异教精灵 - 意大利Melodic Power / Folk Metal乐队Elvenking专访

Volcano Magazine
3 minutes ago
25 min read

1997年，意大利北部萨奇莱，两位对重金属音乐有着同样热爱的少年Aydan与Jarpen决定共同组建一支乐队。出于对托尔金笔下那个奇幻世界的喜爱，成员们将乐队起名为Elvenking。17岁的Damna在一则报纸上看到乐队的招募消息后加入Elvenking并成为乐队主唱。成员们对民谣音乐与传统重金属音乐高度一致的审美为Elvenking的创作奠定了气势恢宏且充满灵气的基调。自2001年的首长全长专辑"Heathenreel"开始，乐队开始在意大利金属乐界崭露头角。同时，作为意大利民谣金属最早期的乐队之一，Elvenking的声音也成为了世界民谣金属乐界最经典最独特的存在之一。从2019年开始的三张专辑"Reader of the Runes - Divination"，"Reader of the Runes - Rapture"，"Reader of the Runes - Luna"，Elvenking开始了"符文解读者"三部曲的创作。通过三张专辑讲述同一世界观之下10位角色的故事，Elvenking将古弗萨克卢恩符文与舞台形象结合，通过音乐与表演生动地诠释他们创作的奇幻世界故事。今年三月，Elvenking作为民谣金属音乐节的压轴乐队首次来华演出，在北京和上海的两场演出收获了广大乐迷的好评。在乐队结束亚洲巡演后，我们与Elvenking进行了一次专访。主唱Damna分享了这次中国之行的体验，对三部曲专辑"Reader of the Runes"的创作概念以及未来新的创作方向的展望。

（V: 代表笔者 D: 代表Damna）

In 1997, in Sacile, northern Italy, two teenagers named Aydan and Jarpen, who shared a passion for heavy metal music, decided to form a band together. Inspired by their love for the fantasy world created by J.R.R. Tolkien, the members named the band Elvenking. At the age of 17, Damna saw a recruitment ad in a newspaper and joined Elvenking as the lead vocalist. The members’ shared aesthetic sensibilities toward folk music and traditional heavy metal laid the foundation for Elvenking’s grand and ethereal sound. Beginning with their debut full-length album “Heathenreel” in 2001, the band began to make a name for itself in the Italian metal scene. At the same time, as one of the earliest Italian folk metal bands, Elvenking’s sound has become one of the most iconic and distinctive in the global folk metal scene. With the three albums released starting in 2019—”Reader of the Runes - Divination”, “Reader of the Runes - Rapture”, and “Reader of the Runes - Luna”—Elvenking launched the Reader of the Runes trilogy. Through these three albums, which tell the stories of 10 characters within the same universe, Elvenking blends Elder Futhark Runes with their stage imagery, vividly bringing their fantastical world to life through music and performance. This past March, Elvenking made their debut in China as the headlining act at a folk metal festival, receiving widespread acclaim from fans at their two shows in Beijing and Shanghai. Following the conclusion of their Asian tour, we conducted an exclusive interview with Elvenking. Lead vocalist Damna shared his experiences from this China tour, discussed the creative concept behind the “Reader of the Runes” trilogy, and offered insights into the band’s future creative direction.

(V: Author D: Damna)

采访对象：Damna（Elvenking乐队歌手）

采访时间：2026.05.20

V: 你好Damna。非常荣幸可以采访到Elvenking！这应该是你们第一次接受中国媒体采访，向乐队的所有人问好！

Hello Damna. It's a great honor to interview Elvenking! This should be your first interview with Chinese media. Please send greetings to everyone in the band!

D: 非常感谢！没错，我认为这应该是我们第一次接受中国媒体的采访。

Thank you so much! Yes, I believe this is probably our very first interview for Chinese media.

V: 距离你们来中国演出已经过去了一个月了，这也是你们第一次来到中国，这次的中国之行体验如何？这次的旅程中哪些体验让你最印象深刻？

It’s been a month since you came to China for your performances. This was your first visit to China—how was your experience here? What stood out to you the most during this trip?

D: 终于能来到中国真是太好了，我们之前不知道会是什么样子，但一切都很棒。来中国演出之前，我们并没有收到来自中国的具体反馈，所以很高兴看到我们在中国也有粉丝，并且我们也能在这里继续发展壮大粉丝群体。

It was really nice to finally come to China, we didn’t know what to expect but everything was great. We didn’t have a concrete feedback from China before actually coming and playing there, so it was nice to see that we have fans and that we can continue building up a fanbase also in your country.

