Norse Doom Metal is a rare commodity. The fact that two teenagers from Ammerud have managed to release their second album to rave reviews before turning 18 is impressive. Golden Core is a study in artistic vision.
/ 15/11/2019 / Kristian DugstadWho is Golden Core?
We are from Ammerud in Oslo. We love music, all sorts of cool things that move in the underground, metal, doom, punk, you name it.
Tell us about your musical background?
We started playing instruments long before we can remember. Both of our parents are interested in music and we grew up with a lot of music at home and were taken to concerts from an early age. We have been lucky to have received a lot of musical input from most genres. It has helped shape our musical identity. In elementary school we became a band, with Rødtvet School's Music Band / Big Band (Simen) and Ammerud School's Music Band (Johannes Thor). The interest in metal came early. We found each other when we were 9 and 11 and started Golden Core in 2014. In addition to playing in Golden Core, there is a lot of other music in everyday life. Johannes Thor, for example, attends the music course at Steiner School.
Despite your young age, you have a long musical journey behind you. You're probably tired of the question, but what's it like to be so young and have arrived so far?
We don't really think about it that much, it's always been a goal to deliver good music and do good concerts. The fact that people have liked what we do, come to our concerts and buy our music, we are of course very grateful for. It has given us more opportunities to develop our music and live shows.
Making an artist career out of a youth band was the ultimate dream for many. Including for you. How have you managed it?
Say it! It's the result of hard and focused work over the last 2-3 years. This wouldn't have been possible without the support of our families. It's been the alpha and omega for us. There have been several people along the way who believe in what we do and who have supported us. We also have a damn good manager who has organized most of it so that we've been able to keep going the way we do.
On November 18th you released your second album Fimbultýr. Tell us a little about the process?
It has been a process that started after we released the seven-inch Baldrskviða in 2018, which was the first song we wrote in Norse. When the songs started to take shape, the planning also began, with creating a budget and connecting us with the right people we wanted to work with to get the best possible product. We contacted Yngve in early January and presented the project to him and got him on board with the madness. It is a bit crazy to recruit a producer who himself makes records that are as long as an average Golden Core song, and who does not play metal himself, but for us it was important to get a new perspective on our music, but at the same time work with someone who understands our thing. We have not regretted that. This has been a good and creative process all the way.
What can the listener expect from the album?
Our goal was to create a dynamic record. We want to take the listener on a journey, and the initial reviews and feedback we've received indicate that we've succeeded.
Norse culture is in the musical wind. While striving for historical authenticity, like Wardruna and Danish-Norwegian Heilung, you have an artistically free approach. How is it to combine stoner rock, black metal and texts from the Elder Edda?
When we started as an instrumental band we were very inspired by stoner rock and our first album was a tribute to the genre and bands like Kyuss, but even then there were elements of progressive metal, punk and black metal. Over time the music has become darker and more doom-oriented, but we have always liked to mix genres and do our own thing. When we started trying out vocals we quickly found that Norse is a language that suits our music.
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What fascinates you about Norse mythology and history?
The old Norse myths are a fascinating universe that has inspired many artists before us. Tolkien, Led Zeppelin, Enslaved, Wardruna to name a few. We really like the visual art of Faroese Anker Eli Petersen and know many people who have introduced us to the Norse. It is not only the violent Viking stories that fascinate, but also the wisdom in the Edda poems such as Håvamål that we find interesting.
You've had some big rock names on the team. What was it like working with Converge's Kurt Ballou on mixing and Yngve Andersen from Blood Command as producer?
The collaboration with Yngve came very naturally and for us it was a real and inspiring collaboration. Yngve is simply a cool guy who took us and what we brought into the studio very seriously. Yngve was instrumental in recruiting the right people for the project, for example technician Simon Jackman and later Kurt Ballou and Brian Gardner. The result would not have been quite the same without Yngve.
The album has already received a lot of rave reviews. What does that mean to you?
A lot. We have invested and put a lot of work into Fimbultýr and it is very nice to have good feedback.
What was the spark that made you start writing music?
Difficult question. Writing music has in a way just been there. Something that has come gradually and developed in step with practice and skills.
Where and how do you write? What inspires you?
It usually starts with a riff. Doesn't everything start with a riff? Haha. It's a process from idea to a finished song. What inspires can be many things, like a clear starry sky, a full moon, something you've heard or seen. Of course, a lot of what we've heard of different music inspires. Some of that can certainly be heard in the songs we've written. You're influenced by things around you. Bands are often compared to other bands, and that's probably often rightly observed.
Do you have any equipment or tools that are indispensable in the writing process?
Ideas stick in our heads all the time, but to get them out we need our instruments. There wouldn't be much of Golden Core without the practice room, the telecaster, the amps, the mixing desk and the drum kit.
What are your plans for the time being after the album release?
We will have release concerts at Hulen in Bergen and at Blå in Oslo this November, and then the plan is to do more concerts over the New Year in Norway and in Denmark. We have recently signed with United Stage Norway to do bookings for us in Norway and Doomed Skandinavia for bookings in Denmark. We will be playing at the Inferno Festival at Easter, among other things.
What is your career highlight so far?
Releasing Fimbultýr and signing with Fysisk Format is the absolute most important thing we have done so far.
Can you share your greatest musical experiences – as listeners?
Heilung at Midgardsblot this summer was beautiful, absolutely magical. Hymn at Svart Oktoberfest 2017 was awesome. Kvelertak at Øya 2016 was downright dangerous haha.