In-Depth Interview with HVALROSS: The Rising Hard Rock Phenoms from the Netherlands

We are thrilled to bring you an in-depth interview with HVALROSS, a dynamic band emerging from the Netherlands. Since their formation in 2018, HVALROSS has rapidly gained attention, establishing themselves as a formidable presence in the rock genre. Their music is a rich homage to the hard rock and heavy metal giants of the past, seamlessly blended with the nuances of modern stoner and heavy rock. The release of their impactful debut album ‘Cold Dark Rain’, along with singles like ‘Running the Gauntlet’, ‘Mercenary Knight’, and ‘Helios’, showcases their prowess in uniting classic melodic vocals with robust rhythmic foundations, creating a sound as profound and majestic as their namesake.

HVALROSS‘s journey is not just about revisiting the glory days of rock but about redefining them for a new era. Each track they release is a testament to their skill in fusing nostalgic elements with contemporary sounds, a testament to their unique identity in the music world. Their approach to music reflects a deep understanding and appreciation of rock’s rich history, while their innovative style points to the future of the genre. As HVALROSS continues to grow and evolve, they stand as a beacon for the evolution of rock music, promising a thrilling and uncharted path ahead.

INFRARED MAG: Could you describe HVALROSS‘s sound and style, especially considering your unique blend of classic and modern influences?

HVALROSS: As you write, we feel it is a blend of classic 80s hard rock and heavy metal and modern alternative metal. This is not really a style we consciously chose. It is more a logical outcome of what we grew up with listening to and the music we love. In the 80s and early nineties, in our most formative years we listened to the classics like Maiden, Priest, Metallica, Black Sabbath etc. And we are big fans of the current so called Alternative metal like Baroness. Mastodon etc. I think these influences are what in the end makes our sound.

INFRARED MAG: Since forming in 2018, how has HVALROSS evolved, and how do your individual musical journeys since the late eighties contribute to this evolution?

HVALROSS: Our former band (Astral Travellers) was a full-on prog-metal band in the vein of Dream Theater and Porcupine Tree. Maarten (bass), Gerben (vocals) and myself (Barry, guitar) were part of that band. When that died out because of lack of inspiration we went our own separate ways for a few years. When we came together again, we decided to go for a more simple approach. We started writing music together again, together with our then drummer Tristan. At first we needed to shake off the way we had always done it. So our earliest songs do have some serious prog influences. We never recorded those properly though. Maarten and myself are big stonerrock/sludge fans so we wanted to do something in that vein. I think on our debut album “Cold Dark Rain” you can here a lot of those influences. However more and more the classic metal influences became apparent. This was not a conscious choice as I said earlier but this evolved naturally. Partially because of this slight change into more and more metal territory and because the amount of gigs we wanted to do Tristan decided to leave the band. No hard feelings there, we still are great friends. Our new drummer Marc was found fairly quick, since he was a friend, we already knew for a long time. Marc is a totally different drummer then Tristan. Where Tristan is a more technically advanced, jazz influenced player, Marc is more influenced by punkrock and metal. This really developed our sound even more into the harder rock and metal territory which you can hear on our newest tracks.

INFRARED MAG: What are the main bands, artists, or albums that have significantly influenced your sound, and how are these influences reflected in your music?

HVALROSS: Wow, I think there is a lot to mention here. I can of course only speak for myself here but my first encounter with “louder” music was in the mid-eighties when the glam and hair metal bands were gaining popularity and scored some hit songs in the Dutch charts. Bands like Bon Jovi, Whitesnake and Europe were very interesting to me. Then Iron Maiden came along and blew me away with their album Somewhere in Time. When a friend of my brother introduced me to Metallica I was perplexed. This was what I needed and always wanted. After that I devoured everything heavy and loud, from Death Metal to Grunge to Punk to Hardcore and back to Thrash metal. I was mainly a heavy and thrash guy. Bands like Iron Maiden, Metallica, Death Angel, Sacred Reich, Anthrax, Slayer etc. And this was only when I was 16! In my late teens/early twenties I became very interested in the band NoMeansNo. They really were something different. Punkrock but with a proggy and quirky sound. This lead me to discover all those classic progrock bands like Yes and Genesis and Rush. Awesome stuff. I am still looking for interesting, new stuff. Mastodon and Baroness are some of my favourite bands of the past decades. In that vein there are also some less known but awesome bands like Skraeckoedlan, Valley of the Sun and Boss Keloid for example.

