My HeadBangers welcome from Washington, DC, the symphonic black/death metal band:
WYTHERSAKE
“Antiquity”
My HeadBangers, do you hear that, these guys combined some aspects of swedish metal into their music. I have been waiting so long to find and American Band that can execute this so smoothly. Watch them, look at the hair moshing, trust me I know I’ve seen this in the Nordic/European Bands, and I am so excited to find this here in the USA.
I was lucky enough to get some questions answered by Gabriel, vocals and guitar. Below is our conversation, my questions are in blue, his answers are in black. So let’s get to it. I seriously was so excited to find these guys.
Q & A
Before we start, how are all of you doing with COVID? I know other bands here and in the EU are going crazy not being able to do hardly any gigs yet. Has this affected you much?
We are all doing fine. Fortunately for us we have not had any issues with shows here. We are not at the point of being a full time touring band so there hasn’t been a negative impact in that way.
Wythersake was started in 2016, what made you want to start this band?
Daniel (Drums) and I (Gabriel) met while he was recording with another band that he played with locally. I was Lead Guitar for another band for many years called “Fallen Martyr”, that had released some eps/albums and done some touring, but I felt like I was writing music to fit what our vocalist was trying to do and it wasn’t really sitting right with me. Not a knock on him or anything – he had more of an Alt/prog rock background and was moving away from metal so it seemed like starting something new made sense. Since I already wrote all the material I decided to write lyrics and do the vocals as well. Daniel was sort of in limbo when I met him because he was playing in more of a metalcore/exque band just to be able to play out – so when we met and realized we both had the same influences, it sort of just bloomed from there. We decided we would find the right guys to play with us by putting out singles of the sound we want to have and that’s how me met James. Cody was a childhood friend of his that I already knew from bands in the area so it all just came together right before us signing with Scarlet Records and releasing the album.
I am dying to know what the name Wythersake mean? How did you choose the name?
It’s an archaic term for renegade or apostate. It just fits us lyrically. I happened to come across it just trying to find something that would connect to the music. It took about a year and a half to get the right name down.
I spent most of 2019 in Finland, going to the Tuska Festival 2019 and lots an lots of gigs. I love Nordic/European Music and I was attracted to your band because of the mention of the incorporation of the Swedish black/death metal. You guys do have that sound, and keep the hair lol, my question is what drew you towards adding the sound to your music? I’ve listened to so many bands, but most American bands do not have the “Sound” of the European metal bands. It may sound weird but after immersing in metal from the other side of this planet, I can tell where the band is from Really, it’s so interesting to me that you have added it into your music. Don’t mean to remble lol I’m just passionate about my metal.
No worries – And the hair stays for sure! – I think I know what you mean. We like a lot of the melancholic atmospheric sound you hear from doom/death/black bands in Europe and meshing it together. Then of course we are influenced by the shred guys like Jeff Loomis, Zakk Wylde, Michael Romeo etc. We just throw it all together.
Where does the inspiration for your songs come from?
A lot of it is personal but written in a way where it night not seem that way outright.
A lot of bands will have their songs geared towards the planet, society, war, etc., is there a certain area that you gear your music towards? Is there a message or is it for the listener to decide what it means to them?
“Antiquity” is about going through an apostasy and finding truth. There are some luciferian and gnostic aspects to it. It was a rewarding experience to go through what I had been through personally – the adversity I faced, and to have it culminate in that album. Basically album 1 gelt like a victory or triumph whereas Album 2 will be a bit more rebellious and angry. BTW – That’s roughly a little more than half written at this time with a projected release date for early 2023. That’s all I will say on that for now!
Thanks for the questions and let’s keep this Metal Sh*t alive – Wythersake!!
“Cast Into Swine and Sea”
There you have it my HeadBangers, straight out of DC, I still can’t believe it. I am impressed beyond words with these guys. Mixing the two sounds together and those vocals they get me everytime. I see nothing but good things coming their way. Maybe they will even pass through town, I would love to see them live. But, with Covid, and its 2 variants running rampant throughout the world it may take a wee bit longer, but well worth the wait. Check the band out they are on Twitter, FB, and Instagram. I’ll keep my eyes on this band and be back with any updates. I also would like to thank Gabriel for taking time out of his schedule to get me all the info I needed.
Well my HeadBangers that’s it for this week. Join me next week for another band and another song. In the meantime don’t stand to close to the fire if you can’t handle the burn…..
Please feel free to leave me a comment or question, I appreciate it HeadBangers: