HAEREDIUM are making their mark throughout Europe and we sure hope they can bring their eclectic Folk-Power Metal to North America in the coming year. Metal Temple writer Jean-Francois Poulinhighly enjoyed their latest album called ''Ascension'' as it was a breath of fresh air in a style of music that can be quite redundant. He recently caught up with the band to talk about the new album.

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How has been the general reaction to your new album?

For now, we have had many reviews from a lot of different countries and the new album has been welcomed rather well. The reactions we got are quite positive!

How is the Power Metal/Folk scene out there in France? We rarely hear about the particular music scene in the news outlets as we are mostly aware of other genres.

As french metalheads, we are aware that we have to deal with a country where metal music is far from being the most highlighted music genre, nor is it the most welcomed by the general audience or the french media. For cultural reasons, and unlike our neighbors from Germany or UK, France is unfortunately no land of Rock'n'Roll! However, we have a solid community of metal fans seeking to keep the flame burning, being bands, associations promoting live shows, festival volunteers, etc. The Hellfest festival has become a big thing here so it is obvious that we have a very dedicated metal fanbase. There is a certain power/folk scene and we had the opportunity to meet and share the stage with other french folk metal bands in the past. There are a lot of very good bands and musicians here, but crossing the borders is not an easy thing.

What has Art Gates Records done for your career? They seem to have given you wings, creatively and professionally as artists.

The deal with Art Gates Records has clearly been a new step in our career, allowing us to give a new dimension to the promotion of our music. Would it be only for the reviews we got for the album, the label took care of the spread of our new material to the medias and website, which led us to being heard by a larger audience. Also, having the band being part of the label demonstrates that they trusted us in the first place, that they liked what we do and believe in our potential.

You guys took two years to deliver this masterpiece, how did it feel when the album was finally released?

Well, the thing is, you know when you start, but you never know when it's finished. It's hard to reach the point where you can finally say "That's it, I 100% satisfied with what we did". There is always something you what to improve, or to re-think in a different way to make better and better again. So, to be honest, the main feeling that came with the release of the album was relief ; the feeling of achievement and the ability to finally say "Now this is what we've done".

How has been the tour with the guys from THE CRACKED COOKIES, UNDERVOID and JIVRE? They seem really like great people and you guys feed off of them and bring so much energy when guys are headlining the present tour.

In fact, it wasn't really a tour, but a show at our hometown, Strasbourg, the city where the band is from. It is not so often that we get to play live in our area, so the shows at home are always a little bit special from us, with a very friendly atmosphere where we get to see our local early fans again. For these reasons, we like to prepare special show as well, adding some cover songs or new unpublished material for a live field-test.

Speaking of tours, any bands you would love to tour with in the coming future?

I, personally, would be thrilled to share the stage with Dalriada, from Hungary. The band is getting big in Europe and I love their music, very rich and innovative, while keeping all the folk elements from hungarian folk music. Also, we have the same studio sound tech, from the Denever Studio in Szolnok, Hungary, who works with Dalriada from a long time and worked with us on our two albums.

Your video for ''Breathe'' touched many people, as simplistic as it was, it felt extremely powerful. How did you guys come up with the concept of the video for the first single?

This was our first music video, and we had no clear idea of what we wanted it to be. As for our artwork, we wanted something simple, mysterious, and where anyone can apply his personal reflections. The video director suggested the location first, and a couple of ideas, and we started filming right away in only one day. The thing that we knew for sure was that we wanted something unusual!

I really loved the cover art of ''Ascension'', how did it and was the idea behind that particular cover?

The artist "Peony", who made the artwork, is none other than our guitar player, Quentin. He makes graphic art art a living and designs all the visual elements related to the band since the beginning. We had the title of the album first, he then suggested this cover idea, very simple, yet very deep, where anyone can find a personal meaning. This appeared to be a proper combination, regarding the general atmosphere of the music.

That piano solo on ''From Silence'' was incredible. It really gave that song so much depth. Did you have any classical training beforehand because that solo just was poignant and masterfully done.

Our keyboard player is, indeed, a classically trained pianist, currently studying at the Academy of Music of Strasbourg. The song "From Silence" was already written, with a very short waltz-like interlude, and she decided to develop this idea into a real romantic piano solo piece, which finally became what you can hear on the album.

What's the biggest difference between the 2 years of work you guys have done in the studio and delivering this album live to the masses?

We think our songs very differently being they studio processed or live performed. The studio versions of the song are focused on the subtle elements like melodies and harmonies, or specific use of percussion, folk instruments, vocal lines. Being 5 members in the band, we can't reproduce the exact same sound as the audio tracks, this is why we balance with very high energy shows. This is what power folk metal is all about, the savage encounter of powerful metal riffs with colorful and epic folk melodies!

Also what was the difference between the recordings of your two albums? You seem to have gotten so much confidence as artists between both of these releases.

Our first album "Aurora" was like a collection of songs that had been written in very distant periods of time. The oldest song had been composed several years before, and the most recent song only a few weeks before we entered the studio. This uneven feel was perceptible on the album, which is not the case the our new album, since all the songs were composed almost at the same time. Thus, the feeling of unity and consistency is quite stronger on "Ascension". Also, we have tried to experiment new ideas, like the classical piano part or the whistling theme from the introduction track. I see it not necessarily being a matter of confidence, since a musician is constantly into self-questioning, but rather a substantive work through creation, finding the rights ideas that depict the music we want to offer and how to share it in the best way.

So what are your plans for the rest of 2019? Any chance of you guys coming to North America?

For the moment, we mainly focus our attention on the feedback we are getting about our album! Coming to North America would be amazing and we would be honored to have this opportunity given to us!

I was a privilege to interview you guys for Metal-Temple!

And a honor and a pleasure for us to answer your questions! Anytime! 🙂https://www.facebook.com/Haeredium/
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