The Head Control System Story: A Retrospective (Interview)

[Editor's Note: the following is an extended version of what is being included as liner notes for the physical edition of Murder Nature. We thank KScope, Kris, and Daniel for allowing us to publish this here at Invisible Oranges.]

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To discuss Kristoffer Rygg and Daniel Cardoso's Head Control System project is to enter a time machine back to the mid-2000s, back when I was a teenager. A fledgling Ulver fan, having not even heard Cardoso's Sirius project at that point, I was obsessed with anything and everything Garm. Arcturus, (any) Ulver–you name it, I was sold. Head Control System was no different. A continuation of Cardoso's SinDRomE project, renamed by Rygg, Head Control System was a successful attempt at capturing the "rock" sound of its time, but with a greater experimental bent and distinctly European approach, setting it apart from American rock which dominated airwaves at the time.

Influenced by music like Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Queens of the Stone Age, but with Cardoso and Rygg's own plethora of influences backing this approach, Head Control System's sole album Murder Nature, released by The End Records (US) and Voices of Wonder/Jester Records (EUR) in 2006, was a departure for these two artists, both of whom at the time operated at separate ends of the musical spectrum (though both Rygg and Cardoso came from a black metal background). Smooth and rhythmic, Murder Nature took from Cardoso and Rygg's varied backgrounds and resulted in something wondrous, but also familiar and of its time. Touching on the then-dwindling nu-metal style in songs like "Masterpiece (of Art)", Cardoso and Rygg's own metal backgrounds sneak through in unsuspecting ways.

An international project, with Rygg operating from his home in Oslo, Norway, and Cardoso's studio then located in Braga, Portugal, Head Control System was tested by distance and internet collaboration. The result of Cardoso messaging Rygg on MySpace or by email (depending on which member you ask), Head Control System's humble early days as SinDRomE quickly exploded upon Rygg's eventual joining after hearing a handful of Cardoso's demos of what would eventually become Murder Nature.

Hot off the heels of recording Ulver's celebrated Blood Inside, Rygg and his family flew to Portugal for the Murder Nature vocal sessions. Spending punctuated days in the studio in order to keep his family entertained on what was essentially a "working vacation", Rygg would go so far as to keep his youngest in a BabyBjörn whilst recording. Using a similar (read as: extended) vocal range to Blood Inside, the harder, rock-inflicted edge Rygg imbued to his voice resulted in a heavier, more punchy performance than the UIver performances to which people had become accustomed in the band's tenure past their black metal Trilogie era.

Recorded and produced in his own studio, Cardoso doesn't remember much from the Head Control System days, though he insists the project is still mildly active, even after what amounts to nearly twenty years past Murder Nature's release. Having recorded a full second album's worth of material in the years since, it's been up to the ever-busy Rygg, who considers the project somewhere in the "dead-but-dreaming" realm, to finish this secret second record.

Personally, revisiting Murder Nature has been a delight, both nostalgically and from a measure of quality. Though alternative rock/metal wasn't what I expected from these artists, especially in retrospect as I become a more seasoned fan of both Cardoso and Rygg's works, Head Control System was (is?) one of those special bands which leaves a special mark on the music scene and is deserving of such a comprehensive edition. Go ahead and drop the needle (or set your CD player's dial) to your favorite track, be it "Baby Blue", "Masterpiece (of Art)", or any of the many infectious songs that comprise Murder Nature, and lose yourself in what is ultimately a fantastic rock record. It is a true masterpiece of art.

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I want to ask a big question first, because I've shown a few people Murder Nature and they all say the same thing–is Murder Nature a nu-metal album?

Daniel Cardoso: I wouldn't say so. Back then nu-metal was kind of a big deal but it wasn't exactly what I was listening to. I can see how people from the extreme metal scene would label Murder Nature a nu-metal album, but I'd never go that route myself. Maybe it fits that same type of nu-metal-ish sound but I don't think it fits within the same kind of genre.

Kristoffer Rygg: As of 2023, you mean? I honestly wouldn't know. It's kind of interesting to me how some of these guys like Tommy and Mark who wrote testimonials were into the album when it came out, which – not saying they're nu-metal–but it's interesting because we had high hopes for the album when it was released. It's so cool to hear from those guys so many years later that it resonated. We definitely thought it was as good as the big boys back then, you know. I remember tuning in to Queens of the Stone Age, for example, which is more groovy, cheeky, dare I say, sexy modern rock. Pretty hard to define. Something you'd just wanna blast from your car whilst cruising down the highway looking for your next victim, figuratively speaking.

I was reading reviews from around when Murder Nature was released and people didn't know what to call it. I found that really interesting.

