First - thank you very much for this great new release "From these wounds"! That's Funeral Doom at its best! The lyrics of the eight songs are based on a poem that was once written by Einar. All the lyrics/concepts of the songs sound quite negative; they tell f.e. about despondency, conceit, negligence or betrayal. Do you always have or did Einar had such negative ways of thinking?

Anders :   Not at all! He was a guy full of humour and he had a great comedy talent, actually! Unfortunatly he suffered from manic-depression. When he was down, he was really DOWN... He also carried with him lots of personal issues from childhood and so on. He had a lot on his mind. Of course he had to channel this negativity out, and he did that amongst other things through writing poetry and music.

  Why did you take this poem of all things as a so-to-say fresh start of the band?

Anders :   Its to honour this great friend and musician. We finally managed to get a proper deal and the chance to release a good album. A great opportunity to dedicate this to Einar. Another chance to see the legacy of Einar living on. His poetry also has an extremely good quality, and it is personal to the bone.

  Did Einar bequeath more things to you, that perhaps later would be the base for new songs?

Anders :   YES! I inherited a lot of things from him. Several songs, both acoustic and more experimental type of things. I am working on this material and will get it released some days. At least parts of it, that will fit the "new" Funeral sound... I also may use something in FALLEN. Einar was a big FALLEN fan and always gave me the chance to use whatever I wanted to from his lyrics and musical ideas.

  Who else beneath you, Anders, is responsible for songwriting/composing?

Anders :   Kjetil Ottersen wrote most of the material on "From these wounds". He is extremely talented, both as a musician and as producer. He has a great understanding of what we do in FUNERAL, being a member since the "In fields of pestilence grief" release. Frode composed all vocal-harmonies with me as a "producer".

  Will there be more albums of FUNERAL in the future? Do you already work on it?

Anders :   I have written around 12 new songs. Plus that we have another 4 songs we recorded as a demo with Frode in 2003-2004. So it's enough material for at least 2 new albums. We also recorded 5 songs in 1996 in the Academy studio, that are still not used to this day. Songs written by all the previous members alive and dead. There will be a new recording this year with an early 2008 release. So no 5 years between albums anymore! We recorded the "From these wounds" album already late 2004 and had had a lot of time composing new material.

  Will there also be live perfomances like tours or festival shows? Especially outside your homecountry? If yes, do you have fixed dates yet?

Anders :   There are talks of an Italy/Spain tour in novembre. Plus the Dutch doom day. We will also play a show in Paris plus some dates in Belgium and Holland early this summer... We are in talk with a booking agency and will hopefully sign a deal with them. This means that there will be quite a lot of liveshows in the future.

  How can we form an idea of a FUNERAL show?

Anders :   It is heavy, dark, doomy and gloomy for about one hour. What you hear on the album you will hear live. We have 3 talented singers in the band. All vocal harmonies and orchestration are performed live. We use two synths.

  Do you have an intensive contact to your fans - during or after the shows?

Anders :   We have played very few liveshows (and these only in Norway), but I am always mangling with people. I love my dedicated fans. Without them, there would be no band!

  Is there anything you want to say to your fans?

Anders :   Please don't hesitate to get in touch. I am very greatful for all support throughout the years, especially the last years, that have been very dark and full of tragedy.

  Thank you very much for your time and your frank words!