A couple years ago, when I wrote about the Astral Rune Bastards album I liked so much, I mentioned that Sceot Arcwielder, the dude responsible for it, was a member of Bretwaldas of Heathen Doom. He's also the sole member of Symbel, an outfit (if a one-man operation can be called such) whose songs specialize in, to quote part of their first album's title, "hymns and counsel of Anglo-Saxon heathenry". I've enjoyed Symbel since I started listening to them, though if forced to choose a Sceot Arcwielder project I'd probably pick Bretwaldas. Symbel has been patchy in its output, with too many memorable choruses or riffs watered down by generic pagan/black metal passages. Ale Whores of Mercia and We Drink- Hymns and Counsel of Anglo-Saxon Heathenry are by no means bad, but they're not masterpieces, either: they're unsophisticated and raw, and the songwriting and performance sometimes just barely competent, as one would expect from such an atavistic celebration of pre-Norman England. If you aren't already into this kind of metal, style- and production-wise, Symbel could be either a great or terrible introduction, and I encourage you to find out for yourself. Read the next paragraphs before you do so, however- not because it invalidates Symbel's early work, but because I have more to say about what comes after the aforementioned albums.
In 2013 Symbel released Gyddigg- Possessed by the Fury of Wod. The production is better, the songwriting stronger (but still not perfect, as many songs are longer than they probably need to be), and the dedication to pre-Christian heathenry as vital as ever. Heavy metal's penchant for history is one of my favorite things about this kind of music, and Symbel, for all their faults, don't fail to deliver the historical goods. The dude from Astral Rune Bastards who spent so much time watching the X-Files and looking for UFOs in an English field also clearly spent way more time in museums, archives, and the English countryside learning about the history of his country- experience he applied to Symbel.
Nowhere is this more obvious than in the song "Folded Cross", which was released only a couple days ago as part of the Hammerwych EP. Based on the recent discovery of the Staffordshire hoard of Anglo-Saxon artifacts, "Folded Cross" is Symbel evolved. The production is along the lines of that heard on Gyddigg, which makes sense as it was part of those recording sessions, yet there's something about this song as a whole that just fucking nails it- "it" being that intangible chord buried so centrally in the hearts of all metalheads that when struck forces fists into the air, beers down gullets, and hearts to surge with excitement and passion. I like to think of myself as a rational, reasonable dude, but "Folded Cross" makes me want to pledge my proverbial sword to the pagan king of Mercia, who is the subject of the song, and stand against the encroaching Christian masses. That's what good heavy metal does.
Symbel may never rank among the greatest of pagan metal bands, but who cares? Paganism isn't about conformity, and it's certainly not about polish. If it was, chumps would still be erecting temples to Athena, Saturn, and all the other god/desses who demanded as much time, effort, and devotion as the impaled Nazarene (GET IT? GET IT?) who has commanded so much of the world's attention for the past two millennia. As far as I'm concerned, gods are only as good as the art they inspire, and by that standard, whatever deities Sceot Arcwielder worships are doing themselves a favor by imparting increasingly promising gifts of music upon this particular mortal follower. Symbel rules, and it looks as if that will be the case for a while. Here's to more heathen drinking metal!
Later,
D.A. Smith
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