There are loads more bands that I listen to and love. And I like to think that all of that is an influence on the music I write. Maarten (bass) is the other main song writer, and he has had a different musical journey. I know he also loved his thrash in the eighties, and he is also a big Mastodon fan but besides that I think he brings some more classic rock to the table. Bit of Zeppelin and maybe some alternative rock out of the nineties.

An then there is our hard hitting drummer Marc who is at heart a punk rock drummer so likes to put a hard hitting beat under our riffs. And our singer has this bit of a classical approach which again gives this classic heavy metal sound. This whole melting pot is what makes HVALROSS sound like HVALROSS!

INFRARED MAG: Can you share your experience working on ‘Cold Dark Rain’, particularly how you navigated the challenges posed by Covid?

HVALROSS: At one point in 2019 we decided we had enough quality material for our debut album. We started recording with our good friend Walter at his studio Donderslag somewhere in the fall of 2019. We took our time to put the best performances on tape. Then the virus hit and there was no point in releasing it asap, since we could not promote it live. So, we even took more time to perfect it. Since the studio was small, we did not have to be in there with a lot of people at a time. Eventually it was released in October 2020 and the reviews were great. We hoped the Covid situation would improve but unfortunately this took longer than expected so when we could play live again the album was more than a year old. We already were working on new material and when we could we wanted to go and play live as much as we could. During that time Tristan decided to leave.

INFRARED MAG: Could you elaborate on the decision to release ‘Cold Dark Rain’ on vinyl and its significance to the band?

HVALROSS: Since we are kids who grew up in the eighties, our first albums we bought were on vinyl. We always kept a soft spot for that medium. We asked our friend Bram van Rijen (artist name Nozzman) to create the album cover for us. It would be waste if that was not printed on a proper sized 12-inch record sleeve. So yeah, vinyl is just very cool. And it is an experience. You really are more consciously listening to the music when it is from a vinyl record. You have to put it on, clean it, turn it after 4 or 5 songs. It is a much more active experience than listening to a streaming platform or even a CD.

INFRARED MAG: How did the addition of your new drummer, Marc, in 2021 impact the band’s sound and dynamics?

HVALROSS: Marc brought a harder edge to the band. Where Tristan was e very technical drummer, Marc is maybe a bit simpler but also has a louder, hard-hitting style. I think this gives a more heavy and louder sound.

INFRARED MAG: What was the inspiration and creative process behind your EP ‘Running The Gauntlet’ and its standout singles?

HVALROSS: It’s not that there is a very conscious inspiration. As I said before we listen to a wide variety of heavy music and HVALROSS’s music is the result of all that inspiration and input from decades of listening to music. The process in most cases is that Maarten (bass) or myself brings some ideas or beginnings of songs to the rehearsal space. We then start to work out these ideas into proper songs with the whole band. Lyrics are mostly the work of Maarten.

INFRARED MAG: With an energetic stage performance being a hallmark of your identity, how do you bring this energy from the studio to live shows?

HVALROSS: We try to do it the other way round, bringing the energy from our live shows into the recordings. We love playing live and we take any opportunity to do so. In the studio we have some more possibilities in layering some stuff and adding multiple guitar and vocal lines. We do use these possibilities, meaning that we cannot emulate the exact sound we have in the studio in a live situation. But that is a conscious choice. Live and studio are two different things, two different media for our music.

INFRARED MAG: How does being based in the Netherlands influence your music and position in the rock scene?

HVALROSS: Not sure to be honest. We do not know any better so I do not know if it would make a difference if we were in another country. Hardrock and heavy metal is a bit of an underground thing here but I suppose that this is the case in most places. However, I think that in for example Germany the scene is a bit bigger and more enthusiastic. We have not yet played there yet, so that is one of our goals!

