Hailing from Norway, a land where extreme music has long been shaped by ice-cold landscapes and uncompromising artistic vision, Kristoffer Lunden stands as a drummer who fully embodies that restless creative spirit. Known for his work across a strikingly diverse range of projects — from the blistering extremity of Celestial Scourge and You Suffer to the more expansive and textural realms of Glimt and The Dark Nebula — Kristoffer opens up about life behind the kit in multiple bands, the challenges of maintaining artistic identity across wildly different genres, and the mindset required to stay creative in a scene that never stands still.
INTERVIEW
OBNUBIL: Hi Kristoffer! You’re constantly shifting between the brutality of grind and the atmospheres of post-black—living in this high-voltage zone between chaos and control. But zooming out for a moment… how are you doing beyond the blast beats? In the quieter hours between rehearsals, recordings, and shows, have there been any recent flashes—maybe small, unplanned moments—that pulled you out of routine and reminded you why you’re still chasing this noisy, demanding, and strangely beautiful craft?
Kristoffer: Hi yourself! When I'm not either working on music, playing shows or practicing my life is pretty chill. I live out in the countryside in a small town called Grimstad and not much goes on here. Which is something I kinda like haha. As for recent flashes or moments that keep me wanting to do this stuff, my bandmates are all talented and driven people that keep exciting things happening. The more we work together at stuff the more fulfilling and fun it gets. Right now we have a lot of stuff planned or already underway with several of my bands, that's what is pushing me lately.
OBNUBIL: Let’s rewind to the very first tectonic shift—when rhythm stopped being just something in the background and punched you straight in the soul. Can you pinpoint the moment where it all tilted? A drum fill that made your stomach drop? A record that made time dissolve? What was the trigger that told you: “This isn’t just a passion—it’s the lens I’ll live through”?
Kristoffer: I actually didn't play drums until I was 15. Heavy music on the other hand I've been shoulders deep into since I was like 4. My father would listen to stuff like Metallica, Accept, Hammerfall, Rammstein etc at home when I was a kid. So I kinda learned to love heavy music from the get go.
What got me to start playing myself was actually my music teacher in middle school, I really didn't like school and would just fool around in classes. He convinced me to try the drums, me being a diehard metal fan at this point had made me regard the instrument as something cool, so I gave it a shot. It soon became apparent that I had horrible rhythm and no real talent for it at all haha. But me and some friends decided to learn for whom the bell tolls by Metallica and perform it at our school's talent show anyway. It didn't sound nice, but at least it was fun.
Later I was contacted by some other kids from school who saw me on the talent show. They needed a drummer for their rock band and I said yes. We would practice 2 times a week in a free to use practice room with gear in a state owned music school.
As time went by I eventually developed a rhythm and started really enjoying it, but being in a rock band wasn't my calling. I would go home from practice and listen to extreme metal, wishing I could play like them. I then got in touch with a black metal band in the next town over. I had turned 16 at this time and would ride my motorcycle to practice with a huge bag of drumgear on my back. That's when I first learned double bass and blast beats and that's all I’ve wanted to do from then on basically haha it just felt right.
OBNUBIL: You're involved in projects as wildly different as Celestial Scourge’s merciless, technical death assault and Glimt’s slow-burning, atmospheric post-black metal. If each band represented a parallel-universe version of you behind the kit, what does the “Kristoffer of Celestial Scourge” share with the “Kristoffer of Glimt” or “You Suffer”—and where would they completely clash in philosophy, approach, or even personality? Is there a side of you that scoffs at another’s obsession with either precision, chaos, groove, or emotional depth?
Kristoffer: What all my different versions have in common is loving blast beats! Although they are different types of bands they all tap into some aspect of me and my feelings. In Celestial Scourge I approach the drums as a lead instrument, I’m trying to be in your face and extreme.
In Glimt I take on more of a support role, letting the guitars and melody be the main focus. I'm not really thinking hard about how I should play in these different bands, I just let what I feel is right happen. The me from Glimt would probably tell Celestial me to calm down and not overplay all the time, and the me from Celestial would call him a coward haha.
