FELLWARDEN is a new musical project founded by The Watcher, which under the surface is quite different from his other band, Fen. Inspired by Drudkh and Summoning as well as the works of Tolkien and Gemmell, his debut „Oathbearer“ is dedicated to stoicism and the fells in Northern England. In the following interview, he talks about what it is that fascinates him about those things, how he makes up for his flaws as musician and why FELLWARDEN won’t play live for the moment.
Hello and thank you very much for answering our questions. How do you feel?
Hi there! I am assuming you mean how do I feel in connection to the FELLWARDEN album finally seeing the light of day to which I must reply pretty good! It has taken some time to come together, however I have been in no real rush – it is just very satisfying for me to have the record finally be released.
FELLWARDEN is a new black metal project by you, The Watcher, and Havenless, both of you are part of Fen. Why was it still important for you to create this new band?
Well, the whole thing just kind of evolved over the course of a year or so. For a long, long time I had been harbouring aspirations to create a solo ‚epic‘ black metal studio project – to forge something which didn’t need to concern itself with the restrictions of music that needed to be played live and therefore, could really benefit from having layer upon layer laid down in the studio. I’d had this idea to put something together that – whilst being rooted in melodic black metal – incorporated elements of doom, epic metal, classic metal, orchestration, effectively a wide panorama of sound intended to convey a real sense of stirring majesty and ancient spirits. I wanted to inject some atmospheres from the darker fantasy literature I enjoy whilst still ensuring it was ultimately rooted in humanity.
After the usual years of procrastination that invariably accompany such notions, I eventually decided to make a start on actually doing something about this in 2014. I began to commence work on fleshing these ideas out and putting some recordings down – at this stage, I had no grand plans or ambitions, it was simply to experiment with creating something entirely alone and without any concerns for whether or not it could be rendered in the live environment. I just wanted to create something huge and enveloping with no restrictions.
The material actually quickly began to take shape and certainly exceeded my expectations as to how coherent the whole thing could actually sound. Alongside this, it also became swiftly apparent that my drumming skills would not be up to the task of supporting the material as well as I would have liked. With this in mind, I turned to my friend Havenless – at that point, he was not part of Fen (we are going back a couple of years now) but we had worked together several times before on other ventures. He really liked the material and so quickly stepped into the artillery seat. I remember vividly the moment he sent the first drum track to me for the song ‚In Death, Valiant‘ – this was the point when I started to see that FELLWARDEN could really become something worthwhile. We then stepped things up considerably with a view to getting the album honed and finished.
So as you can see, this isn’t some recent ‚Fen side project‘ that has been quickly cooked up – it has been a necessary expression building over the last few years that has just finally reached a point whereby it can be unleashed upon the world.
Grungyn, the bassist of Fen, however, is not part of FELLWARDEN. For what reason?
As said before, FELLWARDEN was in no way conceived as a ‚Fen side project‘ – indeed, at the very beginning, I intended it to be a complete solo project though it has not worked out like this. Yes, it is true that the line up may now consist of 2/3 of the Fen line-up, however FELLWARDEN works and is conceived in a very different way. Fen derives a lot of inspiration from the rehearsal room, from the physicality of three guys working together and communicating in a very organic fashion. At times, it is very collaboriative.
FELLWARDEN is very different, being as it is conceived and built up purely in a recording studio-type environment. At the risk of sounding like something of a control freak, I wanted to assume total control for the melodic composition of FELLWARDEN and still do, frankly – not only this, Grungyn is a very busy man himself and when not working on Fen material, a lot of his time is taken up with his folk outfit Driftway who also have recently completed recording their first full-length album.
Where do you see the musical differences between Fen and FELLWARDEN?
FELLWARDEN is structurally much more straightforward – the music of Fen and the compositional approach taken to it has had many years to evolve. It has now very much taken on a life of its own and certainly, more recent releases have seen the material become more compositional complex, a fusion of extremity and glacial ambience, a striving to become ever-more deft at weaving these elements together. There’s a very personal darkness at the heart of what we are conveying with Fen these days – something that needs to be reflected within the music. We’re weaving increasingly unconventional melodic lines, textures and patterns into the soundscape but all the while paying close attention to the intricacies of how the songs can be delivered live.
