We last caught up with Culloden a few years back, when the band was still navigating its early lineup and laying the groundwork for its traditional heavy metal sound. Fast forward to 2025 and the band has not only survived a turbulent period but emerged stronger, sharper and more focused than ever. With new members onboard, a fresh single titled “The Siege,” and a full album in the works, Culloden is charging ahead with renewed energy. We caught up with the band to talk lineup changes, songwriting evolution, live shows and the state of the underground scene.

Interview

TheNwothm: : The last time we spoke you introduced the band and talked about the bands formation and history. So now we are in 2025 what is the current state of the band, has anything changed etc? What is new!

Culloden: It’s been a busy but fantastic couple of years after being on the precipice of giving up entirely. We’ve been writing a lot and have had some great gigs.

TheNwothm: I believe there has been a few changes in the lineup if I am not mistaken since we last spoke?

Culloden: Yes, when we last spoke the lineup back then was on its last legs with the agreed plan being to record an album in hopes of making it easier for me to find replacements. Just, some bad luck with last minute cancellations meant said plans fell apart and I was left to either give up or try again.

TheNwothm: What can you tell us about the newer member(s) for those of us who are unaware?

Culloden: Currently on drums, is Michael Lee who brings a lot of punk and modern metal energy to the table. He’s got a lot of power and great sense of groove that comes from this background. It’s a great counterbalance to the huge influence I draw from older traditional metal bands. Keeps me right a lot of the time in trying to encourage more younger metal fans to come to our shows and check our music out.

David Thompson is on guitar, and he is an absolute joy. A fantastic musician, he’s easy to work with. He’s a great character full of good humour, good will, and he’s very open minded but at the same time he also knows exactly what the band’s sound is, what a song needs when we’re writing and he encourages me to draw from, vocally at least, some of the extreme bands we both like from the first wave of Black Metal.

TheNwothm: You have a new single called “The Siege.” Tell us about that song, how did that come together and what was the writing recording process like for the song?

Culloden: It all started from a riff I showed Thompson one day at a rehearsal and he was in love with it straight away. We write our stuff by jamming together and that’s what happened with “The Siege” as one day when going over the riff with the other two Thompson showed us what would become the riff underneath the verse and in my head I could see an image of a conflict, a battle on the streets. So for the lyrics I went away and did some research on events from North East England’s history that matched what I saw in my mind and felt. Eventually coming across the story of the Siege of Newcastle in 1644CE during the first English Civil War. So it all came together that way.

TheNwothm: Do you think your writing style has developed from previous material?

Culloden: Yeah, it has. While I love the old stuff we did for the original EP in 2018 and the demos I released of some of the songs we did live back then. The band now has a bit more identity. It’s still Traditional Heavy Metal but it sounds, and it feels like it’s a lot more NWOBHM influenced. On top of that, my research skills are a lot better too. My ability to research and match riffs to lyrics I write from this research or vice versa has improved a lot, but I feel its because I’m working with people so easy to work with who “get” the vision and sound of Culloden so well.

TheNwothm: Is this indication of a new EP or album on the way? And if so what kind of direction are you aiming for, for the new release?

Culloden: Originally, we planned to just do an EP but as we were recording we ended up writing more material and eventually decided record that too and ended up with an album. The sound and style we’ve found is this vicious classic heavy metal style that wouldn’t sound out of place in 1983. Courtesy of Thompson though I listened to a lot of Black Sabbath and Venom leading up to writing some of these songs being written so there’s a lot of power, rawness and grit. 

TheNwothm: Reflecting on the scene, there are so many great bands coming out. What ones do you have on your radar and are there any you have shared a stage with that you think people need to hear?

Culloden: Kaine, I cannot express my love for them enough. We played two dates on their tour last year and it was a dream come true for both our bands. Just pure magic. Rage Sadler and myself have both supported one another for years, I count him as one of my best friends and Kaine’s music for me represents that authenticity and aggression that made me feel in love with metal as a teen. 

Oath is another band I’ve listened to and played with, that deserve a shout out, love their music. 

Midnight Force always deserve a mention, we’ve played with these lads twice and the chemistry is off the charts.

Seven Sisters as well, we played a special show with them in May for the first time where due to one of our lads being away, we decided to reunite with some of the lads from an older Culloden lineup for one night only. Cauldron and the Cross is still one of my favourite albums of the last few years. They’re a band I’ve looked up to for a long time so playing with them was a pleasure.

Outside the UK I’m a big of Century, Fer De Lance, Atlantean Kodex, Riot City and Archdruid 

TheNwothm: Speaking of live shows what do you have planned for the remainder of 2025?

Culloden: We have a gig in Newcastle supporting Chrysalid and a gig in Edinburgh supporting Victorius but there’s always the possibility of a couple more.

TheNwothm: How can our readers buy your music and merch?

Culloden: The best place to buy both our music, and our merch is our bandcamp https://cullodenuk.bandcamp.com/track/the-siege

TheNwothm: Where can fans follow you online?

Culloden: We’re on YouTube, Facebook, Spotify and more that you can find the links to here https://linktr.ee/culloden

TheNwothm: Anything else you would like to mention?

Culloden: I’d be here all day if I said everything, but I want to just say I’m beyond grateful to everyone who’s had the patience, stuck by me, the band, and being able to show you all new music and play shows is a pleasure.