The German metal scene continues to flourish, and standing proudly at its forefront is the heavy-doom force known as High Warden! Inspired by the timeless worlds of Tolkien, epic fantasy, and more, this band crafts music that ignites the imagination and stirs the soul. We took a journey into their story, uncovering their roots, influences, and the magic that fuels their powerful sound.

Hailing from Münster, Germany’s HIGH WARDEN was founded by vocalist / guitaristAlastair van Morgue-Gûl and drummer Sadistic Hammer in 2022. The first sign of life from this self-proclaimed “Morgul Doom Commando” was the demo Land of Stone, released in early 2023 by DYING VICTIMS. Initially hired as a live bassist, Lord Perish joined the band as a full-time member that year. With their lineup thus set, HIGH WARDEN prepare to ride into battle with their full-length debut, Astral Iron. The title serves as an aesthetic springboard for their idiosyncraticsound. Granted, HIGH WARDEN are influenced by legendary bands like Reverend Bizarre, Doomsword, Bathory, Manilla Road, Pagan Altar, Trouble, and Mercyful Fate, but their version of epic heavy / doom metal is as foreign as it is familiar: Slow Heavy Metal, as they accurately refer to it.

Recorded live, Astral Iron pounds and pulses vibrantly, deploying riffs coursing and crushing barbarically before leaving wide-open spaces in anticipation of that next addicting slash of ancient steel. HIGH WARDEN’s tones match their execution – earthen and mossy, grit encasing clarity – and each of the album’s five primary tracks (“Burgfrieden” is a hauntingly serene synth interlude that gives way to feedback) lumber forward with epic aplomb and high adventure. The vocals of A. v. Morgue-Gûl are plaintive and poignant, illustrating tales mainly based on individual thoughts but suitably packaged as analogies to various fantasy works (like those of J.R.R. Tolkien), historical events, and legends & myths. Unbelievers only need to hear Astral Iron’s closing epic “We Shall Burn at Foreign Shores (The Choice of Achilles)” to witness the blanching power of HIGH WARDEN!

LINE-UP
A.M.- Vocals, Guitars
S.H.- Drums
L.P.- Bass
ARTWORK

Interview

TheNwothm: Hey there, happy new year! First of all can you introduce the band, where you are from and who is in the band?

H.W:
S.H: We are High Warden from Münster, Germany. A.M. and I started the Band in 2022 as a two piece to play Doom / Heavy Metal. L.P. joined the Band in 2024 on Bass guitar. Since then we
released one Demo “Land of Stone” and our debut record “Astral Iron” in 2024.

TheNwothm: Can you tell us about how High Warden came together in 2022? What inspired
you to form the band?

H.W:
S.H: I met A.M. at a party and we talked about doing music together. At that time i was searching
for a new band so that fit perfectly. We wanted to play some kind of more traditional metal and i
was really into doom metal at that time, exploring the genre. So one thing led to another and we
found ourselves recording “Land of Stone” in our rehearsal room.

TheNwothm: As a band from Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia, how has the local scene
influenced your music or approach to Metal?

H.W:
S.H: Münster itself has a quite big music scene in general but the metal scene itself is rather
small. Of course we are influenced by our friends and bands here but with our style of music we
are really in the minority here. There are basically one or two different bands who play Doom
Metal, one being Tortured Spirit. The other bands play more extreme or different stuff.
L.P. I met A.M. in 2017 through a “musician wanted” ad and we have been playing in another
band together since then. So that definitely is something where Münster had an influence.

TheNwothm: Why did you choose the name “High Warden,” and how does it tie into your
fantasy and Tolkien-inspired themes?

H.W:
S.H: A.M. came up with that name, i think “High Warden of the White Tower” is a title that was
last beared by Boromir, so the name High Warden is directly connected to Tolkien but more
subtle. We all are Tolkien Fans but lorewise A.M. really has the knowledge here and he also writes the
lyrics.

A.M: Yeah, as S.H. pointed out, the title “High Warden of the White Tower” is connected to Boromir in
the books, but lyrically the character of Faramir was way more interesting to me. Some songs on
our demo are dealing with the concept of this character specifically. And it still fits the band’s
name, since Faramir presumably inherited the title after Boromir’s death. Well, it’s not in the
books, but let’s just pretend, he did..

TheNwothm: Can you expand on your influences both musically and out side of music?

H.W:
S.H: My music influence are wild mix up of different sub genres from hardcore punk to grindcore,
from traditional heavy metal to black metal and everything in between.

L.P: My first influences to even take up electric guitar were local punk bands in my small town,
who just seemed uber-cool to me as a 15-year old. From there it expanded into lots of rock and
metal, I definitely found my calling when I really started exploring Black Sabbath as a teenager.
Geezer is the main reason I also started playing bass. But I also have some strong feelings
towards old blues, country and similar music.

A.M: I guess, apart from Black Sabbath and Bathory, I have a wide variety of influences as well.
Certainly 70’s and 80’s so-called “classic” or hard rock and heavy metal is quite prominent when
it comes to hours spent listening to certain styles of music. Also, thrash metal, especially the
German version of it, really gets me going.

What really shaped my overall attitude though, f.i. towards my environment, is black metal in its
primordial form of the 1st and 2nd wave. I never got into what is referred to as black metal today,
so musically this is more of a nostalgia thing for me. Content wise it remains as relevant for me as
it always was.I am also very interested in 70’s and 80’ prog rock and kraut rock, this is what I’d call “quality time” (hate the term though).

