Formed in the early nineties, Yorkshire-based Bal-Sagoth legend was originally born as an idea of vocalist Byron Roberts. He’s vision and unique writing talents spurred the idea of creating one of the most singular and enigmatic black metal bands ever. If you are a fan of dark fantasy, ancient legends and mysterious tales of wonder wrapped around the avant-garde image with powerful and magical atmosphere "Atlantis Ascendant" as well as Bal-Sagoth’s previous releases are definitely something you need to check out. The founder of this enigmatic band tells me about their history and what’s in the future...

Chris


Let’s start with a little bit of history of the band. I’m sure a lot of people are curious about the unusual name. From what I know it comes from one of the Robert E. Howard stories. Could you tell us about the meaning of this name and the Howard work in connection to the band?

Yeah, the actual name comes from the story that he wrote called "Gods of Bal-Sagoth" which was first published in 1931 in a pulp-fiction magazine called "Wired Tales". The actual story, Bal-Sagoth itself, it’s a very mysterious and shrouded Ireland kingdom ruled over by this warrior-queen. Ever since I’ve first read the name Bal-Sagoth, when I first read the story when I was a kid, it just kind of stuck in my memory and I really just loved the name. When I was coming up with the whole concept of Bal-Sagoth that name was really still in my head and it just seemed to completely mirror the whole lyrical concept that I had in mind perfectly. So, when I was coming up with the idea for the band, that was the only name I really had in mind to use, so that’s why we are Bal-Sagoth essentially.
Certainly Robert E. Howard had a big influence on me, kind of a big inspiration, but all the stories across all five albums they are all my own stuff. Occasionally, I use one of his place names but basically all stories are my own stuff, just kind of my own imagination. Certainly I’m inspired by him and writers like H.P. Lovecraft and Tolkien.

Your first three CDs were presented as a Trilogy. "The Power Cosmic" was supposed to start a new one. Is "Atlantis Ascendant" a logical continuation of "The Power Cosmic" or did you drop that idea and it’s a story in itself?

Actually all the Bal-Sagoth albums are connected by being a part of this same grand overall saga. The first three albums, I label those as the first trilogy, more for ease of reference than as an actual tool for a divining the stories on them. On the new album we actually have continuations of songs which we began on the first three albums. So, it’s really an ongoing thing, all the songs on all albums are pretty much connected by a big overall story.

If I remember right, you once said that it would be a six-part saga? If so, there’s only one CD left. What’s next… the end of Bal-Sagoth, or will you start a new trilogy?

It’s interesting. Back in the early days when I was kind of looking ahead, wondering how many albums it might take to complete the whole story, six was the number I had in mind. As things have progressed I’ve come to realize that should we choose to go on after the sixth album, we certainly do have a lot more stories to tell and a lot of music to write. If we decide to go for that long we have enough stuff for maybe 12 albums. I mean, I’m not even going to have a chance to actually finish all the stories that we began on the previous albums by the time the sixth one comes around. I think maybe if the conditions are right, if we get a good deal from a record label and if things will work as planed we’ll probably continue after the sixth one.

"The Power Cosmic" ended the era of icy caves, dragons and demons and moved into outer space. Where do you go next?

All the way from the beginning of the Bal-Sagoth story there’s been like a fusion of science fiction and fantasy stuff in the lyrics. For instance, on the "Starfire..." album we had songs like 'Vortex' and some things regarding the astral gate, which were very, very kind of science fiction inspired. When I moved to the more science fiction elements on "The Power Cosmic" it was still a lot of fantasy mixed in there but the science fiction kind of icon overview was more prevalent. There’s always been a science fiction element in the Bal-Sagoth stuff and I think "Atlantis Ascendant" bones in that fusion once again. You have fantasy stories mixed with the science fiction. I think next I’m definitely going to continue and conclude a lot of the stories which I begun on the previous albums mixing fantasy, science fiction and also exploring some historical elements from the stories.

One more question from your previous album... Why in the world you didn’t include lyrics for "The Power Cosmic"?

