Bloodrust/Interview with Richard

Interview by Jay Parker

Hi this is Jay reporting from Bogota, Colombia... Today I’m talking to Richard from the Falkland Island based Death Metal band, BLOODRUST. Richard, thanks for taking the time to talk to our readers...

1) Tell us about Bloodrust... when and where was the band formed? Who is in the current line up?

The band initially was formed back in 2010 and I put a few demo songs out in 2011 then put the project to bed. The band and I say that in the loosest terms as it is just me. Going forward I would like to get other people involved in the band to add new ideas in terms of songwriting. I’d really like to have more than one person handling the vocals have that kind of Nile vocal thing going on. 2 or 3 guys trading off vocals or all joining in on certain parts. I want the band to be able to play life so ideally having that as an option would be ideal.

2) Describe your sound in 5 words.

Heavy, melodic, Head Banging metal.

3) Run us through your releases, first to last... where do you record? What are your future plans for albums?

So both the records have been recorded here in the Falklands by me in my spare room. My producer works out of Cyprus so he does all the production elements there. Dean the producer also a phenomenal guitar player so he did all the solos on the first album and 2 on the upcoming record. Any acoustic guitars were done by him, as well as the keys.

4) Who writes the music/ lyrics?

I write all the music and the lyrics.

5) Your sound is a nostalgic trip back to the 90s for me, reminiscent of early Unleashed, Grave, Dismember… I love it... what is the inspiration behind your sound and the lyrics?

I love all types of metal but when I started to write the first album what naturally came out and what I felt most comfortable playing was Death Metal, old death metal. I class what I play as Old School Death Metal or as I heard Donald Tardy from Obituary class it as Classic Death metal which is what he classes them as. I like that description of the band. The thing I like about old Death Metal bands is the experimentation, that willingness to have a classical guitar piece or a big keyboard section over a blast beat. Take Bolt Thrower, they have a sound and you can tell its Bolt Thrower, it just gets hold of you and grinds you to pieces by the end of the album but they sound different to say Death who sound different to Dismember. Yet it’s all Death Metal. The other thing is I’m not a fan of the High screams in metal and that’s put me off so many bands so I’ve always looked at the past more than the present, give me Karl Willets from Bolt Thrower/Memoriam or Dave Ingram from Benediction when it comes to vocals. The only guy that gets a pass is Chuck when it comes to the high vocals. Lyric wise I stick to the staple subjects of Death, War, horror that sort for thing. I’ve got a few political songs, probably one on each album but generally I’ll leave those up to Barney from Napalm he does a far better job than better I can. I have a pretty good imagination and can churn out lyrics really quickly once I have an idea so I tend not to need external inspiration. The first album had a fair amount of Warhammer 40k Inspired Lyrics which is another nod back to Bolt Thrower.

6) Your sound is very technical and symphonically polished, when did you start as a musician? What inspired you to become a metal musician?

I grew up in musical house as my Dad was a Pro Sax Player in the Army so I was surrounded by other instruments and other musicians. When I started to my own taste in music I started with Queen then progressed onto Maiden, Guns and Roses, Metallica. I was lucky that a guy who worked for my Dad was into the old 70s/80s band so he gave me a tape with Purple, Rainbow and Die on it, It’s all been downhill from there. Instrument wise it was Steve Harris who made me want to pick up an instrument but I wasn’t committed. It was 93 when I got a copy of Chaos AD and that really made me want to play guitar. A mate gave me copies of Chaos AD, Bolt Thrower Real of Chaos and For Whose Advantage by a UK thrash band called Xentrix, the best UK thrash band I might add. Those 3 albums I listened to constantly. The polish on the album is all down to Dean my Producer he wants albums to sound like albums and to have balance and depth, much like the old records you would have heard in the 70s and 80s. I love how albums sounded from that era so it works for me. That balance where everything is built on a foundation of a great drums sound.

7) Your sound is obviously influenced by your harsh, cold windy environment... you are just a few miles from Antarctica…what’s it like being a musician in the Falklands? Do you have a metal scene? I know similar small, hostile, places like the Faroes, Iceland are a breeding ground for great metal...

As far as I know there are no other metal bands here and I think my 2 albums are the first metal albums to be recorded down here. One thing being here does give you is time as there are not thousands of distractions you have elsewhere.

8) What music do you listen to today?

Pretty much 90% metal of varying types. The other 10% is probably taken up by Soundtracks films or Computer games. The Skyrim soundtrack is fantastic and I’ve spent countless hours spinning that one. Metal wise apart from the classics Death, Bolt Thrower, Dismember, Obituary. I really enjoy Gruesome, albums that sound like Chuck could have written them, count me in. I really enjoyed the last Asphyx album, that’s a headbanger. The last Cannibal Corpse album with Eric Rutan on, those songs are almost making me want to get back in the pit then I realize I’m 43 and well I’d rather watch and enjoy a beer then get crushed in a mass of sweaty bodies. I’m a big Sepultura fan so that discography gets a fair amount of listens. I like classic metal so Maiden, Priest, Accept, Angel Witch. Newer Trade metal bands like Grand Magus, Wolf from Sweden they can’t put a bad album out. Smoulder, Cauldron, my kids love Burning Fortune by Cauldron so it’s on when we go on long car journeys. They also have started to learn the lyrics to the Resales and Wild album by Accept. Fine by me. Eternal Champion I am a big fan off and sing along with my bad clean singing when I get the chance. I love Cynic and there is never a bad time to put a Cynic album on. I remember having a conversation with my wife when we had kids and she said I had to be careful what I had on the car due to lyrical content. Turns out Cannibal Corpse is great for kids as they can’t understand Corpsegrinder, whereas Pink and all that well that’s pretty clear what they are saying. I’m lucky my wife likes metal up to a certain point and has been to many gigs and festivals with me, Wacken 4 times so she contended that one.

9) What have been your best and worst experiences as a musician?

My best was getting my debut album out, it was very emotional sitting back and listening to it for the first time when I got it back from Dean. The worst probably realizing that you’re up against it as there are thousands of bands putting out Demos, albums, playing shows but the audience is limited in terms of numbers.

10) What is your favourite album of all time and why?

I hate this question as it changes so often but only between 2 or 3 so it depends on which day of the week you grab me. I’ve never been one that delves deep into the underground and the bands I listened to were ones that had big coverage in magazines or on Headbangers ball back in my mid-teens. Death - Human. I think enough words have been said about this album and the impact it had on Death Metal. I was a late comer to this album and spent hours and hours listening to it whilst I was recovering from serious surgery. I spent hours on youtube listening to albums I hands heard in years or had never listened to. I had ITP for years, since it came out and really enjoyed that just never went backwards into the catalogue or forwards. This leads me onto. When Chuck passed away it was such a Huge loss to metal, the first Control denied album is really good and I think the best was yet to come from Chuck, constantly changing the game. Cynic-Focus. Same time as I started listening to Human I came across this Gem of an album and they both flew to the top of the tree in terms of listening, I mean constant listening. Even now it’s gets a listen at least once a week. The loss of both Sean’s was horrible. The drums and bass work on Focus influenced so many people and you look at the Tech Death scene. It came from one place and a handful of bands. Death and Cynic being 2 of those.

11) Do you have any advice for up and coming musicians out there?

Keep working hard, keep writing songs, practice your instrument or writing lyrics. Be nice to everyone you interact with as you never know where it might lead. Most of all enjoy what you’re doing and support fellow metal bands.

12) Would you like to add anything?

Thank you for your time, your kind words about the album and your support for smaller metal bands.