The moniker “Blood Python” draws its inspiration from the literary works of Robert E. Howard and the captivating solo endeavor of the ingenious M. Horn. Intrigued by this Norwegian artist’s remarkable solo project, we embarked on a journey to delve deeper into its essence and uncover its mysteries.

TheNwothm: Hey there! Can you start by telling us the name of the project, who you are are where your from?

M. Horn: The name of the project is Blood Python. This is a one-man project by me, M. Horn. I am from an area in the Eastern part of Norway called Romerike. At the moment I am based in the capital, Oslo.

TheNwothm: How did you come with up with the idea for Blood Python back in 2022 and how did you choose the name Blood Python?

M. Horn: The idea goes back to 2021 and the COVID-19 lock-down. I was prevented from practicing with the band I was playing in at the time. Due to the need for a creative output, I started Blood Python as a solo project. The name “Blood Python” came to me as I started writing the first song. I was really inspired by the works of Robert E. Howard, especially his writing about Acheron. Seems like that name captured the essence of this atmosphere, which I wanted to implement into the music.

TheNwothm: You are from Oslo in Norway! Can you tell us bit about your region and the country itself for those of us who are not familiar with the culture and history of the country?

M. Horn: As mentioned above, I am not actually from the capital. I grew up in Romerike, which is 30 minutes East of Oslo. It’s a pretty normal suburban/rural area with houses, farms, and industry. But it also has a lot of pine forests, which are good for hiking and camping. Norway has a lot of cultural heritage sites which I have found interesting from a very early age. Grave mounds, cairns, rock art, and so on. The presence of this have been inspirational for the musical and lyrical style of much of Norway’s metal music,I believe.

I believe the culture of Norway is heavily rooted in a sense of admiration for the nature and wild landscapes. Most Norwegians enjoy hiking, skiing and similar activities which take them close to nature. It is not a very religious country, but in my eyes, the people have a kind of spiritual connection with nature. This has also shaped me as a person and musician.

TheNwothm: Many know that Norway has a rich musical history especially with the likes of say black metal. But what is your opinion of the Norwegian metal scene especially and heavy metal in general?

M. Horn: That is true. In my eyes, the Norwegian black metal of the 1990s’ hang as a cloud over most of the metal that is made in this country, in a positive way, of course. I believe it has been greatly inspirational for most of the metal musicians that came after that era. The metal scene today is varied. It really depends on where you are in the country. I like the scenes in the West better than here. Bergen, Stavanger and Haugesund have really good scenes. But to quote Ihsahn from Emperor “metal in Norway is very much a rural phenomenon.” I don’t know if this is the case in other countries, but if you look at where Norwegian metal musicians grew up, it is very often not in cities. So I guess the soul of metal in this country is found in the forests, mountains, islands and fjords.

TheNwothm: Have you found that the culture and history of the country has been influential on the music you create?

M. Horn: Definitely. As I touched upon earlier. For me, the cultural heritage sites made in pre-history are hugely inspirational. There is something about the voiceless aura these monuments possess. As such, I think it is easy for people with wild imaginations (like me) to draw inspiration from them.
Delving into the Scandinavian societies of the Bronze and Iron Ages one can find a lot of good material, especially for heavy metal music. The religious aspects alone can feed me with ideas for whole albums. How these people have perceived the supernatural, and how this has affected their reactions in life is really amazing, and sometimes quite brutal.

TheNwothm: And part from Norway where else do you get inspiration from?

M. Horn: I have now mentioned history and pre-history of Norway, but I also get inspiration from this in other parts of the world. Recently I have read up on ancient Mesopotamia and Meso- America. Apart from that, I have to say that the general state of the world in our own time is excellent fuel for inspiration when it comes to making dark heavy metal. War, famine, plague, corrupt politicians… We have it all. And tragic as it is, aspects of this nature often
make foundations for good art.

TheNwothm: Can you tell our readers more about yourself? From what I gather you play all instruments on your releases! So are you self taught or did you take lessons?

M. Horn: My main instrument is guitar. I learned that partly from my father and partly by being self- taught. After I started playing in bands at the age of thirteen, I gained experience in other instruments too, like drums and bass. I find that I learn best when just fiddling around with instruments for fun. I don’t respond well to direction when it comes to creative expression. When I started Blood Python, I had a friend show me how to use MIDI and synth plugins. This has given me more flexibility in song writing as well.

TheNwothm: You put out your debut album “Acheron” in 2022! Can you guide us through the album telling us about its themes both musically and lyrically and give us an overview of the tracks that make up the record?