That was kind of experiment which I was interested in doing. There were two parts to it, one of the parts was I wanted to do a web site only thing, cause at the time our web site was just taking of and we were getting a lot of hits and people were getting really into it. So, I figured if I make the lyrics almost exclusive to the web site that could draw more people to the site and in turn they could see more the features associated to the band but of course there are a quite few people that don’t have an access to the internet and that caused a few problems which is why at some point in the future I’m thinking of approaching Nuclear Blast to reprint the booklet with a full version of the lyrics. And another reason that lyrics were not printed in "The Power Cosmic" was because Nuclear Blast were having a little bit of a problem understanding and being able to translate and reprint all the arcane terms from the English that I use. And when they sent me the stuff back for proofreading there were all kinds of spelling mistakes and it was becoming evident that it would take a lot of time to sort this out, but that wasn’t really the main reason. It was simply the idea I had to make the lyrics website exclusive and by doing so I could add certain chapters on ongoing basis, expand the lyrics and make them truly an ongoing kind of concept.

If you had to choose the best story you have ever written which one would it be?

That’s difficult. One of the stories closest to me in terms of the cultural way is the ‘Tale From the Deep Woods’, which is actually set during the time of Anglo-Saxon England where we have this warrior who has been wounded in the battle. He’s pretty much dead so he slumps beneath the great oak tree in the middle of the forest and he reflects on his past achievements and reflects upon the nature of the Gods, what kind of significance the old tree has to his particular situation in his own kind of theological mindset. I think that would probably be one of my favorites as well as ‘Circus Maximus’ and ‘Behind the Born Empire’ trilogy.

"The Power Cosmic" also ended your relation with Cacophonous Records and started a new long-term deal with Nuclear Blast. Are you satisfied with those changes and why did you leave Cacophonous?

Initially we decided not to resign with Cacophonous because they are such a small label, they have very limited distribution and they couldn’t really publicized or promote the albums sufficiently. I used to get letter from people all the time saying that they can’t find our records in the stores and they couldn’t find them because Cacophonous distribution network was so very very limited. So when Nuclear Blast approached us and said we can offer you this pretty much worldwide distribution, big publicity and you don’t have to be worry about people being pissed off because they can’t find your albums, we decided it was time for a change and we went with Nuclear Blast for a few albums. We are very satisfied with them so far, they have promoted the album quite well. They’ve given us a lot of publicity in magazines worldwide and all that kind of thing. They could maybe do with giving us a little more tour support, which would help, but apart from that we are pretty satisfied with what they’ve done.

I’ve heard that there were plans to release a book or even a video game based on your lyrics. Can we expect either one of those in the future?

Yeah. The book idea is something we should certainly go ahead. I’ve written all kinds of short stories and there are several publishers that are quite interested in releasing them at some point. Also I’ve written quite a few scripto-graphic novels which are set in this same universe as the lyrics which will be illustrated by a various team of artist including Martin Hanford who does our covers these days. As for the video game idea that’s something I’d really like to do. We have contact with programmers of games like "Unreal Tournament" or "Diablo II" who are big fans of the band. They are really into the whole Bal-Sagoth thing that we are doing and one of the guys who used to work on one of those games wants to set up his own software house and one of the things he said would love to do an RPG based on Bal-Sagoth world. So, hopefully at some point in the future that might become a reality.

As usual with promo versions I don’t have any lyrics… Can you shine some light and tell me what are the stories about?

Several of the songs on the album, including the title track itself, are presented in the text of the lyric booklet as actual mini-concept. They are linked by being the excerpts from the field journal of a nineteenth century explorer who was discovering all kinds of arcane power and the evidence of advanced civilizations which ones existed on the earth, such as Atlantis. He studied and he’s excavated places all over the world and he discovered all kinds of evidence about the existence of these ancient empires like Hyperborea, Atlantis and Lemuria. As his journey continues he continues to piece together the puzzle and he discovers certain truths about the origin of mankind and the true nature of creation. He also confronts not human forces, which put the end to his quest. So, that’s kind of summing up the mini-concept which is presented on the album in addition to all other songs which although they take place within this same kind of fantasy universe they are not part of the concept such as "Hyperborean Empire Part III." So we have a good mixture of different stories on the new album.