With FELLWARDEN, the goal is to create something more strident and overwhelming – I am trying to infuse the material with a sense of looming grandeur by layers of synths, acoustic guitars, choirs and so forth. The song structures as said before revolve more around ‚evolving‘ repetition, sections cycling several times with an increasing development of melody and counter-melody playing out over these cycles. I am not afraid to deploy motifs and refrains that are perhaps a little more ‚obvious‘ in FELLWARDEN as I believe such moments are fully appropriate to the sense of exultation that thrums at the heart of several passages within these songs.
Yes, there are parallels – both acts being black metal rooted within atmosphere – but I think beneath surface-level similarities, there are very deep differences between these expressions. I think this is palpable from even a cursory listen.
Among others, you have been inspired by the likes of Drudkh and Summoning, but also by the works of Gemmell and Tolkien, is that correct? What exactly impresses you about those artists and in which way is this audible in your music?
I have been reading the fantasy literature of J.R.R. Tolkien and David Gemmell since I was a young teenager and both authors have been instrumental in helping to fashion elements of my worldview, though on very different levels. Tolkien of course needs no introduction – his conceptualization of a world, the people, landscape, the scope of mythology, language, legends, it is untouchable. The wellspring of imagination conjoured by this author has been epoch-defining and his impact on artists within the black metal scene cannot be questioned. From his works, it is the sense of far-reaching mythology, history, the half-remembered heroes from ages long ago that have impacted most heavily upon FELLWARDEN – from a musical perspective, in an attempt to imbue the songs with this resonance of something ancient yet powerfully important, to conjure the grandeur of the landscapes he paints so vividly with words.
Gemmell meanwhile strikes on a more ‚human‘ level perhaps – his tales are much more rooted in the constant struggles within man, the near-infinite shades of morality that affect us all, what it really means to be a ‚hero‘. His tales are laced with self-sacrifice, redemption and defiance against overwhelming odds. It is impossible not to get swept up in these robustly-delivered yet profoundly stirring stories in which ordinary men and women find themselves put to the ultimate test, to find their spirit, principles and humanity challenged to breaking point and beyond. At his best, no other author before or since has managed to truly conjure moments of sheer stirring power as well as Gemmell and I really wanted to inject an element of this into FELLWARDEN at every level – to take an ostensibly black metal template and lace it with a sense of these themes. It is definitely something that means a lot to me and I will be aiming to amplify on future recordings.
What is it that you want to express through your music?
Elements of myself, ultimately. I feel that communication can be challenging in many situations, that the use of language and social structures means we are often left communicating with each other through the ‚barriers‘ of arbitrary abstraction formed by language. For me, music is a far more pure, direct form of expression – it can deliver something far more than a narrow message or a series of specific ideas. Instead, music evokes. It can overwhelm, create an all-consuming and total experience that transcends the intellectual and moves towards a more fundamental, spriritual space within the human psyche.
Yes, this sounds pretentious. But why not? What is music if not a vessel for delivering notions that it would be inadequate to express through other means? If it were that straightforward, we would all be writers – but for me nothing comes close to the purity of personal expression that can be delivered through truly inspired music delivered with sincerity and conviction.
In this, the music I make channels some of the most fundamental aspects at the core of my being – regret, sadness, brief flashes of exultation, reflection, defiance, anger, despair – and seeks almost subconsciously to focus that through a sonic prism. This for me is the only honest answer I can give to your question.
Your bandname derives from the mountain landscapes of northern England, right? What fascinates you about them and why did you choose to them to represent your music?
Well, I am a bit of a latecomer to this one, I will admit – I had no idea that such evocative landscapes lurked on the shoulder of England until I visited there about five-six years ago! It was something quite eye-opening – after all, this country is known for certain types of wilderness but the fell lands of the north are quite something else. It’s mountainous terrain but not in the jagged, alpine fashion that tends to be typified and venerated by this form of music – even in this, there is a certain form of quasi-English understatement, a quietly regal subtlety that, to me, lends a nobility to the area.
It’s the ultimate distillation of the English wilderness spirit for me – visually, hugely different from the fens of my upbringing but again, in the sense of something sorrowful lurking beneath the surface, of a palpable bleak grandeur and notions of millenia of memories lying forgotten within, there is to my mind a very definite parallel.