INFRARED MAG: In times when live promotion has been challenging, what strategies have you used to engage with your fans?

HVALROSS: I guess you mean the COVID times and lockdowns. We spend a lot of time making our first record in that period, hoping it would be over in a few months. We all know that was not the case, so we chose to release Cold Dark Rain during the lockdowns. We hired Mike De Coene from Hard Life Promotions to do some promo work for the album, and of course we tried to have some content for our social media. But those were hard times indeed.

INFRARED MAG: How has HVALROSS adapted to and learned from setbacks like the pandemic and lineup changes?

HVALROSS: When we released our album Cold Dark Rain during the pandemic, we dropped it all at once. Looking back, we could have used a better strategy in releasing that album, maybe with a few teasers, singles, video’s etc. That is how we released our newest music (Running the Gauntlet EP) and we already see that this gives much more interaction. So that is something we did better the second time. The changing of drummers wasn’t so much a setback. Of course, we were all a bit down over the fact that Tristan quit, but it was for the better for all parties. We are still great friends with Tristan and Marc has given us new energy, and a slightly more aggressive sound. I think change is in a lot of cases a good thing and brings new inspiration and energy. Maybe that is the main thing we get out of these so called “setbacks”, the knowledge that in the end we come out stronger with renewed energy and inspiration.

INFRARED MAG: Following the release of ‘Running the Gauntlet’, what musical direction do you envision for HVALROSS?

HVALROSS: We already have the next batch of songs ready to be recorded. The way they sound to me is very diverse. There are some doomy rock vibes, some stoner/sludge, some old school heavy metal even some thrashy stuff. So again, it is a melting pot of all kinds of heavy rock styles we love. Hopefully we are ready to release our next songs in 2024. Maybe even do a full album again, who knows. We’ll see how it all goes. It will surely be Hard Rocking HVALROSS!

INFRARED MAG: Are there any dream collaborations you have in mind, and what draws you to these artists or bands?

HVALROSS: Well, if you are really talking about dream collabs, as I mentioned before, Mastodon and Baroness are some of our favorite bands at the moment so if we could share a stage with those that would be a dream come true. I feel these bands have ascended their earlier, more sludgy stuff and are so diverse and original. In that sense they are big inspirations.

INFRARED MAG: What advice would you give to emerging bands inspired by classic rock eras?

HVALROSS: Wow, not sure if I am in the position to give advice, since we are not the biggest rock band out there, but what I feel is important is being true to what you like to do. Don’t try to fit in somewhere, just do what you love. That is the most important.

INFRARED MAG: Looking ahead, can you give us a glimpse into any future projects, tours, or messages you have for your fans?

HVALROSS: We are planning new recordings, maybe a full album, maybe another batch of singles, maybe another EP…. who knows!? Also, we are currently planning some gigs with a befriended band from the UK. So, they will come to The Netherlands for a few shows and the plan is that we will cross the sea and play some shows in the UK! That is going to be a blast. And of course, we will continue to play gigs whenever we can in The Netherlands and surrounding countries!

Thanks for interviewing us and keep on spreading the word of Rock and Roll!! ROCK ON!!!

As our insightful conversation with HVALROSS concludes, it’s clear that this band transcends mere nostalgia. They’ve masterfully fused classic hard rock and heavy metal traditions with a contemporary flair, crafting a distinct sound that resonates with both familiarity and innovation. Through their musical journey, marked by unwavering dedication and profound reverence for rock’s heritage, HVALROSS has signaled a bright and promising future. Their story, a vibrant testament to rock’s enduring spirit, hints at exciting prospects and further musical explorations, reaffirming that HVALROSS is a band to watch in the ever-evolving landscape of rock and metal.

HVALROSS is:
Gerben van Oosterhout – Vocals
Barry Veeke – Guitar
Maarten Vermeulen – Bass and backing vocals
Tristan de Rijk – Drums