INTERVIEW: SCROLLKEEPER (USA)

Inspired by a figure from “The Dark Crystal,” for their name, Scrollkeeper, a Texan band, exudes a richly layered charm. Their musical palette traverses diverse realms of history, warfare, and mythology, crafting a heavy metal experience sure to captivate and thrill listeners.

TheNwothm: Hey there thanks for doing this interview with us! Can you start by telling us the band name, who is in the band and where you are from?

TheNwothm: Thinking back to 2016 can you let our readers know how you all met and formed Scrollkeeper?

S.K: The band was formed by Justin, Alex and the then drummer, Simon Marfleet. Justin and Simon had tried out several guitarist prior to Alex, but things started moving forward with Alex joining in Winter of 2016. After writing together for about two months, John Morris joined on second guitar and in Spring 2017 Will Sullivan came in on bass. 

TheNwothm:  How did you go about choosing the name Scrollkeeper for the band?

S.K: Our drummer at the time was a fan of the show “The Dark Crystal”. The Scrollkeeper is one of the villains on that show, and he liked the name. We just kinda went along with it as Gatekeeper and Beekeeper were already taken.  

TheNwothm: So you come from Houston, Texas! For those who do not know how would you describe Texas and its metal scene in general?

S.K: Houston and Texas in general has a very under appreciated heavy rock and metal scene, at least as where the world scene is concerned. 

Houston is known best as the home of ZZTop, incidentally I live close to where the guys from ZZTop owned homes and every once in a I ran into them. Other notable Houston bands are the Galactic Cowboys, King’s X. In terms of heavy metal, I guess the closest to world renown we’ve gotten is Helstar. There is some kvlt black and death metal coming out of Houston, Imprecation, Adumus to mention few. If we’re talking major pop – Beyonce/Destiny’s Child and Lizzo are from Houston. The city is also has some popular rap artists, but that’s beyond my purview. 

At the moment Texas has a very vibrant metal scene, with some great bands playing various metal genres, emerging out of every major town. Traditional metal is alive and well, so is thrash, death metal, black metal, and a few in between genres. At the moment, retro thrash seems to be making its second wave…While we are on this topic – here are some of the Houston bands your listeners should check out: The Scourge, Wulfskol, Nemesis, Doomstress to name just a few. Houston is also home of Hell’s Heroes, which many people say it’s the best metal festival in the USA. 

TheNwothm: Can you articulate the musical and lyrical themes the band explores? Also, what fuels the inspiration behind these themes?

S.K: The first song the band wrote was “Fortune Favours the Bold”, which is about William the Conqueror. So in a way we started off as “historical metal”. We continued down this path with many historical tunes. “Lady Death” is about Ukrainian/Soviet sniper Lyudmila Pavlichenko, “Path to Glory” is about Khan Krum and his victory over Nikephoros I. “Auto Da Fe” is about the Spanish Inquisition, “Your Blood First” about the American Revolution, so in general it is safe to say that every album has a historical theme. “Wetiko” touches on a bit of Native American philosophy, “Sleep & Dream” is about the tribe of lotus eaters (Greek Mythology), so we have philosophical and esoteric themes as well.

TheNwothm: Before we get into the music can you tell our readers a bit about yourselves? 

S.K: At the moment we have two teachers in the band, as both Andrew and Justin teach school. Andrew is also an accomplished classical musician, plays double bass and cello. Alex is in IT. We all enjoy the occasional romantic turkey shoot and walks on the beach as long as we can pack a bottle of Macallan 🙂

TheNwothm: In those first two years of being together how long did it take before you realised you all gelled well together and were ready to make music and hit stages?

S.K: Actually those first two years involved a totally different lineup. We stayed busy opening for touring bands coming thru Houston (Hammerfall, Udo, Saxon, Warbringer, Enforcer, Angra, etc.) that leading up to our first LP “Auto Da Fe” we had gotten to a fork in the road and decided to make a move to one guitarist and complete the album without our then bassist and second guitarist. Alex tracked bass parts for record and Andrew Sutton joined on bass in the fall of 2019 and tracked the remaining bass tracks, finishing up right before the start of Covid lockdowns in 2020. 

TheNwothm: So back in 2018 you put out your first 4 track EP “Path to Glory” featuring a soldier beating a person on what looks like a battlefield! Can you tell us how those first songs together and what the meaning by the EP’s artwork is?

S.K: I mentioned earlier that “Path to Glory” is about a historical battle between the Bulgarian ruler Khan Krum and Byzantine Emperor Nikephoros I. At the end of day, Nik loses his head (literally) and the artwork by Helge Balzer depicts that moment. Khan Krum then fashions a golden chalice out of his skull. We thought it was a very metal moment, and that it deserved a song.
Those first songs came out rather quickly, as Justin had already lyrics mapped out before Alex joined, essentially they were for the most part written in those early writing sessions in 2016. The EP also features “Not of This Earth” a John/Simon song that was added on last minute.