Certain places or experiences just speak to a man ultimately and this was certainly one of those moments that acted as a catalyst to creativity – I HAD to do something about this.
Your debut is called „Oathbearer“. What is the thought behind that title and what are the lyrics of the album about?
It represents to me a concept of stoicism, of dedicating oneself to a cause or a life philosophy and sticking to it. It is essentially about principles – setting a moral or behavorial framework for one’s life and adhering to this, no matter what challenges or temptations can be placed in one’s way. Ultimately, it is 
about personal resolve and inner strength, tempered by experiences.
Lyrically, the record deals with various interpretations of these overall themes – remaining true to oneself, self-sacrifice in the face of overwhelming odds and intertwining states of brutal exultance and reflective sorrow that comes with this. Again, these are strong themes throughout David Gemmell’s writings as listed above and is very much something I am trying to deliver with FELLWARDEN. The song ‚In Death, Valiant‘ deals directly with this but ‚Guardian Unbound‘ and ‚Wayfarer Eternal‘ also speak of derivations of this concept – those who dedicate their lives to stewardship or the protection of others, or those who’s purpose is to wander and explore, to take the risks and define the paths that others will come to follow. These are themes that can resonate with all of us – the parent, the scholar, the teacher, the explorer, the thinker – anyone who takes the time to ‚look up‘ from the drab materialistic distractions of the average 21st Century cultural existence will see that many of these concepts are ageless.
To me it feels like your songs aren’t based on certain catchy melodies but rather a deep atmosphere that stays throughout the entire record. Would you agree and if so, what is the reason behind this?
I actually think there are some large hooks on the record, swathed in an atmospheric delivery though they may be. They aren’t ‚quick‘ melodies if that makes sense – I don’t have a lot of time for twiddly, fiddly lines, particularly when trying to create music that needs to evoke an involving sense of ambience – rather, I seek to develop billowing, unfurling themes that take time to evolve beneath the soundscape itself.
Of course, a deep and engaging atmosphere cloaking the record like a morning mist is absolutely key but within this, it is just as important for the melody lines to emerge, to cut through the swirl of the musical delivery and hit home. I don’t want things to be too obvious or too immediate, I want the themes of the songs to be discovered, to take time to hit home and burrow their way into the mind of the listener.
Which track on „Oathbearer“ is the most special to you personally and why?
They all have importance to me, this I cannot deny. However, I guess if forced to pick, I guess I would say that ‚Sorrowborn’ to me stands out above all the others – it’s the closing track of the album and was very much written with this in mind. I really wanted to channel a sense of regret, of despair-laden reminiscene and the ennui that greets one who – in the final moments of their life – looks back upon their existence and comes to a bleak, depressing summary. It challenges the notions of origin – from sorrow one was born and in sorrow one ends, essentially – and whether we can truly eclipse the fundaments of our siring.
I think that musically, it is the closest I have come to truly encapsulating exactly the ambience I am attempting to convey with the song – I still consider the closing few minutes to be perhaps the most evocative piece of music I have committed to tape so far in my musical career. It is truly an overture to an acceptance of regret and oblivion.
What, do you think, are your strengths and weaknesses as a musician?
A tough question to answer! I have been embroiled in this whole business for so long now, it’s something I rarely even consider. I remember back when I was a teenager, the concept of being ‚better‘ at playing the guitar was very much a ‚thing‘ – however, it’s something I have long stopped considering, Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate high-quality musicianship as much as the next man and there’s a real sense of wonder at seeing someone with top-quality and tasteful chops really cutting loose. However, it’s never something that has held particular importance to me, frankly – I’ve always been more interested in the processes of composition and song-building personally. As long as my technique is sufficient to be able to deliver what it is I am attempting to say with my music, then it will do for me!
So in terms of weaknesses, technical ability is definitely one area I could improve on for sure – I’ve been playing guitar for over twenty years now but my technique is pretty shocking really. Particularly for lead guitar, it really is quite bad – my knowledge of scales is deeply limited, my fretting hand positioning is awkward, I could go on. I’ve seen kids aged 12-13 years old who can run rings around me technique-wise. We’ve played on some stages with some great musicians before and I do sometimes feel a bit like a fraud – some of these guys really can play and it does at times make me resolve to practice properly and address some of the issues in my own playing.