DC: [laughs] I would liken it more towards Tool, A Perfect Circle, and to the new prog/djent scene that kinda started with Meshuggah, and has been proliferating through bands like TesseracT or Periphery. I think what we did back then fits more within that sort of genre. This reissue is happening on Kscope too, which has a lot of bands that gravitate towards modern prog metal or a prog rock type of sound.

I want to go all the way back to the beginning with SinDRomE. How did this band start?

DC: It was mostly just me laying some riffs on a guitar and drumming over it. Then I teamed up with this cool singer named Tobel Lopes, and we did some stuff that we were pretty happy with, but then for some reason we just went separate ways–perhaps because he was living far away from me and was from a bit of a different scene. We did work again later on different projects, though, he even joined me in Anathema for a while as a touring member.

How did Kris end up joining this band and turning it into Head Control System?

DC: It's a funny story. I remember when I was in Sirius, we had this conversation with Tomas "Samoth" (Emperor) about asking Kris to be a guest on a song. He told us it would be great, but he would probably say no. He's too busy and isn't the type of guy to get involved with new bands. Samoth painted this picture of him as this difficult-to-reach guy, which he was and still is. [laughs] Kris has this charisma and star quality that makes everyone feel like he is unreachable, and that's what we were told back then. When I was looking for a singer for what was still SinDRomE, I remember I just emailed Jester Records' general email address and introduced myself, saying I was in Sirius and was signed to Nocturnal Art Productions, et cetera. I had these songs and wanted to know if I could have direct contact with Kris. The reply was, "Hello Daniel, this is Kris. Shoot." Something like that, so he was replying directly to me, which was pretty cool. I sent him one song and said that I wanted to do this album and was looking for a singer. His reply was, "Yeah, this is nice. I kind of like the style because it isn't the usual kind of stuff people approach me with, but I'm busy and can't be involved in any other projects right now. But if you want, keep sending me songs." So I sent him a couple more songs, and I think I kept sending him songs and by the fifth or sixth song, I think he said he wanted to try some vocals. To me, it was like no fucking way.

KR: If I remember correctly, I think it was through MySpace. Those days were nice, it was suddenly very easy for musicians to connect and share some tunes. That's actually also how I got in contact with Daniel O'Sullivan a few years after this. Anyway, I think Daniel first reached out through MySpace and we started chatting. He sent me some demos and actually some videos of him playing. Needless to say, I was quite impressed by his skills, drumming and doing everything by himself. Tore (Ylwizaker) and I were just done with Blood Inside which is something we'd worked on and off with for three years or something, so it was a kind of auspicious moment to delve into something else for a while. I liked the prospect of being a hired gun, so to speak, and not being involved with all aspects of the production. Also, I liked Daniel. It's as simple as that.

How did the name Head Control System come to be?

DC: That was Kris. We still worked for a while under the SinDRomE name. I still have old demos and the file name was still SinDRomE and it already had Kris' vocals. I think it was when he visited me in Portugal to do some vocal sessions, one of the conversations we had sitting at a coffee place–he said the name SinDRomE was okay, but maybe we could have a stronger name? He came up with Head Control System, and it was a good name. I was never attached to SinDRomE or words in general. I'm the music kind of guy, not the lyrics or text kind of guy. SinDRomE was something I came up with when I was twenty. In hindsight, I'm glad we changed the name because I think throughout the years Head Control System still works well.

KR: I thought we brainstormed it together, but okay maybe I did come up with it. I didn't think SinDRomE–Severe Damage on Reason and Equilibrium–was that clever [laughs]. Not that Head Control System is, either, but it's got a bit more spunk. It could be some fast car mechanical program or device, or it might be a sexual thing. It was a random act of putting a few words together, see what pops! The lyrics came about much in the same way. Experimenting, associating, trying to get the syllables to dance to the music. They were all written with the movements of the music in mind.

The album was released in the US on The End Records label, which was a metal and progressive rock label (for the most part). How do you feel it was received among that crowd?

DC: It's hard to say. We never played live, we didn't do much promo. Social networking was still just MySpace. It was hard to tell how the album was going. Years later, I met unsuspecting people from the scene who told me "Wow, that album was killer!" but back then we couldn't know because we didn't get any relevant feedback from our listeners. I'm guessing the album didn't sell amazingly well, but it's no surprise considering we didn't do any promo and didn't play any shows. One thing I can say today though is that it did impact some people who later became big in the prog metal scene, and are now in pretty big bands, and that's something to be proud of.

KR: It might have been received better in the United States, but I do remember feeling disappointed by the lack of movement here in Europe.

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The next full recording you did, Kris, was Shadows of the Sun. What was it like working on this album considering what else you were working on?

