Terzij de Horde signed to Church Road Records and announced new album

Church Road Records joined forces with Dutch purveyors of esoteric black metal, Terzij de Horde! The band have also just announced their latest LP ‘Our Breath Is Not Ours Alone’, scheduled for release via their new home on October 10th.

Johan van Hattum (bass) on the collaboration:  

“Sammy and Justine are old friends, and we’ve been talking about a Church Road release for years, as they have always published bands that are difficult to pinpoint. Amazing bands that we admire, such as Underdark and Lowen or Respire, The Sun’s Journey Through The Night and Slow Crush are musically not that alike, but they are filled with people that play with pure, unbridled passion. And that’s what Church Road has, and that is who they are. 

For the cassettes, we are lucky to have our good friends of Tartarus Records and Fiadh Productions on board, who work from the same values: passion, trust and a rage against a world that diminishes people. It’s an absolute honour for us to work together with them on Our Breath Is Not Ours Alone.”

To celebrate, they have released the new single/video ‘The Shadows Of Prefiguration’. Out now and streaming everywhere.

Joost Vervoort (vocals) breaks down the important themes behind the song’s lyrics..

“Prefigurative politics are about making a desired future something that can be experienced in the present. Much of this future is built in the shadows of power, in underground networks and communities. Long term strength and capacities form the backbone for revolutionary action when the time is right. The fight against capitalist fascism is long and requires deep roots.

There is a need for an alchemical transmutation of the world from the chokehold of modernity to something that is more truly connected to life. This transmutation is a threat, because it opens us up to a world that is infinitely larger, more challenging and more invigorating than what the powerful want us to experience in our disempowerment.”

Terzij de Horde stands as a beacon of boundary-pushing black metal and hardcore intensity. Since their inception in 2009 the band has consistently built their reputation on a combination of complex, furious and dynamic songs and raging, emotional live shows. Rather than keeping audiences at a cold distance, Terzij de Horde forcefully pulls them close. The band’s music is unquestionably black metal – but their energy and attitude is closer to grind, hardcore punk and the extreme edges of screamo. Their performances are marked by an intensity that is both palpable and infectious, inviting the audience into a shared space of catharsis and reflection. 

The name Terzij de Horde is old Dutch for ‘set apart from the horde’. It is a line from the poem ‘Einde‘ (Ending) by legendary Dutch poet Hendrik Marsman. Marsman is an inspiration to the band, as are many other authors and philosophers in the same dark, vitalistic vein. In 2015 Terzij de Horde created a limited edition book, including 14 translated poems of Marsman into English to commemorate the 75th year of Marsman’s passing. It was accompanied by a song with the texts of poems ‘Wacht‘ and ‘Lex Barbarorum‘, the first (and only) Terzij de Horde song in Dutch. 

Musically, Terzij de Horde combines complex black metal compositions with doom metal, post metal and screamo elements, to create music that is a raging fire. The band draws energy and inspiration from the most progressive black metal (anything from Yellow Eyes and Krallice to Emperor), but also from the height of hardcore punk intensity (Integrity, Frail Body, Birds in Row) and wide-ranging influences such as Neurosis and Ulcerate. 

Terzij de Horde is primarily about raw visceral energy and a whirlwind of contrasting emotions – from grief to rage to hope. But the band’s lyrical focus combines this intensity and fire with deep reflections on the nature of life in a destructive and unequal world and time. The band members bring their backgrounds and experience in academia, education and activism to these reflections. Eschewing the simplistic romanticism of mainstream black metal, Terzij de Horde instead takes a stand in the chaotic heart of society, and challenges listeners to engage with its work on multiple levels. The band is outspoken in its activism and works to break the spell of cowardly reactionary politics that plagues so much of metal. 

As covered in scene reports by Invisible Oranges and Vice, Terzij de Horde has been a vital part of building the Utrecht black metal scene to make it a global force in experimental and progressive black metal, alongside bands like Laster, Verwoed and Grey Aura. 

Terzij de Horde’s upcoming release ‘Our Breath Is Not Ours Alone’ builds on the power of previous work – adding more melodic intensity and openness to the band’s sound while increasing the fire and energy in each track. Lyrically, the new release will focus on the struggle to find the courage and responsibility to face the overwhelming odds of present day systems that erode the life and the soul of the world. The title is drawn from work by German sociologist Hartmut Rosa on resonance and alienation. 

Johan van Hattum (bass) on the collaboration: 

“Sammy and Justine are old friends, and we’ve been talking about a Church Road release for years, as they have always published bands that are difficult to pinpoint. Amazing bands that we admire, such as Underdark and Lowen or Respire, The Sun’s Journey Through The Night and Slow Crush are musically not that alike, but they are filled with people that play with pure, unbridled passion. And that’s what Church Road has, and that is who they are. 

For the cassettes, we are lucky to have our good friends of Tartarus Records and Fiadh Productions on board, who work from the same values: passion, trust and a rage against a world that diminishes people. It’s an absolute honour for us to work together with them on Our Breath Is Not Ours Alone.”

Members:
Demian Snel: guitars 
Jelle Agema: guitars 
Johan van Hattum: bass 
Joost Vervoort: vocals 
Richard Japenga: drums