Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Hangatyr Interview


1. Can you give us an introduction to the band and also what has been going on since the recording of the new album?

Well, we are Hangatyr, consisting of vocals, 2 guitars, bass and drums. We play a sort of “paganized” Black Metal – without being too restricted in our style of music.
The recordings of our last record “Elemente” (elements) was finished in early 2013. Since then we played some live gigs, have been looking for a record label and finally decided to release it independently. Now we are looking forward to release it on February 1st this year.

2. Recently you have recorded a new album, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style it has taken and also how does it differ from your past recordings?

The song writing process was nearly the same as always, the recording sessions took place in the Unholy studio like on the album before. So there are no big differences with this part. The musical style is mainly Black Metal, but as always there are a lot of influences. I think “Elemente” is far more compact in the songs, coming more straight to the point than “Helwege” back in 2010.

3. The lyrics as well as the band name are based on Norse paganism, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in Norse Paganism and also are you interested in the Paganism of other cultures?

We all are interested in Norse Mythology more or less, so that is why the lyrics are about this topic. And I know, there is a lot in interest in other mythologies or paganism of other cultures. Of course I can’t tell about how well-marked this is for the other guys.

4. What are some of the best shows that the band has played over the years and also how would you describe your stage performance?

Uhm… now you’ve got me there.. There have been lots of shows, and every single one has its very special moments. Personally, I liked a lot our third show at all, it was on the inner yard of a castle, the atmosphere was quite impressive.

5. Do you have any touring or show plans once the album is released?

First of it all, the Release-Party of course, like said before it will happen on February 1st in Jena (Café “Wagner”), the second fixed event is our appearance on the Barther Metal Open Air in August this year, more are planned but still to be confirmed. A “tour” in the proper sense will is nearly impossible at the moment, since we all got day jobs.

6. The new album is coming out in March, what are some of your expectations once the album is released?

I don’t know who informed you, but the official release date is January 31st – but still, we got no special expectations, we just hope, people will like it and it will reward us with some gigs.

7. The new album is going to be self released after releasing your previous album on Nocturnal Empire, are you open to working with another
record label again in the future?

We are open to work with a label again, no question. The decision to release the album independently had several reasons. One, the search for a label for an underground band like we are, is hard and time-consuming. In these times, labels try to get by with their already signed bands (especially for financial reasons). On the other hand, our album was finished for almost a year and we wanted to present it to the world.

8. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of pagan and black metal?

Feedbacks are always different, some people like what we do, some others not, so this is hard to say.

9. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

Time will show… there are no exact plans to choose one direction or the other. We do what we want and what we think is fitting our band, there are no restrictions so far, as long as we are satisfied with it.

10. What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

There are few bands that really “influenced” our music. At least, we hope so. One can never say, he would not be influenced by anything, your environment, your personal constitution – everything will have an effect on you more or less. The style of music we listen to is mainly death, black or pagan metal, but everyone of us has its one favourites. All in all its really widespread.

11. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

Speaking for myself, I like painting a lot (if time permits, though), for the others… don’t know, nothing uncommon… just the stuff we all do like hanging around with your friends, drinking (lots of) beer…

12. Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

Thank you very much for this interview, to all of you reading this: visit us in the internet (www.hangatyr-metal.de), visit us live – have fun.
Horns up!

Off the record: Interview was conducted with Tele (guitars), cheers

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