Track By Tracks: Heathen Hearts - No Light Left To Chase (2023)

1. Starve the Machine:

This and “the Wound” were the first ones that we started writing after the recordings of the first S/T EP. And first song to actually be completed. The whole song structure was composed in one evening and it started off with one of Lauri’s riffs, which we ended up taking away from the final version. So arrangement-wise, the song was very simple to get together, though the riffs and melodies have evolved a bit from the original version. The noisy guitar feedback in the start that leads to the main riff was really fun to make. Bit of experimental noise crafting there since all the pedals were turned on and we two guitarists were enjoying the result where everyone else would have been annoyed. Hah!

This is a song that makes you wanna mosh your head from start to finish, it has a good beat for it too!

2. Ignite:

This song might be quite surprising to a lot of listeners. ”Ignite” is very much fist in the face with the HM-2 screaming like hell in a start. And after the C part, you would expect another chorus if you think of a traditional song structure but it never arrives. Instead, you get this lovely “boy” choir on top of Antti’s long scream. Very cool way to start and end a song in our opinion. It has a simple arrangement and shows a more traditional hardcore side of our sound. The first version of the song was written around the same time as we wrote the songs for the first EP, and has been played live several times starting from the first show. The original version felt a bit too rushed or weird somehow, and the final version was completed in our demo sessions a couple of weeks before the actual recordings. The gang shouts and choirs work very well, a special thanks to Jere’s buddies Toni, Matti & Tero for joining us in the choir!

3. Doombreather:

Ahh, Doombreather. The song was very hard to arrange, but finally, in the demo sessions, we got it working. We just love the aggression in this song. The little blast beat parts every here and there come right at your face. And the way the chorus sits in the middle of all the aggressive riffing and blasting sounds just right.

There was a thought to throw this one completely to the archive, but it might have been Ville or Juhana who really wanted to get that song working and finally, we did. For sure the most violent song on the EP, and gotta be happy with the outcome.

4. The Wound:

The Wound, is probably musically the most diverse song we have done and somewhat shows all kinds of aspects of our personal influences. This song has evolved quite a lot during its lifetime. It’s pressed to hardcore mold, but still, it has elements from different kinds of genres. Lauri sent the first demo to Jere and it went through quite the makeover for the better. We had a couple dual-guitar nights where some spontaneous decisions were made to add a lot of epicness to the song. Especially to the end with all the blast beats and tremolo guitars. We had an idea of modulation at the rehearsals and everyone had a little doubt about it, but when we played it for the first time everyone had shivers. We are very happy with the outcome, and the gang shouts just add the extra push to the 2nd verse and chorus.