Interview with Ole Marius Larmerud (Manifest)

Manifest at John Dee, Oslo, Norway, September 9, 2011 — Photo by Kristian Singh-Nergård

Ole Marius Larmerud is the guitarist of the Norwegian Thrash/Groove/Death Metal band Manifest. Their latest album set for release in Europe is entitled Written In Blood.

METAL EXPRESS RADIO (MER):

You’ve gotten some coverage here on Metal Express Radio earlier, and you’ve also been a Guest DJ. Still there are probably some people that don’t know what kind of band Manifest is. Can you give fans a description of the band and your music?

Ole Marius Larmerud:

Manifest is a Thrash Metal band from Norway. We are bass, drums, guitar and vocals. We sound like Metal is supposed to sound! Manifest have released three albums, Half Past Violence (2005), Hedonism (2007) and Written In Blood (out now).

MER:

Tell fans about the decision to re-release Written In Blood, and how you are releasing it …

Larmerud:

It’s the first time the album has been released outside Norway, so it’s not a re-release. We decided to release the album on our own label, Violent Media. We wanted to focus the release on our home country to begin with. We now have the time, energy, and experience to release it to the rest of Europe. We are working with Indie Distribution for the distro and Vicisolum Productions are doing the promo work.

MER:

Are you going on a European tour in support of the album?

Larmerud:

I hope so … we are working on it.

MER:

Compared to your previous record, Hedonism, the song writing skills have improved on Written In Blood, and production-wise you’re getting more out of the songs. Do you see much of that change yourself? Was it something you actively pursued or was it just natural progression?

Larmerud:

I do see that change, and it was both a natural progression and a goal. We wanted to have good songs on the record instead of experimenting a lot with technical stuff. We’re happy with the production as well; it’s the best production on a Manifest record to date!

MER:

Tell fans about the writing and the recording process for Written In Blood. How much time did you spend writing and recording, and how did you guys work on the album? Was it all just smooth sailing or did you run into some trouble along the way?

Larmerud:

We recorded all drums, guitars and bass in two weeks and then we moved to a smaller studio to do the vocals. The vocals took about ten days to record. The recording was pretty much smooth sailing, but some of the songs were harder to record than others. It’s difficult to say exactly how much time we spent writing, because the songs were written over a period of two years, and we were on and off playing gigs and making new songs. A couple of the songs were not finished when we started recording, like for example “Lullaby (Bedtime For Bastards),” so we had to use some of the studio time to complete those songs.

MER:

Once again you teamed up with producer Knut “Fug” Prytz (Keep Of Kalessin, Bloodthorn) for the production, mixing and mastering. It seems you have great chemistry with this guy … how did the collaboration come about?

Larmerud:

He’s a friend of ours from way back. We asked him if he wanted to produce for us again and he said yes.

MER:

Are there any plans for a new record in the near future? Will you continue your collaboration with Prytz on your next record?

Larmerud:

I hope we can continue with Knut one way or the other since we are working great together. We are going to record a new album, but nothing is being planned at the moment. Right now we are focusing on the European release of Written In Blood and working towards getting some tours/festivals to support the release.

MER:

Since your last record you’ve changed bass players. What happened there?

Larmerud:

Kenneth, our former bass player, wanted to leave the band for a number of different reasons. One of the reasons was that he was busy with his wife and kids, plus he had another band going. We knew Johnny was a great bass player without a band, and he was interested in joining Manifest. He and Alessandro used to play together in a Heavy Metal band called Griffin. We tried it out and it worked great.

MER:

You’ve recently been on a mini-tour in Norway with the “Contemporary Primal Caveman Death Metal” band Goat The Head. How did the tour come about?

Larmerud:

We played some festivals together and decided that it would be cool to do some more shows. They are also good friends of us so it was a good-vibe thing.

MER:

Any backstage stories from Manifest’s career that you can share with us?

Larmerud:

We are pretty much a boring backstage band, but at the shows all kinds of crazy shit happens. At one of the shows together with Goat The Head, the audience looked like economic students, with blue shirts and some of them even wore a tie. It was weird, and we played one of the most Punk-Rock inspired shows we have ever played attitude wise. Broken beer glasses, chairs got thrown, beer everywhere and Stian even broke his toe on stage! It was pretty hardcore, and in the middle of it all, these slick looking people were headbanging like there was no tomorrow. Funny as hell!