You write very complicated and unusual stories, other than books where do you get inspiration for your lyrics?

Pretty much my main inspiration comes from writers like Howard, Lovecraft and Tolkien and basically all that kind of fantasy and science fiction fare from over the past several decades. I’m also very much inspired by things like ancient myths and legends. I’m particularly interested in ideas of lost civilizations like Atlantis and all that sort of thing. Also anything that kind of kept my mind in imagination from comic books to video games to movies... It’s quite a wide range of inspirations for me.

Don’t you think that because of those complex, out of this world lyrics they are pretty hard for general public to understand?

Yeah, that’s interesting... but one of the prime directives for me when we were creating the band was to make things very complex, very intrigue and actually force people to read between the lines. It’s not something you can just pick up and get immediately like if the band was writing about, I don’t know, having trouble with the girlfriend or all that kind of street topics, which people can instantly identify. For us I just wanted to avoid the common place and to make things pretty much a journey into the imagination for the reader. Maybe we are the band that you actually have to work hard to get into but once you unlock the gates to the whole Bal-Sagoth concept and you’re in there it’s quite rewarding. It just takes a while...

Now we know what inspires you lyrically but what about the music?

Music wise we have a very wide range of inspirations. All the way from extreme metal and traditional heavy metal to very weird stuff. The guy who writes majority of our music, Johnny (Maudling), his favorite band is The Police and he also likes stuff like A-Ha. He’s really into stuff like Tangerine Dream, Vangelis and all that kind of thing. We also have members of the band that are into Rush, Dream Theatre. Dave Mackintosh’s favorite bands are Metallica, Slayer... My favorites are Bathory, Celtic Frost, Morbid Angel... Of course classical music as well, that’s a big influence for us. Composers like Wagner, Holst, Berlioz and Borodin and all those classic composer from years past.

If I had to describe you music style the closest thing that comes to my mind is symphonic-black-metal. What’s your view on it? How would you describe your style?

From our basis and our core we are definitely black metal. Black and death metal were our initial blocks when we were developing our sound. So, certainly we are a black metal band and there is no denying that. We also dress it up in this symphonic regalia and we are trying to push the boundaries. Actually I’m the only one in the band who really kind of hails to the whole extreme metal scene which is for a lot of people quite surprising. But yeah, at the core of the band we are black metal, very symphonic, very avant-garde but deep down it’s black metal at its core.

What’s your writing process look like, do the lyrics always come first and then you write music to it, or is it a more a spontaneous process?

The lyrics always come first. I always write the lyrics well in advance before the music is being composed. And then what happens is I go to Jonny and give him kind of directives of what kind of moods I need. For instance, this song on our new album called 'The Dreamer In The Catacombs Of Ur', which is very eastern and has very kind of exotic sound to it, I went to him and I said ‘OK, here is the location of the story, here is what happens, here is what kind of mood, feeling and atmospheres I require.’ Basically, he will go away with that knowledge and come back to me with drafts of various possibilities of the song and then we will work together and we will come up with the final product. The final versions of the songs really come together when we are in the studio. That’s when the lyrics are finally put on into the music. That’s basically the writing style, the formula we use these days.

You just finished a first part of the European Tour with Marduk, Vader and Amon Amarth just to name a few. If I’m not mistaken you haven’t toured too much lately, are you satisfied with your performance?

Yeah, pretty much. We don’t tend to tour very often in fact this tour we’ve just done was the first one since ’97. We were quite happy to get back out there onto live circuit and kind of reintroduce ourselves to the live environment. We are pretty much satisfied with our performance. In the past, when we had session members in the band, who weren’t particularly very good at their instruments we had trouble recreating a lot of part of the music live. These days we have really well skilled musicians in the band so we can really go a long way towards recapturing much of the album live. We don’t tend to play live very often but hopefully we are gonna get beck into the whole live environment again in a big way in coming moths.

