...of 2012

This needs to be done, especially since I am back into metal properly again.

Best Album
Dying Fetus ~ 'Reign Supreme'

Fuck, Dying Fetus are on form again! After the mediocre (at least by Fetus' standards) 'Descend into Depravity', the Maryland techies scale back the brutal death metal riffs in favour of more orthodox US death metal guitar work. The slams are infinitely more pronounced due to this stage and the variation of track's identities works favourably. Technicality is still high on the list of priorities and the dual vocal assault of Sean Beasley and Jon Gallagher rhythmically compliment the music so sublimely that picking up the lyrics becomes  a simple task. Nothing came close to reaching the summits of awesomeness this year. Gruesome!

Honourable mentions: OSI ~ 'Fire Make Thunder'; Blutmond ~ 'The Revolution is Dead!'

Best Song

Dying Fetus ~ 'In the Trenches'

From the opening riff, you know this song is going to be intense. Surging through a variety of different tempos, Dying Fetus reveal that there are several ways to aurally assault a listener. Bass following guitar loyally, neck-breaking slams and colourful tech death spurts mark this one of the highlights of the albums. Catchy, vicious and triumphant.

Honourable mentions: OSI ~ 'For Nothing'; Katatonia ~ 'Undo You'

Biggest Disappointment
Nile ~ 'At the Gates of Sethu'

Nile have always managed to find ways to infuse a new album with something they had not tried on previous efforts, or at least an expansion on an idea that was explored all too thinly on another release. 'At the Gates of Sethu' is album number seven and the Egyptologists have evidently ran out of new ideas, delivering a bog standard Nile release. Clean vocals is a new addition here but it fails to truly delivery anything particularly noticeable.

(Dis)Honourable mentions: Sabaton ~ 'Carolus Rex'; Fozzy ~ 'Sin and Bones'

Best Cover Art
Sigh ~ In Somniphobia

Decadently grotesque, this colour piece speaks for itself. Truly eye-catching and defiant among contemporary metal album art today.

Honourable mentions: Testament ~ 'Dark Roots of Earth'; Les Discrets ~ 'Ariettes Oubliees'

Best Lyrics

Dying Fetus ~ 'From Womb to Waste'

These lyrics are repulsive but not because they're pure horror-themed gorefests but because they're real, addressing foetal termination and unlucky births in our society in a myriad of ways. Including drug-addled mothers, rape births, coat-hanger abortion, an obese mother unaware she was pregnant etc., Dying Fetus release a song that actually goes hand in hand with their band name. Some of the best lyrics they've penned since old bassist Jason Netherton expressed his rage at the world.

Honourable mentions: OSI ~ 'For Nothing', Katatonia ~ 'Undo You'

Best Live Show

Dangerous Toys, Shout it Out Loud Festival, Mulheim, 10th March

Dangerous Toys are a band that I only discovered a couple of years ago (despite being on a "To check out" of mine from 2005) but immediately fell in love with. It seems they only play a one off show in their home town of Texas each December. However, something magical happened when Quiet Riot dropped off the Shout it Out Loud Festival (co) headline slot. Oddly enough, relatively obscure Dangerous Toys filled in the gap. Naturally, I headed to Germany for the event. Singer Jason McMaster's (ex-Watchtower) vocals sounded considerably better than recent Texas shows and it was the one and only time I got a headrush from a gig, as I stood in the front row, destroying my voice to every song. Even McMaster himself congratulated me on knowing all the lyrics.

Honourable mentions: Doro, Relentless Garage, London, 20th November; Immolation, Underworld, London, 29th September

Best Festival

Party San Open Air 2012, Flugplatz, 9th - 11th August

The line up for Bloodstock was incredibly dull for me so I decided to finally go to Party San, which I have been considering for a few years but the BOA clash usually prevented me from doing so. With a stunning line up of premier extreme metal, it as difficult to find reasons not to attend - Both Thrower, Nile, Immolation, Arhgoat, Nifelheim, Skalmold, Cattle Decapitation, Gospel of the Horns just a few names worth watching. Sadly, Rompeprop pulled out (one day, I will see this band) but were replaced with goregrinders Rectal Smegma, which remained fun. The people at the festival were very friendly and adorable. Very few English there too, although I'm not surprised if that changes this year when people see the BOA line up is poor again. 

Honourable mentions: Shout it Out Loud Festival, Mulheim, 10th March; Fimbul Festival 2012, Dettelbach, 14th - 15th September

Best Discovery

Children of Technology

While I was on my metal hiatus, I noticed that crust has been getting particular attention in the metal scene. One such band in this genre is Children of Technology, a perfect blend of careless punk and trashy metal. Violent, dirty and catchy, 'It's Time to Face the Doomsday' is a balls out, fist to the face of a release that takes no prisoner and is unforgettable. Unfortunately, most crust bands don't weigh up as strongly as these Italians but who cares?! Need another full-length soon, guys.

Honourable mentions: Blutmond; D.R.I.

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This year is setting itself up to be quite an interesting one for metal, most notably the new Carcass album. There's also the Neurotic Death Fest, which is showcasing my favourite old school death metal bands. Oh, and the new Immolation album is something to look forward to.

Book Review: 'Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal and Grindcore' by Albert Mudrian

In Choosing Death: The Improbable History of Death Metal and Grindcore, author Albert Mudrian aims to detail the birth, rise, near-downfall and revival of the death metal and grindcore scenes, beginning in Birmingham and venturing to Florida and Sweden among other places on the death metal map.

The book is competently written and full of ample black and white photographs and historic concert fliers with a foreword by the late John Peel. Bands including Napalm Death, Carcass, Death, Morbid Angel, Entombed, Repulsion and Possessed are discussed in microscopic detail with interviews and anecdotes that will raise a few eyebrows and shed light on complex relationships and situations.

However, despite the prominent focus on Earache Records bands and the aforementioned acts, other later death metal bands are merely name-dropped with no further investigation. The writing becomes flimsy and cursory after 1994 compared to the earlier years, for instance Death's eventual success after infusing progressive metal into their sound is largely ignored. The book would have additionally benefited further with the inclusion of the classic New York death/slam death metal scene, technical death metal, and modern (post-1994) grindcore bands - all paramount to the current death metal scene (although melodic death metal receives a few pages). Besides, it seems strange for a book concentrating on death metal and grindcore avoids examining goregrind - a hybrid between death metal and grindcore.

Nonetheless, this is a solid read for those new to the genre or veterans wanting to supplement pre-existing knowledge. Highly recommended reading that remains as interesting as the music it studies.

Cynic's 'Carbon-Based Anatomy' - For Those Who Know

No aliens to the metal world, Florida's Cynic adopted a new perspective on progressive extreme metal and remain a fundamental part of technical metal history. The heart of the band is Paul Masvidal and Sean Reinert who were part of Death for the seminal Human recording. Cynic released the universally-lauded Focus before disbanding in 1994. However, like many thrash acts from the eighties and early nineties, a reunion dawned in 2006. Traced in Air was the debut's successor, with material strong enough to be considered superior to Focus. Last year, the American due released Retraced, an EP containing alternative take on songs from Traced in Air, reformulated to embody a very modern and emotive rock shape, albeit with as much thoughtfulness as their original takes. The final track was new number 'Wheels Within Wheels', which shared the same musical DNA as the other tracks. This year, Cynic polarised opinion with Carbon-Based Anatomy, a EP bearing all new material very different to what adherents were expecting.

Carbon-Based Anatomy is essentially three full-length songs conjoined by three embellishing interludes. The most striking comparison to their older works is the complete erosion of any metal elements. Once bequeathed with death and thrash metal teeth, Cynic's music has embodied an idiosyncratic progressive rock form. Astral soundscapes and off beat drumming remain but the signature vocal decoder has been substituted for a clean Steven Wilson-esque vocal effort from Masvidal, as heard on Retraced. The solos are less unorthodox than the Focus days but the release comes across as a personal one, more interested in depicting emotive flares rather than metal complexity. The lyrics certainly feel more personal. From 'Box Up My Bones':

Haste to cure the old despair,
No antidote, still I repair.
Someone said that bird has no wings,
But I've seen it fly, I've seen it fly in dreams.


