he had a piano, a guitar, and some other stuff at home. My dad's dad was a professional musician for a long time before he went full-time into engineering. Even my dad's dad was a professional musician about a hundred years ago, so music is probably a genetic disease in my family. My sister's daughter moved to London a few years ago to pursue a musical career and has been very successful with it. 

My first memory of songwriting must have been a song called 'Häxorna i Skogen', a song played on my dad's guitar hanging on the wall, because I could reach up and take it down. I guess I was five years old or something. But the interest picked up more because my dad used to bring lots of weird electronic equipment home from work around that same time, very primitive computers, small tape recorders, and lots and lots of just homemade machinery. None of that was meant for music, really. He was working in the field of physical oceanography, so he used all that stuff to build deep-sea science probes, and what have you. I liked to see if I could make sound with his equipment, and unlike many parents, he would let me do just that. 

In kindergarten, my friend Emil started a band. Sort of. We used his little toy drum set, and a tape recorder where we had connected all the inputs to all the outputs, and then by twisting different knobs on the tape recorder, we could change the sound and thus use it as a feedback instrument. It was noisy as hell, and we loved it. We called ourselves 'Wrong Connection' because of the tape recorder thing. The name was in English because Emil and his family had just moved from America a year before. I think it was about a year later that I somehow stumbled on SPK for the first time, and then I understood that it was not just Emil and me doing what we did.

What was the reason to jump from EBM to noise-driven ambient?

I didn't. I made music on the Commodore 64 back in the day, and you can find music I made as early as 1988 in the High Voltage Sid Collection. My name there is Mongo. And so, for the record, yes, I am, still to this day, a big fan of Rob Hubbard. This is ofcourse after me, and Emil did our Wrong Connection thing. In the late 90's, I made music as Karl Spöke, and it sounded a bit like Analfabetism. I made a tape and a Cdr, and played live a few times. 

Then I moved to Göteborg, Sweden, where I met Ulf, and we started Severe Illusion. To our rather massive surprise, that thing took off in Hungary, Florida, Argentina, anda bunch of other places we had not expected, so we decided to go full in on that project for a while. And nothing is over yet. Ulf and I are working on a new album as we speak. My point here is, I do lots of different stuff all the time and under different names. I plan to do that for the foreseeable future.

Why did you choose Analfabetism as the act's name?

The name is taken from an old Swedish pop song, 'Henning i sin Presenning' by Philemon Arthur and the Dung. But what I really wanted was a primitive sounding name, but not in a black metal way primitive. An interesting misunderstanding that I was not expecting is that English-speaking people tend to read it as Anal Fabetism, and then ask me what the heck Fabetism is. I was asked this the first time I played in Seattle, and it took a few moments to figure it out. I find this hilarious.

What is the reason behind self-releasing some of your albums?

I like to be in control of the entire process. It is more than just music to me. The artwork is an important part of the concept, and most of the photos being used have been taken by me. Even the dead animals on Kniven Stitter Kvar I Bonden are just stuff I have found in nature. But I also like the networking that is needed to get the music out there to people, and because I am not always leaving that to a record label, I now have friends in places like Canada and Denmark and Kazakhstan and Slovenia and Uruguay and Spain and Chile and California and Poland and lots and lots of other places, and that makes life more intersting.

I sense a historic theme running through the albums. What is the chosen reason behind these tragic stories, and how do you locate them?

I find the past very interesting, and I always did. It gives a perspective on who we are now, or at least who we think we are. And that is the point, the fact that we tend to rewrite history to justify our present. I am just doing my part in exaggerating already questionable accounts of Scandinavian history. In reality, I am convinced life was a lot better in the past than most people think.

During the Little Ice Age, the crops would not grow, and a lot of people moved to Minnesota, where the crops did grow just fine. But we focus on the famine at home thing, and that is just a tiny, tiny part of our history. Den Svagsintes Klagan is inspired by the life of Erik Daniels, or Erk Danels, who was also known. He lived in the forest by the coast in what is now known as the High Coast, where I happen to live at the moment. The myth has been evolving here for some 200 years, and probably has little to do with real man himself anymore. What I have done is to go out in the forest to places where he is supposed to have been. There, I have collected sounds he could have encountered out there and turned that into music.

How is it to work with Peter Nyström of Megaptera? And do you guys plan to do more together in the future?

Peter and I go back many years. First, we were fans of each other's music for years, then when he contacted me to get hold of some of my early Cds I ended up helping him with some technicalities with a Megaptera album, and soon after, he suggested we do a split album on Maligant Records. He contributed some stuff to an early Analfabetism album, and my voice is on a Negru Voda album too. We live about two hours away from each other now, and in Northern Sweden, that is more or less next door. We do not have anything planned together at the moment, but he sometimes comes out here to visit me at the coast, so who knows? Maybe we will do something together again sometime.

