Interview with Waldgeflüster: "There is some misconception of us being a pagan band...But nowadays our band is not connected to paganism in any form"
The German Black Metal band, Waldgeflüster, released their sixth album under the name "Dahoam" on September 24, 2021. Their sound ranges between classic Black Metal and atmospheric Black Metal, with lyrics sung in their Bavarian dialect, as a way of reassessing its origins perhaps. The music of this album has certain folk elements especially in the instrumental parts, atmospheric, and melancholic parts accompanied by typical Black Metal voices and some sections of clean voice under their local dialect that end up creating a very expressive and sentimental songs that make us forget that we don't understand the lyrics. Prior to this release, we were able to interview Winterherz who is in charge of vocals, keyboards, and samplers, as well as being a founding member of the band. In the interview, we were able to talk about the band, their latest album, and other aspects of the Metal scene.
Lee la entrevista en castellano en: Entrevista a Waldgeflüster
DARGEDIK: Welcome Winterherz to Dargedik webzine pages. It’s a great pleasure to talk with you about the band, the new album and more things. Starting, Waldgeflüster was born as a personal project. What made it a band and at what point?
WALDGEFLÜSTER: Hi, thanks for having me. I asked the live members around 2014/15 if they wanted to join me as full members. At this time, we played together for a couple of years, and I had the feeling that I finally found some people I not only loved playing music and hanging out with, but who are also committed enough to be full members. Something I always found a bit lacking in people I played with before. Ultimately it was the right decision, as we are writing music together since 3 albums now and their contributions have just made the music better.
DARGEDIK: Is there a current member of the band who caused this evolution? After a couple of records, how do you feel about it?
WALDGEFLÜSTER: I guess it was me who was eager to get some fresh elements into the Waldgeflüster sound. As stated above, I am very happy with this decision.
DARGEDIK: How old are you? I don't like to associate music with age, but creating a project of this type in 2005 was not common. But you have shown us with many albums that you don’t do it for fashion. What inspired you to form a project of this style? Do you still have that same feeling today? What do you feel about your music today?
WALDGEFLÜSTER: I am 36 now. And on the contrary, I think back then a couple of bands like Waldgeflüster were formed. It was just the start when the technology was available and affordable to start recording a couple of guitars, some vocals and a drum computer. Originally, I started Waldgeflüster, because I had some ideas that just didn't fit to my main band back then. Also, I wanted to write in my own tempo. The goal was to create nature inspired, melancholic Black Metal, as an outlet of my thoughts and feelings. I still have that same feeling, although the musical style definitely is not as restricted anymore as back then. In fact, it is not restricted to BM at all anymore, whatever we want to write we will write.
DARGEDIK: At the lyrical aspect ¿Is ethenism the basis of your lyrics on this latest album? Could you explain to us what is the main difference between the pagan influence of other bands that play Folk Metal and what you do in Waldgefluster? Do you consider that paganism is more traditional practices than religious worship? I would like to know your opinion of this new trend.
WALDGEFLÜSTER: There is some misconception of us being a pagan band. We are not. I used Pagan symbolic when I started with Waldgeflüster and I also wrote some lyrics from that perspective. But nowadays our band is not connected to paganism in any form, except for nature being one of our main inspirations, and accepting nature as the only thing that stands above me. That is what connects me with paganism, the acceptance of nature as being bigger as oneself. I do not really care about the religious aspect of paganism; the old gods were always just symbols to aspects of life to me. But again, our music today deals with inner struggles, with my own demons, or on the newest record with the term home.
DARGEDIK: What bands outside of Metal do you listen to? is there a current band that has caught your attention? Or maybe you are one of those who think that everything good has already been done?
WALDGEFLÜSTER: I am listening to music all the time, and I am searching for new music all the time. I buy around 4-6 new records each month I would say. So I definitely do not dwell in the past. And I listen to all kinds of music, Folk, Country, Pop, Elektro, HipHop. The genre doesn't matter to me, as long as it touches me on some level. I listened to a lot Lost Dog Street Band this year. And the last song that really got me is "Casper - Alles war schön und nichts tat weh". An incredible piece of music, and I can't wait for the whole album to come out.
DARGEDIK: Relating, could you name 5 albums that you would never stop listening to? regardless of their genre.
