Interview Army of Primitives and Djuri Boot

Discover the fascinating collaboration behind 'Rise Against The Giant' as Army of Primitives and Djuri Boot blend epic film scores with black metal, pushing artistic boundaries.

1. What inspired the collaboration between Army of Primitives and Djuri Boot for the single "Rise Against The Giant"?

Djuri saw my previous videos and reached out over Linkedin. We had one conversation and talked about what we love about metal and what we haven't heard. 

He's known for super epic film and games scores and Army of Primitives for cinematic jawbreaking tracks with much storytelling. After that one conversation we decided to give it ago, that was in december.

2. Could you describe the creative process behind merging epic film scores with black metal music for this project?

Djuri is in charge of all the music. He is insane! He plays ALL instruments, including a full orchestra on this track. I'm in charge of writing the song and doing all the vocals. It was very challenging to do the vocals on this track, I had to use my whole range from the deepest base to Dani Filth style screams. I really screamed my throat to pieces, but it was worth it.

We wanted to bring a new sound to Black Metal. Since we both come from epic film in music, for him and me as a Hollywood director making big epic movies... It was just a natural sound for both of us. So even if the song structure is very complex it was a very natural and enjoyable collaboration, we nailed it on the first take. 

3. The official video for "Rise Against The Giant" features impressive production value and a star-studded cast. What was it like working with such talent?

I have been directing movies for 25 years now and have worked with Hollywood stars like Steven Seagal, Vernon Wells and many others, it's sort of what I do on a daily basis.

But it was really fun to bring that world into a music video. These guys were kind enough to join us out in the snow. 

Magnus Samuelsson was the strong man winner and is now a moviestar from The Witcher and Medieval, Andreas Rylander is an old friend who always brings it on set and Urban "City" Bergsten is my Sean Bean. I always kill him in my movies. This time he gets eaten by a T-rex, hard to top that.

The biggest star is the T-rex and it's insane that the lead animator from ILM that made Jurassic World made the dinos for this. So we didn't go cheap on you guys!

4. How did the concept of a tribe of cavemen hunting a giant female T-Rex come about for the music video?

Honestly, it's something I wanted to do since I was about 8 and saw Jurassic Park. Always thought mixing the world of dinosaurs and primitive men in a fantasy world is a fasiantaing idea (And yes I know they lived millions of years apart, but who the fuck cares, it's a movie :) ) Just the struggles to survive against a giant T-rex when all you have is a spear. 

5. Can you share some insights into the thematic connection between the song and Titus Paar's upcoming film "WE HUNT GIANTS"?

I kept it a secret and hidd my face in videos but... 

The connection is very strong, since I am Titus Paar. 

I think I'm the only high-level director on the planet that also makes Black Metal music. 

I wanted to write a classic theme song about the theme and story for that film to be in the end-credits but add our style of Black Metal to it. Black Metal is so fucking cinematic in it's tone and feel, it lends itself perfectly to a hardbioled dino adventure about survival and the fear and myth about the Giant creature that is new to this land.

6. Djuri Boot played all the instruments himself for the track. What challenges and rewards did this approach bring to the music's creation?

Djuri is a beast. Not just with the instruments, but he's also done all the mixing and mastering. I guess the challenge is if we ever feel like taking it on the road he'll have his hands busy. That would never work Live. 

When something is right, it's easy. We are both professionals and work really hard so we nailed it pretty quickly. I mean it took him ages to record all the instruments, specially for the orchestra but worth it. We created something new.

7. The song blends elements of symphonic black metal and epic film scores. What were some key musical influences that shaped this unique sound?

We both love the old Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth stuff from the 90s. Where they made these larger than life songs. But they also made such cool music videos for them.

That was the goal from day one. To give as much love and time for the video as the music. So it's really written for the video idea. Which for us makes sense because that's how you do it in movies. We really miss the music videos from the past. I haven't seen a good metal video in 20 years, now it's just a band in a warehouse or greenscreen studio.

8. How do you envision this collaboration influencing the metal music scene or pushing boundaries within the genre?

Oh man, I think we are too small to change anything, we just do it for the love and the boyhood dreams. If anyone out there gets a kick from the video or song, that's enough for us.

If anyone in 10 years says we helped push boundaries with this, it will blow my mind and make us extremely proud. But hey, we are already proud, there has never been a song that sounds like this or a video that looks like this.

9. What role do visuals and storytelling play in enhancing the overall experience of "Rise Against The Giant," both musically and thematically?

It's really 50/50 for us. Since we come from that world. Black metal is 100% more powerful with some fitting visuals to go with it.

10. Could you speak about any upcoming projects or future collaborations we can look forward to from Army of Primitives and Djuri Boot?

Oh yes, there will be more. Working on the second video that's coming out this summer. We are expanding into a more guitarbased track here and also lending in some clean vocals from Andreas Rylander (Power Tiger).  It's definitely on the more mainstream side of things but has a new sound that is in our cinematix vein. AND YES you guessed right, a very cool music video to go along with it!

11. In what ways do you think this project reflects or challenges conventions within the metal music and film industries?

I just love being in the position in the filmindustry where I can do what the fuck I want. That's why I can go crazy and make a black metal theme to a blockbuster type movie with me on vocals.

I think there are loads of cool things to be done musically and in movies if we open the borders between all different types of artforms. Otherwise it's just going to be the same thing over and over again.

For our fans out there: We read all of the comments, so don't hold back if you guys get a kick out of it, it means more than you think.

/Titus Paar

(66) Titus Paar - YouTube