Can you picture Covenant being "fast-food kid's meal figures type" popular? To rephrase: Can you avoid selling your spirit but still become widely popular? To make it even more complicated: If you become mega-popular, do you think that average music consumer will fully grasp an idea of Covenant?

I don't think there is built-in lack of credibility in commercial success. It all depends on what the music is saying. Eminem has great credibility and Dr. Dre has none. Still they collaborate and sell zillions of albums of the same project. Depeche Mode has loads of integrity and is extremely successful. I mean, it all comes down to why you make music and what you have to say. If you happen to say something from the bottom of your heart that 20 million people can relate to - well, it's a great thing. But I think such a success is highly improbable for Covenant. And that's partly because we are a bit complicated and dark. We don't sing about simple things in a simple way. We make simple things horribly complicated, because when you sit down and think about it, almost nothing is as simple as it may appear. And - if you try to make commercially successful pop music - that's usually not a smart move.

Eskil told me that, even in miniscule scene as electro+, artists make sacrifices and concessions dealing with labels when creating an album. Covenant used nice trick to avoid it - submitting material at the last possible minute :))
Do you still use that method? More directly: Did you make some sacrifices and compromises when you made NL?

We made it a non-negotiable point when we signed to KA2 that we wouldn't tolerate any attempts to control our work. When we started recording our producer called the label and told them that they were not welcome in the studio and that we would present our work when we saw fit. Not only did KA2 accept these rules, they also encouraged it. Still we delivered the recordings 2 months after deadline, but that wasn't on purpose ;-)

And he described "Europa” as a ’hommáge’ to pop music. How would you define NL?

I think NL could be described as the same. We have always made pop music. It just took us a while to dare to admit it. NL is dark, underground pop music. To me, good pop music is honest music from the heart, made in an accessible and recognisable format. And that's pretty much what NL is about. And to strive to make the perfect pop album is pretty much the same as trying to make a perfect industrial noise album. It's just a matter of finding the ideal that fits what you want to say, and work to achieve it. Truly innovative music is something completely different. So if you ask me, there is nothing truly original about NL. It's just a damn good album of electronic pop music. Neither more nor less.

That is the problem! "Dreams..." is more! It is a manifesto, concentrated sublimation of ideas and thoughts, a protest, a scream. You said that 'it is a child of frustration; years of thoughts and views compacted into an album' (Lund'98). What happened since "Europa"?

I don't see the problem. However it would have been a serious problem if NL had sounded like and addressed the same issues as DOAC. One of the primary driving forces for Covenant is our will to progress. To us every new album is tabula rasa, a new experiment and a new step into the future. You may not like the path we have chosen, but rest assured that we chose it carefully. Northern Light contains just as much frustration, thoughts and views as DOAC, but 10 years of new experiences later.
DOAC was - as you say - the result of our experiences and thoughts from the age of 1 to 25. That's 1/4 of a century; the customary time span of a generation. And it's a period of life when most people go from being nothing to (hopefully) something that resembles a human. And the world as a whole changes shape, people come and go, wars are fought, ceasefires are agreed upon, political systems rise and fall. You start school, get ideas of your own, fight for you right to think independently and change your mind a thousand times along the way. That's the nature of growing up. So of course DOAC and to certain extent, Sequencer as well, is more raw and passionate. But also immature and unfinished.
Actually DOAC is my least favourite album of the five we have made so far. Some of the songs, like ‘Theremin’, are great snapshots from a time in my life. But it's a time I don't want to relive again. Once was more than enough. By experience and greater wisdom we have found other ways of expressing ourselves. And I'm sorry if you find it less engaging. I don't feel that way. But then again, we write for ourselves. Not to please anyone else.