Olde Throne interview
Crossing the globe to relocate from one quaint small town to another, with a stopover among the Scottish mountains, becomes part of the story behind New Zealand originated Black Metal foundation Olde Throne when its founder, Harry McKenzie, speaks to Hinsides Magazine of celtic history and musical influences. Read further to take part of his journey and to delve into a world of ancient hardships.
Text and image: Hinsides Magazine
March 2023
Hello there, and welcome to Hinsides Magazine! Please introduce yourself to our readers and say something about the place where you are right now.
Hello, it is my great pleasure!
My name is Harrison McKenzie and I am behind the black metal project Olde Throne. I am from New Zealand, but as I write this I am in Filipstad, Sweden. It is December, snow is falling outside and the fire is lit. The best kind of evening.
How did the idea behind Olde Throne come about and what would you say are the most obvious driving forces behind this project?
Well, the idea for Olde Throne began before it even had a name and before it became a black metal band. I was living in Glencoe, a mountainous region in Scotland. I worked at a bar called the Clachaig Inn, some distance from the village of Glencoe, nestled amongst beautiful mountain terrain above a stream which stems from the River Coe. I lived on site, and the location of the bar is right next to the An Torr walking area - the approximate location of the 1692 Glencoe massacre where members of Clan MacDonald of Glencoe were massacred in their homes by Scottish government forces whom were with the MacDonalds by invitation and had stayed with them for 12 days before murdering their hosts. This event was an inspiration to George R.R Martin’s “Red wedding” in “A Song of Ice and Fire”.
Clachaig Inn: Real Ale, Accommodation and Good Food.
It was a rather inspiring time for me living here. Someone who does not enjoy hiking in the outdoors or knows no other ways of keeping themselves entertained outside of partying on Saturday and watching Netflix on Sunday would have a very hard time living in this place. So for me it was important to keep active and keep creative. I didn’t have a guitar with me, so I hiked on my days off and when I was at home I would do some drawing or sketching and writing - anything from short poems to ramblings. Sometimes summaries about historical events I am focused on because writing helps me to retain the information. I wrote some poetry about the Glencoe massacre which eventually became the lyrics for the first Olde Throne demo “An Torr”.
After the conception of the first demo, the idea was that the driving force would be the darkest parts of Scottish history. But in one of New Zealand’s lockdowns during the pandemic I became particularly focused on the Irish famine. So I decided that the project could branch out to focus on histories of all Celtic people but typically focusing on Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man and Brittany.
What is the story behind how Olde Throne was named and what can you tell us about your logo?
If I had known that I would end up taking this band so seriously, I probably would have thought up a more creative name. But the name is undeniably homage to Darkthrone. In 2019 while I was living in Scotland, Darkthrone released their album “Old Star” and the first single from the album was “The Hardship of the Scots”. Not only did I love the song, but this was amplified by the fact that it was released not long after my arrival in Scotland, and on top of that - a Norwegian band writing music about the hardship of the Scots, speaks to how inspirational Scottish resilience is right? I was telling my friends how much I loved the new Darkthrone album. But when I was writing it in a message I was spelling it as “Olde Star” because that’s how I thought that they had done it until I realized I was wrong. I thought to myself “It would be much cooler if they did spell it Olde, as in Olde English”. So when this project began after my return to New Zealand as myself and drummer Quentin Forster jamming, we bounced a few names back and forth until I remembered “Olde Star”. But “Olde Throne is more black metal”.
The logo is a very important part of the project because it brings a more recognisable identity to the project than the name alone can provide. The cromlech (standing stones) you see above the lettering is a particularly important feature in the logo because it is something that connects all celtic people, standing stones are not exclusive to one region. They can be found in almost any region that was once home to the ancient Celts. The logo was created by Moonroot Logos, Vojta does really amazing work.
Olde Throne has released one album so far. What can you tell us about this effort considering ambition versus outcome? Did it turn out the way you wanted and what comes to mind thinking back on the process of making it?
