Metal Zone is very glad to interview the band called “Forefather”.
Hi, do you want to tell something about yourself to the readers?
My name is Wulfstan and I am one half (along with my brother Athelstan) of Forefather. We are from England and play a kind of trad/pagan/black metal hybrid that we call (because people like labels so much) Anglo-Saxon Metal or English Heathen Metal. We released our first album “Deep into Time” nearly 10 years ago in 1999 and we just released our latest and fifth album “Steadfast”.

Your last full length album “Steadfast” released few time ago: can you describe it in detail?
It’s another varied album with lots of different tempos, riffs and melodies. It’s an evolution of our normal style so no one should be too surprised at what they hear. I’m sure it’s the best production we’ve ever had. Here’s a pre-written brief note on each track.
Brunanburh - our tribute to the English victory at Brunanburh, an important battle of the 10th century. Inspired by the poem of the same name from the Anglo-Saxon chronicle.
Cween of the Mark - another upbeat and uptempo track, this time in honour of Athelflad of Mercia (daughter of Alfred the Great). She was instrumental in reclaiming land land lost to the Danish conquests. There is also a similarity with the Eowyn of Rohan character in Lord of the Rings. I suspect Athelflad was part of Tolkien's inspiration when creating that character.
Theodish Belief - a slower, darker track. It's about the importance of the tribal way of life in ancient times, and how we don't have that same strong tribal belief now. Theodish was an Old English word meaning "tribe" or "a people". It has disappeared from modern English but survives in other languages such as "Deutsch" in German.
Hallowed Halls - a pretty epic sounding song about the importance of the mead hall in Anglo-Saxon warrior society.
Steadfast - the title track. Quite aggressive and uplifting. The message is about being steadfast in your beliefs. Not giving in to outside pressure. Also to not tolerate nonsense.
Three Great Ships - inspired by the legend of the brothers Hengest and Horsa who are said to have arrived in three great ships and founded the first English settlements in Britain. One of the faster tracks on the album.
Eostre - an instrumental. Named after the spring festival of Eostre. The music is quite jovial and celebratory so we thought it fitted well.
Fire From the Sky - an almost power metal type track about the importance of omens and superstitions in Anglo-Saxon society.
Mellowing of the Mains - one of the darker songs. The title refers to the practice of clearing a space prior to a ritual, cleaning the energy field. Generally about the idea of wiping the slate clean (so to speak), the cycles of birth and death, creation and destruction.
Wolfhead's Tree - Maybe the most melancholy track on the album. Wolfhead was another name for an outlaw and the Wolfhead's Tree was the gallows. The song itself loosely tells the tale of a defeated head of a people or warrior-band, hanged by his conquerors.
Miri It Is - based around an early medieval folk song. The lyrics deal with the joys of the summer months and the impending doom of winter. We also added our own verse about how short our own lives are in the grand scheme of things and the importance in Anglo-Saxon society of earning fame through worthy deeds so that one's name may live on.

What has changed from “Deep Into Time” to “Steadfast”?
In some ways, not much. We are still pretty much the same people we were in the beginning with the same outlook on life. Of course though, the Forefather “fyrd” has grown in size, even if we could’ve been more successful if we’d pursued success more fervently. We’re not quite ready to conquer the world yet, but maybe one day! Based on the way things are going with “Steadfast” it looks like there could be a lot more opportunity for success in the come years.

What are the main differences with the previous albums about the song writing and the quality of sound?
“Deep into Time” was more rooted in black metal than later albums. On the second album “The Fighting Man” we began the type of style that I think we are more recognised for now, with more melody and different tempos. Since “The Fighting Man” the evolution of our music has been more subtle. The way we write songs hasn’t changed much at all. We usually just come up with a few good riffs or melodies while we’re playing around on the guitar and build songs from there. We’ve never sit down and write songs together, but sometimes one person might donate a riff to another one’s song, or one of us might finish off the other’s song if they lose inspiration.
There is a big difference in our studio equipment from the first album to now. “Deep into Time” was recorded on very primitive and old-school analogue equipment. From “The Fighting Man” onwards we switched to digital production which helped our sound. We learn with each album how to make things sound better, even if there are still some mistakes on the way.

