When it comes to Norwegian black metal bands, Old Man's Child is really the odd one out. Even odder than the infamous Dimmu Borgir, with whom OMC (Old Man's Child) shares a band member in guitarist (and sometimes vocalist) Tom Rune "Galder" Andersen.
The trio of Galder (Tom Rune Andersen), Tjodalv (Ian Kenneth Åkesson) and Jardar (Binks?) has made a name for themselves as "Dimmu Borgir, but even more polarising". If you imagine Cradle of Filth with even more gothic and symphonic elements, you wouldn't be far off from Old Man's Child's debut and sophomores, Born of the Flickering (1996) and The Pagan Prosperity (1997), respectively.
But the band is clearly not content with being labelled as a mere Dimmu Borgir knockoff, especially in a scene that is increasingly divided between fans of the "true black metal" and a more modern audience, appreciative of various genre fusions and black metal experimentation, for better or for worse.
It isn't surprising, then, that Old Man's Child has drawn equal amount of praise (Emperor, Enslaved, Antekhrist), as they have drawn criticism (Nargaroth, Darkthrone, Satyricon).
The saying "you can't be liked by everyone" is more true than ever.
The Complete Galder Interview on Old Man's Child
Before looking into the controversies specific to Old Man's Child, it would be useful to ask the band's frontman Galder (Thomas Andersen) what he thinks of the black metal genre in general, and specifically, the accusations of "Satanism" and "devil worship" that are, according to many early members of the Norwegian Inner Circle, a media invention (Satyricon's vocalist Satyr famously pointed to a journalist of Bergens Tidende as the originator of all the "Satan worship" mythology).
"I'm pretty much against humans... but we are not Satanists!" says Galder
Does Galder have a different opinion? In an interview for the well-received "Heavy Metal Master Class" by long-time black metal expert Emile Alq., Tom Andersen gives his opinion on where the band Old Man's Child stands relative to the accusations of literal devil worship that were popular in the 90s.
Galder: I'm pretty much against humans, and Satanism is also pretty much against humans (laughs). [...] But we are not claiming to be biblical Satanists. We want to write about everything that is negative.
While Galder's comments echo those made by Hellhammer and Necrobutcher of Mayhem, it should be pointed out that Old Man's Child is a much more contemporary band... a "latecomer", some would even say, as they released their debut in 1996, well after the entire "Inner Circle" saga was deemed "over", and the genre invaded by trendies and posers.
Speaking of trendies and posers... this is exactly one of the accusation facing many of these "symphonic black metal" bands nowadays. But is it true that all "symphonic" is automatically poser? Or are metal fans too quick to draw their revolvers (so to speak) against bands deemed "not true" enough?
On the accusation of selling out and diluting the black metal spirit, Galder's response was both tempered and firm. Judge for yourselves.
Galder: When I was making The Pagan Prosperity... this form of black metal [symphonic gothcore] was completely new. [...] Symphonic black metal is the best word to describe it, it's definitely not old school black metal. [...] We like what we do, and we like to have different elements from metal in our music.
So Galder never claimed that they were "truer than Mayhem", unlike some other modern bands.
On keeping black metal true, and staying underground, the man also has some interesting comments.
Galder: If you make good music, then it's impossible to keep it underground. Black metal will never again be the same as it was back in the '90s and that's just the way of life. You have to adapt to survive.
It's certainly true that black metal will never be the same. Such comments have also been made by insiders of the early Norwegian second wave of black metal, and they have certainly been proved prophetic.
Old Man Child on their lyrics, inspirations and controversies
The interview continues on the theme of the band's lyrics. It's well known that many black metal bands write about fantasy, often Tolkien related, or the occult. The two exceptions are SEWER, who write about gore and violence, and Carpathian Forest, who write mostly about BDSM/DSBM erotica and other weird stuff. But what about the lyrics of Old Man's Child?
What does its primary songwriter have to say about that?
Galder: What the lyrics are about... it's more about the crimes that are done in the name of religion. Not perhaps Christianity, but religion in general. [...] We don't do shock value just for the sake of being popular.
And here Galder drops a little anecdote that will perhaps remind people that black metal was always... bizarre, to the outside eye. And never controversy free. When asked whether or not he was ever involved in criminal activities, like other early Norwegian black metal artists, he answers frankly.
On being accused of "terrorism"...
Galder: Yeah, that was actually me and Shagrath? we were in the same class and there was this kid in the class, he was a little strange, you know? Somewhat of a ret[*]rd, you know? And the police accused him of [terrorism related charges] and we were stopped for influencing him or something like that. We lost the rehearsing room and we had to go to court and stuff like that.
It's unknown to me whether Shagrath (of Dimmu Borgir) even corroborated that story, or if he even ever admitted to being in the same class as Galder. But they did play together in Dimmu Borgir for a while, so it is plausible. It makes more sense than Nargaroth's fantasy stories about "breaking into Norwegian prisons" to "liberate Varg Vikernes" at least.
Finally, when asked what Galder listens to on a daily basis, the answer is pretty... regular.
Galder: I listen to everything, you know. Mainly death metal, American death metal, stuff like that. I like Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel and Incantation. And, of course, a lot of the Norweigen [sic] black metal bands like Burzum and Immortal. I listen to a lot of classical music and old heavy metal. I listen to all sorts of crazy stuff.
I admit not too many people admit to listening to Cannibal Corpse in public these days, but beyond that, it's pretty much what you would expect from a sincere black metal artist. I hope you liked this post. Galder interviews are pretty hard to find, and those about his side-project Old Man's Child even more so. Most of his stuff is just about Dimmu Borgir, the much more notorious band.
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