heavy metalheathen foray
06:12 Wednesday, 1 March 2023
On April 7, 2023, Heathen Foray will release their new album Oathbreaker via Massacre Records. Following a previously-shared album single "Leben", today, the neo-pagan death metal band revealed a second song taken of their forthcoming offering.
The band comments:
"The third track on our album ‘Ahnenreih’ (Eng.: Line of ancestors) might be the most personal track the band has ever recorded. We collected stories and quotes from passed away relatives and combined them into a heart-wrenching song that shows us that we all stand on the shoulders of giants. We have used our native local dialect of Styrian-German to express our emotions as undiluted as possible. Musically we also look back at our roots and deliver the folkiest song on the whole album."
Heathen Foray began their journey with the ambition to blend the heaviness of death metal with lighthearted and catchy melodies that will stay in your mind long after you heard them. This authentic mix, seasoned with folk music elements, paid off as the band's sing-along themes and skull splitting riffs earned them a following of underground metal fans and media taste-makers.
Whereas other bands in the general vicinity of this genre mix tend to dress up in medieval clothing or play Vikings on stage, Heathen Foray made a clear statement that their kinship with the Pagan ways is a modern interpretation of them. What else is a modern Pagan than an activist for a cleaner environment, sustainable living, and social solidarity? This led to their music often being described as "neo pagan metal" and their songs being advocates against climate-change and oppression.
The band's new album Oathbreaker embraces these ideas both lyrically and musically. The album sees the band return to their melodic and uplifting musical roots that will remind fans much more of earlier albums like The Passage and Armored Bards rather than the much darker Weltenwandel from 2020. Oathbreaker was produced by Jürgen Brüder & Adam Train, and was mixed/mastered by Adam Train. Preorders available here.
Tracklisting:
“Oathbreaker”
“Leben”
“Ahnenreih”
“Heimdalls Spross”
“Allvoll”
“1000 Years Of Human Flesh”
“Raiment”
“Covenant of Swords”
“Ahnenreih” lyric video:
