Markus Sievers (Stardust Magazine): Hi Seth! First of all thank you very much for the time you’re spending on this interview. I am really pleased to get the chance to make this special thing, because I totally love your music! How are you doing?

Seth "Count Seth" Hecox (guitar, keyboards): We are doing great! I am working so hard recently with both my bands, BTA and Anchors. But that’s what I love doing, so I can’t complain! Thanks for setting up this interview.

Unfortunately all your music is not distributed any longer in Germany. What a pity! Because from my point of view Becoming The Archetype is one of the most exciting, thrilling and autonomous Modern Metal bands of our time. How do you achieve this individualistic approach, which is so outstanding?

We discovered a secret a couple years ago that it seems not many artists know. That secret is that good song writing is the key to good music. People are focusing on technical skill (which we used to prioritize) and speed and length of song and breakdowns and everything else. But very few people know how to construct a song that flows well and conveys an idea through just the music, even without the lyrics. Being able to keep a melody in the song, whether through vocals or guitar or keyboards or a combination, is a difficult thing to do. We are trying to learn how to do this better than anyone else and hopefully we’re getting there!

The Bible is the fundament of the Christian faith, of your faith. What kind of interpretations or exegesis concerning this book do you prefer personally? I mean there are so many different ways of living a life connected with God (evangelically, catholically, Augustinian, Franciscan, Mennonite etc.)...

There are some central themes that all of these ways focus on. We refer to these as absolute truths. Some of these are: 1) the existence of God, 2) the humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ, 3) the sinfulness of man, and 4) the grace of God that reconciles sinful man to His perfect, holy Self. Jason, Jon and I are part of the Presbyterian Church, which focuses on Reformed Theology. Duck goes to a non-denominational church, but he agrees with almost everything that we believe in. Basically, the Bible is the story of God creating man, man rebelling, God loving mankind enough to send his Son to live perfectly and die so that mankind could once again be His children and not be at war anymore. So many get saved and that is often where there Christian life stays. Do you feel that you have grown the past few years as a Christian? If so... what advice would you give to those struggling in their faith?

Yes, certainly. We all have been growing as Christians. Someone once said “if you’re not growing, you’re not alive.” I also believe that it is impossible to grow outside the context of community. Both in your emotional life and in your spiritual life, you are created to experience God in a community context. This is why Christianity has a long-held ritual of weekly church attendance. No man is an island and no man can say he understands God more than the rest of the world.

With giving a concrete example: How do you outlive your love towards God in the music of BTA?

Well, the lyrics are an obvious way we communicate our faith. But there are lots of other ways that people have felt the impact of love from our music. Many people have asked Jason (our singer) to pray with them after the show because of difficult issues in their lives. We’ve received literally hundreds, if not thousands, of emails and messages about people who have been freed from addictions or suicidal thoughts as a result of listening to our music. Those things are priceless and give a lot of weight and meaning to what we do as a band. We’re about personal change. Social and political movements will take care of themselves. If a person’s heart is right, then that person will more often than not do the right thing and confess when he’s done the wrong thing. That’s the kind of person you want to fill the world with, right?

Let’s talk about “Dichotomy” which was released last year. This is your third album in only four years, that is quite the accomplishment when you consider all the touring that comes along with new albums when you are a professional Metal band. Have you guys had a chance to just hang back, relax, and enjoy your accomplishments?

Haha, well, we’ve been able to hang out a bit. It’s these breaks from BTA touring that allows me to pursue writing and recording and touring with my other band, Anchors. You can check them out at myspace.com/ouranchors. But I don’t know if we’ve really enjoyed our accomplishments. Depending on how you define Death Metal, we are one of the most successful Death Metal bands of all time in terms of sales/album. However, that doesn’t mean a whole lot in the grand scheme of things. In the larger heavy music world, we’re more in the middle of the mix with so many bands that are so much bigger than us, so we usually don’t feel like we’ve accomplished a whole lot other than three albums that we’re pleased with and that seem to have gained us a loyal fan base around the world. That worldwide fan base is exactly what’s allowing us to tour Europe again here in October!

Could you explain it’s concept and essence in your own words? What is the intention behind it?

"Dichotomy" is an album that speaks through the music as much as it speaks through the lyrics. Music is a powerful force in communication, especially in terms of communicating an emotional or spiritual truth. "Dichotomy" expresses the desire of humanity to be truly human, the desire to be happy and free. There are movements within the world today to change man into machine, at least partly. There are movements to marginalize humanity in the name of science. Your opinion on this is important because you will have to make decisions soon about what makes you happy in terms of your appearance and general makeup. 

