Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
High Inquisitor Woe started when Glenn (lead vocal) and me (Mathijs, lead guitar and backing vocal) decided to make slow, epic, heavy metal music somewhere during 2014. The topics would be psychedelic experiences, personal life (good and bad), epic stories, and so on... A bunch of members came and went, most notably Dennie on bass (ex-Natan, ex-Gorath, ex-Saille), but Glenn and me are still the two main members of the band. Benjamin and Koen joined pretty much at the same time I think, in 2018. This was during the production process of our album 'The Taint'. We already knew Koen (Tube Driven, live sound for Evil Invaders, Avatarium, Skeletonwitch, ...) because we worked with him on our debut EP. Dennie left us soon after the recording of this album and was replaced Kurt. Kurt and Glenn grew up together playing along to Iron Maiden songs, so that choice was easy.
How would you describe your style? Which bands influenced your music?
For me, High Inquisitor Woe started as kind of a Reverend Bizarre worship band. We wanted weird topics, the same preaching vocals, long songs, all that. So that is at the core of the whole thing. We also try and incorporate other elements from the old skool doom metal and stoner world. To name a few bands: Pentagram, Sleep, Venom, Wo Fat, Candlemass, Bongripper, Spiritus Mortis (especially the records with Sami, ex-Reverend Bizarre singer), High on Fire, ... I'm still a big fan of death metal and I know Glenn still listens to a lot of WASP and hair metal. And of course we are well aware that all this eventually leads us back to Black Sabbath.
Why should a metalhead buy your demos/albums?
They should buy our stuff because we offer a genuine product. We make heavy metal music because we love playing and listening to heavy metal music. On top of that, we have the musical skills to back it up. It's that simple really.
What have you released so far and how were your releases received by the public/media?
We have released an EP with 3 songs called 'Liquid Times' and a full album with 8 songs called 'The Taint'. I sometimes get the feeling not everyone understands what we are trying to do, but overall the reception has been good. People seem to dig our stuff :)
Do you play live as well? How's your live activity so far?
Yes, we play live. So far we have done a bunch of cozy club shows in Belgium. We are currently working on getting some more shows and some pretty cool stuff is already booked. So, keep an eye on our social media :)
What should labels/zines/promoters know about your band? Why should they be interested in it?
For the same reason other metalheads should buy our music. Glenn and me are not trying to do any of this to change the world, or get rich, or get tons of chicks (maybe a few though). We do this because we like making this music and we enjoy sharing it with other people who like this music. We believe playing doom metal enriched with some influences from other genres is the best way to do that. We have a more than solid rhythm section to back us up and an internationally active sound guy who happens to be a good guitar player as well. Nice combo.
What plans do you have for the near future as a band?
We have alot more music already written, so expect more releases in the future. We hope to keep growing and reach more people by playing at festivals and in other countries. I think having an 8 ft boa constrictor on our rider is part of Glenn's bucketlist. Let's see how that goes.
Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
We are on most online streaming platforms (Google, Spotify, ...). We also have bandcamp where you can get the CD in digital form. We have Bigcartel for merch and physical copies and we try to throw stuff on YouTube once in a while. I know some of the bigger doom,stoner,etc channels on YouTube are already sharing our stuff. Of course the best way to hear us would be to come see us live :)
July 2019