So, just to name a few – I love Absu, Blue Öyster Cult, Destruction, Rush, Immolation, Trouble,
Klaus Schulze and Mercyful Fate. Also, there are quite a few cool contemporary genre-spanning
bands as well, which really impressed me lately. Check out The Fals, Sexmag, Stangarigel,
Souvereign or Lord Vigo if you are not familiar with them yet.

TheNwothm: And out of the tracks on the demo which are your favourite.

H.W:
L.P: I was not involved in the making of the demo, so I am more of a listener here. My favourite is
Revelation At Henneth Annûn / Evil Descends.Yeah, Revelation At Henneth Annûn / Evil Descends is by far my favourite as well. We still play this one live from time to time and I enjoy it every single fucking time.

TheNwothm: So given the themes of the band, are you geeks at heart? Any collectors or
enthusiasts of things like gaming, role play etc

H.W: L.P: Depends on who you ask ;). But I definitely have one Tolkien-specific bookshelf, if that gives
an indication. I am not so much a collector and never got into role-playing, D&D and stuff. Well,
maybe I collect guitars and basses, I have too many…

A.M: Not really, no. I enjoy reading all kinds of stuff, from (some) fantasy to politics.

TheNwothm: Do you read a lot? And if so would you say you have gained a lot of inspiration
for your music from it?

H.W: Outside of music I love reading lots of different genres, at the moment it is a lot of science-fiction.
But that doesn’t really influence High Warden, since A.M. writes lyrics (brilliantly).

A.M: Yeah, what I said about prog rock earlier applies to reading also for me. I wish I had way more
time for it, as I used to do as a teenager. But however you try to avoid it, adult life seems to be full
of shit and it’s hard to escape the dark grinding mills of neo-liberal overall pressure even for a little
while. But every once in a while I still manage to force my way out of it and to spend some good
time with a book and a nice cup of tea. Everything I read has an impact on my lyrics in some way.

TheNwothm: “Astral Iron,” your first full length came out last year! What can you tell us
about the writing and recording process of the record and how does it set up from your
demo?

H.W: L.P: The demo was recorded live by A.M. and S.H. in our rehearsal room, and A.M. added bass later
on. For the album, we recorded the basic tracks live, so guitar, bass and drums in the same room.That
old-school approach was super important to us, since we wanted to capture some kind of organic,
flowing, live vibe. Which meant we had to rehearse like stupid before the studio ;). We recorded with
Fabian Schulz at Sunsetter Studio in Bremen, who did a fantastic job!

A.M: What we did basically is go into the rehearsal room with some riff ideas, play them there and back
until such time as they turned into songs. Then we rehearsed them until we got tired of hearing
them. Then we went into the studio and played them live a few times until there were no fuck-ups
in the recording. And that’s it.

TheNwothm: Did you encounter any challenges while recording your first full-length album?

L.P: The main challenge was probably self-imposed time stress, since we had a fixed studio date
and a lot of songs to be finished and rehearsed properly.

A.M: It was a challenge time-wise but it also gave us a kick up the arse to get it done.

TheNwothm: What are your favourite tracks from the album? Any ones close to your heart?

L.P: That’s like asking for your favorite child ;). But if I had to choose, it would probably be Devil
His Due / Whores Of Yerusalim. I just love the main riff, the lyrics and that groovy part at the end.

A.M: Burgfrieden, haha.

TheNwothm: How would you say the reception has been to the record?

L.P: So far, it has been exceptional, I am truly grateful. We got some really nice reviews and lots
of people told us in person how much they loved the album, bought merch at our shows and got
us signing records. That will never not be amazing to me!

A.M: How can you estimate the reception of one of 1 billion records that has been released on the
same day? I don’t know, we got some good reviews and stuff like that. But in the end what really
matters to me is the people who come up after one of our concerts and it really shows that they
are into it and want to share their excitement about our music with us. That’s really cool.

TheNwothm: Thinking about your live performances, are there any that were particular
memorable?

L.P: I fondly remember a gig with Purification in our home town, those guys are absolutely
brilliant. Other than that, we played the “Get Wasted and be Doomed” festival in december in
southern germany, it was such an amazing atmosphere with lots of great bands from all over, with
Lamp of Thoth as the main act. Especially memorable were Metallus from Poland, they just ooze
coolness!

A.M: The last one with Thronehammer, I guess. Half into the set, no-one could see anything on stage
due to heavy deployment of stage smoke. It felt like a trip. A nice one.

TheNwothm: Thinking ahead, what touring plans do you have for the rest of the year?
L.P: We have a few show already planned, next one is Skullcrusher Fest in Freiburg. But we are
still actively booking, so if any bookers read this, hit us up!

A.M: Ozzy Zig requires gig.

TheNwothm: And musically what is next? Perhaps a collaboration or another album?

A.M: We’ve got some ideas but in any case there will be new music before long.

TheNwothm: What are your new years resolutions?

L.P: Get stronger, so I can wield the Astral Iron!

A.M: Same as always, doing my own thing, not getting monopolized by all the madness around us. If
you listen to fools, the mob rules.

TheNwothm: So to close where can fans buy your music and merch?

L.P: Best way to buy is at one of our shows! You can also go through bandcamp and of course
from Dying Victims Productions directly https://dyingvictims.com/index.php

The Nwothm: Anything else you would like to mention?

A.M: Keep your mind and your metal sharp!

Links:

Bandcamp: https://highwarden.bandcamp.com/album/land-of-stone

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552215307430

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wardenhighwarden/