The Band: BlackHelm
Country: United States
The Man: Miles Neff
(bass, vocals)
Interview by Vpower
BlackHelm is a band
from Florida, recently created, with one Ep in the streets, released last year
under the name of Lore. But these guys are busy with other projects, even some
Viking Metal..., as you will read. No rest for them, good for us, the fans,
especially when the goods they deliver are so powerful. Here is the chat with Miles
Neff, the guy who started BlackHelm’s fire, we could say.
Hello Miles, the band
was created in 2014, can you introduce yourselves a little?
Greetings! The starting point for BlackHelm is a little
fuzzy, but I think it's safe to say 2014 was the year of inception for the
project. It started after I got home from a North American tour with
Tampa-based band, The Absence. After that tour ended, I knew I wanted to start
with something fresh, so I started writing a lot of music, revisiting old
riffs and piecing together songs. It
took a little time to figure out the logistics of getting everyone together.
Kevin and Keith Byrd were on tour in Europe with their band Seven Kingdoms at
the time while Tyler plays actively in Within Us and Andy and I were busy with
Fathoms Pass. Eventually things started
to shape up for the debut EP Lore and our live debut, opening for Arkona this
past October.
You are from Tampa
(Florida), an area with a long tradition in Metal. Have this influenced your
career in any way?
First off, I truly appreciate the fact that I grew up so
close to the music I love. Although you don't hear the Tampa Death Metal sound
in our music, it has been great to live
in an area with venues that welcome Metal bands of all types.
Last year you
released your debut with the EP “Lore”. How do you define your Metal?
It's really tough to nail down ONE genre that would define
us. I generally tell people that we're a European influenced Heavy Metal/Power
Metal band with some Melodic Death Metal
mixed in.
How was the process
of creation of your album?
The songs for Lore were written over a several year span. I
think the first riff was written in 2009 for Way Of The Sword. It didn't really
come together until everyone in the band was able to put their own influence
into the songs though.
One of the things I
mostly appreciate is the dark touch you put in your compositions, not everything is hapiness in
your music…
It's great to hear that someone appreciates that. I've
always been drawn to the darker sounds myself. You'll hear prominent use of the
harmonic minor scale all throughout Lore. Music can be very moving emotionally,
and it's great as a musician to be able to express those feelings with a riff.
My favorite song is
The Pit because of its versatility, what do you think?
Listening back to The Pit, I definitely think it stands out
a little from the other songs. It was originally written for a previous band of
mine and was changed around to be used by BlackHelm. As a musician, it's easy
to get stuck in a rut while writing. For me, The Pit was my attempt to write
something a little different.
When “Lore” ends I
have the sensation that I want more, I need more… When are we going to get a full-length from
BlackHelm?
You'll definitely be hearing more from us. We will be
working on a full length in the future, but now we are actually working on
another EP. It may be strange to release two EPs in a row, but I think it's
important for us to be able to release new music quickly. It's also a good
chance for our sound, writing and even production to mature before taking on
the task of a full length album.
It will be welcome
anyway, and review in this site too. Are you promoting your album doing gigs
around or you are just focused on the
composition of new songs?
As I mentioned, we did play a great gig as local support for
Arkona back in October. We may play a few occasional shows when everyone's
schedules allow for it, but for now, writing and recording are the main focus.
You have other
parallel projects or you are only concentrated in BlackHelm?
Both Andy and I have been working on an acoustic Viking-Folk
project under the name Heimdallr for a while now. Tyler plays with his own band
Within Us while Kevin and Keith are working on new material for their band
Seven Kingdoms. We all have been very busy musically, but BlackHelm will keep
moving forward as time permits.
What are your main
influences in Metal?
That's always a big question. I should definitely mention
that Megadeth has been my favorite band since childhood and was the reason I
wanted to play and write music. There are many bands that influence our sound,
some of those include, Powerwolf, Sabaton, Tyr, Ensiferum, Wintersun, Amon
Amarth, Kalmah, Alestorm, Rhapsody of Fire, Demons and Wizards, Iced Earth and
Blind Guardian. The list could go on and on obviously, but I'm confident you'll
be able to hear those different influences in our future releases.
How do you see the
Metal scene in your country?
The Metal scene in the United States has been a pretty
intense topic for years now. You'll always hear people say things like
"Nobody goes to shows anymore" or "It's not like it was in the
80s". As a fan of the genre, I try to go to a lot of shows, especially if
a European band is coming through town, but it's tough for bands to try to
support themselves over here and I've seen that first hand.
It seems the
situation is very similar all around th globe, but we keep rocking. It was a
pleasure to chat with you, Miles, if you wish to add something
From Miles and all the guys at BlackHelm, it's been great
catching up. The most important thing is that people get to hear the music and
we encourage everyone to stream and download our EP Lore for free.
Also, check out our other bands if you have the chance.
very great interview vpower
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