Lachryma Christi: Interview with Hecate Enthroned (UK)

So, as promised, after a month off as in holidays, Lachryma Christi is back with an interview with Hecate Enthroned, Black Metal band from UK. Sadly, many people stopped believing the band still had a future, but looks like things are going pretty well this year, after all they got a new vocalist, Elliot, who suits very well the position, and they just finished recording their new album.
Lachryma Christi had the pleasure to interview one of the former bands of Hecate Enthroned, the bassist Dylan Hughes, let's see what he has to say about these and other matters.

Why Hecate Enthroned? Is it about Hecate the Greek goddess?

Her name is usually thought to be a derivation of the Greek word for ‘will’ or to move directly meaning ‘She who works from afar’ and she or various incarnations of her do appear in many cultures and mythologies, such as Hebrew, Persian and European. The Queen of the witches sabbat is none other than Lilith, known in Persian mythology as AZ or Jeh, the harlot who is embodiment of sexual power. We use the European Hecate; the triple goddess who is mother of death, shades, witchcraft and necromancy. In the Manichaean Erigious tradition, Az came first to the blackness of hell, before the fallen angels came to earth and when Lucifer or Azazel fell they joined and Az became the bride of the devil and this is basically the tradition we take with Hecate – Lilith, Baphomet and we incorporate the Baphomet, Goat of Mendes in our logo as Az -Lilith - HECATE is Lucifer, Satan's (which ever name you choose) Concubine.

How did the band start? Hecate Enthroned have been around for such a long time, how has it been to survive to so many changes and tendencies in Black Metal?

The band started in North Wales as a thrash/death metal band in the early 90’s before becoming Hecate Enthroned in 1995 and playing Black Metal on the demo AN ODE FOR A HAUNTED WOOD. It started as a group of friends wanting to play and create extreme metal and with an interest in the darker arts. Members changed as the band developed but the original passion to create dark extreme metal remained and i think that’s why we have outlasted a lot of other bands and continue to exist as to us it is all about our music and the love for what we do. It has never mattered to us what other bands do or what is popular in the scene, we always continue with our own goals. If you have the passion and belief in what you do then nothing can distract or halt you.

This year you acquired a new vocalist, Elliot, how has it been to work with him? Since you had a few different vocalists along the time, do you think Elliot is there to stay? Changing vocalist is always a huge thing, it always changes a bit the soul of a band, do you think this change brought anything new to Hecate Enthroned?

Yes Elliot joined us this year and has only had a few months with us now and played one show. He has been a very welcome addition and his enthusiasm and input has been a boost for the band and is helping to drive us on and create more. He has a great voice and an impressive range, he sits perfectly with our Black and Death Metal style and his delivery is powerful and aggressive while live he has a very dramatic and theatrical style. Already he fits in very well with us personally and professionally and will be with us a long time we hope. We haven’t had to change anything in our style as his vocals fit perfectly with our sound and the old material is sounding better than ever. When we come to writing new material with him we will discover more and that is when he will shine i think as he has recorded and wrote lyrics to our new upcoming album and it sounds amazing.

Apart from Elliot, who is also vocalist in Aeternum, does any other member of Hecate Enthroned play in side projects?

There are some side projects within the band but at the moment these are on hold due to the current HECATE schedule. Andy was up to recently playing with Colonel Blast, Gareth with Northern Terror and Gorgonik with Nigel and i was with Art of Mutilation and Nierty. Maybe these will pick up when there is more time.

What have been your biggest influences during all these years?

As a band besides various other bands and other art forms our biggest influence has been creating and maintaining our legacy, to drive forward using all the negativity thrown at us. Our environment and experiences in life also. But our biggest influence has been our fans, we have been lucky to have probably the most loyal and incredible fans out there who have constantly supported us and driven us on to produce for them.

What are your lyrics about usually? What is the main idea you try to transmit to your public?

Our lyrical content has always been satanic based as i outlined in the first question and this theme has continued through all our albums and material. Whether this has been delivered through a more ritualistic and witchcraft based guise as with the early albums or a more directly personal satanic assault on the later releases. Always blended with a large dose of anti-Christianity and this won’t change. Elliot’s style of writing is more along the ritual witchcraft line and he likes to tell a story with his lyrics and take the listener on a journey through each song and that’s how we compose our songs as individual pieces to a larger puzzle.

Looking back, which of your albums do you think had more impact in Black Metal history?

I think most bands would say the first release as being the most historic and influential and that can be said for AN ODE TO A HAUNTED WOOD along with the first full length album THE SLAUGHTER OF INNOCENCE, A REQUIEM FOR THE MIGHTY. But personally i think it was DARK REQUIEMS AND UNSILENT MASSACRE just because it was the zenith of our total Black Metal energy, it summed up everything we had created, experienced and felt up to that time and the feelings encased in that album will be felt through every listen.

How do you see Black Metal nowadays? What do you think about all these new ramifications and influences?

If a genre is developing then it is growing and it is healthy, we may not like a lot of the different variations within it but that fact it is developing means people still have the drive and passion to do it and to look for new ways to play the music they want in the genre they love. I must admit their aren’t many newer Black Metal bands i really like or have interested me but the fact their continues to be so many new bands is a good sign and we do get some really talented bands emerging that play some amazing progressive Black Metal as well as blasting it old school.

If you could chose an artist or band to share a stage with, who would that be?

For me it would be Led Zeppelin....impossible i know, but there was a band that was not only incredibly talented and wrote amazing songs creating an entire genre; but despite becoming one of the biggest bands ever they never compromised. They are one of the all time biggest selling acts and did it by never releasing a single and doing a very minimal amount of press or interviews. They did what they wanted as a band and as musicians in a time that labels and the media dictated what bands did. Respect.

Last album came out a while ago, few years. Are you planning to release anything at any time soon? Basically, what can we expect from Hecate Enthroned in a near future?

Yes we have just finished recording the new album; VIRULENT RAPTURE we are looking to start mixing and mastering with a release for the end of this year. We are currently in discussions about a release but it is looking like November/December. Keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter pages for updates and for a new web page unveiling. It has been a long time since the last album REDIMUS and this has been due to various personal and professional reasons but this new album will start a new era in productivity for HECATE and more regular albums will follow, backed by more shows and tours.

Any gigs happening soon? Anything you would like to advertise here?

We have a new booking agent and are currently negotiating a new management and label deal so fans can expect a lot more shows from us and not just in Europe but other parts of the world we haven’t visited yet. So look out for future announcements on tours and festivals. Our next show is in Liverpool at The Lomax on September 7^th.

Any special message you would like to leave to your fans and readers of Lachryma Christi in general?

We would like to thank our fans for their undying support and Lachryma Christi for the interview and for those out there that are still to experience us.......where the fuck have you been?!?!

BEWARE THE TRIPLE GODDESS THE MOTHER OF DEATH, YOU ARE FOREVER BENEATH HER GAZE