Bal-Sagoth: The Genesis and Inception. Nicky, the founder of this fan page, has asked me to pen a brief piece recounting the inception of Bal-Sagoth, so here it is, to the best of my recollection. Well, it all started with an idea, as most things do, I suppose. It was the late 1980s, the heyday of socio-political thrash bands. I listened to those acts a fair bit, but my true passions were bands like Bathory, Celtic Frost, Sabbat and Morbid Angel; acts who wrote about fantasy, mythological and sinister occult topics, which to me was infinitely more compelling than the plethora of outfits who droned on about nuclear war and other such contrived contemporary political content. Inspired by such epic fantasy bands, I set about creating the template for my own take on extreme metal, which would involve an elaborate and fantastical lyrical framework fused to a very dark and symphonic musical backdrop. I initially considered several names for this project, including Yog-Sothoth, Yob-Haggoth, Hatheg-Kla, and of course Bal-Sagoth. Ultimately I chose the name Bal-Sagoth, because the great Robert E. Howard was my primary lyrical inspiration, and that name had captivated me ever since I first read his epic tale The Gods of Bal-Sagoth when I was but a callow youth. I designed a logo for the band, replete with slime and sharp blade-like protrusions, and set about drafting the extensive lyrical canon which would underpin the project. Alas, I found it very difficult to find suitable musicians who were willing to commit to the idea. Almost everyone I spoke to was more interested in socio-political thrash and pseudo-death metal, or the deplorable funk-thrash fusion which became inexplicably big during the early 1990s. I ended up jamming with some friends from my days at Sheffield Hallam University, and tried to steer them towards the grand fantasy approach which I had in mind. I called that project Yog-Sothoth, and wrote the lyrics for the band, which was a kind of early precursor to the more pure Bal-Sagoth template. And yet, the music composed for that band ill-suited the concept. Plus, I was on bass at that point, and although I became fairly proficient on the four-stringer (or the Tool of Ignorance as Mac used to call it), I knew my true calling was vocals. When that rather curious outfit eventually folded, I became disillusioned and began to think Id never find anyone willing to embrace the Bal-Sagoth concept. Then, one night in Rebels (a Sheffield rock nightclub long since consigned to shadow and memory), Mac came up to me and said hed been jamming cover versions on Sunday afternoons with some guys hed met a while ago. They were interested in starting up a serious band, but at that point they had no idea bout what kind of outfit it would be save that it would play extreme metal. He said I should come along with him and spend an afternoon at the Manor drinking Castlemaine XXXX and belting out a few tunes. I figured there was nothing to lose, so I agreed. Alas, Mac didnt like the name Bal-Sagoth, nor the elaborate fantasy lyrical topics I had in mind. His exact words to me, which I vividly remember to this day, were; Im not really interested in all that dark gods shit! Undeterred, I went along to meet Chris and Jonny, and we duly started to make a hideous noise upstairs, much to the chagrin of their parents. The first tune we played was a Napalm Death cover, but as I wasnt familiar with anything that band had done since Harmony Corruption, it was something of a shaky first meeting. I began to doubt that anything would come of it, as Jonny and Chris werent really familiar with the bands I cited as inspirations, and Mac was very committed to a kind of thrash-death approach, devoid of keyboards or grandiose orchestration. Nevertheless, we continued to jam together for a few months. The name of the outfit posed a problem, because as I said earlier, Mac simply didnt like the name Bal-Sagoth. (I recall first showing him the logo and the lyrics in an old pub called The Yorkshiremans Arms back in the day). So, I drafted out a long list of possible alternative names which we could call this rather crude Sunday afternoon noise-maker. The very last name on that list was Dusk. Of course, that was the one Mac liked best! Chris and Jonny werent overly enamoured of it, and in truth, neither was I. But to set the wheels in motion, we began calling ourselves Dusk, for better or for worse. We recorded a few rehearsals, and it was a start, if nothing else. However, it soon became clear that the Dusk project just wasnt working. I was frustrated that I couldnt implement the Bal-Sagoth project fully, and one night on the way home from rehearsal, Chris and I had a long conversation regarding the future (or lack thereof) regarding the band. Alas, we both came to the same conclusion. In order to press ahead with the true nature of the project, we would regrettably have to part ways with Mac. This dark deed was duly done, and we began to rehearse on Fridays, a tradition which has remained in place ever since. I showed Jonny and Chris the full extent of my Bal-Sagoth lyrics, which I kept in a black file along with my character sketches and assorted logo and flyer illustrations, and more crucially, I also played them some material by the bands I considered influences for the Bal-Sagoth project, including Celtic Frost, Bathory, Masters Hammer, Morbid Angel, Emperor, et al. As soon as they heard Emperor, they finally realized what I meant when I said I wanted keyboards to play a prominent role in the band. Jonny, a trained pianist, was particularly enthralled by this approach. Shortly thereafter, the band purchased a keyboard (a Yamaha DX-21) and recruited a keyboard player in the shape of one Vincent Crabtree. Unfettered at last, I immediately implemented the Bal-Sagoth project in full, and began circulating hand drawn flyers and rehearsal tapes throughout the old tape-trading network. We recorded a crude three track demo during the winter of 1993, which ultimately caught the attention of the London based label Cacophonous Records, who (much to our amazement) duly offered us a three album deal. And lo, there you have the genesis and inception of Bal-Sagoth. The rest is history, as they say. And its the belief and dedication of you, the fans, which has enabled us to carry on this damn fool idealistic crusade for over 20 years. Thank you most sincerely, one and all. BYRON
Posted on: Tue, 29 Jul 2014 16:23:51 +0000
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