INTERVIEW: Charlie Griffiths – Harbinger

HARBINGER are quickly becoming one of the hottest prospects on the UK metal scene. Their highly anticipated debut full length Compelled To Suffer (read our review here) has just hit the airways and is poised to take the world by storm. Prior to release, we spoke to guitarist Charlie Griffiths to get the lowdown on how this release came together and what they hope to achieve going forward.

Your debut EP Paroxysm and follow-up Human Dust set some pretty solid foundations. What will Compelled To Suffer bring to the table?

Charlie: Compelled To Suffer is a good blend of all the strengths from the first two EPs and our standalone single Darkest Days. As well as this people will find some new elements that we’ve developed since releasing our last two records. We wanted to try and include as many hooks in our songs as possible. There’s a lot more noticeable choruses on the album and there’s a ton of hooky vocal and guitar motifs. We also have a lot more guitar solos on the album and layers in certain sections to vary dynamics. We feel that this is our strongest material to date and our listeners will find all the things they enjoyed from previous releases. It’s still heavy, it’s still fast, there’s load of groove and of course a lot of riffs! We hope that all our current fans enjoy the album and we also hope to reach many more new ones!

Did you have a main goal or focus in mind when you began the writing process for this release?

Charlie: I guess our main goal was to write an album but I don’t think we thought we’d end up with a 13 tracks when we first started writing. We had so much new material demoed and it was difficult to choose which tracks to refine and put on the album. We’re really happy with the ones we’ve selected though and anything left over will no doubt be developed for the second album. I guess our ultimate goal was to write the best material to date but still include all of our strongest elements.

Are there any particular themes or concepts you wanted to convey?

Charlie: Thom writes all of the lyrics for our songs and the themes tend derive around how dark the world can be at times. Usually the lyrics contain a character or two which represent underlying concerns and problematic situations that people go through in day to day circumstances. These concepts can often be inspired by things seen and heard in the media.

Was there anything you approached differently this time round?

Charlie: The writing process was more or less the same just with a lot more refining. Some of the songs had three or four revisions before they were finalised. Outside of the writing the band approached other areas differently. We decided to go completely independent with this release minus working with Em at Public City PR for press and Nano at Kingstar Music for the Sounds Of Carnage Tour. So far it’s going well. We’ve always been a strong team together in band and business aspects and feel like we’re getting stronger along the way.

Do you have a main song writer or does everyone get involved in the process?

Charlie: It’s a collaborative process but usual Ben and I begin things with a song idea to start. A good way to put it is that we start off with the main skeleton of the song and then everyone else brings their own elements and ideas to the table. Sometimes the songs don’t need much fleshing out or tweaking but others do. The drums will often be tweaked or re-written by Joel and same with the bass lines by Kris. Once we’re happy with the first draft musically Thom comes along and adds his lyrics and vocal ideas.

Ideally what would you hope to achieve off the back of this release?

Charlie: We hope to reach lots of new fans as well as getting new opportunities to tour with bigger bands and to travel to new cities and countries. It’d be great to go to the US and Australia one day. Ideally we’d like everyone to love the album and satisfying fans needs for new HARBINGER material.

Meyrick at Floodgate Audio is making quite the name for himself. How did you find working with him?

Charlie: We absolutely love working with him. He knows exactly what we’re trying to go for and helps get the best out of us when recording. He’s a good friend of ours so it was great to team up with him to record and produce the album. We highly recommend him!

You’re currently out on the road on the Sounds Of Carnage Tour, how have you found it so far? Has their been a good reception to the new material?

Charlie: It’s going amazing so far! It’s definitely the best shows we’ve played to date. We’d like to thank everyone that’s come out to see us and picked up some merch. Every show has had a good crowd and we’ve been well received by the new crowds.

How have you found the European crowds? I can imagine there is a lot of pressure going on first and having to set the tone for the evening?

Charlie: The European crowds have been awesome! It makes us really happy to have people come up to us after the show and tell us they loved our set. It seems like we’re making new fans everyday on the tour. Personally I’ve been more excited than anything to play to new people but sometimes the nerves kick in just before going on. They quickly turn back to excitement once we start playing.

Are there any particular tracks from the album that you are excited to play live?

Charlie: On the tour we’ve been playing The Awakening, Compelled To Suffer, The Fear Of Sorrow, The Dance Of Species and Descendants. I love playing all of them but from the tracks we haven’t played live yet I’m most excited to playing Covetous Hearts and Desperation Dear. They both have choruses that are belters and there’s loads of fun sections to play, including the solos!

Later this year you will be returning to UK Tech-Fest, a stage which you have made your own in recent years. Are you looking forward to returning?

Charlie: Yes, 100%! We can’t wait to play UK Tech-Fest this year. The previous years we played we had great crowds so we’re excited to see what this year’s like, since it’s been a couple of years and the album will out. We love UK Tech-Fest, it’s such a friendly community and there’s always so much talent playing at the festival.

What does the remainder of the year have in store for HARBINGER?

Charlie: Once we get back from the Sounds Of Carnage Tour we have a one off show with our friends in LOATHE on the 31st May in Milton Keynes. Then it’s onto festival season. As well as Tech–Fest we’re excited to play the new progressive mate festival Radar Festival in Guildford and Bloodstock Open Air for the first time! Towards the end of the year we have some tour plans being made which will be announced in the coming months.

Compelled To Suffer is out now via self-release.

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