A Dirty Dozen with EVEALE – May 2026

Photo credit (left to right): Jane Driver-Loach and Ася Плавскина

According to a recent press release: “No Clean Singing is currently streaming Enter The Woodland Realm, the latest full-length from transcontinental black metal outfit EVEALE. The premiere comes on the eve of the record’s official release on Friday, May 1st via a joint collaboration between Toronto’s Hypaethral Records and New York’s Fiadh Productions. EVEALE emerged in early 2025 as a black metal project operating at the margins of anonymity and intent. Conceived by two long-time collaborators seeking an outlet unconstrained by their existing work, the project was initially hidden behind pseudonyms: The Monarch Of The Hillside (MOTH) and The North East Wizard Tyrant (The NEWT).” We get the duo to discuss new music, influences, and more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets you put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

NEWT (Steve): I think upon initial listen, the album might seem deceptively “traditional.” The first half of the album, I really wanted to focus musically on just writing very tight, catchy songs that are grounded in black metal fundamentals. However, folks who really pay attention through all of Enter the Woodland Realm will be greeted with a number of surprises and twists that are not often heard in the genre.

MOTH (Alex): This being our debut, I don’t think there’s any kind of expectation, which suits us just fine. There are tracks that will please your traditionalist black metal fan, and also some forays off the beaten track into other territory, which may be surprising within the confines of black metal itself.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

NEWT (Steve): I’ve been interested in being a musician since I received my first guitar, $100 Squier, at the age of 13 as a gift. I think all people have an undeniable urge to create, but we’re all drawn to different creative outlets. For me, music always had a pull that I can’t resist.

MOTH (Alex): Growing up and having two very music-loving parents helped to shape that initially. It was upon first hearing System of a Down when I was in secondary school that I really realised that I had a burning passion for the heavier side of things though. I was bought a guitar but I didn’t have the patience to learn properly and got frustrated with that. The dream has always been there, but it was only a couple of years ago when I saw the vocalist spot in Ashenheart being advertised for, that I gave black metal vocals a try. I got some good feedback and decided that’s what my calling in the metal world would be.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

NEWT (Steve): In keeping with Eveale being a black metal band, the albums that really guided my tastes in regards to black metal were The Sham Mirrors by Arcturus and Under the Sign of Hell by Gorgoroth. Gorgoroth was my first proper black metal album and strikes a perfect balance between raw and ferocious in performance, yet majestic and emotional in it’s guitar work. On the flipside, Arcturus showed me how something rooted in black metal can be warped and experimented with; it showed me limitless potential.

MOTH (Alex): That previously mentioned System of a Down album was Hypnotize. In terms of a live show though, the very first show I ever went to was Avenged Sevenfold at Leeds University. This was just as they were really blowing up on their self-titled album. I don’t listen to them a whole lot anymore, but that show will always be special to me just because it was the first time I’d ever experienced the true power of live heavy metal music.

4. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

NEWT (Steve): Lars Nedland (Borknagar; Solefald; White Void); I would collaborate with Lars on anything.

MOTH (Alex): Austin from Panopticon. He’s such a great guy and makes some incredibly powerful, moving and fierce music.

5. What is your favorite activity when out of the studio and/or not on tour?  What do you like to do to unwind?

NEWT (Steve): Spending time with my wife and kids. Particularly exploring food with them, we all love food. The diversity that exists in food is so similar to music. Just limitless creative possibilities resulting in an unending number of results.

MOTH (Alex): Yeah I’ll generally just be chilling out with my wife also. We go on a lot of walks in the woods with our dog Gandalf. I enjoy my football and am a long-suffering Barnsley F.C fan. And I like a bit of gaming – The kind of game where you can lose yourself in a fantasy world for hours at a time.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

NEWT (Steve): Melodic black metal, relatively unadorned and stripped back, yet polished and warm. A few folks have referred to the album as “raw”, which I disagree with, as it’s very deliberately not raw. I love raw black metal, so referring to this as raw is an insult to “raw black metal” as a genre.

