Hiss From the Moat is an Italian quartet who thrives off of dichotomies. Blending biblical text and black metal, the group’s fiercest form of protest thus far kicks down the gates of normality on their newest album The Harrier.
The title itself refers to “a person who engages in persistent attacks on others,” or, more simply put, “He who devastates.” According to drummer James Payne, a harrier is not necessarily a physical, living person, but rather a group of concepts that have historically destroyed aspects of society. Politics, religion and dictatorship are the core few things that Hiss From the Moat has built their music around.
“The lyrics of the album are composed of sacred and political texts compared to each other to underline how most of them have very similar ways of controlling society,” says Payne. “Our point in doing this is to make people have a different perspective of the values we have been taught and that still constitute modern culture, so that they can see how fucked up things are.”
Lyrically unique from other bands of the genre, Hiss From the Moat takes excerpts of religious and political texts and weaves them into their tracks, keeping the content, but changing the context. By leaving the passages as-is, it lets the listener interpret it for themselves in a non-traditional way, Payne explains:
“We do not support any fear-based type of form of religion or politics, but we are putting it out there how it's been written on the books so that people can think about it.”
With the release of their first EP The Carved Flesh in 2009 and their first full-length album Misanthropy in 2013, The Harrier is the perfect collection to round out Hiss From the Moat’s tenth year as a band. Made up of Payne and vocalist/guitarist Max Cirelli, the group also incorporates the Italian influences of guitarist Giacomo Poli and vocalist/bassist Carlo Cremascoli into their newest offering.
The Harrier releases on February 22nd, 2019.