As some of you have read in the past, I have a thing for bands who have their own personal mythologies around their material. Judas Priest have their "metal messiahs", Rhapsody(Of Fire) have their saga of The Dream Lands, and Coheed and Cambra have Th Amory Wars.
I also love metal bands who can do story songs effectively. It's one of the reasons I love vintage Celtic Frost.
Bal-Sagoth do both, and VERY WELL at that.
Bal-Sagoth musically can be described as Symphonic Black Metal. They combine the bombastic orchestration of Symphonic Power Metal, and the blast beats and chainsaw guitars of Black Metal.
What REALLY makes these guys stand out is their songs.
Bal-Sagoth's songs, written by vocalist Byron Roberts, are made up of various song cycles that take place in a kind of distant, mythical past. This little mythology has been called "The Multiverse", "The Sagothverse", and "The Antediluvian World", amongst other labels. Like Tom Warrior and Celtic Frost before him, Roberts is heavily influenced by such dark fantasy writers like Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft. These various song cycles have titles such as The Obsidian Crown Saga ,The Quest of Zurra for the Empyreal Lexicon, and The Guardians of the Astral Gate, the latter of which has installments on almost every album in their catalouge, and the second of which is their only album-length song cycle.
These guys aren't all serious and do have an obvious sense of humor, as Roberts gets a kick out of giving his metal tales exceptionally long titles. Their second full-length album was called (I sh*t you not) "Starfire Burning Upon the Ice-Veiled Throne of Ultima Thule".
Now, I love these guys passionately, but they ARE a bit of an acquired taste. Byron Roberts has a unique way of conveying his metallic tales. He either does a deep, spoken-word narrative voice (think Xerxes from 300), or a raspy black metal vocal (think Abbath Doom Occulta from Immortal).
So, am I the sole fan, or are there others?
Subject: Any Bal-Sagoth fans? 
Mon Mar 03, 2008 9:47 pm
