Interview mit Mateusz "Havoc" Smierzchalski von Blindead 23

Hello Mateusz. You’ve started something new with BLINDEAD 23. How did it come about that BLINDEAD eventually became BLINDEAD 23?
It is quite a long story, but to put it simple the previous band BLINDEAD officially ended in 2022 after 23 years since I started it in 1999. The original line up began falling apart way before in 2015. We tried to keep it going but we eventually hit the wall and it all started affecting us in a bad way. I decided to take a break from everything in 2021. Went into therapy or as I prefer to call it „healing process“. Focused on getting my mental health back in order and restarting my life in general, you can say. During this time I began writing music again and the first demo drafts of this story called „Deuterium“ were born. That’s also how the idea of continuing under a modified name BLINDEAD 23 was born and here we are in 2026 with a new line up but with Patryk Zwolinski and me from the original band doing what we were born to be doing together.

Let’s stay with BLINDEAD for a moment. With that formation, you created some of the most intense albums in (extreme) metal, in my opinion. What artistic intention did you have when BLINDEAD was first formed?
It was always meant to be a vessel to channel the music we sort of connect to in the certain moments when the stars align or inspiration hits us out of the blue. Somehow since our 2nd album („Autoscopia“, 2008) the vision took a conceptual form and ever since that’s how we’ve been writing albums. I guess you can call this approach a bit cinematic.

The BLINDEAD album „Affliction XXIX II MXMVI“, for example, is atmospherically dense and very melancholic in terms of mood. In contrast, „Absence“, for instance, came out almost more accessible. When working on such intense albums, do you follow a plan, or do you let yourself be guided by the creative flow?
Mostly the flow, but there are always factors we think thru while crafting the story line such as change of the guitar tuning to mark a change of mood or using certain additional instruments, field recordings and samples to make the experience more interesting and cinematic.

Now your new formation BLINDEAD 23 has recently released a fantastic full-length debut. Where do you see the key differences between BLINDEAD and BLINDEAD 23, whether musically, in terms of songwriting, or conceptually?
Thank you so much. I guess what changed lies in the core of how we work as a creative collective. We strongly rely on stressless and honest way of work. The rest remains quite the same since Patryk and I were always the main driving forces in the previous band as well as in the new one.

When you founded BLINDEAD 23, were there things you knew you wanted to do differently going forward?
Yes, I wanted to be able to just create freely without constant ego fights that lead absolutely nowhere in the past.

For the BLINDEAD 23 lineup, you brought Patryk Zwoliński on board as vocalist. You had already worked with him regularly during the BLINDEAD years. What do you value about him?
Apart from us being best friends, I believe the both of us were literally meant to create together overall. He’s voice both harsh and clean and the talent for turning conceptual stories into written word is exceptional. I’m glad we found the way to get back together and do this thing again. It truly is the best thing ever.

Apart from that, the new lineup differs quite substantially from the original BLINDEAD lineup. What was it like working on „Deuterium“ with this new formation?
Refreshing. Everyone involved in this record is so talented and coming from slightly different musical worlds. This made the whole experience super inspiring and creative all along.

How did you all come together in this lineup?
It all started with me and Roger Ojersson spending a lot of time in Stockholm during the pandemic. I was showcasing MLC Amps in various studios in Scandinavia at the time. One of them was Studio Grondahl owned by David Castillo. Roger was hanging out with me there a lot. We just became really good friends then and decided to give it a shot when I had some new music being written. Fast forward in 2021 Pawel Jaroszewicz heard I’m slowly putting a new band together and reached out. It was the 3 of us in the beginning then Patryk Zwolinski joined on board. We also had Maciej Janas from KETHA and Vinicius Zwolinski being part of the studio band. I feel very privileged to have all these guys on the debut album. All of them left a mark on it a were very important to the process.