V: 许多中国的观众认为Elvenking的最大特点是你们的音乐有一种发自内心的欢快——不仅是在听着专辑时有这样的感受，在现场真正看到你们时，也能感受到你们对自己的音乐感到很愉快。你们认可这个评价吗？你认为是什么让Elvenking听起来如此与众不同？

Many Chinese fans believe that Elvenking’s most distinctive feature is the genuine joy that comes through in your music—not only when listening to your albums, but also when seeing you perform live, where it’s clear how much you enjoy your music. Do you agree with this assessment? What do you think makes Elvenking sound so unique?

D: 如果你问我的话，用“欢快”这个词来形容可能不太准确。当然，我们对重金属音乐以及我们演奏的音乐充满热情，如果这种热情能在舞台上被感受到，我们会非常高兴，这说明我们是真心投入的。事实上，这正是我们做音乐的唯一原因。如果我们的热情能够给乐迷带来积极的能量、快乐、动力，或者任何有益的精神，我们会倍感欣慰，也会觉得我们与那些聆听我们音乐的人们建立了一种牢固的联系，这种联系源于我们创作和演奏音乐时所倾注的热情。

I don’t know if “joy” is the right word if you ask me. For sure we hold a big passion for heavy metal and for the music we play and if this can be noticed on stage, we are very glad and it means that we are genuine when we do it. In fact, this is the only reason why we are doing this. If our passion can bring good vibes, joy, motivation, or any kind of useful spirit to our fans, then we are glad twice and we feel that we have built a strong connection with the people who listens to our music with the same passion that we have writing and playing it.

V: Elvenking的每个成员都有一个代表自己的卢恩符文，我注意到在演出的时候每个成员也会把自己的卢恩符文画在脸上。可以请你介绍一下各位成员们的符文分别代表什么，以及为什么你们会选择这些符文吗？

Each member of Elvenking has a rune that represents them, and I’ve noticed that during performances, they also paint their runes on their faces. Could you tell us what each member’s rune represents, and why you chose those particular runes?

D: 我们之所以开始这样做，是因为我们决定通过最近三张专辑来创作并展开“符文解读者”的故事，我们希望在视觉上延伸这一概念。我身上的是ALGIZ符文（ᛉ），在古弗萨克符文中，它具有“守护”的精神含义，但若使用不当，也可能意味着脆弱与牺牲。精神上的平衡能让光明与黑暗共存，正因如此，在这个所谓的“光明”世界里，我选择行走于黑暗之路。

We started doing this when we decided to write and develop the “Reader of the Runes” story through the course of our last three albums as we wanted to extend this concept also visually. I bear the ALGIZ rune, which in the Elder Futhark has a spiritual meaning of protection, but it can also mean vulnerability and sacrifice if handled in a wrong way. A spiritual balance can let both light and darkness co-exist that is why, in a world of so called light, I tread a path of darkness

V: 这次，Elvenking作为北京和上海两场演出的领衔乐队出场。参与这两场演出还有Valhalore以及The Heathen Scythe。这是你们第一次与这两支乐队一起演出吗？演出中有哪些时刻给你留下深刻印象？

This time, Elvenking is headlining the shows in Beijing and Shanghai. Valhalore and The Heathen Scythe are also performing at these shows. Is this your first time performing with these two bands? What moments from the shows left a lasting impression on you?

D: 是的，这是我们第一次和这两支乐队一起演出。总得来说这次的阵容非常好。

Yes, this was the first time we ever played with these bands. Overall a good package.

V: 我想聊聊这次演出的歌曲，我很意外的是这次的歌单中新专辑"Reader of the Runes - Luna"的歌曲并不多。我想知道当你们来到从来没有去过的地方演出时，你们是如何决定演出歌单的？

I’d like to talk about the songs from this show. I was surprised to see that there weren’t many tracks from your new album, “Reader of the Runes – Luna”, on the setlist. I’m curious—when you perform in places you’ve never been before, how do you decide on the setlist?

