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Veebruaris tulid uudised teise EP „…der Waldgang“ kohta Tarbatu black metal duolt Hasswald. Kuna ajakiri TAUD kirjutas sellest just eelmisel sügisel, siis me toome teieni inglisekeelse versiooni sellest intervjuust. Liiatigi, kuna selle sisu pole veel aegunud, kui hapu äädikas.
For devoted followers of Estonian extreme music, a relatively enigmatic band called Hasswald has probably been on their radar for years. They have already been seen on several stages, and their EP “Und so begann…” from last year [2023] can also be found in the mazes of the Internet. Despite their Teutonic name, Hasswald are a duo from Tarbatu, with whom we managed to chat one evening as they were preparing to record their second EP.
Who is Hasswald?
K: The simple answer is that it is mainly K. (guitar, vocals) and J. (drums). Sometimes the throat singer L. joins us on recordings.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a two-man band?
J: It is certainly easier to agree on rehearsal times in a two-man band, and it is also cheaper to perform. There are also not as many instruments to consider at soundcheck, for example.
K: On the other hand, whilst there are only two of us and I only use one guitar, I still split the signal into two and J. also manages samples in addition to the drums. This is not something new in itself that no band has done before, but it makes the sound setup a little more complicated. Therefore we have to figure out how to replace the lack of bass guitar because I can add lower ends to one of the guitar signals but it still will not replace a bass guitar. We are currently considering whether, for example, a drum kick could compensate for the bass guitar. What makes things even more complicated is that the sound engineer also has to understand the whole system.
How many live shows have you played so far?
J: Three. Every time the sound solution has been different. The second time [at the Tartu club Rock & Roll] we had to borrow an audio console that I had not yet bought myself. But the last time [at the Latvian festival Zobens un Lemess] it was easier, because I already had everything I needed.
K: The performance at Black Magic Estonia in the fall of 2023 was special because we did it the old-school way. Only those who knew about it came and so we played half past two in the morning after Sügis Fest. The crowd was surprisingly large.
Your band name Hasswald means the same thing in German as Hate Forest in English. What is your connection to Hate Forest?
K: The idea for the project began when I heard Hate Forest’s album “Hour of the Centaur” and it was so good, so angry. I listened to it several times and was even a little sad and depressed that the album was over and that I already knew these songs – I just wanted more and more. So I started writing a song in the same spirit myself and it actually became Hasswald’s first song. Everything was born from this emotion. The name also sounds very, very powerful and goes well with the band’s idea and philosophy. So the decision to start a band was actually very easy.
But it should also be mentioned that the second EP no longer resembles Hate Forest very much. From here on, we will continue with a more distinctive style.
The first release, the EP “Und so begann…” was released at the very end of 2023. It is the only Warhorn Records release so far that has been released only digitally, but not (yet) physically. However, your plans are apparently not limited to that.
K: From the very beginning, we had the idea of a two-part album. There is a philosophical idea behind Hasswald’s work, but it cannot fit on just one record, and it has to be a two-part, interconnected release. Tracks I–III are on the first EP, tracks IV–VI come on the second. Maybe at first they don’t seem to fit together very well, but in fact they are a whole. Simply because they are so different, but at the same time so similar, it was justified to release them both separately and together. It sounds like a paradox, but that’s exactly why we decided to do it.
Can we expect the first EP in physical form?
K: I can’t say yet whether it will come out on vinyl, but at least it would be very reasonable to release it on cassette and CD. The parts just have to be together – you can listen to them separately, of course, but then you won’t understand the work as a whole. We decided to release the first part as an EP also to confuse people. Maybe they think they already know what this band is about, but then it turns out they don’t know a thing. That’s why the first EP is called “Und so begann…” and the second part is called “…der Waldgang” – one and the same sentence, but divided into two.
What are your long-term plans regarding Hasswald?
J: I don’t know what’s going on in K.’s head.
K: Let’s ask, what will tomorrow bring? Interestingly enough, much inspiration has arrived very quickly. That’s why the second EP was even finished so fast. But now I would like to focus on other projects, because while working on Hasswald I can’t do other things at the same time. We will definitely continue and make new songs, but I can’t say when to expect the next release right now.
J: It’s going to take a while, so to speak.