On my way to love someone,
On my way to love the one.

The level of atmosphere has been dramatically increased; Masvidal explains that this is due to an appreciation of the ambient works of Brian Eno and Eno's vast and lonesome atmospheres are evoked on this release. Additionally, in truly being progressive, the introductory 'Amidst the Coals' is from an Amazonian tribe's Icaro - a song said to have had healing properties.

This release is a sign of Cynic's maturity and a testament to their desire to do what they wish rather than be directed by trends or what the fans expect. Masvidal states that his music references his life and is naturally going to become "more interesting, expansive and colourful." [1]. Some detractors consider Carbon-Based Anatomy to be closer to an Aeon Spoke record than a Cynic one, but Aeon Spoke are more folk inclined and devoid of the celestial musings prominent in Cynic's music, including this EP. It is fair to conclude that the negative attention that plagues Carbon-Based Anatomy is predominantly from metalheads wishing for Death-hangover, interested in Cynic because of the shared members and are frustrated Cynic have no metal tendencies any more [2]. Masvidal stated that even in the early years, Cynic attracted may who listened to jazz and were completely ignorant to metal [1]. New York Times jazz critic Ben Ratcliff believes Cynic's music to be better understood outside of a metal vessel. Perhaps this is true.

The vigour of 'Veil of Maya' may be absent but the tenderness of 'Textures' remains. Either way, Masvidal does not intend for Cynic to be a nostalgia act so those desperate for the old Cynic should stick to Obscura. Or listen to Focus.


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[1] Metal Discovery interview with Paul Masvidal, 2011.
[2] A similar argument can be made for the split opinions on Opeth's Heritage album.

Life After Death: The Return to John Arch with Jim Matheos

Originally written for Soundshock.

In 2003 John Arch, most notable for his work with US veterans Fates Warning, recorded his last release – an EP entitled ‘A Twist of Fate’.  Until this year, Arch’s vocals have not been committed to record.  Elena Francis has a word with Arch, as he discusses what it was like reuniting with guitarist Jim Matheos for an exciting project.

“It was Jim and I,” Arch reflects.  “Although it has been a while, it has always been a comfortable working environment for me, so it was like two old friends [reuniting].  It wasn't until the studio when the drums were ready for

 recording where I met Bobby [Jarzombek, drummer] and that was like having an old friend after 20 minutes.”

It's with a great sigh of relief that the former Fates Warning man reveals that it's back to business as usual following a dry spell that has seen his old band not put out a full-length since 2004.  Mainman Jim Matheos’ original intention was to create the next Fates Warning release but because of the tight schedules of his band mates, it was impossible to make this a reality.  Fortunately not all is lost.  Prog metal fanatics worldwide have had some glory to bask in and it comes in the form of the dual effort of Arch/Matheos on 'Sympathetic Resistance’. 

Arch was very comfortable with the line up for ‘Sympathetic Resistance’ and the outcome of his pairing with Matheos.  Indeed, fans were very expectant to hear his return to music after a lengthy absence and their reaction was not disappointing. “It has been nothing short of amazing,” Arch says.  “The best part is that fans both new and old seem to be connecting with the music.  A big thank you to all the fans new and old – we went into this with no expectations, and certainly didn't expect this.”

The primary concern for those holding their breath for this release was the condition of Arch’s voice, after such a spell of inactivity.  “My singing voice remained dormant for I believe, 8 years.  So needless to say, that was for sure not a positive when it was time to start singing again. I had returned to life as usual after ‘A Twist of Fate’ enjoying my other passions such as riding and racing, mountain and road cycling, hiking and camping year round and of course making a living.  If Jim had not placed that call to me, this would not have happened.  The writing and the recording of the demos were happening as I was trying to build up my vocals. It was harder than I thought it was going to be this time.  At first my pitch was off and I had virtually no vibrato.  It was definitely a work in progress and now that I'm out of the studio and singing the songs all the way through, I know one thing for sure – I'll never learn.”

