HÉR has a certain je ne sais quoi – the enigmatic group’s name is Icelandic for “here,” yet they hail from northern Poland, and distinctively harness a mix of Old Norse poetry, contemporary folk music, shamanic chanting, and jazz fusion. While lacking some ingredients that I’d normally call intrinsic to metal music, the anxious layers and dense intensity throughout new album Monochrome is as heavy as Swans, Neurosis, or Godflesh. Basically, this project is perfect for both atmospheric folk weirdos as it is metalhead hipsters – and, I love it.
I spoke with the band’s vocalist, violinist, and synth percussionist – Tomasz Chyla, who admitted that he was listening to a lot of Scandinavian music while writing for Monochrome, particularly from the TV series Vikings. Tomasz clarified that “this interest naturally grew into discovering bands like Wardruna and Heilung. As for the heavier, more powerful moments on the record, they came very organically. Since childhood I’ve been drawn to heavier sounds – I grew up loving bands like Rage Against the Machine, Slipknot, and Polish metal acts such as Vader or Kat. In our band, the vocals are handled by Maciej Świniarski, who is also deeply inspired by the metal scene.”
Tomasz continues to mention Swans as a recent inspiration: “I’m very drawn to their sense of repetition, tension, and the way they build almost ritualistic intensity over long forms” as well as Fever Ray: “especially for the atmosphere and emotional ambiguity in the music.” “Beyond that, I deeply love choral music — composers like Eric Whitacre, Arvo Pärt, and Morten Lauridsen have been very important to me. Their approach to harmony, space, and slow-moving melodies may not be obvious on the surface, but I think it subtly influenced the harmonic language and emotional depth of our music,” he elaborates.
On paper, all of the aforementioned artists are a chaotic combination, nonetheless HÉR uses their inspirations in a different way than most – “I don’t try to consciously reference specific bands, but all of these artists share a certain honesty, patience, and focus on mood rather than spectacle. That’s something I strongly connect with and something that naturally finds its way into what we create.”
Although HÉR does possess heaviness, Tomasz made clear that it was important for him to “not make a ‘metal album’ in a traditional sense.”
“I wanted the heaviness to serve the atmosphere and emotions rather than dominate them. For me, the connection between Nordic folk elements and heavy music feels very honest and primal — both styles share a sense of ritual, intensity, and raw human expression.”
With the group specifically located in Gdańsk, I couldn’t help but ask about the blackened death metal legends also from Gdańsk – Behemoth. Could there be pride in sharing your home with such a controversial, yet powerful figure in the international metal scene?
“Of course — Behemoth are not just a band from Gdańsk, they are probably the most internationally recognized band to ever come out of Poland. There is a huge sense of pride in knowing that they were born in my beloved city,” Tomasz confirms, while elaborating that “Gdańsk is a beautiful place not only to live, but also to create music. It’s a city of freedom — not only political freedom, which is deeply rooted in its history, but also artistic freedom. The local music community is very open to different directions and genres, and that openness has had a big impact on me.”
As a jazz musician and violinist, Tomasz found many talented musicians in his city, noting their “curious, searching, and open to new ideas” nature. “I wouldn’t trade this place for anything. I truly believe that without the atmosphere of this city, this album would not exist. There’s a unique coastal vibe here, but it’s still deeply Slavic. It’s northern, yet not as cold as Scandinavia,” he adds.
A track like “Needles and Bark” is particularly unique – meditative, yet intense, nearly spiritual. Tomasz agrees, but urges that HÉR is “not connected to any specific religion or belief system… for us, spirituality begins with presence. The name Hér literally means “here,” and that idea is central to everything we do — being fully present in a specific moment, place, and experience.”
“Our music is an invitation: sit here, listen, experience, grow, drift away. It’s about entering a state of awareness. The repetitive, trance-like rhythms, the raw vocal techniques, and the physicality of the sound are all meant to guide the listener into that space. In that sense, the meditative quality comes very naturally from how the music is built. We draw inspiration from Old Norse wisdom poetry, especially the Poetic Edda, but not as mythology in a literal or historical way. Those texts describe fundamental human experiences — fear, courage, love, violence, tenderness, birth, death, beginnings and endings. Exploring these extremes is a form of inner journey, and that journey can feel deeply spiritual.”
“As an artist, I’m interested in thresholds — standing between worlds, between fire and ice, noise and silence, chaos and calm. That moment of crossing, of being ‘in between,’ is where meditation happens for me. The album is a musical reflection of that state: rooted in a specific northern soil, yet reaching toward something universal and timeless,” Tomasz shares.
While HÉR is still emerging, there’s much on the horizon for the Polish genre-elusive act, from live performances to more material and experimentation. Tomasz confirms that the group is looking forward to a proper tour, while reminiscing on their set at Mystic Festival: “in many ways, we felt like something unusual there — a metal festival and a band without guitars? That raised some eyebrows at first. But the audience received it incredibly well.”
When being asked about his dream tourmates, Tomasz happily mentions Wardruna or Heilung… “that would be something really special… but more than anything, we simply want to play live as much as possible. We strongly feel that our music is unique, that it carries its own identity and offers something not everyone has heard before. It’s our own mixture, and the live setting is where that energy truly comes alive.”