An Epic Adventure With Bal-Sagoth
England's Bal-Sagoth is a band which is necessarily the sum of its parts. Its music, a combination Epic Black Metal with orchestral leanings, would not be complete without the stories woven by the band's vocalist and lyrical mastermind – Byron Roberts, who, like the famed poet, injects the band's lyrics with an equal dose of imagination and horror. Bal-Sagoth's latest full length album, "The Chthonic Chronicles", is their 6th release, and as it seems, Byron has more than enough stories to easily complete further 6 albums. To find out more about the band's ongoing mythology, Byron the bard was kind enough to expand and explain.
Hello, I must admit it's been hard for me to write questions for you, since I don't know where to begin, but let's take it as a book, and start at the prologue, please tell us what is idea behind Bal-Sagoth?
The Bal-Sagoth concept was something which I dreamed up a long time ago… back in the 1980's. I wanted to form an extreme metal band which would create powerfully symphonic, bombastic and dark black/death metal, all entwined in a lyrical concept inspired by ancient myths, arcane legends, mythology and the occult, as well as pulp fantasy, horror and science-fiction. The idea was to create something very special, very unique and very baroque. I knew that keyboards would play an important role in the project, and they would be used to create a very symphonic and orchestral element to the music. The key to the whole undertaking was always intended to be the very complex and intricate lyrical mythos that would ultimately come to embody and define the band. And that, very briefly, was the idea behind Bal-Sagoth!
Apart from the Epic theme, Bal-Sagoth's general definition has been said to be a mixture of Death / Black metal, which I heard you are inspired from, but it is really hard to even compare your work to something that is known with these types of genres. What do you think makes Bal-Sagoth belong to the Metal world, and how would you define, if at all, your music?
Our sound and style is very complex. At its core it is definitely based on black metal, but of course we infuse our material with a great variety of other influences, such as classical music, and epic film soundtracks to name but two. We have always strived to be unique, and have worked to create our own unique style and sound based upon the whole fantasy/mythological thematic basis, with originality always of paramount importance. People often have difficulty classifying or describing our sound and style, so the term black metal is often the easiest and most suitable term of reference which can be used in relation to the band. At our core, we are still essentially a black metal band, and that will never, ever change. But of course we also offer much more than black metal, and take great delight in pushing the boundaries of the genre and transcending the limitations and recognized parameters of the style.
"The Chthonic Chronicles" is your latest release, which closes the story of Bal-Sagoth 2nd Trilogy. When you began working on your first album, did you ever think you would get this far with your stories and music?
Although the whole Bal-Sagoth lyrical mythos was planned out in advance and I knew (at least in theory) roughly what each album would be about, I never really figured we'd actually get to six albums. It's great that the support and interest of the fans has allowed us to carry on to this extent.
As I read through the lyrics of the new album you can see many references to previous albums or specific songs, as happened before with parts of the other albums. Are there any plans to work on a book, or anything else, which will take these stories and put them as they should, in the right order, or at least, in a big tale?
Yes, the whole saga of the lyrics is a vast and intricate thing. All the Bal-Sagoth lyrics are part of the same grand saga, a saga which encompasses the entire vista of creation from the beginnings of the universe to the cataclysmic end of all there is. They are tales of ancient kingdoms, epic battles, distant worlds, dark sorcery, diabolical demons, rogue gods, and incredible journeys beyond the parameters of humanity to spheres of existence unparalleled in the annals of the cosmos.
The lyrics are inspired by many things, including ancient myths and legends, arcane history, dreams, and a myriad other sources. The alternate-universe of the lyrics is a fantastic place teeming with dark and sublime wonders, a place complete with its own unique history, theology, geography, mythology and cosmology… a place of glorious carnage, epic adventure and unparalleled darkness. I've written many prose stories which take place in the lyrical world of Bal-Sagoth, and I'm also currently working on some Bal-Sagoth comic book ideas with our cover artist Martin Hanford!
The first mini comic stories will involve characters from the "Draconis Albionensis" song and also a tale featuring Zurra, a villainous character from the fourth album. Hopefully some previews of these graphic novels should be available at our official site relatively soon. Also, the newly expanded version of the Bal-Sagoth Glossary will be unveiled on the official site very soon. The new glossary is several times larger than the old one and provides entries from all six albums. The plan is that all this stuff should be published in some form at some point.
Can you tell us a short summery of the current Bal-Sagoth story until the beginning of your new release?
Well, the best thing would be for people to check out the "Chronology" on our official website. That gives a full history of the band all the way from the very beginning up to the release of our sixth album!
Five years have passed since your last album came out, do you think this long waiting time helped the band's popularity, or did you lose your momentum because of this?