KR: Well, with Blood Inside and Shadows of the Sun I was working closely with Tore [Ylwizaker]. Daniel and Tore are very different individuals. Different outlooks and technical approaches – obviously the singing style and general aesthetic is different too. There is a big stylistic shift between Blood Inside and Shadows of the Sun, of course. At the end of the day it's just about what you set your mind to, isn't it? What is the vision here?

Murder Nature was released with little fanfare, kind of coasting on notoriety and internet sharing rather than having a specific ad campaign. Why did you choose not to promote the album?

DC: We just weren't bothered with it. We just let go. Kris was always busy with Ulver and had already left Arcturus and Borknagar. He was involved with a lot of stuff and we didn't really worry too much about it. To be honest, I didn't see a big point in doing a lot of promo since we weren't doing shows. There was only so much one could do without playing the album live. Maybe that's why it didn't go farther in sales. On the other hand, it created this magic aura surrounding the album.

KR: We were naive, we probably thought it would sell itself, on the strength of the music alone, and maybe to some extent because Ulver had a good fan base. It wasn't really common to hire publicists back then, and I do think it fell between a few cracks – the extreme metal people didn't get it and the modern or alternative rock/metal crowd never even heard (about) it! We didn't understand that we probably should have had someone push for it to get played on radio, for example.

There was an underground following, myself being an Ulver fan who discovered Murder Nature from Kris' performance, but it was interesting to watch this go under the radar.

DC: It was indeed a bit under the radar when it came out, but ultimately it must have reached some people too. Throughout the years I've had several Head Control System "fans", for lack of a better word, asking me about a second album on social media, so there's that. Even today, if I post something about Head Control System I'm sure I'll get some random person asking, "When are you guys making another album?" Well, we can give them this reissue now and see how it goes, who knows what the future might bring.

Kris, what was the process of balancing being a father and being a recording artist at the time?

KR: There's a funny picture of me in Daniel's apartment (which was also his studio at the time) with my one-year-old daughter in a BabyBjörn carrying vessel. I'm standing trying to sing while she's crying her heart out. [laughs] It was quite a juggling process, but isn't it always?

How long did it take for you to finish the vocal sessions for this album?

KR: I think something like two–three months. Not necessarily every day, but you know, just focusing on getting the main ideas down, in Oslo. Then we went to Braga for ten days or a few weeks, maybe. That was very efficient, actually. Daniel is a very hands-on guy. We got a lot done there. I was using a Digitech multi-effects guitar processor that I liked to run at least some of the vocals through. I remember going back and doing some more tests, but I don't remember exactly how long it took. Maybe a few weeks or a month after Braga.

Was there ever any interest in pulling a band together and performing live?

DC: I was always a stage type of guy. I enjoy the studio environment, my day job is being a producer and it has been for the last twenty years or so, but what I love the most is playing on stage. However that was just not possible for Head Control System as Kris wasn't really available. I don't know if you remember this, but not even Ulver were playing live back then. A few years down the road, that's when he started playing live with Ulver. And then it was just too late, too hard and too expensive to try and match schedules and find people for a possible live representation of Murder Nature. But I do remember being at this Christmas party of our label (Voices of Wonder) in Norway and someone, the label owner possibly, was begging me to convince Kris to play live. I was like, "Sure, I'll try, but I don't think that's gonna happen." [laughs] I always respected Kris' will and reasoning behind not wanting to do any shows back then, though.

KR: It's a lot of work, man, at least if you want it to be special on stage. And it costs a lot of money to organize and get ready for a tour. Considering all those things, and the modest success of the album, it wasn't the first thing on my mind. Especially considering this was back then… 2006? Ulver started playing live a couple years later. I also played some gigs with Æthenor around 2008–2009, that's when I started to dip my toes in that format. I was opening up to the idea, but this comes down to time as well. Investment. We were just two guys in different countries, we would have to recruit at least two more. It's not something I thought much about, or even dreamed of. I always enjoyed the studio and the introspection. Creating things and recording them for eternity, so to speak. I have come to appreciate the live experience a lot more since, that goes without saying, but it's a more transient thing. Not as important as those records!

What was it like working together in the same room as Kris flew out to Portugal for a session as everything else was done remotely?

DC: It was very easy-going. We hit it off from the start. Kris jokes that he's half-Portuguese, himself, as he spent some years in Portugal growing up. So maybe that's why it was really easy for us to work together and to relate as human beings. I remember we just had fun and it was pretty chill. I was living in Braga which is a small town in the north of Portugal. The town itself is also pretty chill. Everything was really smooth and easy going. I don't remember ever being stressed about anything. It was just cool and easy.

Do you remember any stories about these sessions?