D: 我们乐队从1997年成立，之后作品越来越多，所以如何为每张专辑都安排合适的曲目始终是个问题。当我们在一个国家进行首次演出时，我们会尽量考虑乐迷的期待，把更多精力放在乐迷们想听的歌上，而不是我们自己想唱的歌。当然，我们也会尽量留出一两首我们自己也很喜欢的歌。你知道，作为乐迷，我们以前看Iron Maiden、Metallica等等乐队的演出时，常常不太喜欢他们演奏太多新专辑里的歌（指的是他们近几年的作品），即使我们知道他们是在宣传新专辑。所以我觉得，即使我们确实发行了一张新专辑，对乐迷来说，能够听到乐队各个时期的歌曲，而不是只关注最近的作品，也是件好事。

We started in 1997 and our discography is growing bigger, so it's always a matter of giving the right space to each and every album. When we play the first time in a country, we try to focus on what the fans may expect and we give more space to what they would like to hear instead of what we'd like to play. Nevertheless we always try to save a spot or two for songs we love to play as well. You know, as fans when we used to see shows from Maiden, Metallica, all these bands, we often didn't like when they were playing a lot of songs out of their new albums (talking about their latest years), even if we knew that they were promoting it. So, I think that even if we do have a new album out, it’s nice for the fans to have songs from every era of the band and not focus on the last exclusively.

V: Elvenking从组建到现在已经有接近30年的时间了，我听说在你们甚至都还是学生时就已经在录制Elvenking的某些早期作品了。可以请你介绍一下Elvenking的早期历史吗？你们是如何组建Elvenking的？

Elvenking has been around for nearly 30 years now, and I’ve heard that you were already recording some of Elvenking’s early material back when you were still students. Could you tell us a bit about Elvenking’s early history? How did you form the band?

D: 其实，乐队是由Aydan和Jarpen组建的，他们当时是同学。而且他们都热爱重金属音乐。他们对重金属拥有同样的热情，这便是Elvenking的最初的火花。后来，他们在1997年组建了乐队，或者说是乐队的最初版本。1998年，我和鼓手Zender一起加入了乐队，这便是乐队最初的正式阵容。我加入乐队是因为在当地报纸杂志上看到了一则广告，而鼓手是Aydan找到的，当时他正在四处观看其他乐队的演出以寻找合适的乐队成员。我们聚在一起最棒的地方在于，我们都对聆听和演奏重金属音乐有着同样的渴望。我们当时都在深入探索90年代的金属乐，那时各种子流派开始涌现，比如死亡金属、旋律死亡金属和黑金属，所有地下音乐都蓬勃发展，那是我们的共同点和共同的热情。

In fact, the band was formed by Aydan and Japen, who at the time were in school together. And they shared the passion for heavy metal. They started listening to heavy metal together so this is the initial spark that ignited the Elvenking fire. Then they finally got to form the band or at least the very initial version of the band back in 1997. Then I joined in 1998 together with drummer Zender, and that's the first real lineup. I actually joined after reading an advertisement on a local paper magazine and the drummer was found by Aydan who was actually scouting, watching other bands play. The cool thing about when we got together was that we had all the same thirst for listening and playing heavy metal. And we were all exploring a lot the metal of the 90’s, when all of these subgenres were starting to come up like death metal, melodic death metal and black metal and all of the underground was really blooming and that was our common ground and shared passion.

V: 可以介绍一下你们的写歌流程吗？现在Elvenking的阵容里只有你和Aydan是创始成员，大部分的歌曲都是由你和Aydan创作的吗？

Could you tell us about your songwriting process? Since you and Aydan are the only founding members left in Elvenking’s current lineup, do most of the songs come from you and Aydan?

D: 我会说90%到95%的歌曲素材都由我们两个创作，Headmatt（吉他手）和Lethien（小提琴手）也会贡献一些零散的片段，我们通常会把这些素材组合到一起。但没错，基本上我和Aydan是主要的词曲创作人。现在一直都是这个模式，以前唯一活跃的词曲创作人是Jarpen。通常我们会各自发展一些想法，但当接近新专辑的制作阶段时，我们通常会聚在一起，共同探讨想法，一起创作新歌。所以这是一个从很多年前就开始的创作过程，而且一直延续至今。

I would say that 90-95% of the material comes from us and then we had Headmatt and Lethien coming up with bits and pieces that we usually put together. But yes, basically me and Aydan are the main songwriters. It's been like that since forever now and the only other active songwriter was Jarpen back in the day. Usually we have ideas and things that we develop on our own, but when we are near the creation of a new album, we usually meet and work on ideas together, write new songs together. So it's a creative process that started many years ago, and it's still going.