Well, we never really worry about losing momentum, because we've always worked to our own schedule. We just do things at our own pace and to our own plan, and our material is so timeless that even a lengthy delay like five years does not have a detrimental effect. The Bal-Sagoth fans are very dedicated, they are devoted to true and enduring art, and are not interested in trends or transient superficial material. Also, it's always been important to me that Bal-Sagoth remains a very obscure and mysterious band… a band veiled in a shroud of secrecy and mystique.
As I learned, you can't approach Bal-Sagoth's music without having some knowledge about the stories behind it, in order to fully understand it. Do you think it is difficult to get people hooked or is it more helpful, as the nature of people is to get into stories better?
Well, essentially any Bal-Sagoth album can be enjoyed as a stand alone entity or as part of a greater overall saga if the listener truly wishes to experience the full Bal-Sagoth effect. However, like any multi-part work, there are many references on each album which only people familiar with the other releases in the canon will truly appreciate. Additionally, listeners can simply listen to any Bal-Sagoth album on a more casual level, without any knowledge of the stories, but this art has been crafted to be enjoyed as a cohesive whole, so obviously being familiar with and understanding the events of the narrative will enrich the overall experience.
I know you have been mainly influenced by H.P. Lovecraft (we'll get to him later) and Robert E. Howard, which created one of my favorite characters, Conan. As you told before, Bal-Sagoth's name came from his story called "The Gods of Bal-Sagoth"… But I would like to know, if there were any influences from the stories of Conan himself, or other stories which refer to that time before Atlantis sank?
Certainly, elements from all of Howard's wonderfully varied works have provided inspiration to me over the years, from his Conan stories, to the Cormac Mac Art and Bran Mak Morn tales, to the King Kull, Solomon Kane and Francis X. Gordon works, etc.
Howard was himself influenced by the great H.P. Lovecraft, who supposedly wrote the infamous "Necronomecon" which is known to be a great part of the metal culture, and specifically the black metal scene. Do you grasp this book, and all these stories, as fictional tales or do you find in them as true occult artifacts?
The Necronomicon which Lovecraft refers to in several of his stories is a clever literary invention. All existing works purported to be translations of the Necronomicon are also works of fiction. However, in creating the Necronomicon and his Cthulhu Mythos, Lovecraft drew his inspiration from real mythological and occult sources which go back thousands of years, such as Sumerian myth and various associated magical and occult traditions and texts.
Besides those two writers, do you find influences, or interest in more modern writers or even "simpler" Fantasy worlds, like the Lord of the Rings, Dragonlance, Forgotten Realms and so on?
To be honest, I don't really read a lot of fantasy, but I have always been a big fan of Tolkien and his Middle Earth stories. I also like some of the books by David Gemmell, who always tells a gripping and compelling story. His Druss saga is a particular favorite.
Back to Bal-Sagoth, I always wanted to know, why do you choose such long names for your songs?
My longer song titles have certainly gained myself and the band some notoriety, which is of course a good thing. There are fans out there who love the long song titles, and of course that tradition is something which I will always maintain. I have always used a combination of both long and short titles, and it is something which Bal-Sagoth is recognized for.
Bal-Sagoth is a band, although the lyrics are yours, can you explain how do you work as a group? How do you create a song and decide what music would basically fit in with the words?
The songs always start out as stories and lyrics; the concept and thematic essence of a piece always comes first. I always have the lyrics and stories planned out or fully written well in advance of the commencement of the music writing process. I generally present a synopsis of the events and a detailed directive concerning the kind of musical composition which is needed to Jonny so he knows what is needed with the music. Often there are meetings about the progress of the music, during which I invariably inform Jonny about the nature of the story, and what moods and atmospheres are ideally required, and what keyboard "special effects", if any, I think would be beneficial to the piece. He also unveils new pieces and compositions and musical ideas he's come up with. That's basically how this band works.
In the past 5 years there has been a growing interest in Fantasy in the metal world, with Epic themed bands that sing of battles and glory tales of old. What do you think about this and do you think Bal-Sagoth was affected by this in any way?
Well, I came up with the idea for the Bal-Sagoth fantasy universe many years ago, and we've been doing this stuff from the beginning, so the sudden fantasy resurgence in metal is something we just observe with a kind of detached apathy. It certainly hasn't affected us in any way, and we don't listen to any of the bands that are doing that kind of stuff.
A few hours before I worked on these "Epic Questions" I happened to see a program about Yorkshire and it's Viking Culture, did Yorkshire and the Viking stories inspire your Stories in any way?
