Helde Interview

1.For those that have never heard of you can you tell us a little bit about the band?
Helde is a project that started to grow in our minds (A and T) in middle 2000. Some riffs and songs were made but due to our involvement in other bands and projects, it took long time to finally made some songs we were proud of.  2011 was the year in which we finally decided to push the band in a stronger way; also in that time Az joined us on drums, so the circle was closed.

2.How would you describe your musical sound?
It´s hard to talk about the sound of your own band, but in my opinion we play fast and cold noise with some gloomy slower/midtempo parts.

3.Can you tell us a little bit about the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
Almost all the lyrics use the ancient mythological symbols and characters from our area, but looking deeper you can see our hate for Mankind due to different issues, but mainly because of the disrespectfully way in which we are destroying Mother Nature. Also we express our repulse for religions which stole old rituals and places in order to try to control our minds, instincts and acts.

4.The lyrics are written in Basque, what was the decision behind using this ancient language instead of the regular language of your home country?
Because it´s our language and we feel more comfortable writing our lyrics in Basque. We think that we can express ourselves better in this way and also it is a question of phonetics; Euskera sounds stronger than Spanisgh or English

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Helde'?
Helde is an old word for "Plague" in Basque. It is inspired by the plague we are.

6.Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you planning on expanding the line up in the future, or do you choose to remain a duo?
The band started as a duo, A on bass and T on guitars and vocals, but Az joined us for drums and he also recorded our split with The Somberlain

7.Recently you have released a split with The Somberlain, what are your thoughts on the other band that participated on this recording?
Talking about music, we really like the band. They play fast and aggressive Black Metal in the Old School way, but the reason for this split was the old friendship between A, T and the guy playing drums in The Somberlain. We know each other since more than 10 years and we felt that we have to share this piece of plastic.

8.Can you tell us a little bit more about La Humanidad Es La Plaga?
La Humanidad Es La Plaga is the name of the label and distro runned by me (T) The project started in 2005 and since then I´ve released around 30 references of Doom, Crust, Hardcore and Black Metal mainly. The main idea is try to help some bands which are friends and which want to stay underround in a true way

9.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of black metal?
We don´t pay much attention to opinions flying around, specially on Internet. We prefer to focus ourselves in making new songs, recording and playing live rituals, but the records are selling quite well, so maybe this indicates a good acceptance.

10.When can we expect a full length album, and also what musical direction do you see the band heading into during the future?
We have already recorded a full length and we are in the middle of the mixing and mastering process, so it should be released in a few months. About our musical direction, we keep our passion for the raw and fast sounds, so you can expect something pretty similar to our songs included in the split with The Somberlain


11.What are some bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
I think that the most important musical influence in Helde is the Black Metal bands that were born during the 90´s in Scandinavia. Personally, I always listen to a lot of different music styles, from Black Metal to Crust or Folk

12.What are some of your non musical interests?
Go to the mountains and try to live as much as I can outside this shitty society.

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thank you very much for your time and interest; we really appreciate it and wish you the best with your great project.

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