Dutch blackened death metal band Slechtvalk returns after an 8-year hiatus with "At Death's Gate". Frontman Shamgar discusses the album’s dark themes, intense sound, and personal struggles.
1. Congratulations
on the upcoming release of “At Death's Gate”! After an 8-year hiatus, how does it feel to
finally unveil new material to your fans?
Shamgar: Thanks! Initially we planned to record the
album late 2020 and were aiming for a release in 2021. But then the Covid
Pandemic happened and all the government regulations ruined our schedule and
our ability to rehearse together as a group. We had to postpone our studio
booking several times and in 2021 our bassplayer Dagor decided to emigrate to
Portugal, so that set us back some more. At last in 2023 we were able to go to
producer Lasse Lammert’s studio to record the new album. As we were an unsigned
band at the time, using the finished master to find a suitable record deal took
some time and of course MDD Records had their own release-calendar that was
already planned out 7-8 months in advance. So we have been eager to get this
album out for a long time and are thrilled that moment is almost there.
2. Your
last album, “Where Wandering Shadows and Mists Collide,” was released in 2016. What inspired the musical
and thematic direction of “At Death's Gate” during the time between albums?
Shamgar: Shortly
after the release of WWSAMC our long time drummer Grimbold announced his
departure and we found a replacement in the young Hamar. Though Grimbold was an
exceptional technical drummer, he felt his age and existing knee injury was
taking its toll and didn’t feel like to continue pushing boundaries. With Hamar
we could work out some ideas we knew Grimbold would object to due to the taxing
speeds and combined with our desire to keep pushing our boundaries, this
resulted in an album that is a few notches faster and brutal than the previous.
Lyrically, ever since our 2nd album “The War that Plagues the Lands”
(2002) I’ve constructed short stories around the lyrical topics I wanted to
write about. These short stories are based on a fantasy book series I once
began writing (but never finished) and after finishing up WWSAMC I already had
knew which story line I wanted to focus on for the successor. But much has
happened in our personal lives between the writing process between WWSAMC and
“At Death’s Gate”. On “A Forlorn Throne” (2010) I already wrote about my own
struggle with suicide and in the years after WWSAMC I was confronted by several
more (colleagues, friends of friends and of course a whole slew of
celebrities). It always brought back vivid memories of my own struggle. The
Covid Pandemic proved to be the final nail in the coffin of several friendships
I neglected, so by the time I started writing lyrics for the new album I wasn’t
in the best of moods. Then a close relative committed suicide and I decided to
focus a good deal on the lyrics on my own struggles.
3. You’ve
mentioned that this album will be more extreme and brutal than ever before. Can
you elaborate on the elements that make this record stand out in terms of
intensity compared to your previous work?
Shamgar: Some
bands tend to go for a more mellow or accessible sound as they age to the point
they’ve become a shadow of their brutal self. We decided we don’t want that to
happen to us.
Because we had to postpone the studio-recordings several times due to the COVID
regulations, the songs we wrote had time to mature. During rehearsals we often
goof around and sometimes intentionally play songs way to fast. But if you do
that often enough, the original will start sound sluggish.
When the COVID regulations were finally over, we started revisiting the songs
we wrote. Some songs were fine as they were and only needed little tweaks to
freshen up, others began to feel dated in their original form. Some we
scrapped, some we overhauled, but more often than not we increased the tempo a
bit.
Tomrair joined Slechtvalk on bass in 2021 and he also had a preference for the
more extreme/brutal tracks instead of the slower atmospheric ones. By the time
we went to the studio it was clear this new album would be much more blackmetal
than the previous one, so we were looking for more vicious guitar sound
compared to the previous album and that’s where producer Lasse Lammert came in.
He has a big collection of amps & cabinets and he helped us find a guitar
sound that sounded vicious, but still had balls. Ultimately Dimebag Darell’s
signature amp the Krankenstein+ became the backbone of our guitar sound.
