I've never seen a cyclone, but I've been through numerous hurricanes, tornados, water spouts and a Storm of the Century (Hail over Apopka). So I thought I was prepared to interview Zamoth (actually it's Samoth when he plays in Emperor). We will definitely get to the bottom of this strange name game. During this interview, you should spin the new World ov Worms disc by Zyklon and allow it to destroy your sanity. Then you'll truly understand the extreme power of not only the "Finger of God" (a euphemism for tornado), but the dick of the devil that is Zyklon.

Yeah, yeah, laugh while you can. But can you imagine a more powerful, unpredictable force than the Devil's dick? It should be at least equal to a "Finger of God." World ov Worms presents the aural force of a cyclone of hate and metal aimed at your brain and firing on all cylinders. Zyklon has been steadily destroying speakers across Europe and now the World ov Worms has been launched in America. Zyklon is a potent mixture of Zamoth (Samoth of Emperor and many other bands), Destructhor (Myrkskog also on Candlelight Records), Trym (Emperor) and Daemon (Limbonic Art). It's one of those rare supergroups that actually rock. Then when you add in the lyrical genius of Bård "Faust" Eithun, it becomes legendary. The mix of personnel in Zyklon embarks the mind on a journey back to the early black metal days and submerges the mind in questions and mental pictures of violence. All the death and church burnings from the past only increases the already dark mystique of Zyklon. Thusly the star of its most prominent member, Zamoth, burns a little brighter in the Northern skies of his native Norway.

So many bands seem to only have one good song or one good set of songs in them. You must be blessed with constant creativity. You must have a ear and a mind for music that is unrivaled in black metal. Most every song I hear produced by bands with your involvement always possess strong music that is original, energetic and disturbing. How do you maintain a continuously high level of distinction in your songwriting and playing?

Zamoth: Sure, I have an ear for music, but I do not feel I'm blessed with any constant level of creativity. I think it's very difficult to point out why or how I do create music. It's more of a natural thing, I think. It's about creating energy and moods. I have long periods when I don't write music at all. I cannot control my creativity level and there's often other things that takes away the time and inspiration to be musically creative.

You endow your music with a crispness and quality that's usually accompanied by a music degree and your songs have tons of classical elements that it would make one think you had been classically-trained. Were you?

Zamoth: Let's not exaggerate things here. Keep in mind that I've been very fortunate to be working with other very skilled musicians. I've never had any formal music studies, so I'm basically self-taught and still could progress in many ways. I've learned a lot from playing aside Ihsahn during the years, no doubt. Guitar has always been my main instrument, but I've also been toying around with the bass and drums.

I've read that Candlelight was having difficulty getting World ov Worms printed and that a few distributors were balking at carrying the release. How incredibly stupid are those idiots who have boycotted Zyklon because they are afraid it has some sort of Nazi reference? It's just like when I wear an Agent Orange shirt, someone always stops me and tells me the story of the defoliant. There has got to be a point where they put the past behind them instead of hiding behind it like a shield. It's just the name of a band, get over it. Does this behavior piss you off or do you just blow it off as another difficulty in business?

Zamoth: Well, there's been no boycott of the band, just some prejudiced comments. It pisses me off when people judge you before they know what you are about. Zyklon simply means cyclone. The name represents a massive, intense, destructive force, as in the natural phenomena of a tornado. This is symbolic of our musical expression--an aggressive force of energy. What makes the name so "dangerous" in some eyes is the way we have chosen to write the name. By writing it this way, the name gets a more controversial side to it, and this was done intentionally.

But it does not mean the band holds any political, racial or fascist views. If people see a clear "war reference" in the name, that reference would simply represent the extremities of human madness. It displays some of the brutal realities of this world.

I know you say the two bands aren't connected, but since the first project was called "Zyklon-B," people will still make the connection. Why drop the "B"?

Zamoth: I never said they weren't connected really, I've just stressed the fact that it's not a reunion or reformation, but if anybody wants to compare the two, fine by me. There are several similarities. Zyklon was based on some of the same ideas: to create a hard-hitting metal act with an apocalyptic concept. Zyklon is more futuristic, though, and a hell of a lot more professional, and it is for me a proper band, while Z-B was just a project.

While we're on letters, why did you change the spelling of your name to "Zamoth" from "Samoth" for Zyklon? Did you just like the alliteration?

