DarkUndergroundMusicZine: The Horde

Showing posts with label The Horde. Show all posts

Monday, October 31, 2011

The Horde Interview

1. Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

Tim: We're getting ready to embark on some Midwest mini tours. 16 dates in 5 weeks.
We're going to hitting states like WI, IA, MO among others. Also started writing
for the 3rd album.

2. How would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the new album?

Tim: We wanted a better representation of how we sound live. The guitars are louder.
Everything is more in your face and it is still raw. If people are looking for that digital
polished sound this is the wrong band for that.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

Tim: Our lyrics are like the band... Barbaric. We are the violent side of fantasy. No elves or fairies
here. While there is a Viking theme throughout our music none of it is based on historical
fact. Our songs are like reading a Robert E Howard novel or looking at a Frank Frazetta painting.
They are meant to take the listener on a journey to another world at another time where people
lived and died by the sword. Has this been done before? Sure. Do we care? No. There are plenty
of bands that sing about other things like war or politics so there are plenty of choices to choose
from for metalheads around the world.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?

Tim: We are not a pretty boy band. We are not a trendy band. We are a metal band and damn proud of it.
The name the HORDE describes our music as well as us. It just fits. You would have to hang around us to understand. Our attitude on stage is as barbaric as our music.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?

Tim: The highlights so far are playing with Exodus and playing the 2011 Central IL Metalfest. Funny story about the Exodus show... People kept coming up to Duncan asking for his autograph because they thought he was Rick Hunlot the ex guitar player of Exodus! Haha. The 2011 edition of CIM featured one of the best lineups I've seen there. Exhumed, Nunslaughter, MAAX, Internal Bleeding, Gravehill, etc... it was the Saturday lineup that included us.

6. Do you have any touring plans for the new release?

Tim: Yes. We are going out this fall and and doing some Midwest mini tours and then an East Coast tour in the Spring of 2012 and possibly a West Coast tour next fall.

7. On a worldwide level how has your music been received by metal fans?

Tim: As far as what we have put down in a recording studio people either get it or they don't. Live is where we convert metal fans young and old. We are now getting messages from all over the world from people who are diggin on what we do. Hopefully one day we will get to meet them all!

8. Are there any side projects besides this band or is this a full time line-up?

Tim: Derek has a thing going called Awakening Leviathan that's pretty cool. James has a band called Secret of the 7 Thunders or S7T. Both are death metal bands.

9. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

Tim: I see the next release being even more epic and doomy while having that raw Venom / Celtic Frost feel. The HORDE will always keep it's roots but we will also not be afraid to explore musical boundaries. I like progression, just not forced progression.

10. What are some band or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Tim: The HORDE's style bears the mark of bands like Celtic Frost, Venom, Bathory, Iron Maiden, Metal Church, Sabbath, Kreator, Destruction, old Metallica, old Slayer, shit like that. Nowadays I'm jammin to shit like the new Exhumed (Death Metal album of the year), Nunslaughter, Amon Amarth, Disma, Toxic Holocaust...

11. What role does Paganism play in the music?

Tim: Not much actually. There's some thematic stuff lyrically but most of what is written is in the sword and sorcery style. Where a band like Amon Amarth covers actual historical episodes or mythology, we are like a Frank Frazetta painting come to life musically. Barbarians, vikings, monsters and demons. That's what the HORDE is!

12. Outside of music what are some of your interests?

Tim: For me personally it's dirt track stock car racing! 800HP metal beasts sliding sideways at 100MPH! Duncan is an avid motorcyclist. Derek is a bicyclist and James is a gamer and a huge fan of Star Wars.

13. Any finial words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

Tim: Listen up motherfuckers... the HORDE will be pillaging your village in the near future... so come out and join in the massacre... STAND UP AND BE COUNTED!!!

The Horde/The Blackest Reign/Stormspell Records/2011 CD Review

The Horde are a band from Iowa that mixes thrash and classic metal with melodic death metal and viking metal and this is a review of their 2011 album "The Blackest Reign" which was released by Stormspell Records.

Drums range from slow, mid paced to fast drumming with a good amount of blast beats being thrown in, while the bass playing has a very dark tone with riffs that follow the riffing that is coming out of the guitars and at times they sound very powerful with some traditional sounding bass riffs..

Rhythm guitars range from slow, mid paced to fast riffs that combine thrash and traditional metal with melodic death and viking metal with a lot of melodies being thrown in, while the lead guitars are very melodic and classic sounding metal guitar solos and leads, as for the classical guitars when they are utilized they use finger picking and full chords to give the music a 70's metal feel.

Vocals are mostly high pitched melodic death metal screams with some shouting style vocals being thrown in at times, while the lyrics cover Norse Paganism and Mythology, as for the production it has a sound of an 80's recording but mixed in with a band that is playing a more modern style of metal.

In my opinion The Horde are a very good thrash/melodic death/viking metal hybrid and if you are looking for a band that combines those styles together, you should check out this recording. RECOMMENDED TRACKS INCLUDE "Hell Beast Of The Pale Frost" "Odin's Blood" "War God" and "Vengeance For A King". RECOMMENDED BUY.