What kind of electronic bands are you into, and why?

I like anything that is either creative and thinking a little bit out of the box, and I can really enjoy a good live act. Early industrial bands like SPK and Throbbing Gristle, yes, of course. But newer stuff like The Vomit Arsonist, Gnawed, MZ 412, Ultharm, Moral Order, and, yes, that list could be very long indeed. I like Ha People 3.55. I am also an old Skinny Puppy fan, and I prefer the Canadian school of dark electro to the European most of the time. Because there is more chaos, and that makes for a more interesting listen. Occationally I get back to my old C 64 heroes Rob Hubbard, Marin Galway, David Hanlon, Maniacs of Noise. Even some angstpop can be good.

Upcoming future plans for Analfabetism?

There is an album coming soon on Fluttering Dragon, called 'Konsten att andas med en grep genom ena lungan'. My health has been a bit problematic in recent years, and it has slowed me down a bit. But a few months ago, I got back to playing live again, and there are plans for at least a few more occasions this year. I am very much looking forward to that. It is not over until it is over, you know. I also just released an album as Magentism, Severe Illusion will release something this year, and soon we hope to start work on a new album for Mjöldryga.

Bandcamp: 

https://analfabetism.bandcamp.com/

Discogs:

https://www.discogs.com/artist/4237450-Analfabetism

 Nam-Khar / Vortex - The Sarajevo Spiral

The Sarajevo Spiral is an album by the projects Vortex and Nam-Khar. Both acts are veterans in occult-inspired dark ambient. Vortex started in 2007, and Nam-Khar started in 2009. This one is the second album they have done together; they did another one back in 2022 called Nag-Hammadi. This album is a release between two labels: Cyclic Law (now based in France) and Zazen Sounds (Based in Greece). The 300 copies of this limited physical album are sold out on Cyclic Law, but u can get your hands on it via Discogs (check link below). Anyways!

The beautiful slipcase digipack has a painted picture of a skull, and then offcourse our favorite shrink Sigmund Freud. The album has its conceptual focus on 2 things. One is Freud, and the other is about the assassination, which more or less kick-started the First World War. And we all know, without the first one, we wouldn't have the second one. Regarding the assassination, I'm talking about the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, no! Not the danceable indie-rock band from Scotland! Franz was an archduke of Austria, assassinated in Sarajevo by a Bosnian Serb student. Reason? The nationalist student wanted to liberate the South Slavs of Austria rule and the creation of Yugoslavia. 

And the thing about Freud, there is a written text inside the digipack, where Freud has done a text called Thoughts For The Times On War And Death (Written in 1915). The essay describes how mankind/society becomes vulnerable to the shock and the horror of war, mainly by refusing the reality of death and ignoring the aggressive, warlike instincts/side of the human race. 

A historic moment, an important psychological essay, and two veterans of industrial dark-ambient... Sounds like a treat! We get 11 tracks, over 60 minutes in total. 

The first track is an Intro. Evocative sound of a violin in the distance, or is it getting closer the further we get into the track? A slowly string/drone sound fades in and out, and a subtle, atmospheric touch of martial-industrial aesthetics enters the void.  

The second track is called Para Bellum (Prepare For War). Lovely kind of drones/looped ambient pieces of violin-based classical music in the background, while spoken words (In German with Austrian accent) speak something about (I think) the concept of the album. I don´t understand a word of what he is saying, but it sounds pretty good (If you like German offcourse!). The whole thing has that European WW1 kind of vibe to it. The background stuff is very well made, if you don't understand what he is saying... then the background stuff will! 

The third track, The Sarajevo Spiral (like the album title). Someone is making a ghostly moan, and strange, slow trumpets melt into the sound. A hard-hitting drum (of some kind) gives the listener a nice wake-up call. Painfully stretched out sound of violins, if violins could cut through flesh. Basically has that Cthulhu awakens from his slumber kind-of-feel. Not loud or hard or anything, just a slow and crawling kind of silent horror. The sound (and the way it has been made) is just absolutely spotless, top-notch stuff! Has that late CMI-sound, a touch of Raison d´ëtre, Desiderii Marginis, and Sophia sort of feel. 

The fourth track, Mobilization. A beautifully done martial ambient soundtrack piece, giving the listener an epic sense of focus and a sense of well.. mobilization. Secretly building an army, without anyone knowing about it. The sound, and the melody tell all about it... without the words. The Battle of Helm's Deep (sort of). Test Dept fans will nod their heads in approval here.  