When I started the project I intended it to be something more atmospheric like Saor or Grima for example but since what I spend most of my time listening to is classical black metal (not necessarily exclusively the cult releases from the 90s, because I spend a lot of time listening to new underground releases – but bands who play in this “second wave” style) this ends up being my natural output when I write. But also with a touch of my influences from when I was 12 or 13 learning guitar, typically 90’s grunge like Nirvana (I bet you didn’t expect Nirvana to be mentioned in this interview) but that’s how my passion for music began, in a homebrand Nirvana knock–off band, and I think this still shines through a little with my music today.
When I think back on the process of making the album I mostly appreciate it as a learning experience. This was the first time I had really committed to a musical project on my own before, I knew nothing about home recording, how to prepare the files to send away to a sound engineer that will be acceptable etc. So in this sense the album was somewhat an experiment for me to learn and develop.
Harry Styles.
The album was mixed and mastered by Andreas “Seiðr” Jonsson at Dark Prod studios in Stockholm and he did an exceptional job with the sound. It still has that traditional black metal “non-polished” sound without being harsh on the ears at high volume. When I listen to the album now I think that there are some songs that would have benefitted from some further development however I don’t dwell on this too much because if we sat around waiting for our songs to be perfect all the time we would never release anything. Each Olde Throne album will in my mind be an improvement upon the previous work because I am learning as I go.
The first Olde Throne album “an Gorta Mór”. Cover by Callum Mably.
Why did you choose to collaborate with Naturmacht, and how was this collaboration initiated?
I have been a follower of Naturmacht Productions for some time now. Long before I started making music of my own. It is the only label I have ever joined a paid subscription service for on bandcamp because they put out an overwhelming amount of incredible underground music. If I were to only listen to music released through Naturmacht Productions I would have more than enough to stay satisfied. So with that I feel privileged to be on the same label with incredible artists such as Grima, Havukruunu, Marrasmieli, Veljessurma, Lebensnacht, Paisaunt, Northmoon… there are too many to mention.
I wanted to be on Naturmacht, not just any label. So I was really eager to get something ready to send through as a sample. So I made what was at first going to be a two song EP - “an Gorta Mór”. Both songs of the same title but with part 1 and part 2. I used a session drummer on these songs since at that time Quentin had family commitments. I had the songs mixed and mastered professionally and then sent them to Naturmacht with a little bio about the theme of the project. I was of course then delighted to hear back from Robert the very next day letting me know that he agreed the project was a good fit for the label but that there would be some delay in release availability - so between us we decided that I could use the time to turn it from an EP to a full album.
Naturmacht deals exclusively in unpolished, down to earth sound. So if you enjoy organic and honest sounding metal and dungeon synth – do yourself a favor and spend some time on the Naturmacht Productions website or bandcamp page.
Is it possible to specify any significant musical influences to the way Olde Throne sounds?
Yes. To my ears the primary influence that shines through is the early Enslaved albums, specifically Vikingligr Veldi, Frost and Eld. I feel most kindred to Enslaved because just like those early Enslaved albums, the music still fits in with traditional black metal bands such as Emperor and Mayhem but without any themes of satanism. Also having that historical focus. Enslaved were one of the first bands to focus on Viking history which is something that has now been done to death so I decided that I wanted to have a Celtic history theme. I would also place the sound in the same category as newer bands such as Mork. I was listening to a lot of Mork at the time of writing the first album and I think that certainly had an impact on the final result.
What can you tell us about the lyrical part of Olde Throne? What topics are covered and why have you chosen this focus? Are lyrics and music equally important to Olde throne?
The lyrics are a very important part of Olde Throne. My intention is to have each album focus on a single topic. So for the first album this theme is the great famine in Ireland, so the majority of the songs on that album express the anguish when thinking about the starvation and disease that these people suffered. Plus since the album’s theme takes place in Ireland, the songs which are not directly about the famine are still focused upon Ireland. So you have the battle of Knockdoe in 1504 and then other songs such as “Connla’s Fate” and “Children of Lir” are tales from Irish mythology.