M. Horn: As mentioned, the album is heavily inspired by the literary works of Robert E. Howard, especially his descriptions and ideas surrounding Acheron. I wanted to make an album that is a sort of a musical journey though this empire, while drawing parallels to both our own history and to our own time. Songs that really capture this concept would be Acheron and Holy War. Witch Queen and Sweating Blood would be more on the side of inspiration drawn from our own time and my own experiences in life. In addition, songs like Procession and Divine Lords of The Snake are instrumental tracks that have the sole
purpose of setting the atmosphere for what comes next.

TheNwothm: You are involved in other bands/projects such as Tempelheks and Svineinfluensa. What can you tell us about those and how they differ from Blood Python?

M. Horn: These are no longer active projects, but they both gave us much experience. We played a lot of shows in Norway, met a lot of cool people and partied hard. Good times. Svineinfluensa was a band I played in a long time ago. I am actually a little bit embarrassed that people somehow find this info online, since we were quite young when we made that music. But it is sort of a blues-y approach to stoner rock.

Tempelheks on the other hand was more serious and lasted a lot longer. We released several studio albums and had an interesting creative journey. That project started out as low-fi doom rock, inspired by bands like Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats. But over the years we went through different phases, and somehow ended up with a 1980s AOR kind of musical style. Our last album was made in our guitarist’s living room because our practice space was closed due to the COVID-19 restrictions.

TheNwothm: Would you say your always writing and have endless inspiration or have you found moments where you have had complete writers block?

M. Horn: I found a way to completely avoid writer’s block a couple of years back. If I can’t find inspiration to write, I simply mess around with a synth, or do some mixing on demos or tracks for upcoming releases. I think the trick is to always have several other aspects of the creative process available. In this way, I am constantly working on music, even though I am not writing.

TheNwothm: Typically what does a writing and recording session look like to you. Do you have a routine or certain ways you approach things?

M. Horn: I usually start with writing guitar riffs, and string them along in a structure. Then I build on top of it with bass, drums, and synth. I also do a little mixing along the way, which I find helps me come up with creative solutions concerning song writing. All though I always try to be open to new ways of approaching the process. Sometimes, I can start a song with lyrics, or just a cool sounding synth.

TheNwothm: Last year you put out your second album “Thunder City!” So how has the music evolved since “Acheron” and what is your latest album all about?

M. Horn: Firstly, the sound has become a little better. There is still that low-fi essence, but I got a little better at mixing between the two releases, so I believe that shows. There is more synth on Thunder City, and the lyrics are more involved in actual history, instead of literary fantasy works. Other than that, I would say it is a pretty good continuation of the material on the first album.

Thunder City is all about this collective feeling we have in our global society, that is driven by a sense of doom. We’re all talking about climate change, war, increased terrorism, migrations, and so on. It is easy to become overwhelmed by all this, so I find that writing about it helps. Hopefully, people can get the same relief when listening to my music.

TheNwothm: Do you have any favourite songs from the record and if so why?

M. Horn: I’ve been asked that by several zines already and my answer always changes. I think I go through phases where I am happier about certain aspects of the songs than others. But now I would maybe say that my favourite song is The Gods That Fell to Earth. For some reason, I think the guitars sounds a little better on it, than on the other songs. And I was
really pleased with the synth intro. In addition, I was happy that I was able to pull off blast beats in a song such as that. It was a weird idea, but it turned out to be an interesting change of pace.

TheNwothm: How did you come up with the name and artwork for the record?
I can’t really remember how I came up with the title. I guess it’s just a cool, 80s sounding title that gets the job done. The artwork was inspired by a photograph I took when visiting the medieval temple city Angkor Wat in Cambodia. We saw the sunrise coming over the main temple and it was just an absolutely astonishing experience. Got my friend and graphic designer Erik Alm to make the artwork, based on that photo. Add some lightning
and the logo, and there it was.

TheNwothm: If you have a touring band do you have any shows lined up this year?

M. Horn: No line-up as of this moment.

TheNwothm: Musically where do you think you will go next on things?

M. Horn: Well, the next album is already written, and most of the recording is done. On this album I am experimenting a little bit with faster tempo, which has been fun to work with. The sound will be much less lo-fi this time. If the money allows, I will get a professional producer to mix the tracks. When it comes to lyrics, I am also experimenting with some new themes for
this one.

TheNwothm: Where can fans buy your music and merch?

M. Horn: The music can be bought digitally on Bandcamp. Other than that, it is available on Spotify, YouTube, iTunes, and other platforms (I think…). Merch is not available at this moment. There might be some shirts and stuff in the event of the next album

Bandcamp: https://bloodpython.bandcamp.com

TheNwothm: Anything else you would like to mention?

M. Horn: Consume beer in large quantities, listen to heavy metal, don’t trust politicians, and don’t let the dragon drag on.
-M. Horn