Interviews - Live 4 Metal

Interview with Barghest of Spearhead
April 2008 by Chris Davison

I recently reviewed the stunning new album, “Decrowning the Irenarch” by UK extreme metal crew Spearhead, saying of it, “This really does have the capacity of becoming a modern classic”. I have been fortunate enough to be granted audience with the new purveyors of martial extreme metal, the boys from Spearhead. Just what makes these war-mongering metal heads tick ?

Firstly, congratulations on producing such a fantastic album. I know that the critics have been consistent in their praise – but now you have had a bit of time since the release date, how happy are you with “Decrowning the Irenarch”?
Thanks very much. I’m personally very satisfied with the release. Not a lot about it I would change.

Unusually, you've waxed lyrical on the philosophy of the band on the inlay for the new album. Why did you do this, and how important to you is the “message behind the music?”
I felt it was important to give some basic background ideology to the lyrics in the album. The ideology is one that is essentially derived from the world of tradition, specifically that of the warrior ethos, hence its vast dichotomy with the modern world view. I felt it necessary to supply the context for the lyrics, supply the context for those not familiar with the culture, specifically the warrior culture, of the traditional world, so that they be understood better. Ultimately the ideology or ‘message’ is important to me. If other people take interest in it, then that’s just a bonus.

You went to the Hertz studio in Poland (who, it must be said, have done an excellent job). How did you come to choose such an “exotic” location to record, and what was the process like? On a less musical note, what did you think of Poland?
Quite simply Hertz was more economically viable than most UK studios, whilst offering the state of the art standard of production we were looking for. The process was quite demanding, requiring very long hours in the studio. Wojciech and Slawek (the studio engineers) were good guys to work with though. We were staying in Bialystok, east Poland, which was a bit off the beaten track, but still a good place. Had quite a bit of character to it.

This question is borne entirely out of my own nosiness! There is, of course, another famous war-obsessed metal crew from our hallowed isles. How much of an influence have Bolt Thrower been on you both as a band and as individuals, and did the name of your outfit have anything to do with the classic Bolt Thrower track of the same name?
We get asked this question a lot actually. There are perhaps a couple of Bolt Thrower-esque passages on the new album, but I wouldn’t say they’ve been a particularly strong influence, no. I think we’re very different musically and lyrically speaking. The name wasn’t inspired by the Bolt Thrower track either I’m afraid.

You cover more than the usual “war” topics, and in particular cover seldom mentioned topics like the Napoleonic era on the album. How wide reading is your interest in History? (Special praise to Spearhead for the mention of the destruction of the Bismarck!)
My personal interest in history covers a fairly broad chronological and geographic expanse. Because my main interest lies in the social or cultural side of history, the qualitative as opposed to the quantitative side, I can afford to be quite broad. It’s interesting to study how fundamentally traditional ideas, concepts or philosophies - ideas you see appearing in the historical record circa the Proto-Indo European age - appear much later in atavistic pockets. Hence the reason why I covered more ‘modern’ eras of history in the “Decrowning..” as well as more ancient ones. However, when you are dealing with themes that are arguably timeless, not merely coeval with mankind, they render the wide expanse of history insignificant. The ‘themes’ I’m talking about here are the metaphysical concepts, the paths to the metaphysical realm through warfare and struggle, verbalised in “Decrowning…”.

The extreme metal scene in the UK is both lamentable in scale and quality and based around London. Just how hard have you found it to keep going under such circumstances?
Unfortunately you’re absolutely right. It’s quite frustrating at times, and more than a little bothersome to see the same old bands filling in the support slots for incoming bands, having to play at the same old London venues. However, it hasn’t really been hard for us under such circumstances. We don’t have huge trouble getting gigs, and we do have a small fan-base here. Like I said, the small metal scene is not so much of a difficulty for us, just a bit of a bother at times.

You have a sound that's technical and precise. How well does that translate into the live arena, and is there any hope of seeing you at an appropriate UK festival venue this year? (I'm thinking in particular of Bloodstock, for selfish reasons!)
I personally think our style of music works well live. The precision and technicality is seldom lost, though this is always contingent upon the quality of the venue’s equipment (monitors etc.) and on the sound engineer! I don’t think we’re going to be playing any actual UK festivals this year. Maybe next year.

What would a dream tour line-up look like to Spearhead?
Wait a few years and you’ll probably find out.

Your home page is currently your Myspace.com page (www.myspace.com/spearheadofficial). What do you make of the so-called “myspace revolution”, and how important has the internet been to Spearhead so far?
Our website is currently undergoing major reconstruction, hence why we’re just using the myspace page for now. In many ways it has allowed a lot more childish rubbish (bands and individuals) to be heard, as there are no filtering devices; but as a networking tool between bands it has proved very useful. Just a shame it’s sullied by so much pointless dross.

You've made an undeniable dent with this album. You also seem to have a tight grip on quality control and on where you want to be: just how disciplined are Spearhead, and where do you see yourselves in five years time?
Yes, I think you’re right, there is definitely a strong degree of discipline in our operation as a band and in the execution of our aims. Five years time… a more established name, another album, possibly another two under the belt.

Thanks chaps! Hope to see you at some point this summer
Thanks for your support. I’m sure you will. Sic Semper Tyrannis!