It’s nearly unbelievable, because I would never had expected that “Dichotomy” would be even more progressive and more melodic compared to it’s predecessor “The Physics Of Fire” [US Release / European Release]. What was the predominant inspiration to make a little redefinition and “follow something like a new formula”?

Mainly, we got Jon back in the band and he wrote four of the most prominent songs on the CD. His writing style is much different than Alex’s and is also different than his old writing style on "Terminate Damnation" [US Release / European Release]. Also, my involvement with keyboards has grown steadily over the years. When I first joined the band right before we signed, I was primarily a guitarist who just added keyboards occasionally. Now I’m almost 50/50 between the two instruments. My interest in synths and keys has gotten to where that’s my main input into our music. Those are the primary changes musically and then of course, there was Devin Townsend at the production helm. 

Would you consider “Dichotomy” as a piece of art?

Most definitely. All music is art of some sort. Maybe a lot of it is poor art, but when someone creates something that is a window to their soul, it has meaning and is powerful and will speak to people. "Dichotomy" is certainly speaking to people. That is what we’ve always intended with our music. Hopefully our live show speaks to people in Europe as well!

I’ve found a very interesting quote for you (by James Raggi, a very critical Heavy Metal journalist). It would be cool, if you could comment on this: “Looking at the key Christian myth, Jesus Christ was a very heavy metal individual. His reasons for being so and the goals he sought to achieve were not very heavy metal. But in the context of his environment and the consequences he knew he faced, his actions were the epitome of heavy metal. He knew what he wanted and worked towards that goal at excruciating cost."

Haha, that’s one way to think of it. Jesus was certainly committed. And He did work toward His goal at excruciating cost. However, portraying Jesus in terms of what is “metal” is almost comical because it’s placing Someone that is the definition of life in the context of a subgenre that has only been around a few decades. I guess you could say that Christ had metal elements, but they don’t come close to defining His whole essence.

Here’s another magnificent one by Helen Keller: “It is wonderful how much time good people spend fighting the devil. If they would only expend the same amount of energy loving their fellow men, the devil would die in his own tracks of ennui.”

That is exactly right. In fact, the Bible speaks of the same thing. God is love and all who live in Him live in love. If everyone is loving each other, then what is left to be harmful? Harm and evil come from selfishness and hate. That is the root of all the evil deeds ever committed.

In an interview with BurnYourEars in 2008 you said you have no problems with Anti-Christian bands. Some of the encounters could be a chance to lead interesting discussions. Can you substantiate this?

Yes. We all enjoy engaging with bands of any worldview because there’s no use in ignoring them, is there? I’d like to understand where they come from. Many times, you find out that two people agree, but there wasn’t a way to express that and they thought they disagreed because of ineffective communication.
We’re living in an complex world of economical and materialistic injustice. What could be a practical Christian message for everyone to be a part of making this world better?

You’ve got to determine the ends and the means. If your end (your goal) is to make the world a better place, well then terrible things can be done. Hitler certainly believed he was making the world a better place. Making the world a better place is merely a means to a different end. And that end is causing each person to find their Creator and understand their place in His love. If that is done, the world becomes a better place without us trying. 

You’re going to visit Germany this month. Any expactations?

Yes. Much good cheese, and much good franks! I’ve been twice before, once with the band and once without. It’ll be a little cold, but that’s ok! Germany has really great food and great techno music.

When you perform live, do you feel anything like a spiritual energy which flows through you?

We do. Sometimes more than others. It can be intense at times and very peaceful at times. That is ultimately what we want to communicate to each fan that attends our shows. Hope and love are complex things that can generate multiple feelings. We are open to all of those feelings in our lives and in the lives of our fans.

Well... this was it. I wish you all the best with BTA and I hope we will see us on the road! I will be at the Bielefeld show. :-)

Awesome, we’ll see you at Bielefeld! We will be leaving soon and we’re very excited to be returning. God bless and rock on!

 

 

Click the banners and links below to view our Release Presentations for Becoming The Archetype!


Becoming The Archetype - "Necrotizing Fasciitis" (Digital Single) - (Sept. 14, 2009)



Becoming The Archetype - "Dichotomy" - (Solid State Records - November 24, 2008)



"The Physics Of Fire" (European Rel.) (Alternate Front Cover + O-Card) - (June 15, 2007)



Becoming The Archetype - "The Physics Of Fire" - (Solid State Records - May 8, 2007)


"Terminate Damnation" (European Release) (Alternate Front Cover) - (Dec. 5, 2005)



Becoming The Archetype - "Terminate Damnation" - (Solid State - August 30, 2005)