Bloodstock 2019 played host to plenty of killer death metal bands. One such band who brought some awesome no-nonsense old-skool riffage was Blasphemer. We caught up with guitarists Mass Firth and Arno Cagna, and drummer Dan Mullins to discuss the band’s Bloodstock experience as well as their latest album – Lust of the Goat.
You played on the Sophie Lancaster stage earlier today – how did the show go?
Arno Cagna: Really enjoyed it. Had a great time. We had a few issues with monitors and things onstage but we just dealt with it and had a good time with it.
Dan Mullins: We just got onstage, did a quick sound check, all done and the stage crew were like “go!”. I was like “ok quick 1, 2, 3 ,4, kill”. No nonsense, really enjoyable and we just smashed through that set. Make sure that everyone enjoys it…I enjoyed it.
Have you guys done Bloodstock before, either as a band or punters?
AC: For me personally it’s the first time as punter and as a band. Quite a way to start!
DM: This is my third Bloodstock. Two previous Bloodstocks working in various film or tech capacities, and this is my first time actually playing with my own band.
How has that compared in your experience?
DM: I’m a little bit long in the tooth so to me a gig is a gig. It’s cool to play Bloodstock – I enjoy the site, I enjoy the festival and I like the people who work here. I never played the Sophie stage before – that was really good to do. It’s good we got our particular brand of death metal out there too.
Your latest album Lust of the Goat came out last year, could you tell us a little about the background of the album?
AC: Really it’s just like a continuation of the first album, but we wanted the production to be a bit more “weighty”. Having the production value on the second album…we’re all really happy with it. Basically amps mic-ed, drums mic-ed, tapes playing from start to finish…it was just great. We try and make it sound as real as possible. There’s too many bands out there sound like a cut-and-paste album.
Mass Firth: You plug in EZ drummer and tweak everything. We just try to make it sound as natural as possible. Get and amp, put a mic in front of it and record it…
Old-skool methods for an old-skool band!
DM: Yeah man. That’s how we all started.
MF: Not to say that stuff isn’t any good because we use them for our demos, but when it actually comes to recording material we prefer to keep it as natural as possible.
What’s your future plans for after Bloodstock? Maybe some videos for Lust of the Goat or a tour?
DM: We’ve been talking about doing a video since the first album, and we are gonna do a video at some point, it’s just getting round to it and having the time to do it. So it will happen at some point. In of immediately after Bloodstock, we’re gonna do some dates with Skeletal Remains and next week we’re doing an all-day thing in Huddersfield…
MF: It’s a mix of slam death, brutal death and everything horrible in between….
DM: We’ve got a few dates coming up over the next 8 days!
AC: By the end of the year, start of next year we’re definitely gonna be doing a full UK, Ireland, Scotland run. That’s probably gonna be a precursor to going to Europe a couple of months afterwards before the festival season. We’re aiming to get on some of those festivals so we’re gonna be darting around doing some festivals in Europe as well as dates in other countries.
So for everyone who discovered Blasphemer this weekend, they’ll need to check out next year’s dates and see what happens after the festivals?
DM: Yeah. Coming off the back of Bloodstock, for us it’s virtually like our back garden – it’s down the road. It’s a good springboard. Bloodstock is a good champion of underground music. They bring a lot of bands on board with Metal 2 the Masses. Not only does it expose Bloodstock and the fans to new music, but it exposes the bands to the nature of what it means to be in this industry and a big festival like this operates.
Photos by Drew Scott Photographic
Blasphemer: facebook | twitter | youtube | bandcamp