TheNwothm: In the following few years you put out a number of singles including a Wasp cover! What can you tell us about those few songs and why you chose to cover Wasp?

S.K: When you start a new band and have to get up to speed quick and get on stage you kick around a few covers. It turned out we were all in the early W.A.S.P. albums, so we picked this one as it has a quick pace. We’ve had some of our album tracks as singles too, the most notable being “Lady Death”. Nowadays you have to put out singles in order to stay relevant as people have shorter attention spans. 

TheNwothm: So considering some of the themes of your music, if you were a soldier on a battlefield, what kind of soldier would you be and which period would you be from?

S.K: I think we’ll all be wearing medieval armour and wielding broadswords, back in those days when men were really men and you got to face your adversary in combat and only one of you left the battlefield standing. 

TheNwothm: And which part of history would you love to time travel to if you could and why?

S.K: So many options…Personally, I’d probably love to be able to see Napoleon’s last battle or perhaps Hannibal’s invasion of Italy. Andrew and Justin might be more inclined to pick the Viking raids. As Texans, the Battle of San Jacinto would be very cool to witness. 

TheNwothm: You appeared on a couple of compilations “Doomed & Stoned in Texas” and Damn, This Stuff Is Heavy! Volume Two! How did this appearances come about about?

S.K: TO be honest, in general we haven’t been very good in sticking to genre labels. We like to experiment and that experimentation doesn’t always come out as a “heavy metal” song. It usually is heavy, but it might be doomier or thrashier, or a bit psychedellic. On our first EP we recorded “Surrender”, which is more of a doomy/goth rock type of tune and the curators of the compilation picked that one. It was also for a good cause as well, as proceeds went towards Hurricane relief as Harvey had just flooded half the city and a lot of people needed help.
On “Damn, This Stuff Is Heavy! Volume Two!” we found out that our friend Neudi (drummer from Manilla Road, etc.) is looking for bands and he really liked “Devil’s Calculus” and thought it’d be a great addition to the release. We were really honoured to be added, as this compilation features such a great roster of artists: Coroner, Jag Panzer, Anthrax… and even Kiss!   

TheNwothm: You are with the German metal label Golden Core Records? How did you end up working together and how did it help shape your musical career? 

S.K: Neudi is A&R rep for Golden Core which is distributed worldwide by ZYX Music GmbH. We met him in 2017 as we opened up for Manilla Road in Houston and got to talking. Alex originally comes from the Bulgarian 80s thrash scene (another rabbit hole there for another time)…and kinda knew of Neudi’s earlier bands, Economist and Sudden Darkness. Sudden Darkness had a cult following thru tape trading in Bulgaria back in those days. Joining the “Damn This Stuff is Heavy…” compilation was kinda the prelude to a full release on Golden Core / ZYX Records. We needed some help on drums at the time as our drummer moved out of State, so naturally we asked Neudi to guest on drums on “Wetiko” and he plays on three songs. 

TheNwothm: In 2020 you put out your first full length album “Auto da Fe.” How did the pandemic affect the writing and recording process of the album? Did it end up influencing any of the tracks on the album?

S.K: Texas closed down on March 13^th, 2020. I believe that same week we tracked the last bass parts with Andrew. Mixing commenced in the middle of Covid and our mix engineer, Ricardo Camargo (TidalWAV Studios, Queens, NY) got hit pretty hard with Covid and his post Covid mixes came out a little flat. Alex helped guide him thru finishing the last few songs. We scrapped his masters and Alex, who is also an audio engineer, went ahead and mastered the album. All these problems put us behind schedule, as the record was supposed to come out in March 2020, but came out September 2020. We also had to scrap an atrocious artwork by a contracted artist and hired a graphic designer to finish the cover art. In 2020 people were hungry for new music, so when the album came out in September it was very well received. A Brazilian label also picked up distribution and we gained some new fans there. We were even invited to play shows in Brazil and started looking into possibly doing a 3-4 city run there, but Covid put an end to that.

TheNwothm: And what would you say your favourite tracks are from that album and why?

S.K: “Devil’s Calculus” because of the midtempo odd opening rhythm to standard 4/4 transitions, lots of lead breaks and changes of mood. “Fortune…” has always been a lot of fun to play, especially that melodic break in the middle. “Auto Da Fe” is a great song and it also has an eight bar bass solo, which is something that doesn’t often appear in metal albums these days. Having and accomplished bassist in the band, we can now trade solos and sometimes go on a bit of a jazz or jam tangent, as in the ending of “Giles…”.   

TheNwothm: So looking back at your career so far what bands have you shared stages with that has left you with fond memories? Any notable experiences?

