Part 02—Interview with Peregrinus of Heraldic Blaze (Unholy Craft, Illvilje, Hjemsøkt, Ûlairi)

 

This discussion between Peregrinus is the continuation from Part 01 with a large bulk of it carrying-off within the same timeline as Part 01, but with little gaps of time in between. When I learned Heraldic Blaze was releasing their debut full-length later in the year, I thought it would make sense to release Part 02 after its release and that way I could cherry-pick a few questions to ask Peregrinus regarding the process on that new album, 'Monument of Will'—The intention was never to release this two-part discussion with Peregrinus in nearly a full years span, that lag was on my end and not on Peregrinus'… but in a way it's fitting that we started the new year with Part 01 and now we are ending the solar cycle and starting anew with Part o2. Lot's on the horizon of 2026 for Peregrinus and his swath of work…

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Picking up where we left off from Part 01 back in March—If you missed that you can read it here Peregrinus Part 01

SHOM) Peregrinus and I were having a short back and forth about the guitar sound on 'Blazoned Heraldry' where I was describing the sound as shifting between triumphant, melancholic, antiquated, raw and melodic with a palpable driving heft carrying the tone…

Peregrinus) I think part of the guitar sound is derived from discovering early punk stuff like the Jam, and the intensity of driving guitars didn’t come from high distortion sound but the driven jangle and a hard working picking hand. That sort of vibe was part of the sound we wanted to achieve. I’ve also heard surf mentioned… which has never been on my radar, but I can understand the sonic similarities.

SHOM) Maybe between the tremolo picking in combination with a delay/overdrive effect could harken to similar sentimentalities found in surf-rock… You mention early punk such as The Jam, what are some other influences outside of metal that have shaped your musicianship?

Peregrinus) Quite a well dissected view of the guitar sounds. I definitely was looking to achieve some of that “old” amp sound that existed before the high drive amps made their splash… I remember playing on some old (small) peavey combos or even Yamaha amps from the 70’s when I was a kid. Those were the first amps I could afford, and I had to crank them HARD to get that driven distorted sound. These were the dynamics I was looking for—I’m always looking into new guitar sounds, I think that just comes with sitting in a studio.

I’m probably like most my age, a product of my times in my youth. I grew up finding the likes of Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Iron Maiden, Thin Lizzy and like all the other old Norwegian guys KISS—whom were especially big here in Norway in the early 80’s. From there it eventually went into more extreme guitar based music like Slayer and all of the early Thrash stuff parallel with checking out some early UK Punk stuff and the early American Hardcore stuff. I was devouring anything that felt underground and extreme…

All that stuff has stayed with me, and in general, excited me about making music and exploring sounds while I'm writing & recording. Listening to and hearing Burzum for the first time in 1992 made my head spin and got my attention like no other extreme music had done before that, and it has stuck with me ever since.

SHOM) Can you expand on which bands in particular from the UK Punk and American Hardcore scene made its way to you in Norway? 

Peregrinus) I heard The Clash and The Jam through my uncle when I was very young. I think he also had some Buzzcocks in his record collection next to all his Sabbath and Led Zeppelin records. He was probably responsible for my introduction into the heavier/alternative side of music. As far as American Hardcore goes, all of those early 80’s bands: Misfits, SSD, Negative Approach, Minor Threat, Youth of Today. Those were all pretty “common favourites” among the young and adventurous music seeking guys I was growing up with. It would go back and forth between the classic thrash stuff and Black Sabbath. A lot of the 1st wave black metal stuff is like Black Sabbath paired with a hardcore/punk beat.

SHOM) At some point In-between the last question and this one, you have suddenly released two new albums under two different bands: Hjemsøkt and Illvilje. It's worth noting that when I heard both of them I had no clue they were projects you were involved in… Those are both excellent releases, can you elucidate on how these two bands took shape and (if possible) provide an anecdote about each album?

Peregrinus) Yeah, these two recent releases have been in the works for a while. They were worked on by me in parallel through 2024, depending on which album had the most momentum—And by momentum I mean material to be worked on. Both of these projects, although conceived by me are collaborative efforts. Illvilje more than Hjemsøkt. Hjemsøkt is still very much dependent on me doing all of the writing, arrangements for drums and vocals, as well as the mixing, etc. Where as with Illvilje, it's a much more collaborative “normal” band style approach to writing and we’re leaning even more into that direction going forward. Both of these projects were conceived within somewhat the same timeframe though.