MOTH (Alex): NEWT hit the nail on the head there, nothing really to add.

7. When your band is hanging out together, who cooks, who gets the drinks in, and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

NEWT (Steve): Being an international act (I’m in New Jersey, MOTH and BAT are in different locations the UK), our “hanging out” is currently restricted to chatting over the internet. However, anytime I’m near a guitar, there’s a good chance I will pick it up and play it. Fortunately MOTH and I are getting together at the end of May, so we’ll find out our “hang out dynamic” then 😁.

MOTH (Alex): I feel like I’d be the one cooking. I love to cook. Especially outdoors. I don’t feel like there’s any food that can’t be improved by cooking it on a BBQ. Honestly I feel like we’re probably just going to spend most of our downtime together watching old episodes of the Simpsons and talking about music.

8. When was the last time you were starstruck and who was it?

NEWT (Steve): When I met Dr. Mikannibal from Sigh at Maryland Deathfest 2025. Sigh are one of my all-time favorite bands, so I could barely speak. I managed to keep my composure enough for my wife to take a photo of us together though!

MOTH (Alex): I think the only time I’ve ever had a major case of this was when I met former children’s TV presenter Neil Buchannan – Anyone who was a child in the UK in the 90’s will have watched his TV show “Art Attack”, but before that, he was in the NWOBHM band Marseille. They did a small reunion tour a few years back and played one of our local venues. It’s a surreal moment meeting someone you used to watch on TV almost every day of your childhood, making wholesome art for children, but meeting them in the context of shredding guitar up on stage with a heavy metal band.

9. What is the best part of being a musician? If you could no longer be a musician for whatever reason, what would be your dream job?

NEWT (Steve): I love listening to music. So the best part of being a musician is creating music that I then love listening to. At times it feels like literal magic. If I could not be a musician, my dream job would be to write about music.

MOTH (Alex): I wish I COULD be a musician for a job, ha! Both of us have day jobs. The music is a passion project. If I had to choose a dream job outside of music entirely I’d probably go for something that involved working with a nature preservation charity or similar.

10. What is one question you have always wanted an interviewer to ask – and what is the answer? Conversely, what question are you tired of answering?

NEWT (Steve): What’s your favorite tree? Fagus sylvatica ‘Laciniata’, also known as the Cut-Leaf Beech. I just love the bark, it looks like an elephant’s skin, and it feels really nice to touch. I can’t say I’m tired of any questions yet, but maybe I just love talking.

MOTH (Alex): What’s your favourite Pokemon? It’s Psyduck. Dopey little duck thing. Reminds me of me.

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over,” even if it didn’t change your current situation?

NEWT (Steve): When I was younger, I tried to find work in the music industry, but not doing anything I actually enjoyed. It turned my passion and love (music) into work in a way that sapped it of joy. It took me years to realize  I should focus on what I love rather than what I believed made the most sense financially.

MOTH (Alex):  I’d have got into this younger! I’ve been in other “Bands” before that didn’t really get beyond the “Hanging out and rehearsing” stage. I was already in my mid 30’s when I joined Ashenheart and released my first proper recorded music. I wish I could go back and start when I had a little bit more youthful energy on my side!

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

NEWT (Steve): I would love to have been privy to all of the recording sessions for the song “Winter Thrice” by Borknagar. Borknagar is possibly my favorite band ever, and that song was historic in that it featured vocals from all 4 lead vocalists the band has ever had, past and present. Legendary stuff.

MOTH (Alex): I make no secret of the fact that I am a HUGE Pink Floyd fan. As much as it might be the most route-one choice possible I’d probably have to go for Dark Side of the Moon. That album means the world to me. I must have listened to it hundreds of times at this point and I find it a thrill every single playthrough. Lyrically, it just hits me in all of the right emotional zones that little bit more with every year that passes.

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Category: Interviews