S.K: We have so many cool stories that it’ll be hard to pick just one. Some notable shows and bands that we’ve opened up for that are really cool guys: Cloven Hoof, Manilla Road, Raven, Voivod, Hammerfall, Angra, Metal Church, Enforcer, Tommy Stewart’s Dyerwulf. I am probably missing a bunch here… It’s not always champagne and caviar when you are on the road and I don’t blame anyone for wanting to take a longer break on the bus. At the end of day, the most important thing is what you put in front of the audience, because you’re there for the music and your fans. From people I’ve met throughout my career overall, I’ll have to say one of the fondest memories is of Ronnie James Dio. Considering his accomplishments, he was a very humble, caring and genuine human being. More people in entertainment should be like him.  

TheNwothm: And who do you hope to share stages with in the future?

S.K: One of the pleasant things about this business is that you get to meet a lot of your heroes. We were put on twice on a bill with Flotsam and Jetsam and got postponed and finally cancelled during Covid.  Hopefully one day that will happen. We were supposed to play with Inhuman Condition and I had all my Death CDs lined up waiting for Terry Butler to sign them, but promoter pulled the show last minute due to Covid. We’d love to share stage with Testament, Exodus, Overkill. To be honest, at this point I’ve given up on being on the same bill with Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, but we got close opening for Ripper Owens. We’d love to do some of the bigger festivals in the US and overseas, we played the pre-party for Hell’s Heroes opening for Voivod in our hometown, but being on the “festival proper” would be an honour. 

TheNwothm: Last year you released your second full length album named “Wetiko.” What can you tell our readers about the album and how do you think the album shows your evolution?

“Wetiko” features two drummers – on side A we have three songs with Andreas “Neudi” Neuderth (Manilla Road, Economist, Sentry) and side B features Krystal Salinas on three songs, including the Hallows Eve cover “Metal Merchants”. On side B we opened up a bit more as we threw in some jam influences, a bit of Pink Floyd, and didn’t worry about the length of the tunes or the specific genre label. The record has a bit more of an introspective feel, an undercurrent Native American philosophical theme, which is just the headspace we were in at the time.    

TheNwothm: Can you give our readers a brief overview of the tracks on the album and any personal favourites? 

S.K: We think “Wetiko” helped expand our horizons a bit more, as we venture a bit more into thrash territory with the title track and “Your Blood First”, and we went a bit more eclectic with “Sleep & Dream” and “Shadow Dancing”. “Misery” is a straight up rocker that could easily be on a Cult record, or even Metallica’s “Black album”. I am channeling Kirk Hammett on that solo and it has a really fun to play emotive wah lead. “Metal Merchants” came out great with Tommy Stewart (Dyerwulf, Hallows Eve) as guest on bass and vocals. We just had a chance to play this song live together, which was another highlight for us.  

TheNwothm: Thinking back to the writing and recording of the album were there any challenges for instance or any positive/ negative experiences that you would like to share which has helped you develop as a band and as individual musicians?

S.K: I had to OK final artwork while on vacation in Munich, so that was also funny as unlike most USA hotels, hotels in Germany these days don’t have a business center, so I had to eyeball everything on a cellphone screen and hope for the best. It all came out great so no complaints!!! That was funny as our label at the time was four hours away by train, but everything is done via email these days.  

TheNwothm: And what can you tell us about the artwork. The person on the front looks very sinister and up to no good!

S.K: “Wetiko” is a Native American concept, in essence the demon of greed. The desire to own things for thing’s sake, to consume driven by endless greed. We thought about that and came up with this Walls Street venture capitalist/banker type sitting in the middle of this poisonous trash heap, cradling a little demon of greed, bags of cash and coins all around him. This one is an ink painting by Diablo Macabre, a Houston based artist.  

TheNwothm: Looking towards the rest of the year what are your live plans? Are planning on touring any where in particular? 

S.K: At the moment we are concentrating on writing some new songs and might pick up a few dates in the Fall. We just had to part way with our drummer Krystal, due to scheduling conflicts, as it became really hard to pin down rehearsal dates and we are sitting on a huge backlog of songs. We are working with a new drummer and plan to release a new single with a guest drummer very soon. 

TheNwothm: Musically what direction do you think you will take next?

S.K: Judging by the single we are currently working on, it will be along the lines of “Fortune…” – some melodic and some fast elements. We enjoy throwing in a bit of a dissonance as well, some of the new songwriting seems to be going that way. 

TheNwothm: Where can fans buy your music and merch

S.K: If you like physical format – “Wetiko” is available on our web store Bandcamp: scrollkeeper.bandcamp.com, 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scrollkeeper

on Amazon, and thru our label ZYX.de. 

We are also on most major streaming platforms. 

TheNwothm: Anything else you would like to mention?

S.K: Thank you very much for this opportunity to interview. To the fans – you are the best, thank you for your support!