To counterbalance this, I’d say I can play my own stuff pretty well! We tend to write pretty idiosynchratically in Fen – lots of large, unusual chords, little notes being dropped into chords here and there – and I’d like to think that I’ve developed something of my own, individual style in this context. I also think I’m pretty unfussy – as much as I love using my own amps/gear/set-up (and I have spent years developing my own set-up), I realise that it’s not always practical and I’ve played some great shows using some shocking stuff. There’s a level of ‚get your head down and get on with it‘ professionalism that I think I have developed over the years and I’d definitely consider this a strength for the gigging musician.
The picturesque and beautiful artwork was created by Adam Alain. How did that go along and did you give him any advice on how it should look?
Well Adam does all of the artwork in Fen so it was a natural choice to talk to him about doing the artwork for this release as we have such an open channel of communication with each other. I had a pretty specific idea of how I wanted the composition to appear on the cover so he worked within that brief. Nevertheless, he exceeded these expectations and put together something truly splendid – absolutely capturing the essence of this record.
Special mention must also go to House of Inkantation for their excellent work on the design & layout of the aesthetics of this release – their work has been invaluable also.
The latest Fen record was released on Code666 Records, while the debut of FELLWARDEN is released on Eisenwald Tonschmiede. Why and how did that go along?
To be honest, it just evolved naturally over the course of a few years. I’ve been in close communication with Eisenwald for about five years now, ever since meeting the label boss Nico at a show in Arnhem (which dissolved into an insanely drunken night it must be said!). Eisenwald put out the first Fen album on vinyl and did a very nice job of it so it had always been on my mind to work together on something in the future. Myself and Nico had and (obviously) still are in fairly regular contact so when the first FELLWARDEN demos were coming together, I dropped Nico a line to see what he thought and whether he would be interested in perhaps releasing an album when it was finished. He responded very positively so it just escalated from there really. I think Eisenwald’s aesthetics are 100% suited to FELLWARDEN so it felt like a very natural fit to me.
Will you also play live as FELLWARDEN?
We have no plans to do so at present. I’m not ruling it out as a possibility at some point in the future but this would only really be something we could do if an appropriate offer were to be made – after all, we’d need to recruit at least three other individuals to assist with delivering the material live and would need to spend considerable time learning the songs and ensuring we can present them to the standards required. It would require time, money and effort to pull off so it certainly couldn’t be some sort of ‚gig for mates‘ at the local pub or whatever. It would have to be something rather special, some sort of one-off date at a festival in which the right atmosphere was hugely important – as it currently stands, with the first album just released and with as-yet only a fledgling following, it’s unlikely such an offer will be forthcoming any time soon! Who knows what the future holds however?
Do you intend to go on with FELLWARDEN as continuously as you do with Fen or will it rather stay a sideproject?
As this is a relatively new venture, it’s hard to say – at present, the creative inspiration is burning quite brightly with FELLWARDEN so I can certainly see it continuing for the foreseeable future. Indeed, the second album has already been written and the recording sessions have commenced! There is much less pressure however than there is with Fen – we have no live commitments to fulfil so in that, we can dip into writing/recording whenever the mood takes us really. I am quite lucky in as much as I have been riding a fairly productive wave of inspiration and motivation to write music for quite some time now – long may it continue!
Let’s end this interview by going through our traditional Metal1.info-Brainstorming:
City – countryside: Both in moderation. Contrasts are important.
Spirituality: Peace and understanding.
Folklore: Interesting and mysterious.
Atmosphere: Utterly fundamental to music.
Brexit: Staggeringly stupid but painfully predictable.
FELLWARDEN in five years: Headlining Hellfest with a 70-piece orchestra and choir.
Well, thanks again for doing this interview with us. The last words shall be yours:
Thanks to you guys for an interesting interview! I’d urge your readers to get hold of a physical copy of ‚Oathbearer’ as soon as they can – join us on a hike through the crags of the fells as the wind lashes the skin and stories of long-forgotten heroes of old echo within the darkest reaches of the landscape…
10. Juli 2017 Stephan Rajchl