Combined with the darker lyrical themes, the new album overall is more intense
and brutal than the previous. Even a slow ballad like ‘Enshrouded’ feels more
intense than a slower song of WWSAMC, but perhaps that’s also because it
lyrically hits home for me.
4. The album’s atmosphere has been described as dense and dark, with a mix of melodic and bludgeoning moments. How did you approach balancing these contrasting elements in your songwriting and production?
Shamgar: We
tend to get bored doing or listening to the same thing over and over again, so
when we work on new songs, we like to get some variety between songs overall,
but also in a song by itself. I’ve always been a sucker for melancholic
melodies and atmosphere, Seraph always wants to make things faster and more
technical. After working together for almost two decades now, we tend to
anticipate each other’s preferences when we write songs individually. So at one
extreme we have a song like “Night of the Locusts” that is bludgeoning and
relentless and at another extreme we have a slow melancholic hard hitter like
“Enshrouded” and all sorts of variations in between. So if you look at the
album as a whole it fits (also because of the unified sound), but I can imagine
that if you don’t know our previous work and only heard these two extremes, you
might get confused whether it’s made by the same band or not.
5. What
themes or concepts did you explore lyrically on “At Death's Gate”? Is there a particular narrative or
message that ties the album together?
Shamgar: I
initially planned to make another concept-story-album, a continuation of the
events of “Where Wandering Shadows and Mists Collide”, but as I mentioned
previously, being confronted by various suicides during the past years,
including close family and colleagues, I decided to focus a good deal of the
lyrical content on my own struggles with depression and suicide. For me most of
that struggle lies in the past and discovered how to break through that spiral
of negative thoughts, but the past years I’ve known several people who suicided
and that brings back vivid memories of my own struggles.
People who contemplate suicide rarely talk about it, often think no one cares
or they’re better off without having to worry about them. They don’t see (or
wilfully close their eyes to it) that there are so many people around them who
want to help them or that life has nothing to offer but misery.
I’ve overcome most of my own struggles with the support of others and by
continuously making a rational choice for life instead of allowing myself to
soak in my misery to the point my emotions cloud my own judgment and decide my
fate for me. Throughout the years I also learned to value the good things life
has to offer and that experience also makes it easier for me to get out of a
spiral of negative thoughts.
Though the lyrics deal with the dark subject of suicide, they also convey some
hope, because I’ve managed to deal with it myself. My main message with this
album is to encourage people who suffer from depression to talk about it and
make active choice for life.
6. As a band that’s been active for
over two decades, how do you maintain your creative edge and continue to evolve
while staying true to Slechtvalk’s core sound?
Shamgar: I’m
sure there are plenty of people who think we deviated from our core sound,
because with “A Forlorn Throne” (2010) we shifted from Symphonic Blackmetal to
more guitar-oriented Blackened Deathmetal. Part of our decision to not become
another band that becomes soft as they age, we continuously try to push our
boundaries. We’re also a band that likes versatility: Doing the same kind of
thing over and over again becomes boring, so we try new things, like different
vocal techniques. Sometimes listening to other music also opens up new avenues
of creativity, but due to work and family I don’t have as much time to listen
to music like I used to, but that also makes it easier to preserve my own
musical identity.
7. What
can you tell us about the process of creating and recording this album? Were
there any significant challenges or moments of inspiration that shaped its
final outcome?
Shamgar: Usually
one of us writes a (near) complete song, shares it with the rest and then as a
band we start rehearsing it. Then as a group we gradually make some minor
alterations. We wrote a slew of songs before the COVID pandemic, that were
waiting to be rehearsed as a band to finalize them, but due to the government
regulations rehearsing as a band became nigh impossible for well over a year.
So instead of finishing up songs, we tend to write even more songs. By the time
we started rehearsing again we had to make decisions which songs to focus on
and which to save for another time. It’s always difficult to decide between an
older song you loved working on that is solid, but now know a little too well
versus the latest song idea with lots of potential, but still needs work. When
we set a date for the studio we selected 13 songs to focus on and as the studio
date drew nearer we gradually dropped songs that felt sub par or needed too
much work to finish up.