K: There are a lot of details in Hasswald’s songs. This is the kind of album that you can listen to many times and still find something new. If we were to release something new in the future, we would definitely want to pay attention to the details. The more often we play, the more we can improve. That’s why it’s important that releasing new material takes as long as it takes.
Have you discovered anything new for yourself when listening to your own songs?
K: Actually, it happens sometimes when I play it wrong and then listen to the recording, I discover that hell, it actually sounded better that way. Sometimes when listening to our recordings, I find that in some parts the guitar should change or the drums should do something differently, and that’s how inspiration is born for how to do it differently. But the downside is that you will never finish the song that way.
J: We have had discussions about whether the song should end earlier, stretch out some parts more, or add something else. If I listen to what I’ve already recorded, I might wonder how I played it after all.
You mentioned that you can't play Hasswald all the time just because you have other bands. What niche does Hasswald fill for you? What does it give you that other bands don't?
J: Hasswald has definitely given me more to learn, which is why I can play better now than in my previous band. And also a little differently.
K: It was pretty easy for me to decide why I started a new project. It immediately seemed to me that with J. I could try things that other drummers wouldn’t bother to do, because they usually want to play pretty routine things. What J. plays is quite complex, the rhythms change often – it’s not easy stuff. Another reason is that my previous bands each focused on their own theme – musically or lyrically – but Hasswald is actually a philosophical project, where I just do what feels right to me. At the same time, it’s all so strange that I don’t know if anyone else would even fully understand it. The lyrics are all in German. I went a bit crazy writing them. I read a fair bit of Nietzsche, and Hasswald’s lyrics are also such that although I understand what I want to say, others may not get it at all. In short, I couldn’t do something like this with other bands. If someone else doesn’t like it, I don’t care – I’ll just continue doing it myself. Hasswald gives me freedom for all this.
K., do you find it important to explain your lyrics or do you prefer to leave things as they are – to let them be incomprehensible?
K: I believe that explaining these lyrics would be very difficult. Every sentence means something. You have to know Nietzsche’s philosophy very well, otherwise you won’t understand anything. There is also a reference to the Bible in one of the lyrics, but this is also specifically related to Nietzsche, so you have to read his “Antichrist” to understand the meaning. But then you have to read “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” to understand why “Antichrist” is so important. And that’s just one story. The second song has a different topic, and thus each song has its own theme. I could try to explain the songs, but that would take half an hour. If someone really wants to know these things, I can try, but first I have to write them out for myself, because to be honest, at times it’s all very complicated, even for me.
Coming back to the concerts – you’ve already performed three times and there are more to come. As much or as little as I’ve seen you, your stage presence is very atmospheric – both because of the sound flow and your appearance. What kind of experience do you want to offer the listener-spectator at concerts?
K: You said “listeners” and “spectators”. These are two different things. When you watch, you experience something different than when you listen. This is also a bit of a philosophical question, how these two things fit together. Judging by the look and the name of the band, you might think that Hasswald is pagan metal. But when you start listening, you realize that this is not the case at all. Some elements in our work are shamanistic, but the lyrics themselves are philosophical. How do they fit together? I think that a concert could give an impulse, after which a person starts thinking and asking themselves what reality is at all. Is what their eyes see actually real? – not only when standing in front of the stage, but in life in general. They go out of their usual life and start wondering if this world is really the way they have always thought.
At least it would be good if it happened like this…
J: I believe that if people have paid for a ticket, then they should also get something in return.
Do you have anything else to add?
J: We’re going to perform in Edinburgh, Scotland, a week after the Tarbariitus festival in October, quite far from Estonia. [The concert took place on October 19th 2024 in Edinburgh – Ed.]
K:. Then we’ll see what happens next. I don’t know how the next EP will go. The first part was surprisingly successful and it would have been very easy to continue in exactly the same direction, because it seems that people really liked it. I’m not even talking about Estonia here. Compared to other bands under the Warhorn Records label, where records have had press releases, Hasswald received quite a small amount of promotion, only one or two posts. We don’t even have our own Facebook page. But the feedback was very positive despite that, especially abroad. Maybe it was related to the fact that one of the designers of the Hate Forest album somehow found our music and listened to it. It remains to be seen how the next EP will go. Overall, I would say that Hasswald is “Musik für Alle und Keinen” – “Music for everyone and no one”.
TAUD, October 2024
