Heretoir is a german post metal band from Augsburg that was founded by Eklatanz in 2006. The band’s beginnings were rooted in acoustic music but Heretoir quickly evolved into a combination of the aggressive elements of Black Metal and the beauty, melancholy and dreaminess of Post Rock and Shoegaze. Conceptually and lyrically Heretoir deals with existence, nostalgia, melancholy, isolation and self-reflection. Heretoir is meant to be a soundtrack for discovering one’s deepest thoughts, fears and the soul that rests in each one of us.After a first sign of life called “Existenz” (2008, Demo), a re-issue of this demo as the “.Existenz.” EP (2009), two compilation contributions and a split release with the band “Thränenkind” (“Wiedersehen – unsere Hoffnung”, 2010), Heretoir signed a record deal with “Northern Silence Productions” in April 2010. In the same year Nathanael joined the one-man project as a bassist and background vocalist.On February 25th, 2011 the debut album “Heretoir” was released through Northern Silence Productions, who had already worked with artists like Katatonia, Alcest and others. “Heretoir” deals with the topic of loss: The protagonist loses a beloved person and goes through different emotional and psychological phases in order to cope with the loss. Accordingly the lyrics reflect the thoughts and feelings of the protagonist and give an insight into the fine line between sorrow, anger and hope. The album was very well received by fans and press, not least because of the powerful and atmospheric cover artwork of Fursy Teyssier (Les Discrets, Emyprium (live), ex-Amesoeurs) and the album artwork of Metastazis (already worked for Alcest, Anathema, As I lay dying, Enthroned, Gorgoroth, Secrets of the Moon, and many more).In a review on the album, wickedchannel.com comments: “Each track weaves in and out perfectly and is crafted with such attention to detail that you are in for a rare treat when you listen to it. Taking some nods from the classic black metal bands and throwing in such beautiful clean sections, they are almost a post-black metal version of Opeth with a more mainstream black metal approach to vocals.”After having released their first album, Heretoir started to play live in 2011 with the support of the new members M. (guitars) and Belial (drums) and it didn’t take long until the band shared stages with big acts like Alcest, Graveworm, Negurã Bunget, Sólstafir or Vreid. In parallel with the first live shows of the band, the first demo/EP “.Existenz.” was entirely re-recorded in the Forester Recording Studio in Munich. Together with the original version and numerous bonus tracks the re-recording, named “Substanz”, was released on August 24th, 2012.After a very successful first tour (with “Agrypnie” and “Der Weg einer Freiheit”) in March 2013, the finalization of the second full-length album, which is scheduled for 2014, now is in full progress.