What’s your favorite track to play live and why?

One of my favorite tracks, I think, it has to be 'A Tale From The Deep Woods' from the "Battle Magic". It just lends itself so well into the live environment. Also 'The Hyperborean Empire Part II' from "Battle Magic" also. Those two songs really do translate well into the live performance. Of course they have all kinds of parts in them when the crowds can jump up and down, they can sing along with the words and all that kind of thing. So, probably those are two of my favorite ones to play live.

I’ve heard that there are plans to visit this side of Atlantic. Any specific dates?

Yeah, there are ongoing negotiations; we’ve confirmed our interest in a US tour, which if everything goes as planned, will start in July – "Summertime Slaughter Tour" with Vader and quite a few other bands. Nothing is absolutely definite yet, we haven’t gotten a list of dates or anything but hopefully if everything works out that should start some time in July for about four weeks.

Last question… Do you feel like you achieved your goals you once set creating Bal-Sagoth?

I tend to take the whole goal thing step by step. So, when we first started the band, the whole goals, as I set them up, were very much in stages. Our first goal was to make a demo, than we made a demo and the second one was to get sign, than we got sign... Basically we take everything as it comes. We’ve done five albums, which is certainly a fulfillment of a goal, definitely. We’ve toured Europe several times with bands with quite respect like Emperor and all that kind of thing... I guess the next goal for me would be to expand the whole Bal-Sagoth concept from CDs and musical form into other areas of the media like the comic books, video games, get action figures on the market based on the characters and all that kind of thing. So, I think that’s the next big goal we can probably be looking at. That’s pretty weird and a lot of people think it’s very unlikely and they think I’m crazy but that’s just something I’d like to do.

After writing the review for the album I couldn’t possibly stay away from Omega Prayer and Abhordium. I’ve been going back to the album quite often, so when the opportunity presented itself and there was a chance to do an interview, I just went for it. Arttu Aalto (drums) was nice enough and agreed to answer my questions - so click on the video to listen to the tracks and get to reading.

Tomek

Thank you for finding time to this interview, how cold is Finland this time of the year?

Hi! It has been pretty cold last few weeks. Around -10 to -20 degrees Celsius. It's still nothing compared to what it used to be 15-20 years ago. You can clearly see that the climate is changing. It's usually rainy and slushy weather from late autumn to late spring nowadays, at least here in Southern Finland.

Quite different from temperatures in Florida [laughs] How is Abhordium nowadays?

We're quite busy right now writing new material, promoting the new album and trying to arrange some gigs.

New material in the works already!! Keeping busy aren't you? Here is one that you probably hate already [laughs] how would you define the meaning of the word Abhordium?

It is meant to describe a feeling of extreme abhorrence. The conflicts of views, beliefs and values tend to induce hatred and abhorrence in people - and when taken to extreme proportions, it can drive them to atrocities. So in a way it also represents the destructive power of man.

Some time has passed since the release of the album Omega Prayer, and from what I can see on the net the word is good. How does it feel to know you did well?

It feels good of course. There were many issues during the years which delayed the release of the album, but we're glad it's finally out so we can concentrate on new material and playing gigs.

Album sounds and looks really good, so congrats on a job well done. Do you guys work on everything together?

Thanks! Yes we try to work together as much as we can. I live in Paimio nowadays, which is a small town about 20km from Salo, so the arranging of practice time and other sessions concerning the band has become a little bit harder.

New album has been out for more than two months now, what are the best things you've heard about the album, how about the funniest?

The most satisfying thing is to hear that people like the songs, the sound and the atmosphere on the album, because everything except the cover art and, of course, the pressing of the album was done by ourselves, so it's nice to hear this kind of feedback and appreciation of our art. Maybe the funniest in my opinion was this one short review that described our music as boring standard death metal hah! Negative and constructive criticism is of course always welcome, but that review was just really crappy. Well, we do not expect everyone to like our music.