V: 你们曾经在采访中说过，"Pagan Manifesto"是对于Elvenking来说非常重要的专辑，这张专辑你们确立了自己的声音，或者说“找回”了自己的声音。在成立接近30年的现在，你们怎么看待"Pagan Manifesto"对于Elvenking的意义？如果要给没有听过Elvenking的观众推荐一张专辑，你会推荐哪一张？

You once mentioned in an interview that “Pagan Manifesto” is a very important album for Elvenking—it’s the album where you established your sound, or perhaps “rediscovered” it. Now, nearly 30 years after the band’s formation, how do you view the significance of “Pagan Manifesto” to Elvenking? If you had to recommend one album to listeners who haven’t heard Elvenking before, which one would you choose?

D: 是的，的确，"The Pagan Manifesto"（异教徒宣言）对我们以及我们的音乐生涯仍然非常重要。正如你所说，在经历了许多张随性而为、不太顾及其他因素的专辑之后，这张专辑无疑让我们最终明确了自己的音乐风格和乐队定位。但"The Pagan Manifesto"——在我看来，它仍然是Elvenking最优秀的专辑之一——让我们重新找到了方向。从此，我们找到了Elvenking诞生的坐标，并沿着这条道路一路前行。如果非要我推荐一张专辑给听众，那我肯定会推荐这张，如果大家想从音乐入门的话。不过我也会推荐我们的第一张专辑"Heathenreel"，因为它非常新颖独特，而且包含了很多很棒的想法。此外，我还会推荐"Reader of the Runes – Rapture"，因为这是我们近期录制的最优秀的专辑之一。

Yes, indeed, “The Pagan Manifesto” is still very important to us and to our career. As you said, it is definitely the album where we ultimately grew our awareness for our sound and our identity as a band after a bunch of albums where we just followed the creative flow without caring much about anything else. But with “The Pagan Manifesto”, which remains one of the best albums from Elvenking if you ask me, we definitely corrected the route. And from there, we set on the coordinates with which Elvenking was born with and from that point onwards we followed that path. If I have to recommend one album to listeners, well, I would definitely recommend this one if they want to start with something, but I would also recommend our first album, "Heathenreel" because it was so fresh and unique, and it contained a lot of great ideas. And then I would also recommend “Reader of the Runes – Rapture” as it is one of the most solid albums that we recorded recently.

V: "Reader of the Runes - Luna"是“Reader of the Runes”三部曲的最后一张专辑。专辑的故事很有连续性，但在音乐上你们并没有“安全地重复自己”，这张专辑里你们依然尝试了很多新的元素，并且很巧妙地让新元素融入Elvenking的声音。你是怎么看待这三部曲里的最后一张的专辑？这是“Reader of the Runes”三部曲中你最满意的一张专辑吗？

“Reader of the Runes - Luna” is the final album in the “Reader of the Runes” trilogy. While the narrative of the albums is highly cohesive, musically you haven’t simply “played it safe” by repeating yourselves; on this album, you’ve continued to experiment with many new elements and have skillfully integrated them into Elvenking’s sound. What are your thoughts on the final album in this trilogy? Is this the album you’re most satisfied with from the “Reader of the Runes” trilogy?

D: 正如我们所说，虽然我们在"The Pagan Manifesto"中已经确立了自己的音乐风格，但我们始终在尝试进行一些新的尝试，因为我们不想重复自己。这从一开始就激励着我们。这就像我们之间的一个约定：永远不要重复自己，永远不要把同一张专辑做两次，永远要有新鲜的想法，并加入一些新的元素。关于这三张专辑，我认为它们浑然一体，就像一张完整的专辑。就像所有歌曲共同构成了一幅宏伟的画卷。所以，很难说我们最满意哪一张。最近为了准备专门的三部曲演出，我又重新听了一遍，发现三张专辑各有特色。它们都拥有不同的内核，虽然感觉像是同一个整体，但又略有不同。比如，我对"Divination"这张专辑的最终效果非常满意，因为其中收录的歌曲，比如"Silverseal"，很可能会成为乐队的代表作。我很喜欢"Rapture"这张专辑中弥漫的忧郁和黑暗氛围，尤其是像"Bride of Night"和"The Repentant"这样的歌曲。在我看来，它包含了我们所有作品中最震撼人心的创作段落，情感饱满，内涵深刻。而最后一张专辑"Luna"则有所不同。它更接近我们早期的音乐风格，某种程度上，甚至带有一丝稚嫩。所以，正如你所说，“我们没有走安全路线”，因为其中有很多歌曲和段落并非为了迎合大众所谓的“商业”或“成功”而创作——而我本人非常反感用这些词来形容音乐，尤其是金属乐。所以，是的，你需要勇气才能踏上这段旅程，而我很高兴我们做到了。制作这部三部曲的感觉很棒，我们为此感到非常自豪。现在是时候展望未来，制作一张没有故事和三部曲的全新Elvenking专辑了。

