Manuscripts Don't Burn

Bio: The project Manuscripts Don’t Burn spawned in 2009, although the concept evolved in my mind long before Ephel Duath was ever born. The idea was inspired by the musical freedom of several one-man Norwegian projects at that time. When I was a teenager, I deeply admired the elitist attitudes and misanthropic sentiments of these Nordic acts. The aspect that they did not need band mates to share such high musical pathos was something that I considered extremely noble.

I obviously anchored myself into that frame of mind for far too long, because even when I started playing in bands I've never been able to avoid my solo oriented will to play. All my concentration was on one thing only: bringing piles of riffs to the rehearsing rooms. My band mates were faced with two choices: they could bring more piles of riffs than me, or simply follow my lead. Unfortunately, the second option always surpassed the first.

After some years of playing and touring, I came to the conclusion that composing songs for a band should be a group process and not an individual one. The idea was there, however it was too late for me to change. I have always felt to be a one-man band trapped in a band, and although this is not necessarily something I am proud of, I have learned to live with it.

This is Manuscripts Don't Burn, an instrumental one man band around since '97.