Band: Mara
Latest album: Sword of Vengeance
Genre: Black Metal
Country: Sweden
Label: Immortal Frost Productions
Hey mate thanks for taking the time to speak with us today, how’s things on your side of the world?
Hagalaz! Much respect for asking.
Things are complicated, but life is moving on and we are getting closer to something new through Ragnarök.
So tell me, how did Mara as a project start back in the day?
MARA started in 2010 as a solo project. I wanted to create something that was missing. I saw many of my favourite bands and artists changing their sound and approach to their art, and I didn’t like it. So I decided to forge my own path in the music industry.
I started out alone with two demos before entering a professional studio with a hired drummer to record the first album, Seiðr, in 2014. It was released a year later under the Australian label Aurora Australis Records. The goal was to bring my vision to life and find like-minded musicians.
Even in Sweden, I would say that it is really difficult to find people to work with in Black Metal who share the same goals and vision. It took a few years, and I realised that living out in the woods of Småland meant I had to move to a bigger city if I wanted to start a band.
I moved to Malmö, and from there, I found the guys in Angantyr. We had a few test rehearsals together before we officially started MARA as a band.
How has the project changed since the early days back in 2010 when you started this project on your own?
A good question, the lineup changed two times and now I am back where I started in 2010, all by myself.
Am I right in thinking the name mara is the goddess of death/winter? I’d love to hear more about what brand of paganism you guys engage in? And how crucial is that paganism in your music/writing.
MARA is an ancient name and figure with roots stretching across different cultures and folktales, from Sweden/Europe to India and Asia, always retaining an essence connected to the darker aspects of existence and death.
I chose the name for the band because it is part of my own culture. MARA is the female spirit that hunts humankind in their dreams and rides them, creating nightmares. MARA moves veiled as the force behind nightmares, the face of death.
Many seem to use her name with false intentions and interpretations. The sheep of the masses have forgotten the primitive meaning behind MARA. We are here to change that and praise her as the Myrkriða she is. As Loka Mær (daughter of Loki), we delve deeper into the essence of the feminine darkness that has shaped our Scandinavian language and sorcery.
If we look deeper into the word MARA in an Indo-European context, we find connections to death, as in Maaras, referring to a dying or deceased person, and MARA, meaning to die. In Buddhism, MARA is a demon associated with death. I strongly believe that readers should discover more facts for themselves. I am merely opening one door among many.
I find it really important to bring old traditions to the forefront and not forget who we are.
I have also come to understand more deeply that, in paganism, there is a symbiosis, a metamorphosis, a coming and going between light and darkness. They need to coexist in order to exist. Just as Niflheim and Muspelheim are separated by Ginnungagap.
I feel a deep connection to my pagan beliefs and culture, whereas I feel no connection to the Abrahamic religions. For this reason, paganism is a very important part of who I am.
How does music /paganism help you navigate the world as it is today do you think?
It makes me see more clearly what we are missing and, above all, see through the lies. The world is changing, but not for the better. In fact, I believe it is changing for the worse, and it is happening dramatically.
I strongly believe that we are further away from any spiritual or cultural connection than ever before. That is why MARA is important, not just as a musical project or artistic expression, but as a connection to the present and the past, to the living and the dead. It is a reminder that humans are not the center of the universe and that death is something we cannot hide from.
So tell me a little bit about the most recent release sword of vengeance? (for our readers) what was some the influences you had going into this album (musically or otherwise)
We wanted to do something different from Loka Mær, which focuses on feminine galdr and Seiðr. Instead, we wanted to focus the album on Loki and masculine energy.
The album was inspired by various bands, albums, and songs. These include Nargaroth, particularly their early era and the album Black Metal ist Krieg. I would also mention an earlier Behemoth album, Thelema.6; Marduk’s Panzer Division Marduk; Mayhem’s Wolf’s Lair Abyss; Bathory’s Under the Sign of the Black Mark; and Arckanum’s Antikosmos.
For the song “Sword of Vengeance,” we drew strong inspiration from tracks such as “Christraping Black Metal” and “Black Metal ist Krieg.” The song “Elite” was also a major source of inspiration.
How was the writing process for sword? Were you behind most of the writing ?
I wrote most of the guitar parts for the album, and I wrote all the lyrics. We collaborated on some songs, with the guys contributing their own ideas, but their input was less extensive than it was during the writing process for Loka Mær.
How do you find juggling time between this project and Hädangången?
I am asking myself that too. At the moment, I am trying to regain my inspiration and figure out what I want to explore spiritually on MARA’s upcoming opus. Every album has its own focus on something deeper and unknown.
For a long time, I could also see that the band was heading towards a split. Since then, I have focused on developing my craft, learning how to record and finding the sound I want for MARA. I am actually really close to achieving that now, and I have written several demos to get even closer to my vision. I can honestly say that I am almost there; I just need to find a clear vision of what I want to focus on.
Hädangången started out partly as a rebellion against MARA, giving me something more personal to work on, something more atmospheric and connected to nature and emotions. MARA, on the other hand, is more deeply rooted in spirituality. Of course, emotions are part of it too; one must sacrifice emotions to create magic. But the two projects are different and have different focuses.
What are you trying to achieve with new albums do you think? In terms of pushing boundaries of your writing or trying to nail down your sound. What goals did you have going into this latest album compared to previous releases?
For me, it is important nowadays that each album focuses on something deeper in spirituality: revealing something hidden and telling something unknown. Not by putting it straight in someone's face, but rather through a whisper that encourages the listener to dig deeper into themselves and explore the album to uncover the hidden information within it.
I guess that might be asking too much of an audience, but I prefer to do it this way. If they want to discover more, everything they need is there in the album.
With the latest album, I wanted to focus on Loki, and that is what we did, with honour and respect.
Whats your take on the landscape of black metal in 2026? Do you guys have much involvement with whats happening in swedish black metal nowadays? Or are you more focused on other things.
Actually, MARA has taken many steps back, and although I am still active as an artist, I no longer invest any energy in the Black Metal scene. There are still some brutal bands and artists out there, but most of what I see are people whose image or sound has little to do with what I consider to be Black Metal.
The scene has changed, and there is nothing one can do about it. I would rather let them play together as a community and be left alone in the wilderness, like a wolf roaming the Swedish landscape.
Whats on the cards for Mara/yourself in 2027? Any cool music plans in the pipeline?
There will be no more live galdr (shows) once MARA returns to being my solo project.
A lot is changing and happening in my personal life that I am not interested in discussing, so my focus is now on discovering what the next opus by MARA will explore.
Let the Thursian flame burn.
Vindsval
