“Total Fucking War” sounds like a statement of intent more than just an album title. What does that phrase represent for Heathen Peace as a band in 2026?
When writing the album we wanted to make it as aggressive as we could and start the album with 3 ultra hard songs filled with fast blast and hyperblast beats. I was looking for an extremely aggressive title to fit the vibe. It represents no bullshit and an all outaggressive, warlike sonic attack.
Compared to “Civilisation Ends Here…”, the new album is faster, darker and more aggressive overall. Was that evolution something natural, or did you consciously decide to push the extremity further this time?
This happened naturally. Coming from a hard punk and dark rock background with my bands Razorblade and Live By The Sword, I wanted to take thing further into the extreme with Heathen Peace. Untill then I never worked with a drummer who could do blast beats of ultra fast double bass like Frank can do. “Civilisation Ends Here…” was writing with more traditional drum patterns in mind, but when I learned what Frank can do I decided to go all out and push it further into extremes on “Total Fucking War”
The album combines death metal brutality, black metal ferocity, heavy metal grandeur and even raw rock and roll energy. How important is it for Heathen Peace to avoid being trapped inside one specific subgenre?
It’s not important to us, we make extreme metal with an ancient atmosphere and it just comes out as it is. I think it’s mainly because of my background in aforementioned bands that people persistantly keep claiming to hear punk and rock n roll vibes in our music. Also I like to keep the songwriting pointy, short and structured, which can also be a reason why people have some punk/rock ‘n’ roll associations.
A lot of the lyrical themes revolve around pagan resistance, ancient gods and forgotten wars. What keeps pulling Heathen Peace toward those themes instead of more modern or present topics about war?
There’s nothing mystical about modern times I think. The stuff we write about has shaped our culture and birth grounds. Lots of remains to be found in both of them. These are the foundations of our identity and with Heathen Peace we try to make a soundtrack for that.
Songs like “Apollyon” and “Heath Dweller” feature Henke Forss from mighty Dawn. How did that collaboration come together, and what did his presence bring to the atmosphere of the album?
In 2021 I licensed the complete Dawn discography from Century Media for my label Cosmic Key Creations, and with help and support from the band we re-issued everthing on vinyl, CD and tape. It was a great cooperation and I stayed in touch with Henke eversince. I think Dawn is one of the best bands I ever heard and I asked Henke to do guest vocals on two songs. He immediately agreed and he is even featuring in our music video for the track “Heath Dweller”. I can’t thank him enough for doing this. His vocal style giving the songs a more evil vibe and Henke’s blackened screams greatly contrast with my own blunt barbaric growls.
The Snartemo sword on the cover artwork has a strong historical symbolism connected to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire. Do you see parallels between that era and the modern world today?
For historians the Snartemo sword stands as a symbol of the migration period (300 to 600 AD), also know as the barbarian invasions of Saxons. Franks, Goths, Huns, Vandals etc etc. Tribal culture versus Roman imperialism. That’s the main narrative of our album and embedded more or less in every song.
Even with all the chaos and aggression, there is still a strong sense of melody running through the album, especially in the lead guitar work. How important is melody in making extreme music memorable and powerful?
I like to create some contrast in the songs by mixing highly melodic or atmospheric parts with extreme aggression. It makes the songs more interesting I think and the aggressive parts come across even more intense this way.
Heathen Peace started as a side project but quickly became a full-time creative force. At what point did you realize this band had grown beyond being “just another project”?
In 2024 we were recording “The Pagan Pantheon” album with my other band Live By The Sword and countered a lot of delays and issues in the recording process. Eventually I had to look for a new drummer to be able to finish the album. To blow of some steam I wrote some short, punchy and aggressive metal songs which I recorded with our new drummer Frank (God Dethroned and many others) and our producer Freek on bass. This worked out very well and we decided to continue. I regard Heathen Peace as my main band now. We are also preparing to start playing live shows asap. We have recruited Hein (ex-LegionOf The Damned) on guitars for that. We have also recorded 3 brandnew tracks for a compilation called “March Of The Warlike Damned” which will be out later this year.
Let's talk about the physical releases. Between the 4-panel gatefold vinyl with a poster, the super jewel case CDs, and the limited tapes through Zwaertgevegt, you clearly value physical media. Why is the visual and tactile presentation of the album so vital to the Heathen Peace experience? How do you see the future of physical formats?
I am running different record labels for over 25 years so listening, collecting and releasing music on physical formats has been a big part of my life. For me it’s really important that the goods look the part and complement the music. Zwaertgevegt Records released the album as a limited tape edition (50 copies). Alex runs a cool and obscure label that has released a lot of great Dutch (black) metal and we are honoured to have this release on his label. I don’t think physical formats will disappear, at least not during our lifetime and I will do my part to keep them alive.
"I think the real underground is still a great place to descend into if you want to escape from mainstream crap."
The Dutch underground has always produced strong extreme metal bands across many styles. From your perspective, how healthy and supportive is the local scene right now for bands playing aggressive underground music?
I kinda live in my own bubble and I am not really following too much new stuff. But a lot of the classic Dutch bands like Sinister and God Dethroned are still going strong. Also a lot of good newer bands around, lots of shows as well. At the moment I am particularly impressed and listening a lot to WALG.
Modern metal production often becomes overly polished and sterile, but “Total Fucking War” still sounds raw and dangerous while remaining clear and heavy. What approach did you take in the studio to keep that balance intact?
Keeping drums and guitars as much analog as we can. Recording with actual microphones instead of triggers and amp plugins. For “Total Fucking War” we have re-amped 2 different rhythm guitar tracks through 4 different high gain amps and 2 different cabs. We recorded the output with 4 different mics and blended them all together to get a massive wall of sound. Our bassplayer Freek is a professional sound engineer and is doing that stuff for a living. He is responsible for the end result.
War, collapse and resistance are central ideas throughout the album. Do you think extreme metal still works as a form of rebellion today, or has the genre become too comfortable over the years?
Personally I like to meet and team up with creative people and free minded spirits with a no bullshit attitude. Metal and punk is the best place for me to meet those people. If those scenes have become less “dangerous” over time I coundn’t care less. Nothing is forever, things change and people change. I think the real underground is still a great place to descend into if you want to escape from mainstream crap.
Finally, what do you want listeners to gain after surviving the full experience from “Total Fucking War”?
I hope people can feel the brutal invocation of ancient pagan powers and submerge into the mystic forces of pre-christian European history when blasting this album.
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