Dublin experimental band EARTHSLAYER formed to perform a live score for Benjamin Christensen's 1922 silent film Häxan, whose title means "The Witch." The film combines historical exposition with staged scenes of witchcraft and persecution, before turning to the psychiatric explanations of its own time. Guitarist Tom Morris brought together Simon Bird on synthesizers and production, vocalist Sam Burton, and cellist Anna Clock for the proposed performance. When the event fell through, they kept working together and shifted their attention to making an album.
The resulting album, also titled HÄXAN, appeared on October 31, 2016, under the band's earlier spelling, EORÐESLAJYR. The musicians had worked against their own 50-minute edit of the film, following its major events in sequence. That origin left them with a question about how the record would be heard: would listeners expect to have the images in front of them? Bird considers the film edit supplementary to an album that can be heard on its own.
For the tenth-anniversary edition, released on October 31, 2026, Bird returned to the original recording sessions. He had mixed the first release, which Colin Marston mastered; this time, Bird handled both stages. The existing performances remained in place. His account of the new mix focuses on bringing previously obscured parts forward while checking each change against the original. The band have also returned to the spelling EARTHSLAYER, making the band easier to find.
In this written interview, Bird discusses composing to the film, the humor in its demonic imagery, and the choices behind the new mix.
Listen to the 2026 edition of HÄXAN. The original 2016 mix is also available.
Watch Benjamin Christensen's Häxan (1922) in full on YouTube, with English subtitles.
Doomnation Radio: What first drew you to Christensen's Häxan as the subject of an album?
Simon Bird: The band originally formed with the intent of performing a live soundtrack to HÄXAN at an event in Dublin. Tom (guitars) had the idea originally and recruited myself, Sam (vocals) and Anna (cello) for the performance. Ultimately the gig fell through, but we were having fun with the project and decided to shift the focus towards making a record.
DR: The film moves between historical explanation, dramatized accusations of witchcraft, and a final discussion of hysteria. Which part of that structure most influenced how you composed the record?
Simon Bird: The album follows the major events of the film in chronological order. We produced the album in one ableton session, working to a 50 minute abridge edit of the film we'd made ourselves for the gig - essentially condensing the most visually interesting sequences into a more suitable runtime for the event. I would say the aesthetic of the film and the narrative framing of different sequences was the main influence on the content of the music.
DR: Did a particular image or sequence in the film lead directly to any of the compositions? I'd be interested in a specific example from the album.
Simon Bird: The most notorious sequence in the film is probably the black mass, it's sort of the central set-piece of the film, with some amazing costumes and practical effects. On the album this pairs with "The Old Horned One", with the chanting and tribal drumming hinting at the ceremonial / occult setting. I think the heavy guitar drop syncs with a cut to a shot of a goat legged demon excitedly churning butter? One thing that gets overlooked with the film is it has some darkly comedic elements, which also mirrors the song writing process for us. We're not a joke band by any means, but there is a playful tongue in cheek element to some of the more extreme sections of the album.
DR: What prompted you to return to the original project files for a complete remix, rather than release the earlier mix with new mastering?
Simon Bird: We were really happy with the original master by Colin Marston, so remastering the album as is didn't really seem necessary. In my day job I work as a mixing engineer, and with the benefit of 10 years daily practice, I felt that a fresh mix pass might help to reveal some of the details we had buried in there.
DR: Which track changed most substantially in the new mix, and what can a listener hear differently?
Simon Bird: The biggest change is probably Vigil, I think the new mix sounds a lot closer to what I was going for originally with the production, kind of a wall of sound industrial noisescape. The original mix is a bit more paired back and stark in its production, and Sam's vocals sound a lot gnarlier on the fresh mix too. Looking back at that song in particular I can really see the lineage to the material that's on our second album, which we haven't put out yet. It's a lot more industrial, beat oriented, and sound design heavy.
DR: The original album appeared under the name EORÐESLAJYR. What led to the move to EARTHSLAYER, and how do you view the relationship between the two names?
Simon Bird: Well the band was always called EARTHSLAYER, we made a choice to stylise the name as 'EORÐESLAJYR' quite late in the process (and close to the release). Ultimately, with the benefit of hindsight, we felt it would make more sense to revert to the original spelling going forward, so that it'd be easier for people to talk about the band and find our music.
DR: Have ten years changed the way you understand the film's depiction of witchcraft, persecution, or belief?
Simon Bird: I think one of the things we felt about the initial release was that perhaps, as we had announced the album as being inspired by and serving as a soudtrack to HÄXAN, listeners might have fairly concluded that the intended way to enjoy the album was seeing it paired with the film. To be honest, while it was the genesis of the idea, I sort of view the film edit as supplementary to the album rather than the other way around. We always felt the music works just as well as an album as it does as a soundtrack. Having said that though, we would like to screen our edit in the future, and possibly release a remastered version online with the new mixes. Though the film is technically still in copyright despite being 104 years old - Perhaps for the 20th anniversary!
DR: When revisiting this recording, which elements did you decide had to remain untouched, regardless of what the new production allowed?
Simon Bird: We were quite disciplined in resisting temptation to supplement or re-record any of the material. Everything you hear in the new mixes is present in the original album, though I did tweak the production of each sound on the album Individually. Quite a lot of the instrumentation has a different timbre, and much of the more esoteric instrumentation is now more forward in the mix. Having said that, throughout the process I was careful to cross reference against the original mixes and make sure I wasn't deviating too far from the original intent of the 2016 version. I think the original mix still holds up, and was conscious that different doesn't always mean better. We didn't want to change the album so much as to improve or enhance it. This new version of HÄXAN retains everything that made the original release a wild listen 10 years ago, it just sounds closer now to the way we had wanted it to sound back then.
Listen to EARTHSLAYER's HÄXAN (2026 edition) on Bandcamp.
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