Even if with “The Pagan Manifesto” we defined our sound as we said, we always try to experiment a bit, as we don't want to repeat ourselves. And that was one of the things that moved us since the beginning. It was like a pact we made among us: that of never repeat ourselves, of never play the same album twice and to always have ideas possibly always fresh and with some new features. About the trilogy albums, I think that all of the three albums together are part of the same thing, like a big whole album. It's like all of these songs are part of one great picture. So, it's hard to say which we are satisfied the most with. Listening to them again recently when preparing for the shows we're doing dedicated exclusively to the trilogy, I find strong elements in all three albums. All three albums have a different heart. Slightly different, even if it's as if they were part of the same thing. I'll tell you that for example, of “Divination” I am very happy with how it turned out, about how from that album are coming songs that that are probably destined to become among the most iconic for the band, like “Silverseal”. Of “Rapture” I love the melancholic and dark side that pervades this album and songs like “Bride of Night” or “The Repentant”, and it has in my opinion, some of the most intense compositional moments of our discography and has a very high emotional level and a very important depth. And on the last one, “Luna”, things are a bit different. It has a side that gets closer to our early sound and at some point, it almost seems that there is the same kind of naivety. So, in the end as you say, "we didn't play it safe" because there are a lot of songs and a lot of moments that are definitely not written to be as people say, “commercial” or “successful”, which are words that I definitely dislike when we talk about music or even better metal. So yeah, you need to be brave to go through this journey, and I’m very happy we did so. It was great to make this trilogy. We are very proud of it. Now it's time to look ahead and make a new Elvenking album that's free of stories and trilogies.

V: “Reader of the Runes”三部曲的故事线和世界观非常完整，我相信这是个很有开发潜力的题材。如果有机会，你们是否考虑将“Reader of the Runes”三部曲的故事改编成影视作品或者甚至是电子游戏？

The “Reader of the Runes” trilogy has a very well-developed storyline and world-building, and I believe many people will enjoy this genre. If the opportunity arises, would you consider adapting the “Reader of the Runes” trilogy into a theatrical production or even a video game?

嗯，我认为这部作品本身就足以支撑我们设想的任何形式的改编。我们可以把它写成一本书，之前也考虑过和一位合作的艺术家一起创作漫画，而且这个想法也并非完全不可能实现。此外，还有一个专门开发故事和RPG（角色扮演）游戏的团队正在积极开发基于这个故事的RPG游戏。同时，还有一家巴西软件公司正在开发一款电子游戏，我们乐队也会在游戏中被提及。虽然这款游戏并非基于《符文解读者》的故事，但我想其中肯定会借鉴一些元素。所以，是的，我们肯定有很多方法可以拓展我们的世界，也就是我们歌词中描绘的世界。这个故事很适合改编成电影，或者像你说的，改编成话剧。为什么不呢？

Well, I think that here there is enough material for any kind of development that we may think of. You could write a book out of it, there was the idea of making a comic book with an artist we collaborate with, and it's not certain this won't happen. And there is a working group, these guys who develop stories and role-playing games that are actively working on a RPG model based on this story. And, there is also a Brazilian software house that is working on a video game and our band will be actively mentioned, it won't be based on this particular story, but there will still be some points taken from it, I imagine. So yes, there are definitely ways to expand our world, the world that lives in our lyrics. This story would be perfect for a movie, or as you say, a theatrical play. Why not?