‘Sympathetic Resistance’ itself is vibrant, emotive and lively, instilled with complex heavy guitar riffs that are signature in contemporary prog metal acts, married with the

idiosyncrasies of later Fates Warning.  With its crisp sound and dynamic compositions, the album boldly portrays equally spirited album art – the silhouette of a figure engulfed in flame.  “The album cover is always another difficult venture and again we searched near and far,” Arch says.  “Jim and I liked these images mostly because they were intense and almost alive, emitting an explosion of emotion.  The photography is done using only exposure times and light which is fascinating in itself.” The decision behind the album’s title emanated from this same idea too, as Arch elaborates. “We searched high and low for a title for the album that would really incorporate the lyrical ideas with the intensity and movements of the music, and 'Sympathetic Resonance' worked nicely.  It is a musical term by definition, but with a little imagination you can draw so many parallels to its meaning to the human emotions and how we resonate with each other through our anger, fear, empathy and so on.”

Given Fates Warning’s inception as an 80's American power metal outfit, Arch/Matheos have been penned to play the prestigious Keep it True festival in Germany.  Arch’s reaction is highly positive. “I'm beside myself to be honest, but I think that is reasonable to feel that way being that I will be in the very public eye after decades of not performing songs that were difficult in my hay day.  Having said that I'm trying to stay focused and rehearse as much as I can.” And of course their setlist will include classic Fates Warning numbers. Arch states that there are possibilities that the Arch/Matheos band may play live again and additionally the door is not necessarily shut on a sequel to ‘Sympathetic Resonance’.  Given the amount of support they have secured with their debut, a sophomore effort appears to be universally desired by the prog metal community.

Back from Hell - Helstar's Heavy New Legacy

Originally written for Soundshock.com

Texan classic thrash metallers Helstar disbanded in the mid-nineties like countless other thrash acts but, like a phoenix, rose again in 2007. The following year, the band released their recorded comeback ‘King of Hell’, a surprisingly vicious update on the classic Helstar sound. Two years later, the quintet struck back with ‘Glory of Chaos’. Larry Barragan discusses the reactions Helstar have secured and what their future plans are at their first UK show.

‘Glory of Chaos’ is a behemoth of a record, with Halford-esque shrieks, thick modern metal riffage, and bloodthirsty drumming, quite a far cry from Helstar’s classic ‘Remnants of War’ or ‘Nosferatu’ releases. Did this polarise the fanbase? “The first reaction was like ‘Wow what the hell is that?’” Larry recalls animatedly. “And now everybody just…they love it. They’re like “That’s the heaviest album you guys have made.” It’s been pretty good. I haven’t had any real negative reactions from the fans. We used a lot of James’ [Rivera, vocalist] voice on this one. A lot of people didn’t realise he could do a lot of that stuff.”

The ultra-heavy sound the band has adopted works and is a feature signature to metal that Helstar were known for before their reunion. “I always wanted to make ‘Glory of Chaos’ since…forever. I’ve always wanted to be heavy. Different members of the band pull us in all different directions. I’m not saying that’s a bad thing. We’ve never had that album where you listen to it and you felt like you’ve been punched in the face and that’s what I wanted for this album.” Plenty of reactivated classic acts stick to what they mastered and became best at, perhaps slightly modernising their sound but certainly not directly drawing influences from newer bands. Larry takes pride in stating that Helstar are the opposite. “We’re all metal heads and we’ve never stopped listening to metal. There’s all these influences from newer bands like Lamb of God and Sacrifice. What we wrote, that’s the way it came out. If you go back and listen to all the albums, we’ve never done part two of anything. It’s hard to do. It’s hard to not repeat yourself.”

