Woodland witchcraft - Interview with Boarhammer

• Hello there, all the best from Arson Cafe. Feel free to give a short introduction of Boarhammer and the motives behind the band.

The Vessel:

Hi there, thank you very much for your interest in our music. BOARHAMMER was started by Wodwoz and me in the late summer of 2020. The two of us have known each other for several years; we each were involved in different projects in former times and liked to hang out and have a couple of drinks together. After not having been involved in any bands for quite some time and often having discussed our musical as well as philosophical backgrounds and preferences, often during nightly walks in the local woods, we decided that we needed to join our creative forces and found a band. We briefly played with the idea to try to find other like-minded spirits who might want to become a part of what was about to become the BOARHAMMER, but we soon had to realize that our common ideas and agenda would make it difficult for any third parties to become a part of the Boar Cult without having to make any kind of compromise. Consequently, we went all in as a duo and started to conjure up the musical and mythological concept of the BOARHAMMER.

• I discern a strong old school influence in your music, back from the days of the first wave of black metal.What are your musical influences?

The Vessel:

Your impression is correct. When I first got in touch with black metal in the early 1990s, the story more or less went the same way as that of many other people who later became involved in this kind of music. I was flabbergasted and deeply impressed with the music as well as the attitude and actions of several of the genre’s pioneers from Norway. But it did not take long for me to develop an interest in the bands and people that had influenced those crazy Norwegians. As a result it was inevitable for me to stumble across bands like Hellhammer, Venom, Celtic Frost, Bathory, but also the weirder stuff from Eastern Europe like Master’s Hammer or Root. The amalgamation of these influences, together with parallel experiences in the world of punk rock and death metal, made me develop a strong affection for music with a much stronger focus on spirit and attitude than on technical ability of the musicians. I just love the combination of primitive but gripping music with obscure, occult, philosophical or downright weird lyrical concepts.

• One of the themes you're revolving around seems to be the "strangeness of liquids and herbs". Could you elaborate on the interest in this topic?

The Vessel:

For my part, I do have an interest in the obscurer branches of witchcraft and the occult. I enjoy dealing with these topics on a theoretical level, but I also like to delve into certain aspects of praxis. I am curious about the effects of certain plants and herbs, and I also do not reject the idea of either expanding or shutting off one’s mind via the help of strong liquids, sometimes in combination with other substances. However, when  other aspects of the craft are concerned, I am of the opinion that magickal praxis is a very individual thing, hence I would prefer to leave it at that. 

• Congratulations on your first demo "I: Cutting Wood for Magickal Purposes". Was it a completely DIY process, including the physical copies?

The Vessel:

Yes. So far, we have done everything ourselves, beginning with the recording process and ending with the visual design and the promo work. The DIY approach to our art is pretty important to us, since we prefer to be in control of all aspects of what we create. However, we do not completely reject the idea of working together with labels or other people, but it is important to us that potential candidates for collaborations share crucial aspects of our philosophy and also value the freedom of the artist.

• Having the notation "I" in it, one would suspect there will be a continuation of the demo. Is it a series of releases with the same concept or story, and are you working on new material now?

The Vessel:

We have decided to label the demo tape as our first release to point out that more is to be expected. Our demo is not a concept album; however, there are certain aspects of folk magick, witchcraft, regional woodlore, etc. which we are interested in and which we consider to be vital parts of the BOARHAMMER cosmos. We are currently working on new material, but we do not yet have any concrete plans concerning when new songs will be ready and how we are going to release them. We will continue to follow our DIY approach to our music, although this does not mean that we would not be grateful for any kind of support from independent record labels and the like.

• Quite an interesting band name as well. How did that come around?

The Vessel:

The name BOARHAMMER combines two important aspects of our artistic approach to music: On the one hand, there is reference to the term “hammer” being a rather common part of compound noun band names in extreme metal music. Considering our more or less old school approach to black metal, an approving nod towards the genre’s legends like Hellhammer seems rather appropriate. On the other hand, the boar can serve as a symbol for our mythological and spiritual references to the woods and everything that is strange and wonderful about them. 

• Who did the cover art of the demo, or is it partially a photograph?

The Vessel:

The cover art was conceived by Wodwoz and partly consists of a photograph that we took in the woods around the area we live in, to which Wodwoz has added a suitable amount of skulls as a fitting backdrop to offer ideas on how to possibly interpret the demo’s title. Band photos were taken by N., who is a very nice person and has accompanied the development of the BOARHAMMER concept visually and spiritually right from the start. She also has designed the band’s logo.

• I might be wrong, but there are hints of neatly used, vile humor in your debut demo. What is your attitude towards this music?

The Vessel:

We do take our music very seriously, but to us, that does not mean that humor does not have a place in it. We definitely do not make fun of the black metal genre, since it is important to us and has serious meaning in our lives as musicians working together, but also as individuals. However, humor, specifically grim humor, irony, and cynicism, can be a powerful weapon against the things that threaten you in any way or make you feel afraid.

• Several of your tracks have interesting turns and samples (e.g "Tantra Wolves", "Ritual Tusks", "Spirits on Black Wings"). What is the process of composing and recording for Boarhammer?

The Vessel:

We are a rehearsal room band for sure. We try to meet at least once a week to work on our music. The usual process is that Wodwoz brings some riffs and some ideas concerning how to arrange these. Then, we start jamming, and I add my ideas for drum patterns and structure to the mix. We play and discuss things a lot, and once the basic frame of a song has been worked out, we record the drums and then add all the other instruments. Most of the time, the lyrics and singing comes last in the process, because even if I often have a lyrical concept in mind as soon as we start working on a song, I like to have a more precise idea of where a song is going before I work out the lyrics to make them fit the needs of the song’s structure.

• What are bands that you would like to collaborate with in the future?

The Vessel:

This question is difficult to answer, since there are so many great bands and projects out there. Within the black metal genre, we definitely love what bands like Kringa, Hagzissa, Ungfell, or Pakkt are doing. We also enjoy weird bands like Negative Plane, Spectres & Teeth, Spirit Possession, White Nights or Rope Sect. There is also some Death metal we cherish, like Black Curse. It would be a great honor to work with any of these bands in the future, although this is not something we have actively pursued so far. In general, we appreciate bands that follow their own paths and develop concepts that go beyond being “merely” about music.

• Thanks for your time. The ending is yours!

The Vessel:

Thank you very much again for giving us this opportunity to talk about our artistic vision! It is highly appreciated.  Expect to hear some more from the BOARHAMMER camp in the future, and never stop being curious about discovering interesting bands and music off the well-tread paths. There is a lot to be found among the brambles, nooks, and hollows which lie beyond the road. 

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Find Boarhammer on Bandcamp