Black metal might most commonly be associated with Norway, but today, it is now very much a global affair. Since the infamous second wave exploded in the 1990s, metal’s most visceral style has embedded its icy bite worldwide and now, quality bands exist in all shape and sizes. WIEGEDOOD are one such band. Very much a fresh face in black metal, since their formation in 2014, the band have been putting Belgium on the map of extreme music alongside their peers in the Church of Ra collective. Now, four years after their formation, the band are on the cusp of the conclusion of their De Doden Hebben Het Goed trilogy of records. We spoke with guitarist and vocalist Levy Seynaeve to lift the lid on their upcoming new album alongside discussing how the band have progressed and how being part of the Church of Ra collective benefits both himself as a musician and the Belgian metal scene.

So your upcoming new album De Doden Hebben Het Goed III is set for release in April. What can fans expect from this upcoming release?

Levy: The new record builds further on the first two chapters of the DDHHG trilogy. Both aesthetically and musically. We’re becoming more and more comfortable with writing records for WIEGEDOOD and that reflects on the new one. Guitar-parts are more explicit and the drums keep getting faster if you compare every record to the one before. We believe it’s the perfect ending to the trilogy we started writing four years ago.

This new offering arrives a year after the release of De Doden Hebben Het Goed II. How has the band developed in this time?

Levy: We have a lot more shows and touring under our belt now. Something that played a crucial role in us becoming more self-assured of what we are doing. Practice makes perfect and it’s only when you’re really comfortable you start to try and push boundaries. We’re constantly checking how far we can take things with this band and it’s a never ending work.

Can you describe the writing and recording process for this new album?

Levy: Writing always goes very fast with us. Mostly because by the time we rehearse together as a band we try to have as much material ready as possible beforehand. I think we had seven or eight rehearsals and that was it. We puzzle and make songs with the pieces we gather at home. There’s some touch ups in the studio but nothing much really. All WIEGEDOOD records up until now have been written in about three weeks of rehearsing together.

What are the lyrical themes and concepts explored on this new record?

Levy: I always write about what plays in my life at the time of the recordings. It’s a reflection on things. There is a slight difference in lyrical content on this album compared to the previous ones though. Being that on the previous two I mostly talked from a more fatalist perspective than I did on the last one. The last record has a less self-loathing character. It works more as a counter to the things that drag me down.

For you Levy, the visceral black metal explored in WIEGEDOOD’s music is much more apparent than the style of AMENRA and OATHBREAKER. Was that always the intent of WIEGEDOOD, to explore your take on black metal?

Levy: Definitely. It has always been our plan to be a black metal band and nothing else. We don’t really like to throw around sub-genres and to be stuffed into an over-defined box. WIEGEDOOD riffs aren’t interchangeable with any of the other bands I play in and I think that works the other way around as well. That’s how I feel it should be. If there’s no clear line in between bands or a different kind of light at the end of the tunnel for each band, I would just lose interest and it wouldn’t work.

The band is part of the Church of Ra collective, a very tight knit group of bands in the Belgian scene. How does being apart of this collective help the Belgian extreme music scene and how does it benefit you personally as a musician?

Levy: I’m just trying to get by in life and this is the way I do it. Trying to find a balance between WIEGEDOOD, AMENRA and OATHBREAKER isn’t always easy but we make it work. There’s certainly benefits to playing in different bands with different people. I think the most important one is that it keeps us sane and that’s also the only reason I do it, not for the Belgian music scene or anything like that.

And with this new album set for release in April, what do you hope to achieve with De Doden Hebben Het Goed III?

Levy: We have a very intense touring schedule lined up for the coming year. That’s the logical running order for us after recording and releasing an album. We get to tour a lot and do what we do. It’s our reward for the hard work we put into the record.

Since your formation in 2014, you’ve quickly shot up the ranks in black metal. What pressure does this bring to the band and what do you think it is about WIEGEDOOD that helps you stand apart from the crowd?

Levy: No pressure whatsoever. On the contrary it just drives us to work even harder and take things further. I hope people get something more out of our records, as I do with writing and playing them. That’s it’s not just a music record but a testament of how we’re all just trying to get through life. Other than that I think the fact that we’re doing this for reasons that don’t go beyond us three, drives people to listen to us. Maybe some people get tired sometimes of all the make-up and fireworks. It’s hard to get an impression from someone wearing a mask and maybe people like seeing it for a change.

And following the record’s release in April, I can imagine the focus moves to touring. What touring plans do you have for the rest of 2018.

Levy: We just got back from a couple of shows in Lithuania, Belarus and Russia which were really well. People are thankful over there and so are we. Other than that we have Inferno Fest and Roadburn coming up soon. In may we’re going to Australia and New Zealand in support of BELPHEGOR and then we embark on a month-long European tour to support the new record. We’re also planning a US tour in the second half of 2018 so it’s safe to say we’ll be playing a lot of shows the coming year.

To close we will offer you the floor. Do you have anything to say to the readers of Distorted Sound?

Levy: Thank you for reading. Check our our new album De Doden Hebben Het Goed III out on Century Media.

De Doden Hebben Het Goed III is set for release on April 20th via Century Media Records.

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