I bet it has generated a lot of mail. Zyklon seems to have a more death or war metal approach than Emperor or some of your other ventures. Why?

Zamoth: Well, that is a part of the concept. Zyklon is more modern, taking inspiration from shit going on in today's society. There's also a lot of post-apocalyptic fiction in the Zyklon concept. Emperor is more personal, symbolic, and maybe not so direct.

Is there a huge chunk of futuristic fantasy involved with Zyklon? It seems to be balanced equally between the gleaming future and the creeping destruction and rot that is the underbelly of civilization. Kind of reminds me a bit of movies like Matrix and Blade Runner. Was this sense of rot with wealth your intention?

Zamoth: Absolutely. And as I said, there's influences from today's society--personal observations on how people behave in terms of attitude, values, interests, etc., and observations on what's going on in the world in general with politics, war, religion, etc. But there's also a big inspiration from more filmic scenery. Especially regarding the more futuristic side of the album.

You and Destructhor seem to mesh quite well. The guitar and bass were played to the nines. Is there a possibility that this union will stay alive for another recording?

Zamoth: I really hope so! We've so far co-operated well on making this material, working in the studio and playing live, so I think we'll make it further on as well.

It seems almost incredible that you are either on the ground floor or extremely involved with almost every genre of extreme metal. Emperor has been copied by a ton of bands. Zyklon is coming right at the top of the rebirth of death metal and the war metal craze. You were involved with Burzum on their first disc--I believe you played bass--and you sang on Ildjarn's demo thereby locking up a little chunk of Viking metal (albeit in Burzum's case it came later). You have been involved with black metal from the first note played. To what do you owe this incredible ride of timing? What's your next venture?

Zamoth: I've just been working with different bands and their musical entities. There's no "ride of timing," I just followed a natural flow of progression and strife in my life. That Zyklon is on the top of current death metal is an overstatement, especially since I don't view Zyklon as a pure death metal band really. But I hope the band will mark itself in the present rise of extreme metal.

Regarding Burzum, I was just sessioning on a few track on the Aske mini-album and had no involvement beyond that really. Just thought I'd mention it. I just don't like it when people put too much into things.

You probably won't want to answer these questions, but they sure are burning to get out of me. Everyone and his brother either has read Lords of Chaos or has heard about it from someone enamored of the violence and darkness. Have you read the book or was it just too painful to dredge those memories up? I know Ihsahn had a few comments in it, but I don't remember seeing any from you.

I've often heard it stated that: "The core of wave survivors are few." It certainly seems like those involved at the beginning of black metal have spawned a musical monster much bigger than the personalities involved. Somehow I'm surprised at who was left alive in the genre (or out of jail). Were you? Did you always figure that there would be casualties along the road or was it devastating to watch the story evolve and friends fall?

Zamoth: What can I say? It's a weird story of a movement taking things to the extreme. But not surprisingly everything topped itself. Not an unknown phenomenon in extremism.

It's evident that you and Bård "Faust" Eithun must still remain good friends despite his incarceration. What made you decide to ask him to pen the lyrics for World ov Worms? Do you visit him often in prison? Did he enjoy being involved with a band again? How much longer before we might see Bård back on stage or do you think he would avoid the limelight? I doubt we'd see Emperor toss Trym any time soon.

Zamoth: Bård has a real interest in various sub-cultural movements and has also been studying religion in recent years. He's a good writer and a good friend of mine, so he was perfect for the job. At the moment, he's seen as our permanent lyricist.

All these questions you ask should really be addressed to him, but yes, I think he likes the fact the he is becoming more active in the music scene again. He still has close to two years to go and I'm sure he will need some time to get things sorted after he has been paroled. I'm sure we haven't seen the last of him!

Aren't you more lyrically involved with bands? Why did you release this function to another person?

Zamoth: I have many ideas but do not consider myself a strong lyrical writer, therefore I gave this job to someone I knew could do it well as it would strengthen the total artistic expression of the band.

Eithun wrote some tremendous lyrics, but Daemon (Limbonic Art) made the songs live and breathe with his vocals. I was relieved to read that he was now a part of Zyklon officially. Why did you take so long in inviting him into the band?

Zamoth: The original plan was to find one person doing both the bass and lead vocals, but by the time we entered the studio we found no such person. We hired Daemon as a session vocalist for the album, but as expected, he did a very good job and it soon became clear that he would be the guy for the job. We've now hired a firth person to do bass and backing vocals for live shows.