OBNUBIL: In realms like Son of a Shotgun's grind-infused madness or the surgical speed of Celestial Scourge, velocity is often worn as a badge of honor. But from your perspective, when does raw speed start to lose its expressive value? Can you recall a time when stripping things back—whether in rehearsal, recording, or live—actually connected you more deeply to your role as a drummer?
Kristoffer: To me playing fast is fun, exciting and cool, but if everything is at 200mph all the time it loses its feeling of intensity. Son of a Shotgun is actually a good example, we have found that groove and contrasts really fit that band. We still make crazy grindy songs to spice things up, but a lot of our newer stuff is more relaxed and focused. It just felt right and actually made us enjoy it more. We all know we can play really fast, so exploring the more groovy side of things felt fresh and fulfilling.
OBNUBIL: If you were to build a Frankenstein-style groove that represents the full spectrum of your drumming identity—pulling DNA from all the bands you’re in—what parts would you borrow from where? Would the footwork come from The Dark Nebula’s technicality, the textures from Glimt, the chaos from Son of a Shotgun? What would this monster groove sound like, and what kind of unholy scenario would you unleash it in?
Kristoffer: Honestly I don't really think that is possible. The way I play in those different bands can't really be put together, it would probably sound like a complete trainwreck haha. The only way I could possibly combine it all in some way would be in a drum solo or some sort of showcase of me as a player. Musically it would probably fit no songs at all.
OBNUBIL: Let’s say you've been asked to write a rhythm-based message to intelligent life in another galaxy—something that communicates the extremes of human emotion through drums alone. How might your work with The Dark Nebula and Glimt influence your decisions in terms of tempo, repetition, or even the use of silence and space? What kit would you take to Mars if NASA said you had one chance to hit record?
Kristoffer: If it's a genuine attempt at communication I would probably try to play some sort of binary code or morse code, something that could be conveying proof of intent and intelligence. But lets be honest, I would definitely just rip some blast beats and double bass haha. I'm guessing NASA would be nice enough to give me Jan Axel Hellhammer's Sonor Phonic kit, with the huge rack and all. Gotta look good while doing that huge task haha.
OBNUBIL: Between the relentless groove brutality of You Suffer and the introspective haze of Glimt, do you ever feel a kind of mental dissonance when switching roles between bands? What’s the most jarring back-to-back transition you've ever had to make—maybe even within the same day? Did it ever mess with your coordination, timing, or state of mind?
Kristoffer: No not really, the bands are completely separated in my mind, I don't think about one when playing another. I play them all for different reasons and they all feel different to play. The most jarring transition must be when I did double duty in Denmark in 2024. I played a Celestial set and then had to play a set with Blood Red Throne immediately afterwards.
Celestial is all about speed and crazy stuff, Blood Red is much more groovy and controlled. I really had to calm myself and remind myself to not overdo it, going from all that crazy stuff straight into a much more relaxed and controlled sound was a challenge. It went pretty good though, fortunately.
OBNUBIL: Picture this: one year in a mountaintop drum monastery somewhere in Norway. No screens. No distractions. Just you, your kit, and time to truly break yourself down and rebuild. You're allowed to bring one track from each of your bands to analyze and meditate on. Which songs do you bring—and what personal or technical insights would you hope to discover in the process?
Kristoffer: I would absolutely hate that haha. Only drums all day every day for a year would probably break my sanity. I approach drums mostly like a sport, it's really all about practice and repetition, do something enough and you will get better. I think it would be much more beneficial to bring songs from other bands or even other styles of music if it were to develop me as a player. Repeating songs I already know well and that I myself wrote would not do me much good apart from becoming a little tighter.
OBNUBIL: A thousand years from now, a future civilization uncovers a hard drive containing isolated drum stems from your life’s work. If you could choose five moments—be it a fill, breakdown, ambient build, technical passage, or even a glorious mistake—which would you want them to find? And what message do you hope those rhythms send about who you were—and what this music once meant?
