A Chat With: Heart Through Sacrifice
Albums accompanied by a full-length graphic novel is always going to invite intrigue and the debut project from prog metal outfit Heart Through Sacrifice delivers such curiosity and then some. Speaking with the man behind it all, we caught up with Doug Rimington to find out more…
RR: What to you is the best rock album of all time and why?
For me, it was Stone Temple Pilots – Core. This album I can still listen to from start to the end and love every minute of it (possibly the nostalgia glasses!). Great vocals, great lyrics, music that fuses jazz with grunge… and the first songs I learnt from music sheets were from this album.
RR: How did you first discover rock music?
A good friend introduced me to all this stuff, my family was quite poor when I was growing up, but this guy always had new tapes and cd’s to share. He introduced me to STP, TOOL, Rollins Band and many others.
RR: How would you describe the current state of rock/alternative music?
I think there will always be the ‘overlords’ of marketing and sales who rule any scene, but thanks to the world of independent distribution, social media etc… it is now possible for people to create and put out their own music… whether anyone hears it, is another question entirely…
RR: Who is your current favourite rock/alternative artist and why?
This is a tough one, the closest thing I might get to this is probably Spiritbox? It’s amazing what they did over lockdown, releasing fantastic music videos and building up a massive following, helped greatly by Vocalist Courtney La Plante’s 1 take videos show casing her skill and passion for singing.
RR: Do you see the genre evolving in any particular way at the moment? For good or for bad?
It’s hard to say at the moment, I think before the pandemic, things were turning back to the live performance side of music – how to make a good live show without relying too much on backing tracks etc… But now I’d say it’s going back again to focussing more on the recorded side of music. With NFT’s taking hold, smart musicians have found another venue to make a living so will live shows suffer? Maybe…
RR: How did the Heart Through Sacrifice project come about?
I’ve played in many bands, all have been great learning experiences but all fell short of expectations in some way. The last band, Voodoo Diamond, we spent so much money on the recording and then it all imploded after money became such a problem to take the band any further. I couldn’t let my music life end like that… so I decided to do something myself with the goals of it being epic, cinematic, doing it all (apart from singing!) myself and also to bring some positivity in any small way to the people involved.
For the shows we did, all tickets sales went to charities including the Rain Forest Trust and the British Heart Foundation. If I can’t make enough money to live on, I can at least put it to some positive use somehow…
RR: How did you decide that you wanted to produce such a colossal record?
The end product of this had to be bigger and better than anything I’d done before and mostly, something I could be proud of. I was tired of EP’s and singles. I wanted a full epic album that you’d listen to from start to the end and felt like you’d been on an adventure! The music was written before the story but totally inspired it as when listening, I saw in my mind this fantastical world, a battle with an evil beast and a fiery heroine warrior!
RR: Did you have any key inspirations behind the instrumentation of the album?
It was a combination of Devin Townsend’s extensive catalogue, Machine Head, Chimaria and Caliban… basically Prog, Thrash and Metalcore!
Be sure to follow Heart Through Sacrifice on Facebook and Instagram and to check out his new album on all digital streaming platforms!
