Metal Life Exclusive Interview With HAMMER HORDE

Hey Ryan thank for doing the interview! An interview with the Horde is a good interview indeed. Can you give us a brief history of Hammer Horde?

Thank you for the interview, Diana!  Hammer Horde was formed back in mid-2007 by drummer Jayson Cessna and guitarist Derik Smith.  At the time, Jayson was drumming in my band, A Gruesome Find, and we had just released that band’s fourth album (first with Jayson on drums) and shortly after the release, the vocalist and bass player moved far away leaving us with a fresh release and an open line-up.  As much as it sucked at the time to have a new release and not able to promote it, the gods had better things in store.  Jayson had previously approached me about playing keyboards in their side project and I really just wanted to play guitar in a band, and after the debale with A Gruesome Find, they extended the invitation to play second guitar in the newly named Hammer Horde project.  I said yes and started learning the songs they had in the works.  After a brief search for a bass player and finding Ben McGeorge and teaming up with former Forever Lost vocalist, Tom Sturniolo, we had a full lineup.  We wrote new material over the course of 9 months in 2008 and finally entered the studio to record Under the Mighty Oath in Sept. 2008.  We released the album in March 2009 and played as many worthwhile shows as we could find.  

We started writing new material for the second album working hard 2-3 days per week and had a great flood of ideas.  After what seemed like an eternity, we finally entered the studio again in November 2010 to record Vinlander.  During those sessions, we ended up replacing Ben on bass with Jason Reynolds, but it was so late in the recordings, Jason did not play on the album.  Vinlander was released in early 2012 and due to many unforeseen circumstances, we only played two shows in support of the album before taking a long hiatus.  When we finally got things rolling again, Tom decided he was no longer interested in being vocalist in the band and the search was on to fill the slot.  After a good 9 month search, we finally hooked up with Brock Bickelhaupt (whom i had known for almost 20 years, but never jammed with).  We had already been working on material for album three and were finally able to rehearse with a full lineup once again.  We started the recording process in June of 2014 and will finally release the third album Fed to the Wolves on December 1, 2015!

You have album number three coming to us in December. Tell us about Fed To The Wolves.

Yes!!  Fed To The Wolves is going to be a bit different for those listeners familiar with the band’s first two releases.  We have changed the mood slightly to a darker mood and less folk influence.  Some have said it is more Death Metal this time, but I think it’s actually more Blackened Death, but still in the same vein as our previous material.  We have a renewed presence with Brock on vocals and the new music reflects the lineup change.  The Hammer Horde staples are still there, but this album is definitely more guitar driven with shredding solos and lots of melodies.  I also would have to say this is a no hole barred release.  We didn’t try to cater to one particular style, we just let the music fly and let the best of our songwriting abilities shine through.  There is a lot of energy on the new album.

Is there a bit of a tour or a few live shows to support its release?

We will definitely play more shows in support of this album.  Unfortunately, work schedules and living in different cities limits our ability to get out on the road, but we do have plans to play some shows in the near future.

 

You don’t really do a lot of live performances, even though you guys fucking rule the stage. Why the lack of live awesomeness?

In the past, we all lived within a few miles of each other and our jobs at the time allowed for more flexibility to play out of town shows. As time has passed, two members live an hour away in different directions and varying work shift make it difficult to even rehearse once a week.  So, playing shows really has to be planned well in advance.  We have also had some unfortunate things happen with large shows that fell through at the last minute and that makes us ever cautious about what shows we end up preparing for since our time is so limited.  Believe me, I wish we could all quit our jobs and hit the road and tour the world, but real life prevents us from playing live as much as we would like.  Instead, we focus on writing music and preparing for the next release – even though it takes a few years to make it happen!

 

Who would you say has been the band’s biggest influence, musically speaking?

That’s a difficult question to answer as all of the members have varying musical tastes and our music is essentially a culmination of all of those influences.  I know some of the guys love King Diamond and other guys like brutal stuff like Cattle Decapitation and I come from Bolt Thrower and Falkenbach influence.  

 

There for a while, viking metal bands were very popular, almost to the point of become trendy. Is the market too saturated with “viking” bands or has that trend started to fade away?

I think there was definitely a flood of viking-themed bands there for awhile and it seems many of them either faded away or chose to do something different.  We used to wear costumes to support the theme, but have done away with that in favor of a more traditional metal image.  We wanted to let the music speak for itself instead of people getting caught up in what we were wearing. 

 

What is the biggest struggle that new bands from any genre face while trying to make a name for themselves, and how do they over come it?

I think the biggest struggle is simply getting exposure.  There are countless bands out there and the internet can help get the word out, but unless people actually hear the music, a band may go unnoticed forever.  I think music videos help a lot since so many people are online now and seeing a video helps spread the word about a band more than just sharing a single song, etc.  Playing live has it’s benefits, but it seems like attendance is way down at local metal shows and people are preoccupied with other things.  We are about to release our third album and there are many potential fans that haven’t even heard of us before.  Hopefully, our marketing efforts and new music videos and the album itself will change that!

 

Finally where can fans go to find out all they want to know about Hammer Horde?

We have recently updated the official band website www.hammerhorde.com and also have a Facebook page with news and updates.