An interview with Relentless Aggression

An interview with Relentless Aggression

What inspired the name of the band? What are your influences?

When we started the band in the mid 80s we called ourselves Hell Awaits. We were big fans of Slayer and that great album of theirs. When Yngve and me (Finn) continued the band in 1989, we changed the name to From Beyond. We were big fans of that horror movie from 1986. The band disbanded after playing the Thrash Festivalen festival here in Bergen in 1990. In 2017 Yngve and I decided to record two of the old songs and release them on a vinyl single. We didn’t want to use any of the old band names, and we wanted a name that reflected our musical style. We think Relentless Aggression pretty much sums it up. We grew up in a time when bands like Slayer, Exodus, Metallica, Dark Angel, Vio-Lence and Kreator released their best albums, so that has definitely been a big inspiration for us. At the same time we don’t just stay in the past, but get inspired by a lot of newer bands, not only in the metal genres but also punk and hardcore.

How do you approach songwriting? Are there any themes that you are keen to explore when you start off?

The most common way a new song is «born», is when I sit on my couch at home, watching television. A depressing documentary or an awful “realityshow” has a tendency to get the writing process started, usually creating an aggressive song. When I start to play something I find interesting, I record it on my mobile phone or 16 track recorder. After a while I’ll listen to what I recorded, and if I still think it sounds good, I’ll keep working on it. When it comes to the lyrics, Yngve wants the listener to make up their own mind what it means. However, we live on an overpopulated planet, which is drained of it’s wildlife, rainforests and resources on an ever increasing scale. The human race has never been more technological advanced, but at the same time our world is broken, our governing systems are broken. Most of us are broken in some way.

How do you approach songwriting? Are there any themes that you are keen to explore when you start off?

The most common way a new song is «born», is when I sit on my couch at home, watching television. A depressing documentary or an awful “realityshow” has a tendency to get the writing process started, usually creating an aggressive song. When I start to play something I find interesting, I record it on my mobile phone or 16 track recorder. After a while I’ll listen to what I recorded, and if I still think it sounds good, I’ll keep working on it. When it comes to the lyrics, Yngve wants the listener to make up their own mind what it means. However, we live on an overpopulated planet, which is drained of it’s wildlife, rainforests and resources on an ever increasing scale. The human race has never been more technological advanced, but at the same time our world is broken, our governing systems are broken. Most of us are broken in some way.

Why do you write the sort of music that you do?

Because I have a need to make music. In this band I get all my frustrations out in the aggression and energy of the music.

How do you decide what songs to perform live and how do you transpose them into that live setting?

Since we’re a studio project at the time, and the pandemic makes it impossible to play live anyway, there’s not much to say about performing live these days. If/when things get better we will consider putting a live line-up together.

How do you decide what songs to perform live and how do you transpose them into that live setting?

Since we’re a studio project at the time, and the pandemic makes it impossible to play live anyway, there’s not much to say about performing live these days. If/when things get better we will consider putting a live line-up together.

What plans do you have for the future?

We are just about finished with a song that will be on a compilation lp with several other Norwegian bands. We will also release it as a single and a video just after summer. We have also just released a video of «End of Religion» from our debut album «A Shadow of All Things Broken». I have a lot of ideas for new songs, so there will be a new album in the not too distant future.