Encounter of hearts, Munch and metal

Oslo’s new Munch Museum, now simply called MUNCH, reveals the result of a rare encounter between Norway’s greatest painter Edvard Munch and one of the country’s most famous black metal bands, the Satyricon. Did.

Exhibition called Satyricon & Munch, Open on weekends and run until the end of August. Its components are 13 carefully selected works by Munch and a 56-minute piece composed by Norwegian black metal masterpiece Sigurd Wongraben.

The setting is as black as possible. A large, pitch-black room under a ceiling 8 meters (24 feet) high, with custom-made spotlights illuminating Munch’s artwork itself. The art is on display on three walls, and if found, there is a seat on the fourth wall for listening.

But that is not the absolute first.The museum is with Munch Exhibited with other acclaimed artists A few years ago, it was still in the far more modest district of Oslo. We also collaborate with musicians of various styles, including metal acts.

Nor is it the first tribute to Satyricon’s Munch.The band used the 1899 version of Munch’s Kiss of death On the cover of the 2017 album Deep Caress Upon Deep, And Wong Graben comes across as a hardcore fan.He said that Kiss of death Every time he sees it, his heart beats faster, which decorates the walls of his recording studio.

video: Sigurd Wongraven from Munch’s Kiss of Death, English (link to Youtube)

“Munch is a source of inspiration for aspiring Norwegian artists,” Wong Graben said in a media preview of the exhibition. “As a Norwegian, I find it difficult to navigate visual arts, music, or religion without a relationship with him.”

Munch’s long career as an artist is, “It’s not a single expression, it’s not satyricon music. It can’t be darkened, depressed, or anxious. Munch can’t. It’s also about beauty, loneliness, and sometimes naked and fragile. Music needs to be composed accordingly.

“One of the most important ways I can communicate is to remind the audience of Munch’s famous quotes. International metal media visiting Oslo for a preview of the exhibition.

“It’s overwhelming and very powerful,” said French magazine Francois Blanc. Rock hard Said NewsinEnglish.no..

The darkest depth. Munch’s 13 artworks combine oil paintings, lithographs and other techniques. They all delve into the human experience with a universal theme that echoes from the dark musical world of Satiricon – jealousy and desire, sadness and anxiety, death and funeral, and the mysteries of nature, the universe and eternity. According to MUNCH curator Trine Otte Bak Nielsen, a series of small but complex pieces of art are arranged in specific waveforms or rhythms, with the aim of bringing them closer to the music. “We build on the monumental nature of the room, but at the same time we wanted to create an intimate meeting with each work of art,” she said.

She describes the project as a new approach to artistic conferences, at least compared to the year of “Munch +”, where museums in previous locations compared Munch and other artists side by side in different ways. Did. She said, “Once we enter the room where art and music are fused, we hope that the two artists will work together as a whole. teeth “Exhibition,” she said.

Not for the background. This project is not about creating contemporary background music into a standard art exhibition. With over 30 years of experience in the black metal scene, Wongraven, an internationally acclaimed icon of his musical style, is more than just a background music guy. Satyricon is built on hard rock, hard work and hard tours around the world, from the United States to India and the Oslo Opera House. In the latter 2015 live recording, you can hear Wongraven welcoming “people from Japan, Canada, Taiwan, and all over Europe”. Bands prefer clubs and medium-sized halls to stadium shows, with the goal of getting the audience closer. Wongraven, who uses “Satyr” as the artist name, and his colleague Kjetil “Frost” Haraldstad are the only permanent members of the group.

In the process of becoming world famous, Wong Graben also became interested in wine. He built a profitable wine business bearing his name Refreshing participants Inferno Festival, Black Metal Event Held every Easter in Oslo. Wongraven’s Morgenstern Riesling is the best-selling Norwegian state wine and liquor store chain. Vinmonopolet.. He reportedly sold most of his business in 2019 and earned more than SEK 50 million. But even before that, he could afford another passion comfortably. It’s a driving Porsche he owns some.

A boy from the north. Sigurd Wongraven has come a long way since he was born in northern Norway, where his father worked. Norsk Jernverk It is located in Moi Rana, a state-owned steel factory. The family moved several times before settling in Nesodden near Oslo. As a teenager, Sigurd Wongraven was hanging out at a black metal record store in Oslo. Helvete (hell). He learned to play the drums and then the guitar and left school at the age of 17 without showing much for himself except for his musical talent. He co-founded the Satyricon in 1991. Norwegian black metal became a hot topic in the 1990s for all the wrong reasons. Reckless occultism, church fires, murders, and fierce conflicts with self-proclaimed good citizens aspiring to teach pale leather. -Covered “Satanist” lessons.

DIY link. A lesser-known story at the time is that Wongraven sees it as a self-made spirit and helps move black metal forward. “If music magazines don’t cover black metal, people said it’s okay. Let’s make a black metal doujinshi. If a record store doesn’t stock black metal records, people say it’s a black metal record store. And if the record label doesn’t publish black metal, people set the black metal label. “

Wongraven has spent a lot of time in the MUNCH vault with the curator trying to understand his subject. He studied articles, books and documentaries and found that Munch was also a do-it-yourself type. Early on, Munch wasted a search for a sponsor and helped showcase his work. Wong Graben pointed out that he rented a place himself and basically held his own art exhibition because no one was found.

“It’s very in line with the attitude of the world I was born in,” Wongraven said. “In Munch’s rebellion, I think there is a strong connection to the spirit of black metal.”

Movement and emotion. Wong Graben’s next step was to find Munchart that he could relate to as a music composer. “Music is literally corrugated, so I was looking for a moving piece. I needed a piece that fits the music, such as branches, hair, and arm hugs,” he explained.

“This music cannot be based on seeing a series of works. For example, this melody works with this work, and that melody works with it. Instead, the problem is this carefully selected series of artwork. What emotions do I bring to me? The music I write is an emotional reaction to it. “

Another voice. The Munch project has led Satyricon to a fresh musical expression. This can surprise fans and influencers in a black metal environment that is often very controversial. It’s completely instrumental and almost downtempo compared to Satyricon’s previous work. A wide range of instruments range from Wongraven’s main instruments (electric guitars, baritone guitars, basses) to cellos, violas and grand pianos.

“Analog synthesizers are part of it. They sound very organic, have the warmth of analog sonics, and accept the emotional input of musicians compared to modern digital synthesizers,” says Wongraven. I did.

In a recent interview with the newspaper Dagens NæringslivWeekly magazine D2Wongraven confirmed the music Satyricon & Munch Eventually it will be released as Satyricon’s next album.

“Initially, I wasn’t thinking about it. It’s mainly an exhibition, not an album release platform, but music clearly has its own value,” he said. D2.

But he doesn’t seem to be worried about the criticism, calling Munch music “the perfect expression of the 2022 satyricon.”

“For me, the beauty of Norwegian black metal in its original form is that it is endless,” he said in a media preview. “In our musical world, those who try to limit black metal and consider themselves purists are fundamentally misunderstanding what it is. Assumption Infinitely. I think black metal can be determined by the tempo and how the artist looks at the PR photos, but that’s not the case. (…). For me, Satyricon & Munch Music has all the characteristics of black metal. “

NewsInEnglish.no/Morten Møst