The new sound is also a fantastic way to introduce the new generation of metal fans to Helstar, with a fresh sound as opposed to an outdated, nostalgic one. “The fanbase has actually grown since we’ve reunited. Last night, we played old songs and everyone was absolutely cool with it and then we played ‘Alma Negra’ and the place went nuts. Every time we played one of the new songs, I could tell there was different energy all of a sudden.” In a world where bands are struggling to remain relevant or stand out in some manner, Helstar have accomplished what they need to do with new music.

With the surge in popularity with retro thrash and heavy metal bands emulating a sound that was commonplace in the eighties, it seems like Helstar are taking the intrepid route by introducing new sounds, rather than capitalising on their classic metal status and potentially catapulting themselves into the same sphere of attention as these newer acts. Larry believes there is a strong difference between retro acts and those who were actually there at the time. “I think they have the knowledge of it, I don’t know if they have the feel that these bands like Helstar and some of the other bands that have been around. Those guys – when they write an album, it has a certain vibe and feel and you can tell these guys are gonna be around for a while. When you listen to those [retro metal bands], it sounds polished and everything but maybe they don’t quite get it. You gotta have your own identity. That’s just my biased opinion I guess.”

One of the prominent attributes as to why Helstar’s new found heaviness is around can be attributed to new drummer Mikey Lewis. “On ‘Glory of Chaos’, we’ve got Mikey in the band as our drummer and he understood us more from a drum perspective than any one. I think the album sounds as heavy as it does because of him. He made a huge change in us. It’s subtle, I don’t think people realise when they listen to it – the drums are fucking heavy – they just think ‘Wow, it sounds so heavy, it’s so fast.’ Actually he plays guitar too. He wasn’t in the writing process but for the next one, for sure. He’s already said ‘I’ve got some parts. Let’s get together.’ Yeah, anything to make my job easier.”

After this tour, Helstar plan on heading home to work on a new release. “I’ve got parts here and there that I have on my laptop already but not anything concrete. I’m sure Rob has a bunch of parts as well. Like I said, Mikey has some guitar parts too so we’ll get together and start piecing everything together.” As ‘Glory of Chaos’ was composed through emails and recorded without the band rehearsing together, it could be that the follow up album will be more thought out with more intricacies as Larry believes it could be beneficial to write the album together. “I think everybody wants to get together a little bit more and take some more time over the stuff. I like the solos but I think if I had a little more time, I could have made the solos more elaborate. But overall, I’m happy.”

Why Kampfar Respect Women

Originally written for Soundshock.com

Since signing to Napalm Records for their 2006 release ‘Kvass’, Norway’s Kampfar have received a significant deal of attention worldwide. In the last two years, the black metallers have managed to play prestigious metal festivals such as Wacken and Hellfest and soon they will embark on their debut North American outing. But despite the peaks they have accumulated, frontman Dolk considers these past two years the most strenuous and draining of Kampfar’s career since their inception in 1994.

“When a band gets more interest, in a way, you have to make new decisions every single day and it starts to become more like a job. It feels at least sometimes that it’s not good to be in a band any more.” It has been two years since

 Kampfar’s last comprehensive tour and Dolk is more than enthused to return to the road, delivering a stellar show to those in attendance. “I’m really happy to be playing again and I haven’t felt like that for the last two years. “ Drummer Ask submits the footnote: “We finally get the reward of the stress and the chaos.” This year marks the release of the Norwegians’ fifth album ‘Mare’, a mature release adding a bevy of variety to the black metallers’ catalogue. Naturally, Dolk is proud of the album but is more astounded by the attention the release has earned: “We sold as many albums of ‘Mare’ in the first five days as we did with our last album for two years. So it was like “Wow!”” Perhaps this impressive result can be partially attributed to Kampfar working with legendary metal producer Peter Tägtgren for the first time. “It was a natural choice. For me at least, it was very very important that he wanted to do this because we didn’t want to go into a studio because it’s a famous studio or it’s a famous guy doing the sounds. We wanted to take a new direction, of course, to create art. We needed someone who wanted to push the boundaries and limits to get with us. It was really important for me that he really wanted to do this album, not just “Yeah, I’ll do it,” but with passion. The last time I talked to Peter before we really decided to go that way, I asked him “Are you really up for this?” and he said “Fuck yeah!” The only thing we can say is in some ways it’s bad that we didn’t do this earlier.”

