Helhorse im Interview zu „Hydra“
Helhorse haben mit ihrer aktuellen Platte „Hydra“ die Moshpit Passion-Redaktion überrascht und ein starkes Album hingelegt. Wir schnappten uns daher die Band und sprachen über den aktuellen Silberling. Die Review dazu könnt ihr HIER nachlesen.
Die Kapelle im Gespräch über die Platte
Your PR company wrote about your record it is heavier than the egg`s of Godzialla. Could you agree with that?
Theis: Of course. Just listen to War Drums when it kicks in and you’ll get what they are talking about.
My opinion is that the new record have more dynamics than your previous releases. What did you change during the songwriting?
Theis: Last record taught us a lot of things about song writing and the whole process about making a record. So with Hydra we wanted to not make the same mistakes as well as to implement all the positive things we’ve learned. One of the biggest things was to not try to rush the song writing process. Our manager Mirza really kept us in line with that, since we are really bad at forcing deadlines upon ourselves. Also we focused a lot on what would serve the song instead of insisting on having a certain riff or passage.
From the beginning we had a pretty clear vision about where we wanted to take this record, so we just had a meeting before anything was recorded, where we sat down with everybody involved and talked about the approaches needed to achieve that vision. And that has really paid off.
Tue Madsen produced during the last months some heavy weights like Ektomorf, Born From Pain and Madball. Why did you decide to work with a metal producer and how did his work infect the new record?
Theis: We went with Tue Madsen for mix and mastering because he is a talented craftsman and he understod what we wanted straight away. When we got the first mixes back from him, he had already nailed the flavour that we wanted for this record. So from there it was just minor adjustments. Also Claudio, who engineered the record, made sure that everything sounded massive during recording, so that meant Tue didn’t have to “save” anything, but could focus on mix and mastering.
What was the greatest challange during the recording process?
Theis: We didn’t really have that many actually. We made sure that once we entered the studio, we had covered all the bases and no stone was left unturned. So that gave us time to focus on getting the best takes and adding textures to the songs. A song like Northern Lights for example, really came to life once all of Jakobs ideas were recorded. So compared to the last record, it was a walk in the park recording this album, and a lot of fun.
„Overboard“ was your first video single and is also the first track on the new record. Can you tell us why did you decide to give that track a special place? What are the lyrics about?
Mikkel: Overboard was one of the first tracks that really came together when we wrote the songs for the Hydra album. It symbolises the changes we have done in songwriting, but is also a very Helhorse ish track with lots of punch.
Lyically it focuses on friendship and loyalty and I wrote it to my two best friends!
What is your concept behind „Hydra“ and what do you connect with that term?
Jakob: It’s up to oneself to seek meaning in the artwork. But for me the skulls represent yourself/the band/the world fighting the hydra. The Hydra is a symbol of diffrent obstacles, negativity, war, pollution and other depressing sides of modern life. So for me, the fight is all about trying to stay positive, seek guiddance in spirituality and nature, be one with nature and the universe while doing as little damage to my surroundings as possible. But the true interpretation is all in the eye of the beholder.
I love the artwork with the different sculls which is of course a reference to the meaning hydra, but tell us a bit about the designer.
Jakob: The design is made digitally and is filled to the brim with symbols and hidden messages. It’s about violence, despair, hope and love all at once.
What are your next plans after the release? New music video? Touring?
Theis: We have one more video up our sleeves, but you will have to wait and see. And at the moment we have a nice little Danish tour set up. We’ve been focusing a lot on playing shows outside of Denmark, so it feels really great to play at home again. But that doesn’t mean that we won’t play outside of Denmark. We have two Finnish shows linned up with our mates in Siamese and Aphyxion. It’s going to be a riot for sure. And then we want to make longer runs through Europe to unleashed Hydra on as many people as possible.
Our magazine is called Moshpit Passion. Do remember your first moshpit experience or do you have a nice/silly/funny moshpit story to tell?
Theis: I think my first real mosh pit experience was back in 2000 at a Slipknot, Mudwayne and Hed PE show. First thing that happened when Slipknot started playing was that I was elbowed right behind my left ear and that kinda set the tone for the rest of the show. But it was all good fun and nobody got hurt, in serious way at least ;).
Cover & Tracklist
01 Overboard
02 Avalanche
03 Outcome: Ruin
04 Cycle of Vain Attempts
05 Northern Lights
06 Hydra
07 Crystal Blades
08 Scarlet Meadow, Scarlet Brook
09 Under a Bad Moon
10 War Drums
Mehr Infos
Bleibt auf dem Laufenden mit mehr Informationen mitten aus dem Moshpit auf diesen Kanälen:
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Bildnachweis: Rodeostar Records – Napalm Records/Universal.