In the second album, which will have been released by the time this article is published, the theme takes place in Scotland. This album is called “In the Land of Ghosts” and instead of focusing on one particular moment in Scottish history, it is rather a collection of Scottish ghost stories – and Scotland is full of them. Lyrically this album was very fun to write because it meant spending a lot of time reading or listening to ghost stories and deciding which ones were my favorite that I would like to turn into songs. The music in this second album is a little more raw than the first album and this is in order to match this paranormal/ghost aesthetic, so in that sense yes, the music and lyrics are absolutely of equal importance and must meet each other’s characteristics in order to build the correct atmosphere.
The brand new effort “In the Land of Ghosts” Cover by Chris Kiesling.
Olde Throne was started in New Zealand but sounds a lot like the Scandinavian second wave Black-Metal. How would you explain the relationship between this type of music, yourself as a person and the place where you were born and raised?
Thank you for giving me the best compliment any black metal musician who is not from scandinavia could ever wish to hear. As a teenager growing up in New Zealand and discovering black metal for the first time, Norway felt so far away. The total opposite side of the world. I think this played a part in the appeal to black metal to me. Especially the fact that it felt like black metal was exclusive to Norway, with so many bands shaping this genre being Norwegian.
When I was a teenager and listening to this music I thought it was frustrating that the interest in this type of music was so small because I wanted more friends I could talk about black metal with but I would say that now as an adult that I am actually rather grateful for the fact that it was such a niche taste here. Because in that sense I know that my passion for this music is genuine. It would have been much easier for me growing up in New Zealand if I enjoyed the mainstream “Top 40” type of music that everybody else was listening to - I could have gone to parties and not complained about being forced to listen to shit music all the time. But we like what we like, something about a specific genre just clicks with a certain individual and so growing up in a small town in New Zealand and discovering black metal, despite the fact that so few of my peers liked this music, I still stuck with it - or rather I was consumed by it.
Christchurch postcard.
Now you have been living and working in Sweden for some time. Which of your expectations have come true and what stands out as most alien from what you had in mind when you moved here?
I was expecting to be overwhelmed with awesome local music and I have not been disappointed. When us metal-folk from far away think of Scandinavia we tend to think Norway = Black Metal, Sweden = Death Metal. So it came as a surprise to me that there is an exceptional amount of incredible Swedish black metal acts here - and I am not referring to the legacy artists like Dark Funeral, Dissection, Marduk or Watain - I am referring to Vananidr, Seid, Grift, Craft, Tusenårseken, Änterbila, Saiva and there are also some great bands from Sweden who are also with Naturmacht Productions such as Nordkväde and Svältvinter.
One of the things I love doing when I am in a new country is to sit on the bus or train looking out the window at land unfamiliar to me listening to artists native to the land and I am so lucky that in Sweden I am so spoiled for choice when I do this. I guess when I think about this it is the answer to both the questions here, on one hand I was expecting to be surrounded by great music here and on the other this is also the thing that is very alien to me when extreme metal is a much smaller niche in New Zealand.
What does the future look like for Olde Throne, and what can we expect from the next record? Thanks for your participation in this issue Harry!
Well as mentioned, while I write this I am awaiting the release of the second album. It is at this moment going to be announced in one week's time. The album is titled “In the Land of Ghosts” and is a collection of Scottish ghost stories. I am really excited to release this one because I feel very proud of the work I have put into this record and the result is exactly what I was hoping to achieve. It also gets more experimental than the debut album with the incorporation of folk instruments such as bagpipes, flutes, lute, hurdy gurdy and uilleann pipes. Given the album's ghost/horror aesthetic you can expect a sound slightly more raw than on the first album since this matches the theme.
Later in the year I will also be releasing a split with my labelmate band Paisaunt which is what I am currently working on at the same time as preparing for the release of In the Land of Ghosts and the music for this split is something that I am also very excited about and I can’t wait to share.
Tack så mycket for having me, it has been a pleasure and I very much look forward to a new issue of Hinsides!
You’ve just read the mere part of an interview with Olde Throne conducted by Hinsides Magazine. The text will be published as a whole in our next issue.
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