Ask highlights how important it was to have a producer who knew precisely what the band needed for their record and this kind of producer would have to be well-versed in all kinds of music as opposed to exclusively black metal. “We’ve always been a bit stubborn about keeping it a little on the low-fi. We’ve always taken thing away and this time we said “Fuck it, we’ll do everything. We’ll see what happens because if it doesn’t work you can always remove things.” So we choose to work with a producer who could do bigger productions and it’s very interesting how focused he is because we played Hellfest last year and he played there with Hypocrisy and the studio had been booked well in advance. We were watching Fear Factory play from the side of the stage because we both love the drummer and I’m talking to him and he’s well drunk. I’m explaining exactly what kind of sound I want for the studio and he remembered everything and had everything set up for that sound and he completely nailed it, exactly what I wanted. He thinks with a band. He doesn’t go in there and say “OK I’m going to give you my sound.” He says “I’m going to give you the sound that is best for you.”” Naturally, Kampfar will not consider anyone else when producing their next album.

‘Mare’ is something out of the ordinary for Kampfar and indeed black metal as a whole. The album is dedicated to all those women brave enough to subscribe to their own lifestyles and follow their own paths in life. This idea was inspired by the fate of women who were misunderstood by priests hundreds of years ago in Norway and were branded a witch and burnt. Ask sheds light on Kampfar’s only profound religious remark: “The thing is that to be a woman today and do what you want to do then maybe it’s a little harder than men but two hundred years ago, it was a lot worse. If you were a woman two hundred years ago and you said “No, I want to do my thing. I want to learn about what I want to learn,” [they set you on fire]. That’s our religious statement.”

Kampfar’s fortunes have not come without misfortunate. Late last year, founding member Thomas decided to part ways with the band on good terms. Thomas’ guitar work is instantly recogniseable and signature to Kampfar, carving a unique identity for the band. “The reason his guitar playing is quite different to other guitars is because he’s actually playing piano on a guitar. He thinks in piano. There were never two guitarists so he always played two melodies at once, basically, two harmonies at once. He plays deceptively simple. He’s actually an incredibly skilled musician,” Ask notes. Dolk is highly optimistic about Kampfar’s future with one of the founding members now absent from the line up: “We’re gonna nail it, without Thomas or not. We’re still brothers. When I go back to Norway, we’re having a barbecue party and he’s invited. We’re really connected but we just had to stop work with this kind of music together. We ended the line there, really.”

With the unhinged success of ‘Mare’, Kampfar’s position as co-headliners on tour with black metal stalwarts Secrets of the Moon and Vreid and a

highly anticipated North American tour, the band’s limits are not yet capped and they will continue to harvest a multitude of success that most black metal bands will never achieve. Kampfar demonstrate that persistence and artistic endeavour is the key to their outstanding results.

The End for Bal-Sagoth?

Originally written for Soundshock.com

Recently, black metal in the UK has truly developed a consistent scene with bands like Fen, A Forest of Stars and Wodensthrone acting as the vanguards of a new movement. However, before these bands, one of the most uttered names both at home and internationally in the UKBM scene was Bal-Sagoth. In the past few years, the fantasists have kept a low profile but why? Mainman Byron Roberts explains why he considers the band to be in semi-retirement.

  

In 2006, Bal-Sagoth released their last studio effort, entitled ‘The Chthonic Chronicles’ on one of the biggest metal labels Nuclear Blast. The album was very well-received by the metal community and an international showcase of UK black metal.  “We haven't been writing any new material, because we have yet to decide whether to carry on for further albums. I think eventually you will see the other members of the band branching out into various other projects, as realistically Bal-Sagoth won't last forever. I suppose you could say that Bal-Sagoth is in a state of semi-retirement, which wouldn't actually be too far from the truth! So essentially, the band has just been playing a handful of shows per year since our last album "The Chthonic Chronicles" came out in 2006,” Roberts notes. “Over the last five years, we've played in countries such as Finland, Norway, the USA, Portugal, the Czech Republic, etc. It hasn't been a deliberate decision to avoid playing the UK, it's just that no suitable offers had really come in until recently.” 

