Conspiratiorial Heavy

"There's been a lot of rumours about us,” Erlend Hjelvik, frontman for Norwegians Kvelertak begins. “The most recent one was that we were part of the Illuminati, because of the owls that we use. Like a secret society. I don't remember the whole thing, but it's like a big conspiracy thing.

“We don't respond to it; it's more fun if people think it,” he adds, chuckling. “Then there's another one that was there in Norway. Because we got played on the radio, there was a guy spreading rumours that one of our parents was friends with the executives at the NRK, the state channel. Just the stupid shit people are coming up with all the time. They have to think of something.

“The one that people always keep saying, a lot of people think for some reason that the 'K' is silent, so they keep going 'velertak'. That's the one we've heard in the States. Then there's been like the rumour going around that our name meant 'owl penis', so there were a lot of people believing that for a while,” he laughs again. “I'm not sure if they do anymore.”

Whether anyone is still gullible enough to view such falsehoods as reality remains unknown, but given the sextet's considerable success, they can afford to point and snigger at some of the more ludicrous claims. Not only did their 2010 self-titled debut – a rollicking, abrasively potent blend of hardcore/punk, rock, heavy metal and black metal featuring lyrics in their native tongue – create mass hysteria, it spawned other benefits too; namely, the vocalist being able to pack in his day job to pursue Kvelertak full-time.

“When the first album came out, we had a tour that was coming up and I just had to quit my job anyway, because I couldn't get enough days off. I was already asking for a lot of time off work to go and play shows wherever, but this tour was going for like five weeks, so I would have had to quit anyway. That was at the time where we weren't making much money and just hardly getting by, but now it's a lot easier.

“I worked in a warehouse, a freezer warehouse, where I was driving a truck and just loading frozen fish. That was great – I was really happy about quitting that job.”

So, there aren't any particular gruelling moments on tour where he secretly wishes he could rejoin the rest of us in the daily working grind? “No, I don't think I have to go back to that anytime soon,” he quickly responds, cracking up again.

Hjelvik's sentiment is likely on the money, because in recent heavy music memory, perhaps only a certain faction of Nameless Ghouls have created a similar stir via just a debut LP. They knew they were on a winner with Kvelertak.

“I knew the album was going to be good, that things would fall into place. I knew that (Baroness main-man) John Baizley was making the cover for us and that we were going with (Converge's) Kurt (Ballou, producer). But I never imagined that it would take off in the way it did. It's a hobby that turned into a full-time thing and it's paying my rent now, and I think it's pretty good. 

“We've never really had that much time to stop and think about it since it started taking off, since we released the first album. I guess we just keep busy all the time, and it just keeps going. I don't know how necessary it was, but it definitely didn't hurt that we played as much as we did in between those two albums, 'cause I just think all the experience that we got from playing live, I just think it made the second album a lot better, compared to if we put out the album and then we barely played. Then it would be a very different record.”

Said hectic schedule and critical darling status show few signs of abating. Their stranglehold on the music industry hasn't been loosened by much-anticipated follow-up, Meir. The second full-length again features the near-peerless Ballou/Baizley dream-team.

“It seemed natural and we know him pretty well by now,” the vocalist says of the former. “He really wanted to do it, too, and we didn't really think about going to anyone else this time. It just felt natural for this album, and the same with using John, just felt like the natural thing to do for an album like this, (because) this is kind of a direct follow-up.

“I'm just really glad with the way it turned out, and even just in the studio was a lot more fun this time. We've got more experience. It was a lot more relaxed being in the studio, which made it easier this time, compared to the first time when we were pretty nervous, I think.”

After being introduced to fans Down Under via their well-received stint at last year's Soundwave Festival – as well as memorable sideshows alongside Mastodon and Gojira – there'll be far less anxiety regarding their maiden headlining tour here. Aside from hopefully further sampling his favourite Australian brew (Foster's), Hjelvik's audibly enthused about their impending performances. 

“When we played Soundwave last time we had a great time, and I think especially the sideshows; those were some of the most awesome shows we've ever played. So I'm just excited and curious about seeing how it's going to turn out when we're headlining shows on our own. The sideshows were really crazy, like the whole place was sold out; people seemed to know the songs and were really into it. So yeah, that was awesome. I think it's going to be good.”