Shortly after COVID we also had a line-up change: Bassguitarist Dagor emigrated
to Portugal and we were joined by Tomrair, who was also a bit more outspoken in
his preferences.
8. The
cover artwork for “At Death's Gate” plays an important role in setting the tone for
the album. Can you share the story behind the artwork and how it connects to
the music?
Shamgar: Initially
we had some other ideas (based on the concept story of a couple lyrics
regarding “The White Raven”), but after the first draft design by Mark Erskine,
we discovered that wasn’t at all what we were looking for. At the time I was
dealing with the aftermath of another suicide of a close relative and felt it
was important that the artwork should convey the struggle with suicide most of
the lyrics deal with. Based on the song title “At Death’s Gate” and Mark
Erskine’s previous works that appealed to me most, I visualized this menacing,
yet intriguing looking gate. I talked about the idea and shared some of the
backstory behind it with Mark Erskine and he came with some suggestions as
well.
“Death’s Gate” symbolizes the threshold between life and death we all will
traverse at some point. Death can seem welcoming, intriguing and for some
people even a new spiritual phase of exploration, but on the other hand it’s
also haunting, threatening, but most of all: finite. Once you go through that
gate, there is no turning back.
Someone who is depressed and contemplates suicide spends a lot of time
pondering about traversing and the lone wanderer in artwork resembles that
person. Meanwhile there are also things at work that try to drive you through
or away from it. These could be spiritual, but also social, like people who
don’t take your issues serious or think you’re weak/pathetic for even having
them, while others try to help you. And some people suffer from a chemical
imbalance that influences their thoughts and emotions. The ghostly army in the
artwork symbolize these other factors, they’re there, but it’s unclear whether
they’re simply onlookers or that they try to force the lone wanderer to enter
the Gate or try to warn him.
9. How
do you feel “At Death's Gate” compares
to your earlier releases in terms of both sound and overall impact? Do you see
it as a continuation of your journey or a new chapter entirely?
Shamgar: The
release of “A Forlorn Throne” back in 2010 marked a new era in the history of
Slechtvalk. Before that, Slechtvalk was best described as a symphonic
blackmetal band, with also female vocals and there were indications we would
jump the folkmetal bandwagon. After some line-up changes and internal
discussions we decided to shift our focus to blackened deathmetal. “A Forlorn
Throne” was the first chapter in that era. With “At Death’s Gate” we continue
down the path we initially took with “A Forlorn Throne”, but I think we’ve
grown musically and we continue to do so with new material we write. Lyrically
I think we’ve become more aware of the life experiences we have that could
benefit others. We’re no longer angry teens who throw a fit, because our
parents denied us something or things don’t go our way, but now we’ve become
fathers ourselves we know that some boundaries were imposed to protect us and
some things simply happen, whether we like it or not, while we try to protect
our children in a world that is getting more disturbing. Suicide has become the
main cause of death for teenagers in our country and it appears that in all
age-groups people are more depressed than two decades ago. Several of us
survived our own struggles with suicide, so if our experiences can help others,
we are happy to share them.
And even though we’ve been around for over two decades, we have still decades
of potential ahead of us and we’re currently working on new material where we
explore new avenues and try to further our past achievements.
10. With
the release on October 31st, what are your plans for promoting the album? Can
fans expect any special live performances or tours to accompany this release?
On Saturday November 9th we’ll present our new album at the Blast of Eternity festival in Heillbron, Germany, while a week later on the 16th we’ll present our new album at our home base: dB’s Studio in Utrecht, The Netherlands. dB’s Studios was originally a rehearsal studio complex we frequent since the early 2000’s and since then it has grown into a musical hub, with it’s own pub and stage that also welcomed bands as “Winterfylleth”. After that we’ve nothing planned yet, but we’re looking in getting a decent amount of bookings during the festival season of 2025.
Slechtvalk Official website - Death/Black metalband from the Netherland
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