Given the bombastic and grand sound Bal-Sagoth exude on record, it can be incredibly difficult to replicate the music live. Opinions on Bal-Sagoth shows vary widely, dependent on the quality of the sound and the knowledge of the sound engineers at the time. “It's impossible to accurately recreate the multi-layered sound of the albums in the live environment. We just have to settle for getting it as close as is humanly possible within the overall confines of the live show. That's partially why I've never been satisfied with our gigs over the years. I personally don't think there's any need to play this stuff live. Every time we play a show it perhaps erodes a little bit of the magic this band has. I would hope that the energy of the live experience might go some way to make up for it, but there's only so much you can do. Quite honestly, our material is not designed or written to be performed accurately live. Bal-Sagoth has always been more about the album experience; sitting back with the stereo on, booklet in hand, with the listener getting lost within the sonic universe of our discography.”

Unlike many metal acts, Roberts admits that Bal-Sagoth’s strength is not in the live show. The prominence of the lyrics in the band substitute for this though; each album is a conceptual piece, concerning itself with fantasy and sci-fi worlds conceived by Roberts himself. “The whole concept for the band was essentially built around the lyrical content. I had many of the lyrics written and the albums planned our years before I even met the people who would eventually end up being in the band. I came up with the band concept around 1989, but back then, seemingly no one was interested in being part of a high concept metal band with fantasy and sci-fi lyrics. That was the height of the whole socio-political thrash and death metal band surge, and it just wasn't "cool" to want to start a band dealing with mythological and fantasy topics. It was a real problem finding people willing to give the idea a chance. Eventually a guy I knew called Mac introduced me to some people he had been jamming covers within their bedroom. They were looking to start a serious band too, and to cut a long story short, Jonny and Chris ultimately agreed to be part of the Bal-Sagoth project. Only then did the music start being composed.”

With such dedication to the lyrics that are written over a period of years, it seems unusual that Roberts expresses these stories through music as opposed to a medium that would allow him to limitlessly narrate, such as a novel. “The reason I wanted to tell these stories via music was because of my love of black and death metal, and fantasy & sci-fi literature. Fusing those two loves seemed like a good idea at the time. The whole idea was that the band would be an extreme and symphonic musical project which would be underpinned by this elaborate lyrical universe. Originally, it was also driven by a desire to create the kind of music and lyrics that I myself would like to hear and read as a fan, because there wasn't much of that kind of stuff around back then. Pretty much everyone opposed the idea at some point, even people in the band itself, believe it or not! But eighteen years and six albums later, here we are.” Persistence is obviously the key for Byron. He states: “The other members aren't really reading enthusiasts, to be honest, and they certainly aren't big readers of fantasy, sci-fi or mythological books. I'm sure they eventually read the album booklets once they get copies of the CDs, but they generally don't take any great interest in the lyrical side of the band, and never have. And that's fine with me, because the lyrical side is exclusively my domain anyway.”

With a power-struggle between the music and the lyrics, it is worth considering how the songs are written and which aforementioned aspect is the priority. “When we write albums, I'll give the composers an outline of the kind of stuff I need for each song. Sometimes it will be a very broad outline, merely mentioning the overall mood required for a piece. Other times, for the "flagship" songs, it will be a much more detailed outline listing the events of the story and so forth. A lot of the time Jonny just comes up with something unconnected to an outline and just submits it to me, and I then decide which lyrics are best suited to that particular composition. More often than not, the actual final lyrics are kept a secret from all the other members of the band until the mixing process is underway! So, ultimately, our way of writing songs is a mixture of collaboration and isolation, and that's the Bal-Sagoth method.” A method that is unlikely to change if Bal-Sagoth decide to continue with new material but for now, it’s all up in the air and all dedicated fanatics should catch the live shows because nothing is set in stone for these symphonic black metallers.