Steadily ascending towards head of the UK's emerging class of heavy music standouts, Heriot has unleashed long-awaited full length debut album, Devoured By the Mouth of Hell to well-earned, widespread acclaim. The presentation serves as band's first full studio effort via Century Media Records and builds upon the fervor sparked from the band's 2022 debut EP, Profound Mortality.
Enlisting the expertise of Josh Middleton of Sylosis as well as GRAMMY Award-winning producer Will Putney (END, Better Lovers, Fit For An Autopsy) - Heriot have earned a new rank with a 10-track presentation that pushes the boundaries of modern metal in a way that combines sophistication withe sledgehammer impact.
Riding the momentum of a summer touring slate that delivered highlight performances at several European festivals, Heriot has already begun the work of refining their new level of heft life launching bombastic singles including "Foul Void" and "Siege Lord" to universal acclaim and an instant pop in a live setting.
With Debbie Gaugh and Erhan Alman on guitars along with they rhythm section of Jake Packer on bass and Julian Gage on percussion - Heriot converge to complete a powerful unit that understands the importance of composing songs that are both well-constructed and equally devastating at the same time,
In addition to a clear contender for Album of the Year, Heriot is prepping for a highly-anticipated EU/UK trek this fall with Fit For An Autopsy and Sylosis. Along with Darkest Hour, the trek will feature Heriot as special guests and will kick off next month, punctuating what has no doubt been a breakout year for the crew from Swindon.
Taking stock of the career strides the band has made leading up to the release of Devoured By the Mouth of Hell, Heriot lead Debbie Gough explained the personal undertaking that defined this album. Gough confides the shift in trusting new creative input, how their run of recent live shows proved especially memorable and how being patient with their full length debut was taxing, but well worth the wait.
Profound Mortality was incredibly well-received. Did that kind of reception spark creative momentum when it came to putting this debut album together or did it have an adverse effect and create a sense of added pressure?
Debbie Gough - We’re so thankful for the response that our EP, ‘Profound Morality’, had. It opened up so many doors for us and we could never have foreseen some of the opportunities we’ve had from that release.
Of course the success of the EP put pressure on our debut album but we tried to use that as a positive source of encouragement rather than something to worry over. The EP we felt was a dress rehearsal of what we were intending to do musically as a band.
Download. Hellfest. Rock Am Ring, Resurrection - Heriot has already amassed a very impressive resume of prestigious gigs - all on the strength of your debut EP. What were some of the takeaways from such big stages so early in your tenure. How did such a strong touring slate contribute to your development as songwriters?
Although we’ve all collectively toured for years, I don’t think anything could have prepared us for playing the likes of Download Festival, Hellfest, etcetera. Playing to that many people has most definitely changed the way we perform live now.
We’ve started to try and learn how to ‘play to a crowd’ rather than just play our songs and that’s been a real eye opener. There is such potential to make lots of new fans when playing larger festivals and we try to remain mindful of that when going out and playing those kinds of shows. We’ve come to appreciate how important it is to leave a lasting impression!
Between Josh Middleton and Will Putney you had an elite roster of personnel working on this album. How integral were those guys in seeing this new album to its truest potential?
We’re very thankful to have worked with Josh Middleton as a co-producer, Will Putney, who mixed and mastered the record and Justin Hill who engineered drums. Up until this point, we’ve never worked with anyone else on recording our music from a studio point of view.
We’re all fans of Sylosis and working with Josh was incredible as he really pushed us to deliver our best performances. Since Josh is a guitarist, vocalist and a drummer too, he was able to help every member of our band shine. We were most definitely nervous going into the recording process but we all feel DBTMOH has our best performances to date.
Working with Will Putney has been a long term ambition of ours. Being huge fans of END and Will’s studio work, we always felt that he would be able to ‘get the best’ out of Heriot because he gets it. It really didn’t take long on revisions for mixes because Will hit the nail on the head from the word go!
The band spent a healthy amount of time refining the songs that would make it onto Devoured by the Mouth of Hell - working nearly a year on just writing and demoing songs. Did you find that taking such a creative deep dive ran the risk of overthinking things?
We made a conscious decision to take our time when writing this album. In the past, we’ve written and then recorded songs in a short timeframe and sometimes upon reflection, we’ve wished that we could have held on to them for slightly longer to refine. Of course with any artistic process, you begin to overthink things but I think in this case, we deliberately sat with songs for longer so that we could be absolutely sure they were up to the standard we intend to put out going forward.
Heriot is often included in discussing the UK’s next generation of vital heavy bands. What does that kind of praise mean to you and are you comfortable with those kind of lofty expectations?
We are so overwhelmed and appreciative of the support we’ve had up until this point. For as long as I can remember, my only dream has been being in a band. There is nothing I would rather do in the world than be in Heriot and I can’t express how grateful I am to have the opportunity to have a shot at it. Sometimes praise comes with pressure and I think that’s healthy! We try to remain present in the now.
Profound Mortality was lauded for it’s heft, however, the band had already embraced atmospherics with tracks like “Coalescence” and the EP’s title track. What that something you wanted to emphasize more this time around?
The atmospheric/ethereal aspect of Heriot’s sound wasn’t something that we realised would be so well received! I personally really enjoy the creative process of writing these kinds of sections and it was a conscious decision to include more of those moments on the album. We felt we only showcased a snapshot of the atmospheric influences on the EP and we’re pleased that tracks like ‘Opaline’ and ‘Visage’ on the new album allowed more space for those more immersive moods.
Heavy music seems to be in a very healthy state in that the dividing lines that used to segment the community seem to be disappearing. Metalcore, deathcore, thrash, shoegaze, hardcore - all of these sub communities seem to be finding more commonalities than ever before. Do you think that has benefited a band like Heriot?
It’s great to see that there is less of a divide between subgenres, especially for a band like us. The four of us are evidently all huge metal fans, but we all come from different backgrounds of metal which results in our sound. I think it’s important for people to branch out and from a creative angle, I think it allows more space for innovation within heavy music.
Given the strides Heriot has made in such a relatively short amount of time, has the band met, exceeded or failed your expectations? What has been the most gratifying part of being a part of Heriot thus far?
What some people may not realise is that Heriot initially began as a school band and we’ve all been touring for 10 years plus! Until the last couple of years, we were playing shows to 10 people and were happy to be doing that! Although we’ve always had huge dreams, we never anticipated them actually becoming a reality for us. From 2022 onwards, we’ve had the time of our lives and I can’t express enough how grateful we are. The future feels bright and that’s an incredible feeling to carry around with you!
What’s your favorite singular song on the record and most importantly… why?
My favourite song on the record changes often but right now, I think it’s ‘Visage’! ‘Visage’ is such an experimental track for Heriot and to me, it feels like the most emotional song we’ve ever written. I’m quite proud of how it turned out!
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Devoured By the Mouth of Hell arrives September 27th via Century Media Records. Pre-order the album - HERE
