With a new album in the works, a brand new lineup and a return to the live scene, veteran UK Black Metallers HEATHEN DEITY have hit the ground running after a hiatus that lasted just over a decade. If that wasn’t enough they have also kicked off 2016 with an appearance on the Official NARGAROTH tribute, covering the track “Karmageddon”, and have three tracks from their “For the Glory of Satan” release featured on the Andy Horry documentary “British Black Metal: The Extreme Underground”.
A video of HEATHEN DEITY performing the “Karmageddon” cover from the Official Nargaroth Tribute album can be seen below and at https://youtu.be/GfEoyo5z0vw
HEATHEN DEITY was formed in 1998 by frontman and bassist Dagon, with the intention of expressing the true essence of English Black Metal by creating a sound that encompasses the ideals of raw black metal, and interspersing it with melodic instrumentals with a strong “folk” feel that hearkens back to England’s past. The band went on to release two demos and the seven-track EP “For the Glory of Satan” and carved themselves a niche in the UK’s live scene before being forced to take a break in 2004.
Remaining with Dagon in the new lineup is original member Azrael on guitars, whilst new addition Xjort will become the HEATHEN DEITY’s full-time drummer, both in the studio and live. The band is currently looking at bringing in a rhythm guitar and bassist for live duties, ready for their stage comeback which will take place in October at the Blackwood Gathering, which takes place in the forest on the shores of Lake Windermere in Cumbria.
A video of HEATHEN DEITY rehearsing can be seen below and on the band’s YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/hTqKuJDgz5c
What made Dagon decide to bring back the band after such a long time? “I had been busy with day to day things and with my solo project FROSTWORK, whilst Azrael was busy with ETHEREAL FOREST and his various projects, and although we’d been talking about it for a long time, we could never find the time to get together to concentrate on HEATHEN DEITY until now” commented Dagon.
“Would you believe that we started working on the new album in 2002 and didn’t pick it up again until 2014. As you can imagine, with the passage of time, we are looking at those songs from a completely different perspective now, and we have re-worked and updated them to reflect where we find ourselves both musically and philosophically at this moment in time. We also intend to include newly written material, as well as some of the songs we performed live back in the day, songs that never appeared on any of our releases. We see these songs as marking the end of one chapter of HEATHEN DEITY, whilst the new material will herald a new beginning”.
Xjort is currently laying down the drum tracks, and as soon as they are finished Azrael and Dagon will do their part on guitars and bass respectively, before Dagon starts to record vocals. The album will be mixed and mastered by Jonny Maudling (KULL, ex BAL-SAGOTH) at his Waylands Forge Studios in Sheffield. Maudling and Dagon are long-time collaborators, having previously worked together, and the band feels that Maudling is the ideal person to help HEATHEN DEITY achieve the sound and atmosphere they want for the album.
More information about HEATHEN DEITY can be found on the band’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/heathendeityofficial
All of HEATHEN DEITY’s previous releases can be heard and downloaded on Bandcamp at http://heathendeity.bandcamp.com/
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heathendeityofficial
BandCamp: http://heathendeity.bandcamp.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGGfdjI2lZXrmOBhAtipQDg
Band Contact and Booking: Heathendeity@outlook.com
Management & PR: patriciathomas@btinternet.com
PATRICIA THOMAS BAND MANAGEMENT 