The fact that I come from this area of England has always inspired me greatly. This area of Jorvik-shire is rich in history and ancient cultural traditions. There are numerous castles, ruins, archaeological sites and stone circles around the area, with an array of interesting sites spanning many periods from the time of the ancient Britons, to the Roman invasions, the Anglo-Saxon era, the Viking period, etc. This area was the realm of the Pecseatan (Peak Dwellers), and being surrounded by such history always provides great inspiration.
Speaking of the Vikings and Epic Themed Bands, how can you explain that most of these bands come from Finland and not from England which has similarly well known folklore tales?
Strangely, many people remain unaware of England's mythological heritage and folklore traditions. Elements of many ancient cultures and myth cycles thrive in England, most interestingly the ancient proto-Celtic and heathen Anglo-Saxon traditions. For instance the tribes of Engel-Land hailed to gods such as Woden, Thunor, Tiw and Wayland, which are the old English names for the northern gods. In fact, the author Tolkien wished to revive interest in English myth, which was one of his directives in crafting the Middle Earth mythology. For instance, many of the names, words and languages of the people of Rohan were directly drawn from Anglo-Saxon (not Viking) cultural sources.
Do you think there is a chance to see the 2nd Bal-Sagoth trilogy on stage, and if so, how would you transform the feeling and magic behind your music, to a live performance?
It would be great to present a Bal-Sagoth show on a grand and epic scale. My ideal show would involve a truly gigantic stage presentation, including multiple pyrotechnics, lasers, snow and fog machines, a cast of extras, etc. Perhaps one day the funds would become available to mount such an ambitious presentation. And yet, I have always felt that when a band plays live, some of the magic and the mystique which is contained on an album is generally lost. No matter how good the show is, the very act of playing live demystifies the band and brings them back down to a mundane and earthly level, such are the limitations of the technology and the very medium itself. So, for any future Bal-Sagoth gigs, people will just have to be satisfied with us just trying to play this stuff as accurately as possible… no gimmicks, no circus, no nonsense.
I read that you listen mainly to old stuff, like Celtic Frost, Emperor and so on. What do you think of this "comeback trend" that effected many bands, including those two?
If a band feels that they truly have something artistically valid to present, then I think it's great that they come back and show it to their fans. In the case of Celtic frost and Emperor, I'm really looking forward to hearing their new material.
As a movie freak myself, I tend to listen to many Soundtracks among my Metal CD's… I would like to know what are your favorite Soundtracks are and if you had the chance, what sort of Soundtrack would you make, and to which movies?
My favorite movie soundtracks include the Star Wars hexalogy, the Lord of the Rings, Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Conan the Barbarian, the Good, the Bad & the Ugly, Aliens, Batman, Superman The Movie, Planet of the Apes (original), Battlestar Galactica (original), Zulu, The Last of the Mohicans (1990's version), Robocop, Jason and the Argonauts (original), The Omen, Gladiator, The Black Hole, and many more.
If we were to create the soundtrack to a movie, it would have to be some kind of epic historical, mythological, fantasy or sci-fi film, ideally. Our stuff is very filmic, both musically and lyrically. Also, the way we score our material and the method by which we record it is very symphonic in nature. When recording the keyboards, we will record the various constituent orchestral instruments layer by layer, instrument by instrument, utilizing the advanced synthesizer technology available to us. Thus, we will record the brass parts, the string parts, the woodwind (!) and the timpani, and the choirs all individually and separately, in a very symphonic manner. This is part of what gives us our powerfully and uniquely orchestral sound. So, there you go, our stuff could actually be played by The London Symphony Orchestra.
And now, what does the future hold for Bal-Sagoth? New Stories? A DVD? The comic book on the works? Please, tell us everything.
Well, there is certainly enough material remaining to cover a further six albums and beyond! However, whether or not we ever get round to recording those albums remains to be seen. Generally, we don't really enjoy participating in the music industry, as there are too many dishonorable, pedantic and untrustworthy entities which infest it. And of course fans of the stories will be able to read additional adventures in both prose short-story and graphic novel format soon. I'm currently working with cover artist Martin Hanford on the graphic novel idea, and some previews should be circulating relatively soon. And there is still interest from various software development companies to turn the concept into a computer game, so there should hopefully be plenty of opportunity for fans to revisit the Bal-Sagoth universe in the future. As for a DVD… we'll never release a standard commercial style video, but I'm currently compiling some old tour footage from the tours we did in 1997 with Dark Funeral and Emperor, so I might release that footage sometime.
To surmise, please share with us some last words for the Israeli warrior fans.
Thanks for the interview! Many thanks to all the Bal-Sagoth fans in Israel who are reading this; we greatly appreciate your support. Check out our Website for news and features on the band (the site will soon be totally revamped and improved). We hope you enjoy the dark and thrilling ride which is "The Chthonic Chronicles"! Sic Itur Ad Astra! [This is the Way to the Stars]