What is the band that has an heavy influence on your style and what kind of music do you listen nowadays?
I would credit Iron Maiden for sparking our love affair with Metal. It all started when we saw “Powerslave” in the local library, thought the cover looked cool, and persuaded our mother to borrow it for us. Maybe it’s because it was the first album I ever got into, but “Powerslave” is still in my top 3 albums of all time. The band I would credit for inspiring me to pick up a guitar is Metallica. I went through a period of listening to pretty much nothing else. In the years before we started Forefather though, we discovered Black Metal and stuff like Bathory, and that had a big influence on our musical direction. Nowadays I don’t buy a whole load of new stuff. The last albums I can remember buying were Nile “Ithyphallic” and King Diamond “Give me Your Soul…Please”.

Coming back to the album “Steadfast”, personally I think it is a masterpiece to listen closing eyes and imagine to be immersed in a bloody battlefield: how first reviews are?
I’m delighted to say first reviews are excellent, which is good because I’m a sensitive soul and I hate criticism :o) I was a bit nervous waiting to hear what people thought but thankfully they seem to like it. Bad reviews are never something we’ve had to deal with. Of course though, not every review is 9/10. Some people aren’t quite as impressed, but you can’t get everyone salivating at the mouth with excitement!

Who is the author of the album cover?
Martin Hanford. He is pretty well known and has worked with Bal-Sagoth. We wanted to have a more natural, hand-drawn style for our front cover this time. It was good because we could tell him exactly what we wanted and he did a great job of bringing our imaginations to life. I can see us working with him again if he would like to.

Why have elapsed four years from the previous album? We will have to wait another four years to hear your next job?
In all honesty a lot of the four year wait was due to our own laziness or (to perhaps put it better) lack of motivation. We were never working on the album all day ever day. We would dip in and out. Sometimes we wouldn’t do anything for months. I suppose it’s a problem of recording in a home studio and not having deadlines. I sincerely hope you won’t have to wait four years again. Ideally we’d like another album out next year, both to capitalise on the success of “Steadfast” and also to reward the fans who waited so long since “Ours is the Kingdom”. We’re aiming to get a new studio setup in place during the summer and start work on stuff.

You define your music as “Anglo-Saxon Metal”: are there underlying reasons in addition to your country of origin?
It’s mainly just because of our lyrical inspiration which comes from the dark ages. We were listening to other bands singing about their Viking dark-age heritage so we did the same, except in England the dark ages is known as the Anglo-Saxon period. I suppose you could just say that Anglo-Saxon Metal is the English version of Viking Metal.

Forefather are two brothers, Athelstan and Wulfstan: the advantage is that more difficult the band will split but you never would like more people to be involved with Forefather?
There is so need for anyone else to be involved because we’re not a live band, and don’t plan on becoming one. We can do everything ourselves in the studio. Maybe having a drummer would be ideal but it’s so easy to have good, realistic sampled/programmed drums these days. The technology is improving all the time. Forefather is also a very personal project to us. We’ve been going alone for so long now that it wouldn’t feel right having working with anyone else.

In which way a new song born, what is the element that inspires your song writing?
New songs are born from just messing around on the guitar. We both usually play most days for at least 20-30 minutes. Occasionally we’ll stumble across something that sounds good and we’ll take note of it. Songs usually develop from one starting riff. Everything else leads on from there. You get a sense of what kind of riff or melody should follow on.

What do you think about the heavy metal movement in your country and in the world in general? What are the band (or bands) that have captured your attention?
Metal in the UK has become acceptable again, even fashionable. In the 90s bands like Iron Maiden were laughed at and considered geeky, now they’re cool again! Lots of the kids are listening to “heavy” guitar music. A lot of it isn’t proper Metal though, if you ask me. The true Metal movement will always be around, no matter what the current trends and fashions are. Honestly, it’s tough for me to say what new bands have caught my attention because I don’t tend to listen to many new bands. I mainly listen to established bands that I’ve always listened to, or established bands that have been around a while but I’ve never got into before. I like to discover a band myself, often by accident. I don’t like magazines hyping up bands and telling me I should listen to them. If I see a new band splashed all over the magazines with lots of hype, it puts me off.

Projects for the future?
One project we’re looking at is improving “Ours is the Kingdom”. We’re not entirely happy with how the production on that album was, and the mastering was also messed up by the label. We’re also considering contributing something again to Folkearth, the international Folk Metal band. The main project will be the next Forefather album though.

All the Metal Zone staff thank you for your kindness and availability. Do you wanna tell us something more?
I want to tell you thank you for asking the questions. We very much appreciate your support. Hails to you, and keep the Metal true!