V: 如果要给因为“Reader of the Runes”三部曲的音乐主题而对这种奇幻故事产生兴趣的乐迷们推荐一些相关读物或者影视作品，你会推荐哪些作品？

If you were to recommend some related books or films to music fans who have become interested in this fantasy story because of the musical themes in the “Reader of the Runes” trilogy, which works would you suggest?

D:《符文解读者》让我们重新与那些促使我们创作这部三部曲的灵感来源建立联系。我们都是狂热的读者，当我们决定创作这个故事时，阅读无疑对我们产生了深远的影响。我肯定会提到斯蒂芬·金和他创作的大量小说。特别是《必需品专卖店》（Needful Things），它对我、对人物塑造以及故事的其他方面都产生了巨大的影响。请注意，这个故事中并没有任何明确的“奇幻”元素。它更多地包含精神和神秘元素，而非奇幻元素，我们讨论的大部分内容都是现实存在的。如果我们仔细阅读这个故事，或许会觉得它带有黑暗奇幻或成人奇幻的影子，但实际上这些元素非常少。说到其他影响和推荐读物，我可以推荐布莱恩·贝茨的《命运之道》（The Way of Wyrd），尤其是主人公旅程中涉及的精神、萨满教和异教元素。另一个重要的影响来源是翁贝托·埃科的《玫瑰的名字》（The Name of the Rose），这是历史上最重要的谋杀悬疑小说之一。我们还研究了卢恩符文及其含义和起源，所以这些也必须考虑在内。此外，我们也研读了许多神秘学和玄学书籍。我们的音乐风格可能赋予了故事一种奇幻感，但实际上它并非奇幻小说。如果要谈论奇幻文学以及我们组建乐队之初所钟爱的作品，我当然可以推荐J·R·R·托尔金的《指环王》（The Lord of the Rings）、特里·布鲁克斯的《沙娜拉的精灵石》（The Elfstones of Shannara）、迈克尔·穆尔科克、特里·普拉切特、塔德·威廉姆斯等等，仅举几例。

With “Reader of the Runes” we can reconnect to the influences that have pushed us to write this trilogy. We are avid readers and certainly when we decided to write this story, we were influenced by our readings. I would definitely mention Stephen King and the huge amount of novels he wrote. Specifically, “Needful Things” had a huge impact on me and on the development of the characters and on other aspects of the story. Keep in mind that there is nothing explicitly “fantasy” in this story. There are spiritual and esoteric elements more than fantastical and most things we talk about are real elements. If we read the story well, maybe the vest it has, can remind the dark fantasy genre, or adult fantasy, but in reality there is very little of that. Talking about other influences and readings I can suggest, there is a lot of Brian Bates’ "The Way of Wyrd" especially in the spiritual, shamanic and pagan elements of the journey of the main character. Another great influence was Umberto Eco’s “The Name of the Rose”, one of the most important historical murder mysteries. Then we studied runes and their meaning, their origin, so this too must be taken into account. And we have studied a lot of esoteric and occult books as well. Our sound is probably giveing a more fantasy feel to the story, but in reality it's not fantasy. If we want to talk about fantasy literature and what we loved especially when we started the band, I can certainly suggest J.R.R. Tolkien and “The Lord of the Rings”, Terry Brooks and “The Elfstones of Shannara”, Michael Moorcock, Terry Pratchett, Tad Williams etc., just to name a few.

V: 今年5月22日你们将发行EP"Rites of Disclosure"，可以介绍一下这张EP中收录的歌曲吗？这张EP中收录的歌曲是“Reader of the Runes”三部曲的收尾吗？

You’re releasing your EP “Rites of Disclosure” on May 22 this year. Could you tell us a bit about the songs included on the EP? Do the tracks on this EP mark the conclusion of the “Reader of the Runes” trilogy?

