Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
The long-running British symphonic black metal band Hecate Enthroned returns with a new release after seven years of silence on May 29th. Chaoszine spoke with vocalist Joe Stamps and guitarist Nigel Dennan ahead of the release of “The Corpse of a Titan, a Lament Long Buried” about, among other things, how different releasing an album feels in today’s world and where the band drew inspiration for its lyrics.
Greetings, Hecate Enthroned! How have the cruel rays of spring been treating you?
Joe Stamps: The cruel rays of spring have been nicely hampered by the overcast British skies, fortunately.
Your seventh full-length album “The Corpse of a Titan, a Lament Long Buried”, will be out on 29th of May. The band recently turned 30, does it feel any different to release a new album now than it did a decade or more ago?
Nigel Dennan: It definitely feels different, though perhaps not in the ways people might expect. After 30 years, the “industry noise” starts to fade into the background, and the music itself becomes much more focused. The logistics have changed more than the spirit. Ten or fifteen years ago, the “mystery” of a release was easier to maintain. Today, you’re engaging with fans in real-time across the globe before a single note is even officially dropped. While I miss the total enigma of the pre-internet era, there is something incredibly rewarding about seeing the immediate, visceral reaction.
Seven years is a long time between albums. Before we get into the music itself, how does it feel to finally be standing on the other side of it with a finished record in hand?
Joe: It’s been a long and arduous process, but it’s great to have it all finally finished and we couldn’t be happier with the response we’ve had to the two tracks we’ve put out in the build up to the albums release.
What kept Hecate Enthroned away, and what finally brought you back to the point where you felt ready to make this record? At what point did the foundations of this album begin to take shape, and what was the initial spark behind it?
Joe: In short, like many bands, we were heavily hindered by the pandemic. We’re fairly old school in that we like to get together and hash things out in the practice space when writing and that just wasn’t an option. Add to that the fact that we all have other commitments outside the band and it’s easy for time to just slip away before you know it. I think we were conscious of how much time had passed and that helped to motivate us to get writing, that and we started to do more writing in isolation using guitar software like Reaper so that we were less reliant on all being in one room together to get things done. Once we actually got going things came together quite quickly and rest assured, we’re determined not to allow it to be so long between albums again.
When writing the material, how did you balance deliberate composition with more instinctive or intuitive elements?
Nige: The balance usually starts with a spark of pure intuition. Most of our songs begin with a riff or a keyboard melody that just “feels” like Hecate. These initial ideas are never forced; they come from that instinctive place. However, once that “soul” of the song is captured, the deliberate composition takes over. This is where we get meticulous. With this album, we spent a lot of time on the flow. We didn’t want just a collection of riffs; we wanted more of an “experience”.
The album draws lyrically from ancient British legends and myths. What drew you to that well of source material for this record? Was that always the plan going into the writing process, or did it emerge naturally as the songs took shape?
Joe: With the last album I felt like I was a little bit all over the place with the themes for the songs and so this time I wanted to be more consistent. Welsh and English mythology is not only fascinating to us, but it is actually a large part of our identity. We grew up with a lot of these myths and legends and we think they’re really cool, so we want to share them with our wider audience who may otherwise have never known about them. I’ve been keen to keep the subject matter fairly broad and not be too constrained to specific stories as it has allowed me to be more creative and develop something unique to this band, but the core influence is still there. I’d say this was a natural progression, but maintaining a particular theme throughout was planned beforehand.
Atmosphere in your work tends to feel embracing rather than decorative. How do you construct that sense of presence?
Nige: That’s a great observation and in line with what we try to achieve. For us, atmosphere isn’t an “add-on” – it’s the foundations. In many symphonic bands, there is a clear line: the metal band plays the song, and the keyboards sit on top. We’ve always tried to avoid that. When Pete and I work on arrangements, we aim for the guitars and keyboards to merge in to the same space, weaving in and out of each other. If I’m playing a particularly cold riff, Pete isn’t just playing a string pad over it; he’s finding the frequencies that make that riff feel like it’s connected. We want the listener to feel submerged in the sound, not just observing it.
You’ve worked again with producer Dan Abela, who also produced “Embrace of the Godless Aeon”. What does that ongoing relationship give you in the studio that starting fresh with someone new, wouldn’t?
Joe: I think it’s simply the fact that we enjoyed working with Dan so much last time that it only seemed right to do so again. Dan is fantastic at what he does, we’re very comfortable working with him and we knew exactly what to expect.
When brought to the stage, do you feel these songs take on a different form or energy compared to the recordings?
Joe: At the time of this interview we’ve only performed “Deathless in the Dryad Glade” and “A Gallery of Rotting Portraits” live, but both maintain the same energy live but exemplified. Nothing quite beats the live experience, it adds a new layer of intensity and atmosphere.
Hecate Enthroned has been active since the mid-1990s. How do you maintain a sense of hunger and genuine creative drive across a career that long? What kinds of influences, musical or otherwise, still have the power to unsettle or inspire you?
Joe: The hunger will always be there while we are enjoying what we are doing and personally, I love writing and screaming about the themes we cover and the live shows are always insane. I have an extremely broad range of influences, from books I read to films and documentaries and even video games. As far as other bands go I like anything that evokes a strong sense of atmosphere and emotion and there’s no shortage of bands like that just in the extreme music scene, let alone across all forms of music.
What does the future hold for Hecate Enthroned? Any tours (would be great to see you in Finland) or maybe even new music already in the works?
Joe: We have a fair few things in the pipeline, we’d absolutely love to play in Finland at some point.
Thank you for your time! Anything you’d like to add to your fans and our readers?
Joe: Thank you to all those who have supported us over the years, it means the world to us and we hope you enjoy the new album.
https://www.hecateenthroned.com
