Doomed Confessionary: Skaar (Fiende)
Fiende is a black metal band from Fredrikstad, Norway, formed in 2021 by Skaar (vocals, strings, keys) and Audun (drums). Featuring members of Carpathian Forest, Magister Templi, Svarttjern and Course Of Fate, Fiende is rooted in 90’s black metal but with strong influences from the first wave of the 80’s as well as extreme doom metal and crust punk.
The name, meaning “enemy” in Norwegian, represents the disgust felt towards collective society and the herd mentality that ensures the inevitable doom of the human species.
Fiende’s debut EP »Snart er Alt Glemt«, released on November 8th, 2024 via Hellstain Productions, features four tracks of crushing black metal that was written during the failed pandemic – showcasing the dynamic depth of things yet to come.
Can you say a few words about your band?
Fiende is a Norwegian black metal duo consisting of multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter Skaar and drummer Audun.
Skaar played in a relatively short-lived black metal band called Vetrarnòtt back in the early 2000’s before spending nineteen years in progressive metal band Course Of Fate.
Audun has been with Svarttjern and Magister Templi since their inception, as well with Carpathian Forest these past seven-ish years.
Fiende was born during the pandemic in 2021, and is basically a fusion of Skaar’s musical dark sides and feelings toward collective society and religion. Fusing old school black metal with elements of doom metal and hardcore/crust punk.
What was the biggest challenge for the band?
Time. We’re both in our late thirties, with responsibilities and jobs that take up a lot of time, not to mention Audun being busy with two touring bands most of the year.
What can you be most proud of so far?
We managed to get signed before having played a single gig, having only a rough demo with programmed drums to show for.
What was your biggest regret?
Don’t really have any regrets worth mentioning yet.
What was the best concert/tour so far and why?
As I’m writing this our first gig is six days in the future, so we’ll have to get back to you on that one.
What was the biggest surprise on the music scene for you?
The sheer volume of shit, unserious bands flooding the market making it much harder for serious bands to get noticed. I really am shocked by the amount of bands using AI “art”.
What is currently in your heavy musical rotation?
I’m an old school guy, and currently in a Bathory/Venom first wave BM period, but also a lot of old school death metal like early Asphyx and Death.
What was the best advice you’ve ever been given as a musician?
Don’t take anything for granted.
Fiende live line-up: Berserk (guitars) / Audun (drums) / Skaar (vocals, bass) / Haate (guitars)
What are your guilty pleasures?
I wouldn’t really call it a guilty pleasure as I’m not secretive about it, but being a black metal guy some people might be surprised that I really love synthwave music and really anything ’80s.
Can you say something more about current music scene in Fredrikstad?
Fredrikstad seems to have been in a heavy decline in metal bands the last twenty years or so. When in my teens there were lots of bands here, but these days metal seems to have died with only a few bands left, all being within 30-55 years. There might be younger bands that I just haven’t heard of, but I honestly don’t think so.
Luckily we’re just an hour from Oslo and two hours from Gothenburg, so there’s no lack of concerts to see.
Where can we see you live this year (concerts/tours)?
Only one gig this year for Fiende was at Olavs pub in Sarpsborg on November 23rd.
Or you can catch Audun on tour in Europe with Svarttjern in the second half of December.
What are your plans for the future as a band?
Short term plans would be to get our first full-length out and we’ll see how far out in the world that takes us.
Do you have any special plans for New Year’s Eve?
Normally I’d invite a few of my closest friends and try to get alcohol poisoning. But this year, for reasons I won’t go into, me and my wife are gonna’ get some new MMORPG and LAN with a couple of friends. Yes, we’re huge geeks.
How can people best support your band?
Listen to our music, buy our records, like and share our posts, recommend us to your friends. Anything that helps the Fiende name reach more people.
»Snart er Alt Glemt« is out now, you can find it on just about any streaming service or get the CD through our label: hellstain.com.
Do you have any message for your listeners?
Dra til Helvete.
Bojan Bidovc // music enthusiast, promoter, misanthrop and sometimes a journalist as well