Simon: My first question: is there a difference between touring in Western Europe and the US versus touring in former USSR countries?
VADER: They have more gigs there in general. And they have a much more developed concert infrastructure: better-equipped clubs, better sound, and better organization. But at the same time, here you don't have gigs that often, so the people are "wild." Eastern European fans are a lot more active than others.
S.: Last year you performed in Lvov. What were your impressions of the gig, the organization, and of Ukraine as a whole?
V.: We came to Lvov from Austria. It was our first concert in Ukraine, and we were treated very kindly. We liked everything, and the organizers did a great job.
S.: I know your grandma comes from Ukraine. Does it feel special playing here, or is it the same as in Germany, Austria, Denmark, etc.?
V.: Well, I was always curious to visit my grandma's country of origin. I was especially interested in how people would behave. As for the concerts — we try to do our best wherever we play, be it Denmark, Austria, the Czech Republic, or Germany. I'm particularly interested in the organization, because in Lvov they just put up a barrier and the security didn't let people come close to the stage.
Agressor: You're living legends of Eastern European brutal metal. What do you think — is brutal already exhausted, or is it still developing?
V.: We've always tried to push past all limits, be it political or administrative. The same goes for music, but undoubtedly there's a line where music becomes just noise. Of course, death metal has its own canons, but right now we're at a stage where we don't look back — we just do what we do.
S.: A question about lyrical ideology. Some time ago your lyrics were more cryptic. But now they're openly and unabashedly satanic in their themes. Why did this change happen?
V.: Earlier, Peter wrote the lyrics with his friend, who unfortunately committed suicide. Right now, four people are in charge of the lyrics. They're friends of Vader too. And you see things differently when you're 19 compared to when you're 30. Earlier, our lyrics were more rebellious, and I actually think they were more satanic and aggressive back then than they are now.
A.: Did you enjoy your CIS tour? Which city did you like the most?
V.: We were very surprised. We'd heard a lot about gigs in the East. We were really surprised because we thought that in cities like Ufa and samara nobody would come to the show — we thought nobody had ever even listened to that kind of music there. And we were surprised to find the organization there better than in Kyiv, st. petersburg, or moscow. Here the organizers would say "we'll figure out the equipment and everything, we'll do our best." We're glad that the Eastern scene has passed a critical point in concert organization. We're glad to be here, and this won't be the last time we come.
S.: Vader is almost 20 years old. What was the hardest period in the band's history?
V.: It was always difficult — difficult to make our way. You need good support from the label and finances to become more popular. But there are bands that were more popular than Vader, yet they're long gone, and Vader is still playing the music they love. If we ever have any problems with that, we'll just change the label.
S.: Vader often does covers. For example, Raining Blood by Slayer and Future of the Past. Why do you like covers so much?
V.: Every style has its classics. These days, many young people don't know the old metal bands, so Vader tries to remind people that they exist. We play their covers, preserving the spirit of that music, of course. Future of the Past is dedicated to that. We're going to continue playing covers, but nevertheless Vader's own creative work is the priority. There was a funny incident: we received a letter from a young Polish fan who wrote that he went to a Black Sabbath concert and they played a cover of a Vader song. :)
S.: DVD is very popular nowadays. Is Vader going to put something out on DVD?
V.: We had one DVD, a very old one — Vision and The Voice. Two years ago we recorded some new material, which will come out on DVD again. We wish there hadn't been a delay — we had problems finding a label, but now we've settled everything and the DVD will most likely come out on Metal Mind.
A.: Do you record your concerts during this tour, and are you going to release those recordings?
V.: No. We have Live in Japan.
S.: Poland has been independent for 14 years. But they say clericalism has come to take totalitarianism's place. How does the community react to your work? Do you have any problems because of it?
V.: There have always been problems with that in Poland. There was no real communism in Poland, unlike in russia, Romania, or Cuba. The Church was always there, and it always will be. And nowadays the Church has taken on a lot of influence. We try to be more cautious when organizing gigs. Some time ago we had problems with that — we even had gigs canceled because somebody called and said that Vader was a satanic band. It's a little easier today, I think because Poland is part of the EU now and you can't just cancel a concert. There was an incident with GORGOROTH. They wanted to make a video. They put up some crosses, then put girls on them. But they were prohibited from making that video, supposedly because of an outrage against Christianity. Later it turned out that those people just wanted to settle scores with the manager of the club. So the problems are more political than religious.
S.: Well, the last question: your tour is almost finished, you have two shows left. Can we hope to see Vader here again?
V.: Probably. In any case, we hope so.