Morgul Blade Continue Their Steel-Edged Reign on "Heavy Metal Wraiths" (Interview)

Philadelphia’s Morgul Blade just released their new album Heavy Metal Wraiths which is an excellent follow-up to the already praised debut, Fell Sorcery Abounds and another notch in the band’s belt. The new album runs the gamut in terms of what we consider to be heavy metal; there are sections that are more traditional heavy, some black and some doom dirges help to balance all of that out.Just when you get comfortable, there's even some punk sections that continue to keep you guessing. 

I spoke with vocalist Lord Klauf about the time between albums, The Lord of the Rings as lyrical content and the band’s more mainstream rock tastes that all helped Heavy Metal Wraiths to become the beast it was meant to be. He continues by talking about the band’s live performances, both past and future and about how excited he is to get to both Europe and the West Coast in particular. As he emphasizes, Morgul Blade is a working-class band that at the end of the day is fronted by a guy who is “just a normal dude,” in his own words. There are also some interesting tidbits about the more-than-meets-the-eye artwork, which already excels on the surface level.

Read on below and get ready to revel in the grandeur and pure evil and malice that Morgul Blade provides within the framework of a Tolkien tale, told from the perspective of the darkness that dwells within it.

…

…

Welcome back, what has the time between albums been like for Morgul Blade?

Lord Klauf: Hello, good to be back! Amazing actually. The time between albums has been powerful and necessary. We refilled the band ranks with full time talented musicians that are able to record and tour. The last three years have been a transformative experience for my life both personally and professionally. My dream of being a full time musician is almost completely realized. Life’s too short. Sometimes ya gotta go to the open road when it calls you. I think we’ve found the balance of touring and writing that lends us the ability to stay sharp but also creative, two things that don’t necessarily go hand in hand all the time. 

I know Lord of The Rings is common metal fodder, but what in particular makes Morgul Blade’s approach different?

LK: Well, the short of it is, that while the band name is an obvious LOTR reference, our lyrical content stretches beyond Tolkien and into things such as folklore, history, the occult, even my beloved Philadelphia Eagles as you’ll see on the new record ("Eagle Strike," go birds.) But as far as the Tolkien lyrics go, a lot of them are done in the style of borderline fan fiction where I’m just expanding on ideas from the stories that I’ve always thought were cool. Obviously, I’ve read the books literally dozens and dozens of times, so I feel like I’ve reached the point in my Tolkien Scholarship that I can do these things fairly efficiently. I would also add that our lyrics are often told from the Evil side of things as opposed to the more common “good guys." Don’t get me wrong, Aragorn and Gandalf are cool, but the Nazgûl and Corsairs of Umbar are too. 

I see some arena rock love in the press release, care to elaborate on what bands and how they influenced the band’s sound? 

LK: Really it boils down to Dokken and Scorpions. I always thought it was interesting to take their effective albeit shallow lyric writing and the glitz and glam of the actual riffs and apply it to evil subject matter. We have a huge variety of tastes within the band, but every single one of us love the Scorpions. Honestly, do you even like Heavy Metal if you can’t jam to “Bad Boys Running Wild?”

he album artwork is something to behold, how did it all come about? What makes it different than the first one?

LK: Well, I can’t take much credit for the album art. I merely enlisted James Bousema and told him I wanted something somewhere between “Storm of the Light’s Bane” and Grim Reaper. He developed the concept based on some 80's pulp movie artwork and we just upped the colors to massive levels. Other than that, if you check the border, each corner of it has a unique object that is curtailed to each song subject. I’ll leave that to your imagination, because I think it’s somewhat of an Easter egg to figure them all out. So I suppose the difference is that this new one compared to Fell Sorcery Abounds is slightly more interactive and serves as a direct accompaniment to the music within!

How difficult is it to balance metallic extremity and epic dirges in your tracks?

LK: Without sounding contrived, I don’t find it too difficult at all. I take elements from every genre of music I love. Heavy metal, Black Metal, Folk, Oi punk, even some post punk and shit, you can even hear some Mid-era AFI influence in there if you know where to look. Sometimes these things flow together a lot more than you would think. Sometimes they don’t, but rather than give up on it, that’s usually just the song telling me I need to tweak it a bit. Morgul Blade is merely an obelisk of tribute to everything I, and the rest of the band loves.

What is the songwriting process like for your songs? Is there a full-on book report before the songs are written or is there a more cohesive and concentrated attack?

LK: I would say that songwriting, at least for me, is sporadic but cohesive. I may not have an idea for months at a time but when the time comes, the song is usually written in less than a day. I know Jimmy, Will and Elyse work the same way and I like to think that’s why we write so well together. The new album is a mix of song writing styles. Some numbers were primarily composed by one member and then reinforced by the rest of the band. Others were group efforts that we forged together in our practice space as we jammed on riffs and drank beers.

What is the live atmosphere like for Morgul Blade? What kind of stage presence do you command? 

LK: I grew up a Punk and Hardcore kid, so I believe in Organic Connection from stage to viewer. I don’t really adhere to theatrics, and I want to keep the working class atmosphere and to remind people that I’m just a normal dude that likes beer, sports and good music all the same. It’s very important to me coming from a blue collar family, not growing up rich in a town like Philly, that people understand that Morgul Blade isn’t a conventional band by a lot of means, the roots of all that are still there. My commitment to DIY is unwavering. 

What is your favorite live performance to date? 

LK: Hells Heroes set in Houston of last year, no doubt. Our album release is scheduled the day we play Keep It True Festival in Germany on April 26, so that may top even Hells Heroes. 

What is another milestone for the band nearest on the horizon?

LK: Again, definitely our impending European conquest. Never thought I’d be playing music overseas when I was a chef working 80 hours a week in my 20s. At the end of the day, 16 year old me would think 33 year old me is pretty cool and that I can live with.

Any bands you want to play with or cities to play that haven’t happened yet?

LK: We need to get to the West Coast. We have so many friends out there and also many fans, it’s really only a matter of time.

What does the rest of 2024 hold for The Blade?

LK: We are going to finish this Europe run and take a break during the summer for me and Jimmy to work on our side projects we have together. ORB which is haunted punk á la Samhain’s November Coming Fire, and I have an Oi Punk band called “Straight Red FC” about to release our debut. Other than that we have a pretty big tour lined up with some pretty big bands in October, but I’m not quite allowed to talk about that yet. Stay tuned!!! Thanks!!! 

…

Heavy Metal Wraiths released April 26th via No Remorse Records.