DC: No, well the only thing is Kris did come with his kids and his wife from the time. His son was three and his daughter was just a baby, so he was juggling recording sessions and being a father. I have a baby now, myself, and I know it demands a lot. It's fucking hard work, man! But when I played with Anathema in Oslo, Kris went to see me with his son. The last time I'd seen him he was three, baby-walking around Braga. So, about fifteen years later he's at my show, sitting at the grown-ups table, having adult conversations! It does put things into perspective and makes me feel old. [laughs]

Kris, could you fill in any blanks?

KR: I remember we went to a gig one night as Daniel was doing session live drums for a Portuguese band called R.A.M.P.–who I think were local heroes, or pretty big in Portugal. There was a big outdoor fest thing going on. That was a nice break from the studio and family proceedings. Otherwise it was pretty domestic. I had small kids, so they went to bed early. Early up. There was Portuguese coffee, always welcome. Some croquettes and straight to the studio, then family time and maybe some touristy stuff in the evening, a few Super Bocks. Nothing scandalous. That came later or before. Man, I could tell you some stories from Ulver on the road, but we never did that with Head Control System.

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The artwork is very striking–the model and the knife with the logo on it. What was the inspiration behind the art?

DC: My memory fails me as it's been such a long time and I haven't been in touch with some of these memories. If I remember correctly, we were just doing funny stuff on MySpace and some models had taken some photos with our logo. One of the models took that picture with the knife and we thought it was cool. The artwork was done by Pedro Daniel, a designer I knew, but I don't remember talking to him much as I think Kris was mostly in charge of the layout. I probably had some input too, of course. I can't remember if it was Pedro or Kris, but one of them thought it would be a good idea to put that knife photo on the cover.

KR: Well, the MySpace ladies was actually Daniel's thing. Getting all these girls to pose with the logo, sort of pre-social media influencer shenanigans! [laughs] I didn't object. Anyway, we put together the cover at the house of a friend of Daniel's a little further South in Portugal. Basically this fold-out collage, combining some different things.

What was the inspiration behind the title? It's a very striking, aggressive title.

DC: I remember Kris was doing a lot of wordplay, and we had a few other options back then. I think one was "Liminal Animal", and I think we had some other wordplay titles too, but Murder Nature struck the most. It's a cool title, and I am 99% sure that this was something Kris brought to the table, but I liked it from the start.

I remember Liminal Animal–that was in your MySpace bio.

DC: [laughs]

KR: It's still on Ulver's Facebook! It's a Coil reference, or a Coil-esque anagram. A lot of the lyrics started like that, these sort of hang-ups, just playing with words or idioms bouncing off each other; murder-mystery stream of consciousness.

The year 2006 was a while ago now, almost twenty years, and there hasn't been much correspondence from Head Control System since your Seal cover dropped. People don't know what the project's status is, so: what is Head Control System now?

DC: It was never really dead, because every once in a while me and Kris would flirt with the idea of doing another album. We were close to doing it a couple years ago, but it was just impossible to match our schedules. I was busy in the studio and with Anathema, Kris was busy with… everything! I do have a possible whole second album recorded so there's actually a shelved fully recorded, fully produced, Head Control System instrumental album just lacking the vocals. I'm secretly hoping one day we'll make it happen again. Who knows, maybe this reissue will help? Maybe the nostalgia will help us find the time.

KR: I feel kind of guilty about that because Daniel's actually already made the music. But I simply haven't found the window. The older I get the more useless I become at multitasking too. Obviously, if we were to do another one, it'll take time. People keep saying "Just release a new album already!" but that's quickly six months of your life, and that's six months I haven't had, to be honest.

Do you feel the inspiration, though?

KR: Both yes and no. I'm very proud of Murder Nature, I think it's an objectively great record! But it's also the kind of thing that… it belongs to a different time, and what both Daniel and I have been doing the past ten–fifteen years is different too. And that's life! I've been working on some new Ulver material for a couple years now, but it's hard to find the focus and get everyone on the same page. The idea of taking on another full album project in another headspace is a bit overwhelming for me. But again, when I listen back to Murder Nature, I am still wowed at how pro it all sounds. It's happened so many times that I'm in the studio with someone and we play some music and I'll pull that album out. No one knows about it, but every time people are like holy shit!

With this kind of resurgence in the "2000s-American-rock-and-metal" sound, I think a reissue like this would go over well, and who knows what will happen next!

KR: You know, Daniel and I, we've had long breaks in our communication over the years, but it's been really nice talking with him again recently and bonding over the simple joy of this reissue. We'll see what fuels the fire. Never say never, of course.

Is there anything you want to say about Head Control System?

DC: Nah. As I said before, I'm not the speaker type of guy. I'm more of a studio guy. Not so much into talking.

KR: I think I've said all there is to say, man. The bottom line is that I'm still fucking proud of this album, and feel childishly stoked about the opportunity to rerelease it.

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Murder Nature will be available on LP and 2CD from KScope on November 17th.