Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
Blight is born from the premature demise of other musical ventures. It first started as a low-key side-project (featuring myself and Vatican’s guitar player, circa 2008) that we were doing as a mean to compose Black Metal with an old-school formula and express further the Luciferian ethos prevalent in most of my artistic endeavours. Totally DIY, this first incarnation of BLIGHT only released two very underground and limited edition tapes, and eventually ‘died’ out when the other band member lost his way and abandoned all form of honour, self-respect and dignity, hence ties needed be severed, permanently.
Once Vatican also went down the drain, due to lack of motivation and difficulty in finding dedicated members, a new opportunity arose to start a brand new band with an already solid lineup. This ‘yet-to-be-titled’ band was comprised of Pascal on the guitar, Cedric on Bass, Rob on Drums and finally, myself, G. McCaughry on vocals. We’ve all been part of many musical projects in the past, ranging in style and approach, and yet we wanted this second incarnation of BLIGHT to dig back into our musical roots, whether it be from the days of Unquintessence, or Ontôs-On, bringing back the Black Metal atmosphere and sound, once and for good.
How would you describe your style? Which bands influenced your music?
Hard to say really, and admittedly, this question was easier to answer with previous bands I was involved in. Within BLIGHT, each and every member have very distinct musical tastes. Some a into more ‘polished’ end of the spectrum, others are more into very dirty, screeching sounding bands, and we come from many different musical backgrounds and upbringings, and so I can only speak for myself here. That being said, I guess this variety within the group contributes to our sound, as everyone pulls on one side or the other and we have to accommodate for compromises here and there. We do have common ground when it comes to certain bands, Slayer being one of them, but we could hardly say they influenced our sound…. the other members have always been huge fans of Satyricon and the likes… as for myself, hmm I guess I’m the one who digs a bit deeper as far as ‘influences’ are concerned, at least from a Black Metal Vocal perspective.
Bands like Gorgoroth, Funeral Mist, and most bands Aldrahn was involved in at some point, are for me highlights, but then again, my musical tastes are all over the place, and a lot of my favorite are not even Metal bands, such as Ulver, Hexvessel, Arktau Eos, Beastmilk, Elend, Wardruna.
As for BLIGHT though, I’d say we are playing straight-up crushing and suffocating North American Black Metal, which is not linear and doesn’t shy from massive low parts and slow to mid-pace rhythms. In this respect, I’d say we lean more towards the ‘second wave BM’ end of the spectrum, and yet our willful expression definitely is nod to the past and to greater aspirations.
Of late, however, I really enjoy the work of MGLA/Kriegsmachine, Misþyrming, The Deathtrip, Shibalba/Acherontas, Bölzer, Chelsea Wolfe, <code>, Glaciation, Gevurah, Deathbringer, Hessian, Apes, Treha Sectori, Kyy, et cetera…
Why should a metalhead buy your demos/albums?
I do not know if anyone ‘should buy’ or do anything out of suggestive analysis or random enunciation of reasons… I have yet to find someone who’ll be convinced into supporting a band solely based on words describing ‘how evil or satanic’ the band is. I guess it simply comes down to if the material presented in our latest effort, namely: ‘The Teachings’ EP, resonates with the listener, either at a very superficial level, or at a deeper level for those interested in investing time uncovering what lies beneath the sound and which philosophy and symbology we expound upon and wish to convey. The concepts propounded through BLIGHT will hopefully reach a few ‘metalheads’ as you so put it, but the Work is immensely larger in scope, and the reach of the Master, is limitless.
What have you released so far and how were your releases received by the public/media?
In truth, despite the number of ‘years’ passed between the inception of the first and present incarnation of BLIGHT, we are still a ‘young’ band, as we never got around to push our ‘agenda’ and productive power to the maximum yet. And so, to recap, around 2008-2009, BLIGHT released 2 demo tapes, titled: ‘hELIed’ &‘Anarchonic Deathworship,’ but since then, as previously mentioned, much changed and there isn’t much beside the concept that was kept from the previous incarnation. With the current lineup and invigorated vision, we have managed to record a very short demo entitled ‘Death Reborn’ to showcase our new direction, and we followed this up with ‘The Teachings’ EP, last year.
For the very short reach all these got, the few reviews I have seen were quite encouraging, dare I say positive, but it seems it is rather difficult to properly categorize us, which, in itself, can be construed as a good thing as well.
Do you play live as well? How's your live activity so far?
We did manage to squeeze in a few live appearances in underground (aka illegal) venues in the first few years, we then have been in hiatus for a year or two afterward to focus on writing, health issues and business venture in my case, and to plan an eventual come back. We are now ready to hit back the stage, with Fire & Brimstone.
What should labels/zines/promoters know about your band? Why should they be interested in it?
This notion that anyone ‘should’ do anything about it, is truly not how I would approach this. IF they are interested, it is naturally because either the music or ideology strikes a chord within the subjective mainframe of the beholder. Then IF they wish to promote the band, it is certainly because it would have peeked their interest, and perhaps they’d be curious to know more, hear and see more, and be interested in our parallel work, in Luciferian Gnosticism related literature through Anathema Publishing.
What plans do you have for the near future as a band?
Rehearsing both new and old material, and gearing up to take the stage once more. Looking at ways to record our new material in a slightly different, improved way. Continue to build a solid foundation so as to establish BLIGHT as a powerful arcane force, carrying on the duty implied by the Opus Alchymicum whilst maintaining genuine tradition unique to Black Metal, as a genre and ontology.
Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
Every track we ever recorded are available for download on Bandcamp, as most underground bands does these days. At: blightbm.bandcamp.com
As for physical releases, both our previous (old) Tapes are sold-out by now, but our latest endeavours are now available as a Deluxe, pro-Tape, limited to only 96 copies via Heathen Tribes, at: heathentribes.bandcamp.com
A.M.L.G
October 2016