Interviews - Live 4 Metal

Interview with Dean Seddon of Hecate Enthroned
28th October 2008 by James Young

It’s been four years since the sons of northern (that is, Manchester, Wrexham, Bolton and Liverpool) darkness, Hecate Enthroned, have put out an album. I was able to find out what was going on in the ranks of the melodic black death outfit when I exchanged words with vocalist Dean Seddon before their London show. We discussed the forthcoming album, Satanism, and Prestatyn amongst other things, and see how long it took before one of us mentioned the ‘C’ word…

Hi, thanks for taking the time to do this interview for Live4Metal. How are the band at the moment?
Well, we’re doing alright. It’s been a while since we last recorded anything. We’ve all been busy having babies, getting married - shit like that. But yeah it’s alright, we’ve got enough songs written for a new album.

So when do you think the new album will come out?
God…I wouldn’t like to say! We’ve got our own studio now so we don’t have to meet any deadlines.

What will this new album sound like in terms of its style?
I don’t know - it’s very hard to say because there aren’t [yet] any vocals on a lot of them. But from the music that the guys have written, the brutal stuff is more brutal - sort of like Hate Eternal, and the melodic stuff is probably more melodic. So there’s no real difference or major change.

How do you think the scene has changed since you last put out an album?
Technology rules doesn’t it? You’re not going to get the stuff from days gone anymore. It’s all moving forward very fast and it’s hard to keep up.

I think a lot more bands are trying to play something similar to your breed of melodic black / death metal. What do you think of these bands?
I don’t listen to them to be honest. I’m very stuck in the past when it comes to my musical taste. There aren’t many bands after 1995 which I actually like so I haven’t much clue as to what’s going on today.

How does it feel to be among the leaders of the aforementioned genre in this country?
I don’t know if that’s something we think about really. It’s just what we do and what we’ve always done. You can’t really dwell on it because you start getting an ego and there aren’t any egos in this band.

I’ve just watched the sound check and it’s looking good. What kind of set list can we expect tonight?
There’s quite a few old ones - one of the first album, two of the second one, and two or three off Dark Requiems. It’s a mix and mix really. Fifty percent is based on the first three albums, and fifty percent is other stuff.

So you’re not ignoring the band’s early days then.
Yeah. We don’t forget our songs.

So what kind of lyrical themes will the new album have - the same kind of blasphemous material?
It’s hard to say at the moment because we don’t have many lyrics written. I mean obviously I’ve changed since I last wrote lyrics as a person, so we’ll just have to see what comes out. Whatever does come out though, it’ll be what I perceive as the truth.

Could you expand on what you mean by changing as a person?
I’ve got married, I’ve had kids - your whole world view changes when things like that happen.

Are any of the bands actual Satanists?
This is a tricky one. How do you define a Satanist? There are all different types. Personally I’d never join any cult or church, but what Anton LaVey wrote speak ninety-five percent true to me.

So you’re not too into the dark side of things?
I love the old black metal image, like old Beherit and stuff, but personally, na.

And you don’t wear the corpse paint on stage anymore.
Nope.

Why did you ditch that?
I don’t know really. It just kind of happened. I think the direction started going a bit more death metal so I think it suited our music.

Who was responsible for the new death metal sound? Yourself?
Everybody says ‘that fucking new vocalist ruined it and made it death metal’ but here’s my argument - listen to the first riff of Kings of Chaos, the transitional album where we changed our sound [sings a chugging riff] - that’s a death metal riff. I can’t put a black metal scream over a death metal riff! So they write the music; when I do the vocals, I just follow the music.

Who are your personal influences, vocal-wise?
In the old days, I think Glen Benton was a bit of an influence. I’ve had loads of influences - for vocal patterns, Adam And The Ants believe it or not.

So who do you think the band were influenced by?
Cradle Of Filth! [laughs]

There I was trying to go the whole interview without mentioning them! It was going so well!
I had to do it! I can’t name one band because we’ve all got so many influences.

What do you listen to in the van?
Well I was the DJ coming down in the van and I brought Hate Eternal, Gorgoroth, Slayer and Iron Maiden.

Will any of you be seeing Slayer this time around?
They played last night in Manchester - I didn’t go but our drummer did and said they were fucking smart. They did Chemical Warfare which I’m a bit pissed off about missing.

Anyway, do you have anymore gigs lined up this year?
Yeah, we have. we’re playing Sunderland on Thursday, Leeds on Friday (a Halloween one). And we’re playing Hard Rock Hell at a campsite in Prestantyn. [laughs]

That’s for Clive Aid isn’t it? What’s that in aid of?
I’m not really sure of the full details. But I do know as a band that we stick out like a sore thumb [laughs].

I saw the logos on the line-up and there were a bunch of plain ones and then Hecate Enthroned’s massive evil-looking emblem gawking at me.
Yeah, it’s a very odd line-up. I think we’re the only truly extreme band there. Orange Goblin are there, but you now, they like to party and rock and roll.

Is that your biggest gig to date, or have there been bigger?
The Inferno festival in Norway was quite good.

When was that?
A year or two ago. The only problem with that was that it had two stages. We were headlining one stage, and Immortal were headlining the other, so half way through our set, people were walking out. Understandable - it was Immortal’s big comeback, so we didn’t want to steal their thunder. [laughs]

Do you have any amusing tour anecdotes or anything?
Erm, well we’re all dead well-behaved, you know. We get up to no mischief [laughs]. I can’t think of any off-hand. There are things that go on that are funny at the time but probably wouldn’t be funny now.

I understand. So are the bands big drinkers - have you started drinking today?
I prefer smoking weed to drinking to be honest. But I’ve cut down on both of them since becoming a dad.

So do you think your music had grown up with you?
It’s hard to say. It’s hard to be objective when you’re so close to it you know. Something like that is for other people to decide.

Okay, well I look forward to hearing your new album, and finally do you have any closing words for the readers of Live4Metal?
Er, not really! [laughs] I dunno, just come out and see us, enjoy our music. If you like it, you like it, and if you don’t, it’s no loss to us.