Neseblod Records is Oslo’s premier metal and punk record store and also the most insane shop I’ve ever been to. Their collection of records and merchandise is crazy; trying to get through it all was pretty impossible. The story could be five times the size and still be over-stocked. I emailed some questions to Kenneth at Neseblod, who answered them all politely and even recommended a track that best represents their store. Swell guy, I am sure you’ll agree.

Seven-inches of Hell.

Vice: You have a seriously large archive – both music and merchandise. Has much of the stock come from your own personal collections?
Kenneth: When we started the shop, we had some of our own collection. We also have a dig about at home sometimes and bring it to the store.

Original copies of Slayer fanzine.

You are the premier record store in Oslo for metal, punk and alternative stuff. Was there anywhere you could buy such music between the closure of Helvete in ‘93 and the opening of your store in 2003?
There had not been any special store for this kind of music, but there were second hand stores that had some stuff every now and then.

Yep, the cross of Euronymous.

Speaking of Helvete, you have many artifacts belonging to Euronymous. Was he a personal friend of yours?
No, not really. I bought a lot of records from him and sold him some of my Mercyful Fate records. We would talk about music and stuff whenever I was at Helvete.

Original Sex Trash 7".

Have you noticed a big change in trend in metal over the last few years? I know metal is supposed to be ‘anti-trend’ or whatever but…
Yes, a lot of the old school thrash metal is extremely popular and is getting more plays than it did back in the 80s.

Burzum promos.

Norway has had a pretty mercurial touch when it comes to producing great metal bands, since the first wave of black metal bands towards the end of the 80s/early 90s. What is it that makes Norway such a breeding ground for great bands?
Not sure, but it might have something to do with us having a big interest for underground music. And I think we are not afraid to try something different. We also have the long cold winter and the forest – that might influence our minds.

One of Attila's many insane stage outfits.

Do you ever get any really odd requests at your store? Musically or otherwise.
Yes, some questions about the t-shirt “DREP DE KRISTENE”. Er, no comment.

That shirt.

On the website it says : “A BIG THANKS TO UB40 FOR THE BADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD”. What?
HA HA HA. Me and Fenriz were talking about the worst band we could come up with. We came up with UB40. Nothing over, nothing under.

You heard.

Original Immortal shirt.

Nattefrost's guitar.

Kenneth requested the song to accompany this feature on his shop to be Von’s “Satanic Blood”. I already posted that a month or two back but hey, it doesn’t get much better than Von, so here we go again. There’s a bonus Von track too – one I’ve been blazing a lot to recently.

Listen: Von, “Satanic Blood”

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Listen: Von, “Veadtuck”

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Also, next week Vice hosts the first of three two-hour radio shows in conjunction with Diesel:U:Music (yes, that is DUM). I will be playing some tracks on there. Listen here.

†ROCKWELL†