Like you and I talked about earlier, I like to work on music in a particular way. Focusing in and finishing up the writing part especially, within a condensed timeframe as possible. I feel that doing it this way usually brings great cohesive feeling to the material and the passion and transmitting of creativity into music only grows through the process…

Doing things in a collaborative way with everyone bringing in their own parts makes me work on my patience and for practical purposes this allows for parallel projects, like the Illvilje & Hjemsøkt albums.

It was quite interesting hearing what both Lord G & Hätsk brought in and it made the whole sound of the album come together. When the band initially was started it was meant to be a two piece project between Lord G and I with a more lo-fi obscure sound. That quickly then evolved as we started piecing together songs and then adding Hätsk we had a sound that just evolved into itself. It’s that dark, cold and meditative feeling—a presence… death that calls.

The  Hjemsøkt album is meant to be a distilled and mixed sound of some of the most important pieces of music to me and their associated moods and atmosphere. Again all the music and writing and arrangements I did over the span of something like a week and then I spent the time waiting for the drums to be recorded by MW working on the Illvilje album and the same again while waiting for the vocals to be recorded. It’s still the album I’ve spent the most time working on as far as mixing, effectively scrapping the album mix and starting from scratch 3 times.

It’s without a doubt the two biggest projects I have taken on and I think the results deliver on expectations. There’s so much more than having “perfect sound” that weighs in finishing up an album. Atmosphere, urgency & mood is of greater importance in the equation for me—And I feel both albums deliver on that. A great deal of albums don’t in this new era… it’s just “noise”.  That’s what they all got right, back in the storms of 90’s Black Metal. And why it immediately caught my ear back then. The realness and the atmosphere embedded in each album.

SHOM)  I think you nailed it there—“Perfect Sound” is anathema to black metal. This is why a large bulk of listeners are still eager for black metal to stay raw and primitive in the wake of technology.

Hjemsøkt is scratching an itch I didn’t know I had. In the sense that it structurally feels derivative of the more atmospheric and traditional/folk leaning aspects of black metal without getting in the weeds of sounding too polished, or too generic. And by judging your earlier response, it seems like that’s exactly what you were building off of.

Peregrinus) 100%! There’s a rawness and a uniqueness found in the divide between the simple traditional folk elements and that vicious raw and ravenous feel black metal can have.  I think it’s why I’ve always found the early works of Ulver so fascinating.

SHOM) I stopped myself from assuming, but I was going to mention how early Ulver looms large in its essence without it sounding too derivative—This marriage between raw black metal and traditional folk elements is what Vemod has been so successful at creating, in terms of a more modern broader appeal approach.

Peregrinus) I totally agree with Vemod and their capacity to carve out a niche to claim their own. It’s some of the most magnificent black metal from Norway. Love Vemod.

SHOM) And what of Illvilje, which corners or niches of metal is that particular sound most inspired by? It feels more grounded through a more modern approach, but I could be wrong.

Peregrinus) Well, Illvilje has 3 people bringing in individual sources of inspiration for creating their respective parts, so I think it would be more diverse—Vemod had inspired me greatly with their cold and dense as ever enveloping sound. There’s definitely parts of early Hate Forest and Drudkh in there, as well as Branikald too. Alongside Dissection, Emperor, Borknagar, Dødheimsgard. It’s truly an amalgamation of a lot of music that’s been channeled into Illvilje. 

I've gotta say, for me personally, the biggest source of inspiration for writing this album was Kaosritual’s Svøpt Morgenrød. That album, and spending time out in Norway's Nature… Where the presence of life and death is within reach at all times.

SHOM) I rarely ever see Borknagar cited as an influence nowadays but I'm glad to know they still are relevant—In that same vein, Khaoritual’s Svøpt is a real modern classic. Have you pulled from any other influences that might be considered surprising or "unconventional"?

Peregrinus) In my opinion, the first Borknagar album is such a big record… absolute masterpiece. I play it at least once a month, every month. And yes I agree, Kaosritual is one of those undeniable Norwegian gems that I feel, is still surprisingly overlooked… or under appreciated. The repressing's Terratur Possessions made of the LP and demos, the fact that they didn't sell out instantly, is a testament to how skewed things really are within modern black metal. Whatever. (laughs) …That leads into a whole different discussion.

