... a band I knew nothing about, and did you know? I invite you to a rather unusual interview with a one-man group, whose music, when you get to know each other, will knock you to your knees! Here is Bloodrust from the UK.
1. Hello Richard, Hail BLOODRUST! You've been playing for 4 years now, 3 full albums, great reviews of the 2023 album, but first tell us the history of the group and how did you get back to England from the Falkland Islands?
Hi, Bloodrust has always been a one man band from the outset which was back in 2011 when I first started writing. None of those songs went anywhere but it wasn’t until 2020 when I had the time and desire to start writing.
I was working in the Falklands from 2019-2023 and as you can imagine a place that has around 5000 residents there are not a massive amounts of metalheads. I did want to expand the line up when I returned back to the UK but to limited success.
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2. You live in the south of England, what is the scene like there, do you maintain contact with other groups, are you recognised on the street, is it even hard to leave the house, is the popularity overwhelming?
There is a small local scene and a fair few scenes across the south of England. I have a few other projects in the go but I personally don’t have much to do with the scene at the moment but hoping to change that.
Luckily Bloodrust is still a tiny project so I can move around anonymously and well unless you’re in the big DM bands you never get recognised.
3. Let's get back to music, I have to admit that it gives a kick, it's pleasant for the ear and the soul. How do you make it come into being?
Sit down with a guitar, it generally is that simple. I like working with drum loops as an initial starting point if I’m stuck on a riff and it needs help. Generally it’s a riff and that pretty much dictates where I go. With At Glory’s End I was after a certain sound, I wanted that Swedish Death Metal buzz saw and a few songs were written with that tone in mind. Generally I just write and go through phases of blasting through 2 or 3 songs quickly, then a break and another 2 or 3. That way for me the songs feel like they belong together.
I do a few solos on each album apart from the debut where I didn’t do any but they are not complicated.
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4. What inspires you, do you walk in the woods, or lock yourself in a dark room or read a lot of books and it is like this - which one would you recommend?
I only need inspiration for Lyrics and that can be something I’ve read or sometimes just a single line that sparks my imagination. A few times I’ve been listening to a song that I need lyrics for and a few words come to mind and I then have to work out the direction of the song based on those few words.
With Death Metal I get inspiration from music. Thinking how can I get that feel or wow, that’s sounded so cool, can I do something like that in my own way. Originally Bolt Thrower were my main inspiration for wanting to write but as the albums have gone on I’ve found my own style and it’s something I hope to develop when time allows. Running with 3 projects now means I’ve got to concentrate on different things and I have to keep them separate.
5. What are your lyrics about? I guess not flowers or romance!
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No Flowers yet, Bloodrust is very much war themed as it’s something I find easy to write about mostly science fiction but a few songs have touched on other things.
Death of us all off of Legacy of Vengeance was the idea of mother nature having enough after a nuclear war and being even more destructive. Humanities last breath is from the perspective of someone who can’t escape war and only feels alive when they are in that environment.
Over the years I’ve delved into the Warhammer 40k lore and characters for lyrical ideas. I think about 7 or 8 songs over the 3 albums are influenced or based on 40k.
I want try and write different things but no need to find a topic that inspires me.
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6. Difficult question: If You had the chance, would I go back 20/30 years ago, create music and live in those times?
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That’s an interesting question. It would be nice to go back 30 years so I can experience those first listens of albums I love but knowing what I know now listening to the other bands that Ive come to love in the years since. Those early Swedish death metal albums, the Finnish DM scene as well as the Norwegian Black Metal scene. I was very set in my ways 30 years ago and didn’t really explore what was around. It would be fun to go back then and try to start something then, when there was a music industry.
7. A question about your latest album "at Glory's End" - what is your opinion on the problems in the East? Do you think it can reach and encompass the entire West globally?
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It only takes one event to destabilise things and if you take Ukraine for instance, the cost for the people of Ukraine is horrendous and it’s unfortunate that Putin decided to invade into what he though was a country that would fall on their knees for him. Instead he found a country resolute in their own desire for freedom and a Europe that realised if Ukraine fell then Europe was next. A series of Dominos that could fall until we hit another Cold War. I grew up in the 80s in Germany under the threat of the Russians and the eastern block and I would hate to and that started again. Politicians are what they are just some have desire for power more than others. I also think that countries that have spent as long as Russia did under communist rule and having their freedoms limited seems normal so for them Putin and his regime are the same as before just under a different name.
On my debut album I did write a song about Vlad the Mad and the Novichok poisonings in Salisbury, I did try and warn people.
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8. Thank you for your time. The last words are up to you. Eat your fans, tell them your message!
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Thanks for your continued support for Bloodrust, support metal and in this crazy word stay safe.
interview 2024y. by Seducer