D: 是的，正如我预期的那样，确实如此：这张EP收录了三首Elvenking从未发行过的歌曲。这正式为“符文解读者”的故事画上了句号。"Past is Forever"是已经发行的单曲，另外还有两首："Rite of Passage"和"Blizzards of Anger"。另外，我们决定收录此前仅以数字单曲形式发布的"The Moon and Magic"和"Ethel"——这两首歌正是连接三部曲第一、二部以及第二、三部的纽带。此外，我们还加入了另外两首数字单曲，即两首翻唱作品：Iron Maiden的"No Prayer for the Dying"和Venom的"原始邪恶"并在此基础上新增了四首翻唱曲目：此前已作为单曲发行的博多之子（Children of Bodom）的"Children of Decadence"、Bathory的"Man of Iron"、Skyclad的"Salt on the Earth (Another Man’s Poison)"以及King Diamond的"Arrival"。

Yes, as I anticipated, exactly so: this EP, contains three unreleased Elvenking songs. That conclude definitively the story of the “Reader of the Runes”. “Past is Forever” is the single that already came out, and then there are two others. “Rite of Passage” and “Blizzards of Anger”. After that we decided to include the songs that were released only as digital singles “The Moon and Magic" and “Ethel” which were the two songs that have been the link between the first and second part and the second and third part of the trilogy. And then the other two digital singles, which were two covers, "No Prayer for the Dying" by Iron Maiden and "Prime Evil" by Venom, to which we added other four covers: "Children of Decadence" by Children of Bodom, that we already released as a single, “Man of iron” by Bathory, “Salt on the Earth (Another Man’s Poison)” by Skyclad and “Arrival” by King Diamond.

V: 我注意到这张EP里有一半的歌曲都是经典金属歌曲cover，有King Diamond，Children of Bodom甚至Venom的歌曲。为什么会选择这些歌曲？有哪些我们可以期待的改编？

I noticed that half of the songs on this EP are covers of classic metal tracks, including songs by King Diamond, Children of Bodom, and even Venom. Why did you choose these songs? What kind of reinterpretations can we look forward to?

D: 我们翻唱的都是过去影响过我们的乐队和歌曲。它们塑造了我们（好吧，对于Iron Maiden来说，我觉得他们的重要性无需多言），但像King Diamond、Bathory和Venom这样的乐队，都是80、90年代金属乐的代表，它们给我们留下了深刻的印象，并深深地影响了我们。

The covers we've done are all by bands and songs that influenced us in the past. They formed us, (well, for Maiden I don't think it's necessary to say much) but bands like King Diamond, Bathory and Venom are bands of 80 s and 90 s metal that really impressed us and shaped us deeply.

V: 你们发布了来自这张EP的新歌曲"The Past Is Forever"以及这首歌的MV。这是一首旋律非常欢快，非常“elvenking”的歌曲。这首歌讲的是什么样的故事？是否还与“Reader of the Runes”三部曲中的角色相关？

You’ve released a new song from this EP, “The Past Is Forever,” along with its music video. It’s a very upbeat track with a distinctly “Elvenking” sound. What kind of story does this song tell? Is it still connected to the characters from the “Reader of the Runes” trilogy?

D: 是的，正如我之前提到的，这首歌与三部曲有着直接的联系，因为它与三部曲的最后一部"Luna"的精神和故事相呼应。从深层意义上说，这是一首关于过去的歌，那时的世界充满魔力，生活更加无忧无虑，而事物的本质才是最重要的。

Yes, as I already mentioned, this song is directly connected to the trilogy as it goes together with the spirit and the story of the last part “Luna”. In depth this is a song about the past, when times were more magical, a bit more care-free and when the essence of things was important.

V: 我注意到这是支MV是很独特的手绘动画MV，作为动画专业的学生作品真的非常优秀。我真的很喜欢这个MV分镜和角色设计。制作这样逐帧手绘动画MV是非常耗时的，我想知道你们是怎么与动画团队合作的？为什么没有选择实拍而是做一支动画MV？

I noticed that this music video is a very unique hand-drawn animation. As a student project in animation, it’s truly outstanding. I really love the storyboarding and character design in this video. Creating a hand-drawn animation like this, frame by frame, is very time-consuming. I’m curious to know how you collaborated with the animation team. Why did you choose to create an animated music video instead of using live-action footage?

D: 我们与澳大利亚墨尔本皇家理工大学RMIT University（动画与交互媒体）专业的本科学生合作，通过Reaper Entertainment厂牌的介绍，共同制作了这支动画MV。他们对故事的精准呈现令我们惊叹不已，我们对最终成果非常满意。

We collaborated with the students in the Bachelor of Design (Animation & Interactive Media) program at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia to create this animated music video, thanks to Reaper Entertainment’ connections. They blown us sway with the accuracy in depicting the story and we are very happy of the result.