What is Omega Prayer?

The album has visions of the end of our civilization by the actions of man, so it is the last prayer of a man when he faces his ruin and realizes that he has caused his own perdition. In the title track there are also aspects of the natural side of change and renewal through destruction. So, omega prayer can also be seen as a wish for the powers of nature to exterminate human race.

Most of you play in other bands so I was wondering how you handle working on new songs. Is there a decision maker/leader/tyrant that picks and chooses, or is everything being agreed on?

Like I said in the earlier question, we try to work together as much as possible, but I've been taking more responsibility on making new material, since Jarkko left the band, but all of us try to generate new ideas and then write them down or record them, and after that we try to refine them together.

Since everything is handled by all of you in Abhordium; who is responsible for what, how do you divide all the responsibilities?

We try to divide the responsibilities, but there have been certain roles that some of the members have taken. Kari and Henry has handled the business side, promotion and arranging gigs and me, Tommi and Markus have been focusing on making new material and taking care of the social media, and some of the promotion also.

With everything being taken care of how are you still not signed to a label? Are all the offers really that weak?

We are still currently looking for labels that would be interested in our material. We've received a few offers, but most of them have been either too expensive or we saw that they could not offer enough efficiency for the band, because we know the cost of pressing the album and the other production concerning it. So once again, we decided to release the album by ourselves.

Is that the reason for such a long break between the releases?

Yes, this is one of the reasons, but like I said earlier there were also other issues concerning the release of this album. From financial problems to other hardships in personal lives and also losing our rehearsal place, but still we managed to release it and the good feedback has motivated us to make new material.

You just unleashed two live videos, but only one is for a song from the new album. Was there any particular reason for such choice?

Those were the songs that went well and had the best looking material from that gig and of course the editing costs so these were the main reasons we chose these two songs.

Why did you choose to record that day and what other songs have been recorded, are we gonna see more videos coming out?

Because we had the equipment for recording that day as it was planned earlier that it would be nice to have a few live videos from that gig. The whole gig was recorded, but for me that wasn't the best performance, because the night before this gig we played in Helsinki, and I had a little fever. Luckily, I felt a little bit better on the next day. This was the first time that I've been sick on a gig and it fucking sucked to play those blast beats. It wasn't the wisest choice to play but at least now I know my limits. Yes we have been planning to record new live videos, because they are a good material for promotion.

Since we are talking about playing live, what are the 3 songs you just have to play when you're on stage? Are they fan or more of a band favorite?

From this album they would be 'Asebeia', 'At The Highest Temple' and 'Perpetual Desertification'. We've noticed that these songs have received the best feedback from the listeners/audience. I think it's the groove, the atmosphere and the crushing riffs in these songs that make most of the people like them and because of this we like to play them live.

While on the subject, will you follow the release of the new album with some touring; are there shows on the agenda yet, and most importantly - any USA dates?

We have only few gigs here in Finland, but we've been in touch with a foreign booking agency, however we haven't come to any conclusion yet. We are currently searching for more possibilities to play in foreign countries and we would certainly like to perform in USA some day. We hope that it will be possible in the near future.

As I mentioned before, most of you are currently members of other bands; between all the bands you are in, all the things that you do, and all the promotion you do for all of it - what do you do to unwind?

I don't know about the other guys but I usually watch movies, listen to some music or take a long walk in the forest with my dogs.

Any Finnish bands that you have been listening to lately?

Vargrav's debut Netherstorm caught my attention and also Desolate Shrine's latest album Deliverance From The Godless Void.

Are you a vinyl collector or more of a CD guy? Which one do you buy?

I've been collecting CDs but I don't have many, around 200 or something, mostly from the artists that I've been listening to for a long time. Of course I would like to have more and it would be also cool to own a vinyl collection one day.

Thanks for your time. Last line is yours.

Thank you for this interview and thanks to all of those who have supported us during the years!