Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
Weltschmerz was originated in early 2009 by guitarist Hræsvelg and drummer Valr after another band had fallen apart, in which they both played. After a first demo recording we were joined by vocalist Hreim a few months later. With this line-up we recorded our first EP entitled 'Cry For War', which would later be rereleased on tape in 2010 by the Zwaertgevegt label. After the release of this EP we started looking for a bass player. Late 2010 we found a bassist called Vidar who joined our ranks. Early 2010 we did some gigs and then we decided to focus on writing and recording again. We have now recorded a promo which will be released very soon and we hope to do more shows when it's released.
How would you describe your style? Which bands influenced your music?
We define our music as old-school black metal. We are influenced by bands like Burzum, Krallice, Hate Forest, Marduk, Mayhem, Satyricon, Darkthrone, Watain.Weltschmerz is a non-political and non-religious band. We feel no need to push our opinions on other people. For lyrics we are inspired by dark an misantrophic topics.
Why should a metalhead buy your demos/albums?
We try to play the best we can and we put a lot of effort in creating and recording our songs. It's always nice to see our effort rewarded. But we find it equally rewarding when we get a good review or people show up at a show. It feels great that people are still ineterested in black metal.
What have you released so far and how were your releases received by the public/media?
So far we have released an EP called Cry For War in 2009 as CD, it was later rereleased on tape. Besides that we're about to release a three-song promo. We're also working on two splits, one with the Mexican band Demonic Hordes and one with the Malaysian band Omen. Besides this we've also appeared on numerous compilation albums. We also contributed a cover of the song 'Holocaust' by Bathory for a tribute album, which is yet to be released.
Do you play live as well? How's your live activity so far?We've played a couple of shows so far. We've concentrated on composing and recording though in 2010. We're planning more live shows in 2011. Weltschmerz has joined with a manager to book shows.
What sould labels/zines/promoters know about your band? Why should they be interested in it?
We play aggressive old school Black Metal and in live situation no one will get out alive!!!!!
What plans do you have for the near future as a band?
As we mentioned earlier, we're working on two splits, one with Demonic Hordes and one with Omen and we have a promo that's about to be released. Besides that we're hoping to do a lot of live shows in 2011 and to spread our music.
Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
On our MySpace you can find a couple of songs you can listen to. For t-shirts and the CD version of the Cry For War EP you can also go there (in the blog section). Our MySpace can be found at www.myspace.com/weltschmerzmetal Our promo 2011 is available at myspace or via this link: archive.org/details/weltschmerz-promo2011
January 2011