The fifth track, Theories of Expansion. Layered, cold, and howling winds. And a deep bass-drone. Why am I thinking of Carpenter´s The Thing here?! Soothing evocative synths further build on that idea. Looped martial rhythms and strings come later on, really getting a specific kind of feel which is well attached to the title of the track itself. U know what I mean when you hear it! 

The sixth track, Materia Prima (Formless material regarded as the original material of the universe). A series of distant and thundering explosions, minimalistic martial rhythms, barbaric trumpets (like the dudes who ride the Oliophants). There is also some interesting kind of background stuff happening aswell, chaotic layered ambient-stuff... horrific if you focus on it! 

The seventh track is called, Trench Warfare. Same martial rhythms and... the kind of sound used in... well, dub-techno? Sounds weird, but it actually kind of works with this WW1-theme. Danish ethnic industrial act Haraam has also used that sound aswell. Think we´re dealing with the atmosphere of just... waiting for something to happen, while your feet are just rotting away in your cold and wet soldier boots. Sound of chains (later on) is there aswell.

And that is where I will stop! If I reveal the rest of the album, it would be a spoiler! The Sarajevo Spiral is a pretty good album with that later CMI kind of sound. Halfway through i enjoyed the album on a top-notch scale, but when I was done (halfway) through, my mind started telling me that I shouldn´t expect to be surprised. I absolutely loved the first 6 tracks, but after that, it kind of... it became harder to hold on. At that point, it sounded like a Cyclic Law album... Let me explain, I have a thing or two about the label Cyclic Law (reviewed their stuff back in the day), everything from that label...tastes like... well, chicken! Reason? Because most of the releases from Cyclic Law have been mastered by the very same guy (same high-quality sound and same high-quality treament. Cyclic Law wants that sort of CMI sound, just without the dangerous madness offcourse! I wonder how this album actually sounded before it was mastered by Cyclic Law? If you try to look away from that, then yeah... It´s a very solid album with a high-quality stamp attached to it.

Bandcamp (label):

https://cycliclaw.bandcamp.com/album/the-sarajevo-spiral

Bandcamp (Vortex):

https://vortexdrone.bandcamp.com/

Discogs (Nam-Khar):

https://www.discogs.com/artist/1615036-Nam-Khar

 Lyke Wake - Under The Mother´s Hands, With The Pain At My Side / Symphonic Noise

The constant creative force of Lyke Wake, delivering us another new part of the Symphonic Noise concept... this one is number 4. Called Under The Mother´s Hands, With The Pain At My Side. Released as a CD on Lyke Wake´s own label, Aseptic Noise. A 6-track album, a bit over an hour of pure and moody progressive ambient. 

First track/part 1 is called Here Is The Pain (00:00 to 11:53), starts with the epic and symphonic synth-driven sound that has become the iconic sound of Lyke Wake, slightly religious, slightly biblical esthetic, and slightly angelic with that touch of Italian horror movies from the 70s (Dario Argento, etc.). You do get the sense that there is a bit of repetitiveness of sound in the symphonic noise releases, but it´s not in a bad way in the sense that the releases stick together as one long story. 

Second track/part 2, And Pain Walks Beside Me (11:54 to 20:46). Sound of analog cold winds on a synth, and those mysterious... screaming short-wave radio kind of sounds. Beautiful played melancholic synth here, gets mixed up with psychedelic and flanged noise. Noise that sounds a bit like fireworks. At the end, it kind of lands on gentle, melodic ambient territory. 

Third track/part 3: She Dies (20:47-40:43), the synth gets more into a church-organ sort of sound (the Funeral?). Epic layered psychedelic ambient, shimmering drones, reversed church bells, and whispering alien voices. Very cosmic, very eldritch at this point. Psychopomps delivering the dead to the afterlife, maybe? A very long track, working (almost) as an album in itself.

Fourth track/part 4: Leave The Dominion And The Memory To Pain (40:44-50:16), delivers a slowly built funeral-ambient-mood to the heavens...and beyond. Cristiano Bocci adds a melancholic bassline, and Jean Claude Oberto adds spoken words. Somehow a bit in the style of A Black Tape For a Blue Girl. 

Fifth track/part 5: Tears Will Never Be Enough (50:16-57:45), and the sixth track gets into an atmospheric, cosmic, almost proto dungeon-synth vibe/tune. Lovely shimmering ambient-soundtrack track here. Love how Lyke Wake creates a unique storytelling mood, just by using synths and sounds. 

The latest with Lyke Wake is a good album. And it helps with adding bass and vocals to the sound aswell. Lots of the sounds and synths are kind of reused from previous albums, but I think it´s ok since that Lyke Wale´s progressive-ambient sound is a genre by itself. And Lyke Wake, as far as I know the only act doing this style. Far away from the industrial/noise roots of the act. 

Discogs (label):

https://www.discogs.com/label/208436-Aseptic-Noise