How did the creative process for the new album unfold? What do you remember as particularly beautiful or perhaps particularly challenging?
The beautiful part was how free and inspired the process was but also the fact we recorded at Studio Grondahl with David Castillo as the producer made the experience amazing. The most challenging and time consuming part was finding the right record label to release the album. It took us 3 years but we made it and we landed at Peaceville Records which is the perfect home for us. Hard work definitely paid off at the end.

For me personally, „Deuterium“ sounds significantly more accessible and also more modern than most BLINDEAD releases. Of course, it is still a solid progressive metal record. What were your expectations for the new BLINDEAD 23 material?
One of the things that changed in me towards my creative work is that I stopped having expectations. I put all my heart and soul into it then as soon as it’s released it’s not really mine anymore. What happens with it is entirely up to how it resonates with people.

What is the album about thematically?
The album is based on a real story taken from my own life. Meaning the inspiration was born out of my complete downfall that in result was the trigger for me to start fighting for my life thru the process of healing in isolation at first then thru expressing myself thru music and reconnecting with the universe by finding a new path for myself. However the subject of the album is very open for interpretation. I’m sure a lot of people can relate in one way or another in this subject.

We currently see egoism, fear, and ignorance in many societies, but (at least it feels like) less empathy and resilience. How do you perceive this, and to what extent did it influence „Deuterium“?
To be honest I stopped caring about what people think or do. I do my best to be a good and empathic person to those around me. I mostly stay away from people besides the times I’m on tour working with EMPEROR or currently BLOOD INCANTATION. I live in the countryside close to my family, my dog and the beautiful nature around and I have never felt better in my entire life.

What do you think humanity should become more consciously aware of at its core in order to find a way out of the pessimism of these times?
Less social media, more human contact, reading, experiencing music on physical formats or live. It definitely works for me now and I nearly lost my life being part of this „normal“ society madness in the past.

Speaking of influence and people: how does the BEHEMOTH camp actually react to the exploratory side of BLINDEAD 23?
I’m good friends with Nergal and he was always very supportive for BLINDEAD and now BLINDEAD 23 as well same with Seth. Other than that I don’t really know. I left BEHEMOTH so long ago that these two worlds don’t really cross anymore.

How has the feedback from your fans generally been regarding „Deuterium“?
Overwhelming and amazing so far. Feels like we did something right this time because we never had so much interest in any of our previous releases. It seems to resonate with people in a very good way which feels very rewarding when I think about the amount of time and effort it took to get it out there.

You are still touring Poland this year. Is there a venue you are especially looking forward to? If so, which one?
I love playing at SUMMER DYING LOUD FESTIVAL which holds a very special place in the history of both bands. When it comes to venues I think it will be amazing to come back to the venue where it all started in our hometown Gdynia, Poland. The place is called „Ucho“ and we played the first gigs there in the beginning of 2000’s. It has been a home of this sort of Christmas Festival we used to organize for at least 12 years with BLINDEAD. We haven’t performed in this place since 2018 if I remember correctly. So it’s going to be very emotional for sure.

How do Polish audiences differ from, for example, German audiences?
In our case it’s kinda hard to say at the moment as we didn’t have a chance to play in Germany that much yet. We did tour with LEPROUS in 2013 etc but it was never our shows. Let’s see if we can change that this time around. I would love to bring this material to German soil.

If you had to describe the identity of BLINDEAD/BLINDEAD 23 to a newcomer in one sentence, what would you say?
Emotional, Atmospheric, Heavy, Cinematic and Healing vibes for openminded listeners.

Finally, our Metal1 brainstorming:
Soul: Alan Watts podcast are for the soul
The Polish black metal scene: FURIA, MGŁA, CHRIST AGONY, OVER THE VOIDS, SEAGULLS INSANE AND SWANS DECEASED MINING OUT THE VOID
Change: Starts within you
Original motion picture soundtracks: „Dracula“ by Wojciech Kilar
BLINDEAD 23 in ten years: Let’s see what happens, I prefer to be here and now and do the best I can.

Publiziert am 26. Juni 2026 von Philipp Sorger