Hak-ed Damm interview (Winterthrone)

Canada not only exports technical, brutal, progressive metal… It also has the presence of Hak-ed Damm, an aggressive and savage band in every sense within their full-lengths, so in this “Destructio Purificalis” the music follows their violent and combative precepts. That is why Metallerium agreed to an interview with Winterthrone, vocalist of this wild band.

Para leer la entrevista en Español: Entrevista a Hak-ed Damm

Metallerium: Welcome Winterthrone to Metallerium webzine pages. It’s a great pleasure to talk with you about the band, the new album, and more things in the extreme metal world. Starting with, Canada it’s a great country when we talk about technical and progressive metal bands and Hak-ed Damm. Why did you decide to lean towards Hak-ed Damm's music for Black Metal at the beginning?

Hak-Ed Damm: Personally, I wasn’t there at the beginning with Hak-Ed Damm when they first started with Zokvist on vocals. But, my involvement with Black Metal as a practitioner of the dark arts started around 2005. I was always interested in the dark side of the arts so I guess it was natural for me to be fascinated with the darkest music genre.

Metallerium: One thing that always comes to my mind is the music from Hak-ed Damm. Coz is one of the few bands around the Black Metal world with savage and aggressive music from “Nekrowristfucked” (2010) to this new one “Destructio Purificalis”. Tell me, what are the main feelings that come to your head when you think of a new Hak-ed Damm album? and how do you expect people to receive your music?

Hak-Ed Damm: Fear, hate, horror, terror.  We expect people to be truly scared yet fascinated.

Metallerium: Could we relate Hak-ed Damm's music to terrorist aspects? Coz your music gives me that sensation when I hear each album of you. Your music always gives me that impression beyond the Satanist or anti-Christian concept.

Hak-Ed Damm: Hak-Ed Damm is more about war, torture, and perversion than Satanism. however, it is true to say our music is blasphemous in a way. Also, we are not for terrorism but it is also right, as I said earlier, that our music should inspire terror.

Metallerium: One detail that I have always been thinking about is the meaning of the band's name. Because it has a concept that I translated between an idea of hacking a mind "Hak" and "Damm" as a curse. What is the correct meaning of this combination of words? And how can you relate to the lyrical Satanist aspect of the band?

Hak-Ed Damm: Hak-Ed Damm is a Hebrew sentence that means “field of blood”. It is the name of a place in Jerusalem associated with Judas Iscariot.

Metallerium: Into the first two albums I saw names like “T-34”, “Inner Kommando Pt.1”, “MG42”, “Auschwitz-Birkenau” and “Usine de Mort”. Which are related to warlike aspects from the old world. Could it be said that the band has Nazi relations? And what is your opinion about this whole movement?

Hak-Ed Damm: Absolutely not. We are not Nazis. When we used those terms, it was only to describe an evil reality that once was. Our opinion about politics in music is that it is bullshit, whatever side you are on. Moreover, T-34s were Red Army tanks that killed many Nazis…

Metallerium: This “Destructio Purificalis” blow my mind as always and immediately bought my copy from Black Market Metal Store. And one thin thing that I saw on the song titles is the name in Latin and French with a different approach if we compare with the previous ones. What is the main lyrical concept on this third album?  And why do Black Metal bands always use Latin words to present their music?

Hak-Ed Damm: It was our will to do things a bit differently this time. First, we dropped the tuning from standard to C# so we obtained a darker sound. Then, I also wanted to carve my mark on this album and I really love to write lyrics in my first language because of the poetic side of French. The lyrical concept is about a nuclear war in a dystopian future and the chaos that ensues. The song “In Nomine Sanctae Mortis” is about a sect that has grown in power among the decadent residents of a super bunker, members of the elite of the world of before. I felt that using Latin would catch the right feeling because the sect leaders would use Latin to get some sort of religious legitimacy. The song also contains the album title lyrics “Destructio Purificalis” which means purifying destruction. As for the other Black Metal bands that use Latin, I obviously cannot say why they use it.

Metallerium: One important thing when a band does Black Metal is an ideology because a lot of magazines and people believe that Satanism, the occult, Thelema, and all that kind of stuff are related to the pagan in Black Metal. For you, how is the ideological expression of Hak-ed Damm? Is it necessary to be a Satanist to do Black Metal today? or is it necessary to talk about these issues within Black Metal?

Hak-Ed Damm: You have to reject modern society in one way or another to be Black Metal. For some people, Satanism is a way to achieve that. Some other people may find that way through paganism or occultism. We achieve it by summoning the ancient spirits of war, violence, and perversion.

Metallerium: In this type of matter, many people think that Black Metal is related to the underground scene of satanic symbols and especially in South America; And when a band does more progressive and technical things the fans react very badly to these kinds of changes because they seem offended that they are not listening to a Mayhem, Beherit from the 90s or things like that. What do you think about when fans are too close with their thoughts and tastes, especially on Black Metal?

Hak-Ed Damm: I think the most important thing about Black Metal is the authenticity of the feelings it carries.

Metallerium: Now we’ll speak about other matters in the metal scene. As for how an underground band and a mainstream band should be considered, there are patterns where more vinyl or cassette productions stick to this concept, and the CD according to some fans only expands the collections. What do you think are the factors for fans to stick with this concept of underground metal?

Hak-Ed Damm: The only sincerity there is in music is in the underground. I think that says it all.

Metallerium: Another detail is about the listening methods of the fans because this new generation prefers to listen to a song or two on digital platforms. What do you think about the albums doesn’t having the same impact compared to the 80s and 90s? And what are your solutions to improve the listening of all the songs on the albums?

Hak-Ed Damm: We think Metal is one of the last genres where albums are important, so we write albums like “Destructio Purificalis” which is a concept album where every song is a chapter in a bigger story.

Metallerium: Well, Winterthrone, the sad time arrived at this interview, I hope you enjoy this one as I did, and thank you very much for your time. Take care during this pandemic situation and our best wishes from this part of the world. Any last words for your fans in Latin America and Metallerium readers?

Hak-Ed Damm: ¡Gloria a la escena del metal sudamericano! ¡Esperamos verte algún día! ¡A la guerra!

Glória ao cenário metal sul-americano! Esperamos ver você um dia! Para a guerra!