Heriot: Profoundly Heavy
“Things are coming true for us that we’ve always joked about and it’s just surreal, really. Especially since we haven’t got the EP out yet!” HERIOT are of the fastest-rising new metal bands in the UK and guitarist/vocalist Debbie Gough is reflecting on the successes they’ve started to see in such a short space of time – and all before they release their debut EP, Profound Morality. As we sit down with her and guitarist Erhan Alman, they’ve recently released the title track as a single; a sludgy, atmospheric song that’s a far cry from previous singles but still fits along the sound they’ve carved for themselves.
Those wins are huge – playing festivals they’ve only dreamed of (like 2000Trees, Download, Bloodstock and more) but they’re not letting it get to them – if anything, it’s the opposite. “I still feel a bit like a fake,” Gough remarks of their packed calendar even before Profound Morality decimates eardrums. But they don’t let that faze them; being a band that loves to experiment and work with different tones and sounds, they’re already thinking ahead even while they take a minute to celebrate their achievements now.
It’s a monumental achievement, too; at barely twenty minutes long, Profound Morality combines the hardcore excellence of bands like NAILS with the more experimental and noise leanings of even HEALTH and others to create a multi-headed hydra of extremity. Tackling themes particularly close to them, the title and the theme throughout “is the fact there’s no such thing as purity. Nobody can be absolutely good, nobody can be absolutely bad,” Gough explains. “There are different angles to dive into; you can reflect on yourself, on how you fall into that category. You can reflect on others, how you may perceive them as a bad person, but when really dive down into it, have they just been failed?” It’s a pertinent philosophical question that they examine throughout, from class and wealth divides to asking why we wonder about individuals rather than addressing wider problems. “The blame game is very prominent in today’s world, on individuals rather than the actual issues. I’m not saying this EP is forgiving of bad people. There’s a lot of it that reflects upon feeling betrayed by people who you thought were good.”
That theme of grey areas and things not being as clear-cut as people might want them to be carries over into the visual identity of the album and the band themselves. Watching any of their music videos, such as for Profound Morality itself, or earlier singles like Near Vision and Enter The Flesh, there’s not only a distinct colour palette but regular use of motion blur and often choppy visuals to complement their fast-paced songs. “That’ll be Harry Steel, our visual expert!” Alman exclaims. “He’s wicked. I can’t really speak on behalf of how he does everything he does but we’re very, very DIY. Sometimes we’ve turned up at places not knowing how to make a video and he sprinkles magic over it and makes something amazing.”
Gough continues, “he’s like the fifth member of the band. I wish that people could see what it looks like as it’s being filmed, he manages to turn everything into his own little genius projects.” The video for Enter The Flesh, for instance, required both Alman and their drummer Julian Gage to hold a massive sheet, “but they’re trying not to laugh while holding the sheet up for ages!” As well as “a little smoke machine that we have to push really quickly ’til it runs out, then run and play,” Gough laughs.
That DIY approach has served them well; with the expertise of their friend and videographer and their own bold creative vision, it’s led them to create a fresh take on extreme music, something modern – even if the name itself and indeed some of those visuals are more medieval. Those who’ve caught the four-piece’s ferocious live shows may have spotted that, on their merch stand, there’s often a styrofoam head with a chainmail cap; the more eagle-eyed will spot that same cap on the artwork to Profound Morality. That connection isn’t accidental, either. “HERIOT has a medieval underlying to it; every video has some medieval aspect, even if it’s subtle,” Gough begins. Alman continues, “Heriot was originally a death-duty in Anglo Saxon England,” which meant that nobles had to be buried with an assortment of military equipment such as weapons, armour and even horses, “so that was where [bassist/vocalist Jake] Packer came up with the name. It’s something we love, and it is in the name, it’s related and it’s why we have some medieval undertones.”
From there, it became something that tied their visual identity into their name, even if it’s not immediately apparent to most. What is obvious, though, is that HERIOT mean serious business – even if they’re not always the most serious of people; “there’s a Heriot-Watt University in Scotland that’s top result on Google. So ideally I’d like to top that!” Alman jokes. But they’re very serious about their art and that people give it a chance; their first release is, though they dislike using the term on themselves, an experience that more than anything, they hope “people can at least appreciate that we’re trying to do something a bit different”. An understatement if there ever was one, HERIOT are just getting started.
Profound Morality is out now via Church Road Records.
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