Before the show of Heimdalls Wacht in Bratislava, I had a chance to prepare a short interview with the main person of the band – Saruman. Questions done by editor-in-chief S. We are looking forward to the show!

Hi to Westphalia! Let’s not hesitate and start with first question right now. Your new album Mystagogie – Lieder voll Ewigkeit was released 7 years after Geisterseher and it is the longest gap between the records in your discography. Was there any specific reason for that or it just came naturally?

There has been many personal reasons like family, moving, emigration etc. The Songs have been written long ago. But the time was not right to record the material properly.

Mystagogue is the Greek term for a person who initiates one into a mystery and it is deeply connected with Hellenic cults and later with Christianity. What was the main inspiration for naming a new album with this term and what was the lyrical inspiration behind that?

Heimdalls Wacht has always been about transcience and eternity – about the tragedy of human existence, living in the blindness of persistence, grasping the core, the soul – but there is nothing… but fading emptiness! We are fascinated by the human desire for transcendence. Failing forever!

There have been changes in the band with singers before releasing the new album. Heimdalls Wacht joined Wiborg and Sarolf. What could you tell us about these two and explain to our readers why you are using two singers?

After Narhemoth left he was replaced by Skjeld. The change in the vocal style was loved by some and deuced by others. After Skjeld left out of personal reasons these two guys showed up, both long-term fans – and we could not decide, one sounding a bit like Skjeld, one a bit like Narhemoth. Their fire pushed us back to be on stage and in the studio once more and they harmonized properly. So… that is the story!

Mystagogie is following the footsteps of previous albums with a melancholic atmosphere which is not that specific for the pagan genre. Some songs have really interesting titles, for example, Das trunkene Lied von Ewigkeit (Drunken song for the eternity) or Shadowlord (probably taken from Lord of the Rings?). What are the stories behind these songs?

Shadowlord is a cover song of the mighty Abigor – and On the path of the Ancient is a cover of Grond – they both had a huge impact on us in the 90s. Rabenstadium is about transforming yourself into nothingness, about the art of spiritual suicide. Klarheit der Nacht is about the smallness of us as human beings and about realizing being part of the universal soul. All songs show a different approach in showing transitoriness and eternity in different contexts…

Let’s get into the history of the band for a while. The oldest members of Heimdalls Wacht are Saruman and Herjann (interview with Herjann is available here). What was your main musical inspiration for creating something that is today called Heimdalls Wacht?

There are too many names to be called out – we have been influenced by the early 90s-Black Metal of Scandinavia and Austria – by German and Eastern European Underground Black Metal of the late 90s/early 00s – but besides that there is a lot of Slayer, of Swedish Death Metal like Dismember and Unleashed, of Heavy Metal and Doom, of NeoFolk and even Prog Rock in our Music…

Which album do you consider (except the new one) as the most successful?

Please, be more specific. What does successful mean in this context? Concerning sales? I don’t care about sales and I couldn’t even give you numbers because I couldn’t care less. Our Debutdemo Westfälischer Schlachtenlärm pushed us into the spotlight within weeks – we couldn’t believe our own eyes – Der Untergang der alten Welt and Ut de graute olle Tied are considered to be the fan-favourites – my personal faves are Ekte Westfäölske Svatte Metal because it is channeling our underground black metal spirit in its purest form and Geisterseher because it is straight forward and the most brutal one in many aspects…

One typical question for pagan black metal band: What does the word „pagan“ mean to you? Is it some particular faith in old gods or some way of symbolistic manifestation and archetypes of C. G. Jung?

The Word „Pagan“ changed its meaning several times for me personally – and each member of our group will describe it differently. Maybe we aren’t that much pagan but more mythological or even neo-romantical. We are spiritual yes, but we are psychological and philosophical as well – in a way it is symbolism, in a way it is a metaphor for something different… it is not easy to describe it in a few words.

It is 2024, why is Heimdalls Wacht avoiding still social sites?

Because we couldn’t care less. Modern Media is nothing, we think it fits our ideology of Black Metal Underground – and we are not interested in getting famous or the next big thing. Fuck that! It is not suitable to sing about our despise of modern society on the one hand and on the other hand we play by its rules. We despise all Black Metal Bands living this contradictio in adjecto.

The last question – I know that many of you have been to Slovakia, what are your best memories from our country?

To be honest, the last time I was in your country I was very drunk – which partly has to do with the guys from SKYFORGER. I remember one of the most beautiful countryside I have ever seen.

Thank you for the answers and see you in Bratislava!

Be sure I will salute you with a beer for you in my hand!