V: 今年你们还将在北美与瑞典力量金属名团HammerFall以及来自哥德堡的Evergrey一起巡演。这是你们首次与这两支乐队一起演出吗？关于这次联合巡演有哪些现在可以向我们分享的消息？

This year, you’ll also be touring North America with the renowned Swedish power metal band HammerFall and Evergrey from Gothenburg. Is this your first time touring with these two bands? What can you tell us about this joint tour at this point?

是的，我们将于9月在美国和加拿大进行巡演。我们非常喜欢这次巡演阵容，因为我们本身就是这些乐队的粉丝，而且和他们认识很久了。

Yes, we will be touring U.S. and Canada in September. We really like this package because we are fans of these bands and we've been knowing them since forever.

V: 你曾经说过Elvenking的音乐影响来源非常丰富，我想知道你最近在听哪些音乐？除了金属乐之外，你听得最多的音乐风格是哪一种？

You once mentioned that Elvenking draws inspiration from a wide variety of sources. I’m curious to know what kind of music you’ve been listening to lately. Aside from metal, what kind of music do you listen to the most?

D: 我们对任何风格或流派都非常开放，只要它能引起我们的共鸣。当然，重金属及其各种分支占据了我们听歌习惯的很大一部分，但这一直如此。正是因为这种音乐类型让我们感到自在，我们与它有着强烈的精神和生理上的共鸣，这种共鸣将我们牢牢地束缚在这种声音之中。总之，我们从小就听各种音乐，古典、民谣、电影配乐、摇滚、硬摇滚，甚至流行乐，只要创意精彩有趣。所以，不，我不会提到任何特定的艺术家，我只是享受聆听好音乐的自由。不过我可以提一下我最近在循环的一些专辑：Cathedral的"The Carnival Bizzare"（1995 年）——一张非常棒的专辑，来自一支已经解散的厄运金属乐队；Judas Priest的"Ram it Down"（1988 年），因为Judas Priest的歌都很好听；还有Cruel Force刚刚发行的专辑"Haneda"，这支乐队非常棒，演奏的是纯正的老派重金属/鞭击金属。

We are very open to any kind of style or genre as long as it resonates with us, of course heavy metal and all its facets cover a big part of our listening habits, but this has always been the case. So precisely because it is a genre with which we feel at ease, with which we have a big spiritual and physical affinity that binds us absolutely to this kind of sound. Anyway we have many years of listenings behind our back since we were kids, of classical music, folk music, soundtracks, rock, hard rock even pop when the ideas are brilliant and interesting So, no. I wouldn't mention any particular artist, just the freedom of listening to good music. I can mention some albums that I am listening to these days though and that are in heavy rotation for me: Cathedral “The Carnival Bizzare” (1995) – a very good album from a doom metal band that actually doesn’t exist anymore, then “Ram it Down” from Judas Priest (1988) ‘cause it’s always great to listen to Priest and an album that has just been released “Haneda” by Cruel Force, a really nice band that plays honest old school heavy/thrash metal.

V: 在结束了“Reader of the Runes”三部曲以及你们的新EP发行之后，你们对接下来的创作方向有哪些想法可以告诉我们吗？你们希望继续做概念专辑还是想发展一些其他的主题？

Now that you’ve wrapped up the “Reader of the Runes” trilogy and released your new EP, can you tell us what your plans are for your next creative direction? Do you hope to continue making concept albums, or are you interested in exploring other themes?

D: 我们已经完成了这个概念三部曲，它独一无二，我们不会再以其他三部曲或概念专辑的形式继续创作这类作品。我认为我们已经竭尽所能，倾注了所有心血。我们会回归制作更传统的专辑，事实上，我们已经迫不及待地想要开始制作下一张专辑了。

We have done this concept trilogy, it is a unique thing, and we will not go further into in other trilogies or other concept albums. I think we gave everything we could and had to give in this sense. We'll be back making more traditional records, indeed we can't wait to get started on the next one.

V: 非常感谢Damna接受我们的采访！抱歉占用你这么多时间来回复我们的问题。我非常喜欢“Reader of the Runes”三部曲。希望Elvenking接下来一切顺利，也期待还有机会在中国再次见到你们！

Damna, thank you so much for agreeing to this interview! I'm sorry to have taken up so much of your time answering our questions. I really love the “Reader of the Runes” trilogy. We wish Elvenking all the best in the future, and we look forward to seeing you again in China!