AT THIS POINT IN, THE NEW HERALADIC BLAZE RECORD CAME OUT

SHOM) The Heraldic Blaze debut full-length 'Monuments of Will' is now out, how has/had the writing process between ‘Monument of Will’ changed from the proceeding EP, ‘Blazoned Heraldry’? Were there new insights or methods learned/tweaked this time around?

Peregrinus) Well, nothing in the way the songs were written has really changed from Blazoned Heraldry. Argent Pale has still written the entire album and mapped it out as far as the structure goes. From there I went about doing the guitar sounds and then recording guitars—We wanted a slightly different mood and sound to the guitars so all parts were recorded on two separate instruments. One for the LH & one for the RH.

Then all was sent to the new session drummer Kave. In many ways it’s a lot less processed mix/recording than the first one. Keeping it as organic as possible yet having it have a feral undertone beneath the melodies. A lot more time went into mix than on the first one.

SHOM) That's a cool detail about the guitars. Shifting to two different guitars for left and right channels suggests you were creating tension directly into the stereo field—What atmospheric or narrative purpose did that serve in the context of these songs, comparatively to Blazoned Heraldry?

Peregrinus) There’s a more lead oriented guitar on this album that’s sonically getting its own sound and then by having slightly altered it there’s a persistent "tension" between the left and the right side. Since there really is a lot (nearly constant) of those lead melodies throughout 'Monument of Will' it made more sense to do it like that rather than record on one guitar with one sound and then boosting it whenever a more pronounced lead part would appear.

Hopefully the sum of this approach gives the tracks a little more tension and also holds its own little narrative when parallel to the vocals. I guess the base idea is to have it sound even more like a full band, rather than the work of one player? Which is also the idea here for this album. Make it something more "alive", comparatively to the demo. Which was more of a case of churn it out for black metal, "exotic guitar sound".

I think both Argent Pale and I agreed on having the guitars have a more earthy Sombre tone, compared to the demo 'Blazoned Herladry'—It would be too easy to just copy paste the mix from the demo and I feel it wouldn’t have conveyed the melodies on 'Monument of Will' with the same honesty & purpose.

SHOM) The intention to split the guitars into opposing sides as a means to create tension and anchor the main melodic leads, leaves me wondering how you approached writing around the more prominent powerful hooks of the flute? Did Argent Pale write in the wind-instrument melodies first or were they sculpted off a riff?

Peregrinus) That’s more of a question for Argent Pale…

…But I would say it’s the main melody of the song that sets the foundation of where the flute goes. So in instances on the record you even have it as an orchestrated 3 piece duel. With the two guitars and the flute weaving in and out in parallel within each others melodies. It's pretty much doing what some of the classic rock and heavy metal duel lead work did with early Kiss, Thin Lizzy and Iron Maiden. Which is the stuff I grew up on in the mid 80’s when my interest in music really took hold. 

Then add the flute with an old music approach and the stage is set for something pretty unique. The compositions of AP really took a big stride on this album as far as delivering a story. Maybe not immediately recognizable on the surface but this album’s foundation is written with grief & death as the main antagonists.

SHOM) And finally, what sort of things should we be looking out for in 2026 on your side of releases/output? 

Peregrinus) Upcoming plans are basically the same for 2026 as they were in 2025—To continue writing and releasing music. Honing and sharpening the craft and hopefully coming out with something that exceeds what came before it. I have a Sort Storm Full length in works, and will be writing for Hjemsøkt & Illvilje in the upcoming first half of 2026. After that we’ll see where it all goes…

A New Heraldic Blaze album is also already in the works. And as far as the label Sonorous Night goes there’s plenty of plans: Look out for the Jøtul debut full length. A Heathendom Full length is also coming. The 2nd Mysterium Demo and finally working on completing Vol.1 of the label's comp…There’s plenty of other stuff in the pipeline as well.

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END OF PART. 02—Eternal Hails.

Heraldic Blaze - Monument of Will (Bandcamp)

Ûlairi - Winter Infernal (Bandcamp)

Illvilje - Der Nordavinden Danser (Bandcamp)

Hjemsøkt - Om Vinteren, På En Sort Trone (Bandcamp)

Unholy Craft - Saa Mørkt, Saa Mektig (Bandcamp)

KVAD - I Et Uendelig Mørke (Bandcamp)

Sonorous Night (Bandcamp)