Interview The Heathen Scÿthe

Explore The Heathen Scÿthe's journey into a post-apocalyptic pagan metal realm, blending occultism and ancient traditions with a global metal perspective and cinematic performances.

1. Can you tell us more about the inspiration behind your debut self-titled EP and the concept of a "ritualistic journey into post-apocalyptic pagan metal"?

Da'at: Since I was initiated as a druid in 2006, I choose the path of the bard - my mission is to spread wisdom through words, poetry and songs.

You can find many shamanic lyrics in my former band's first album: ACLLA - Landscape Revolution (whose drummer was Eloy Casagrande, who left the band to join Sepultura), and in our second album too.

Things changed, I formed The Heathen Scÿthe, but my lyrics are still about the same Old Magic Pagan and Shamanic traditions.

The Post-Apocalyptic concept came from the need to be able to talk about many different pagan traditions with some authority. So we decided to be a sect which came from centuries in the future to tell each people: reconnect to the Pagan traditions of your land, or you'll destroy it one day.

2. How did the idea of blending occultism, paganism, and ancient traditions with metal music come about?

Once the lyrical purpose was defined,  metal music was the easiest choice. First because it's in our blood, everyone in the band are long-term metalheads and metal mucians. The second point that made this decision even easier was that metal is global, and headbangers really love, follow and care about what their favorite bands sing about! There are many fan bases that behave like actual cults to the band they follow, and metal always survived, being mainstream or underground,  metal will always survive!

3. Could you walk us through the creative process behind crafting each track on the EP, from conceptualization to final production?

The whole EP was written from the first to the last track, in order. It should work as a ritual, so, even with some riffs to the longer tracks, we started rehearsing the tracks in the order it appears on the EP.

Casting the Circle is the first step of the ceremonial magick ritual we are perfoming. First you clean the magic space, use a broom and a special blend of herbs to the cleansing fumigation, and than you walk in circle inviting the guardias and spirits from each cardinal point. That's exactly what we are doing in the lyrics.

After declaring the Purpose of the ritual, we introduce the sect: The Heathen Scÿthe. We sing about what the Scythe means, to Sow, to Reap and that's our intention in this World, in this moment of Time.

Then, we invite our ancestors to join the Circle, with welcome to the dead, a darker, doomer and more Sabbath-like song (in the second half).

After that we create an atmosphere with the song The Offering,  which is instrumental and a great intro to "Into the Fire" when we perform a Burning Sacrifice.

So, we finish the ritual with a Spiral Dance, which mixes the energy of each person, spirit, entity and element that was part of the Ritual, and then we unleash the Egregore to the Universe by opening the Circle.

4. Your sound is described as a fusion of various metal genres. How do you manage to seamlessly blend these different styles while still maintaining a cohesive identity?

We creates some songwriting policies to ensure that our music sounds as made by the same band.

- We always write songs with less than 4 minutes.

- Our guitars and bass uses a very specific pitch (Drop C)

- We tend to work with "badass" scales, when we have to chose what will come next in a song,  we'll always choose the creepiest note to play.

- Our keyboardist has the mission to add the "Past" and the "Future" to the songs, by choosing amazing orchestral sounds with futuristic effects.

- Two songs may never repeat the same structure

- and the Pagan/Occultism based lyrics will always be there.

This is the way we write.

5. The EP's concept is set in a post-apocalyptic world. What themes and messages do you hope listeners take away from this journey into Year 17 A.A.?

We really hope people understand that we have to change our relationship with Nature,  or sooner than later we'll destroy this world,  it's easy to see the signs, the Seasons are not the same, the weather is getting creazier every year. And by following the ancient ways, the ways our ancestors were linked to Nature,  is the best way to start to change things.

6. Visually, your performances are inspired by theatrical acts like Heilung and Rammstein. How important is the visual aspect in conveying your music's message and atmosphere?

There are hundreds, thousands of fantastic bands releasing stuff everyday. We really needed to be more than just good musicians with good songs to shine in the middle of this ocean of stars. So we decided to be cinematic, to create an entire universe to build our concept upon. Every release, every music video, physical album, lyric, will contain hints of what is coming next. It's all connect, we are trying to create our own MCU through our music, so that's how important this is to us.

7. Can you share any memorable experiences or challenges you faced while recording or performing the songs from the EP?

We are facing many challenges,  the way we are trying to make each release bigger and more remarkable than the former one is bringing many challanges for an newcomer band. Some producers took our money and disappeared, some religious groups didn't understand our message and wants us banned or killed (by the glory of Christ, they say)...hello, I'm not the devil,  I'm just a blind shaman with a crown of horns and a Scythe in my hand! It's complicated...

8. What do you think sets The Heathen Scÿthe apart from other bands in the metal scene, particularly those exploring similar themes of occultism and paganism?

We are trying to make it Global. I think that by not focusing on any specific shamanism or pagan tradition it sets us apart from the others. We are totally rooted on the concept that all Nature-based religions are the same in many different ways, some aspects of each deity changes, but you'll always find gods to the Sun, the Moon, the Sea, natural phenomena, etc. We are talking about paganism in a Theosophical way.

9. Your lyrics delve into ancient religions and the natural world. How do you ensure that these themes resonate with audiences who may not be familiar with these concepts?

We will always bring a visual explanation to our lyrics. Today everything is visual, so we'll try to ensure that people understand what we are talking about by showing them... visually.

10. How has the Brazilian metal scene influenced your music and artistic vision?

We learned a lot with Brazilian metal scene. When you are a Brazilian band, the first thing you learn is that you must be well-succeeded outside Brazil before being considered relevant to the Brazilian people.

Brazilian bands must prove that foreigners like them, and just by doing this, they'll start to get some attention of the Brazilian metalheads.

So, considering this scenario,  we focused our efforts 100% in the foreigner Markets: US, Europe, Japan, Latin America, etc.

11. What can fans expect from The Heathen Scÿthe in the future, and are there any upcoming projects or collaborations on the horizon?

We have a 15 years releasing plan, and we intend to make always bigger and bigger things. We are already mixing our first full-length album in Germany, and the second is under production, many news are coming, sooner than later.

HEATHEN SCYTHE || Official Websythe (theheathenscythe.com)

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The Heathen Scÿthe - Welcome (to the Dead) - Official Music Video (youtube.com)