Kristoffer: I think I wouldn't focus on myself at all, I would want them to experience the music as a whole. Drums alone are kinda useless, at least the style of drumming I do. I would want them to hear it all in context and be able to feel why I play like I do and what sort of feeling it brings. My life’s work is also far far from reaching its peak, I’m still just learning and getting better. If I had to choose id want them to find these 5 songs:
-
-
-
- Assembling Deformities - Celestial Scourge
- Legeme - Glimt
- Pray for me - Son of a Shotgun
- Annihilation and Rebirth - The Dark Nebula
- Døden og vandringsmannen - Forvitret
-
-
OBNUBIL: If you had the power to forge a monstrous hybrid drummer from the DNA of the greats in extreme and experimental drumming—whose traits would you splice in? Maybe the relentless precision of Ken Bedene, the mechanical intensity of Flo Mounier, the alien phrasing of Dirk Verbeuren, the chaos-taming control of Nick Barker, or even the atmospheric sensitivity of someone like Baard Kolstad? What would this Frankenstein of groove and brutality look like behind the kit—and more importantly, if you found yourself face-to-face in a drum-off with your own creation, do you think you'd hold your ground… or get obliterated by your own influences?
Kristoffer: I think Kevin Paradis is about as close as one can come to being the perfect extreme drummer. Combine him with Matt Garstka for the grooves and polyrhythms and nobody would ever be able to even touch that monster of a drummer. Both those guys are just in a league of their own, completely inhuman playing. If I were to face off against that abomination I would look like I’ve never even played drums before haha, no use even trying.
OBNUBIL: And if you were to craft the ultimate soundtrack that shaped your drumming and musical identity—a fusion of your top five most influential albums across all the bands and genres you’ve explored—what records would make the cut? Would you pull from blistering technical death metal classics, atmospheric post-black metal journeys, or raw death/grind explosions? And if you had to recommend one of these albums as essential listening for anyone trying to understand your style and approach behind the kit, which would it be—and why?
Kristoffer: Making a top 5 list is basically impossible for me, I listen to so much stuff and enjoy it for different reasons. The albums I credit for making me want to play extreme drums are Nocturnal by The Black Dahlia Murder and In Sorte Diaboli by Dimmu Borgir. That's where it all started, listening to those records as a new drummer really made me want to practice and play like that. Although my style has evolved since then you can still hear traces of it in my playing today.
OBNUBIL: Kristoffer, your drumming life feels like it exists in a constant state of controlled combustion—one minute you're navigating the labyrinthine intensity of brutal technical death metal, the next you're dissolving into the haze of cinematic atmospheres. With so many creative identities in motion, what’s currently stirring beneath the surface? Are there any upcoming releases, live rituals, or off-the-wall collaborations that are pushing you out of your comfort zone or into new rhythmic territories? What kind of sonic storms should we be preparing for from the different corners of your musical multiverse?
Kristoffer: Right now there's new music brewing in basically all my bands. Shows are being planned for the new year, and it's looking good. There's some studio recordings planned both for my bands and some session work I've taken on. It's pretty busy and a lot is happening on several fronts haha, but that's a good thing. Expect to see and hear a lot from me going forward.
OBNUBIL: This conversation has been like opening a dimensional rift into the many rhythm-worlds you inhabit—thank you for letting us in. But before we shut the gates: if there’s one thing you’d want to leave echoing in the heads of those who’ve followed your journey across the extremes—whether they came for the grind, the atmosphere, the tech, or the chaos—what would it be? A thought, a thanks, a philosophy, or maybe just a low-end punch to the chest in verbal form?
Kristoffer: Thanks for having me! I want to thank everyone that has helped and supported me on my journey so far, my bandmates for sharing my visions and letting me play the way I want to. I also think that people need to relax and enjoy themselves more, find what you love and put your heart into it. I don't care if you collect stamps or if you play keytar in a power metal band, do it with passion and have fun!
Interview done December 2025. Cover photo by Seth Abrikoos.