WALDGEFLÜSTER: Very difficult question as there is way too many to reduce them to 5. But definitely those records would be part of the list: Tool - Aenima, Ulver-Bergtatt, Casper - XoXo, Austere - To lay like old Ashes, Daughter - If you leave.
DARGEDIK: What are the plans for the future? After the surprising Split and tour with Panopticon, with which another band would you like to release a split album?
WALDGEFLÜSTER: We hope to play some live shows next year, maybe even another tour, and then start writing new music again. The only band we will do splits with as of now is Panopticon. Austin and me connect a 10-year-old and very deep friendship, he is the only one I want to do splits with at the moment. I am not a big friend of splits. To me they only make sense if they do not consist of 2 unconnected sides, but if both sides tell a story together and are connected. That's what we tried with the Split with Panopticon back then and the only way I would do another one.
DARGEDIK: If there was the possibility of making an album in another language, do you think it would completely affect the spirit of the group?
WALDGEFLÜSTER: I mean the possibility is always there, I write in English for my other band "Uprising". But yes, this would completely alter the sound and the feeling of Waldgeflüster. I would never be able to write lyrics at the same level in English as I do for this project in German
DARGEDIK: Why is it important to use the Bavara language for you? There are so many languages that have their own character in the world and many are being forgotten, do you think that the musician is a vehicle for their survival?
WALDGEFLÜSTER: This record is a concept album about the term home. We live in Bavaria, we are surrounded by this dialect each day, and to us it feels like home. This is one aspect. The other aspect is that I also wanted to "occupy" this dialect with my own ideas and identity. I cannot speak for other languages and if musicians are a vehicle for their survival. But I definitely know that the Bavarian dialect doesn't need us as a vehicle, it survives pretty good on its own.
DARGEDIK: What about the new members of the band? Does anyone have an important project in parallel? They are spectacular musicians, but there is not much information about it.
WALDGEFLÜSTER: Domi is playing in a Melo-Death Metal Band called The Course is Black. Tom has several musical projects running in parallel, but none have seen the public yet. Arvagr is working on something of his own as well, but this also is in the making still. He had another project called Dagnir en Gwann some years ago.
DARGEDIK: How is a live show with Waldgefluster? As you organize the setlist, I consider that it is very difficult to intersperse songs from different albums even though they carry the same atmosphere. I think they have a connection to each other. Is it complicated?
WALDGEFLÜSTER: The most complicated thing is to get a setlist, that fits into the timeslot we have. Our songs are usually pretty long, so it is always hard to decide the 4-6 tracks that we can play in 45 minutes. We tend to choose the songs that we want to play, it doesn't matter from which album they are. When it comes to the live show itself, I can't really judge this myself. Best would be to make up your own mind, either live, or via the several YouTube videos that are available from different sets.
DARGEDIK: Now we’ll speak about other matters into the metal scene. As for how an underground band and a mainstream band should be considered, there are patterns where more vinyl or cassette productions stick to this concept, and the CD according to some fans only expands the collections. What do you think are the factors for fans to stick with this concept of underground metal?
WALDGEFLÜSTER: I think Vinyl and Cassettes are so popular because it always feels like a kind of ritual when putting them on. They have this vibe of something valuable and old, that a CD just can't transport. When putting the music on becomes a ritual one tends to listen to the music more carefully as well. I think that is also part of the reason.
DARGEDIK: Another detail is about the listening methods of the fans, because this new generation prefers to listen to a song or two on digital platforms. What do you think about the albums doesn’t having the same impact compared to the 80s and 90s? And what are your solutions to improve the listening of all the songs on the albums?
WALDGEFLÜSTER: I hate the fact that a lot of young kids do not listen to records anymore but only to specific songs. Same goes for artists that put out a new song every one or two months but no album. To me an album tells a story in its completeness, and a song is just a song. But I guess nothing can be done about that fact. Some people will still listen to albums, others will stay with the singles.
DARGEDIK: Well, Winterherz, the sad time arrived at this interview, I hope you enjoy this one as I did and thank you very much for your time. Take care during this pandemic situation and our best wishes from this part of the world. Any last words for your new in Latin America and Dargedik readers?
WALDGEFLÜSTER: Thank you very much for the interesting interview and helping us to promote our music. I hope we can visit Latin America someday!
