Interview with the Canadians of Blight
Hello, I would thank you for taking time to answer few questions for Distrolution. Would you please introduce yourself and your band to our readers?
Greetings to you, my name is G. McCaughry, vocalist and lyricist for BLIGHT. Since roughly 1999, I have also been part of many Metal bands such as: Unquintessence, Ion Dissonance, and Vatican, to name a few. And now my devotion is mostly steered toward my publishing endeavours, as founder and editor-in-chief of Anathema Publishing Ltd, as well as to live a life according to very strict personal tenets and discipline, falling under the umbrella of Luciferian Gnosticism. As for the band, BLIGHT has had somewhat of a hectic progression. It first started as a small side-project, including past members of Vatican. That first phase of BLIGHT did not last very long though, and the project became dormant for a few years, until it was completely revamped and resuscitated with a brand new line-up, consisting mainly of old friends from bands such as Ontôs-On and Insect, namely; Pascal Pelletier (Guitars), Cedric Deschamps (Bass), and Rob Lapalme (Drums).
Your last opus "The Teachings / Death Reborn" has been released on December 22nd, 2017. Could you tell us more about this album?
Well, actually, in order to clarify this point, “The Teachings / Death Reborn” is not at all a new album. It is a reissue of the 2013 demo entitled “Death Reborn” and the 2016 EP entitled “The Teachings.” Both Eps had never been released in CD format, and so, when given the chance to do so, via Black Market Metal Label, we humbly accepted the offer. As for a real, new full-length album, we are indeed working on new materials and are just about done with writing the tracks. The visual for the album is in, the title chosen, and we are just about ready to start recording soon. Slowly, but surely. More information will be given about this new title in due time.Your songs are powerful with a heavy atmosphere. Can you tell us where the inspiration comes from when composing these songs? Even if the release is recent, can you tell us if this album is well received by the press (magazine/webzine) for the moment?
Gratitude, your comment on our work is appreciated. BLIGHT defines itself as Luciferian Black Metal, but truly that does not necessarily inform the particular ‘style’ or interpretation of Black Metal that we share and compose. Luciferian is, of course, meant to underline the general philosophy around the lyrical content of the band, and the connection is quite natural, dare I say, logical, given how completely invested in the Nameless Arte that I am on a daily basis. As for the particularities of our sound, let us just say we are quite opened. We love elements of other styles of Metal that might bring to the table additional nefarious influences, and so, some people might hear Doom(ish) influences, or Death Metal passages, or D-Beat rhythm here and there, weaved in something that is still 100% Black Metal when it comes to the feeling and power we want to convey. We simply refused to be tied down to any genre definition on a riff by riff basis.Do you plan gigs to promote "The Teachings/Death Reborn"?
Actually no, simply because we had not planned to re-release these 2 demos in CD format any time soon, and so, for this winter of 2018 we were aiming at finishing the tracks for the upcoming album and plan recording sessions soon. We might play live, here and then, if the occasion presents itself (such as is the case in Montreal on February 10th, for a friend’s underground party show) but otherwise for now, we are focusing on the writing process. [embed]You are the founder of the occult publishing house “Anathema Publishing Ltd.”, can you tell us more about this publishing house?
I could write pages upon pages just about this question really. You see, Anathema Publishing is so close to my heart and my daily activities that, I do not differentiate between Work, Passion, Ritual, Alchemy, and Daily Grind. These are all part of a cohesive whole. I would simply invite and encourage people to go check our official website (or Facebook Page), and read about the publishing house, at: https://www.anathemapublishing.com/ https://www.facebook.com/ANATHEMAPUBLISHING As an editor and author, Anathema Publishing is my prime mean of expression and devotion towards the Lord of All-Tunnels: LuxFerre. You shared the stage with bands like Anicon, Deathbringer and more, can you tell us your best and your worst memory about live stage? In truth, BLIGHT mostly played only low-profile shows thus far, in either very small bars or plain illegal venues. All shows had their moments, and we always manage to enjoy our time on stage, making sure to bring forth the aggression and the darkened atmosphere, to truly make it a unique ritual experience. On top of my head, a very good memory I can recall was a local show we did at an illegal venue called the ‘Death House’ here in Montreal, where we played with our friends in Saccage. The brutality was palpable, the crowd reaction was feverish, and it was so hellishly hot in there that the entire floor of the venue was slippery wet with the sweat and blood of moshers in front of us. Good times for sure. As for worst memories, I can certainly pin-point two events that were painfully bad. Number one has to be when I was dreadfully ill one night, struck with fever, cold-sweats (pneumonia/bronchitis you name it) and still we had to perform in a local bar. I had spent my day in bed shivering like crazy, but promptly hopped on a cab something like 30min just before the gig, put on the corpse-paint, did the show, whilst every bone and muscles of my body was aching. I got the fuck out of there right after the last note, to go back home and basically faint… which landed me in the hospital as they discovered I had a massive lung infection. Yeah, not so great. The other bad memory was certainly another show at an illegal venue called ‘Death Church’ (not to confound with Death House), and this place is a real dump, seriously gross, where a bunch of crust-punks reside, and sure enough, there are cats and dogs galore in there. The thing is, I am deadly allergic to cats, and so, I managed to go in and out of the place to perform and do our set, but that 30 minutes set was a bitch to deal with, breath -wise and vocally speaking. More so, the mic kept fucking up, and it was a shit show through and through.To finish this interview, do you have any last words for your fans and for our readers?
BLIGHT is still a very underground act. We take our time to produce quality material, and hopefully, more people will connect with our ideas and ideals, and the way we project this Flame unto the world. As for the particular ‘Teachings’ therein, it is for each of us to decide if we are either ready or willing to walk the Path of Exile and Exalt. It is a treacherous and dangerous path, but it is the duty of the Seeker to position himself on this Path and vis-à-vis the Arte. Once again, on behalf of the Distrolution team, a big thank you for this interview. Cheers.Gratitude to you as well! — A.M.L.G.
https://www.facebook.com/blightbm/
https://blightbm.bandcamp.com/
http://blackmarketmetallabel.bigcartel.com/product/blight-the-teachings-death-reborn
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