Frequently Asked Questions
In this section, Byron answers the most frequently asked questions about Bal-Sagoth. To submit your own query, please send it to band@bal-sagoth.co.uk and the answer may be posted in a future site update.
1) Where does the name "Bal-Sagoth" come from? What does it mean?
BYRON: I took the name "BAL-SAGOTH" from a story which was written by my favourite author; the incomparable pulp fantasy master Robert E. Howard. The story was called "The Gods of Bal-Sagoth" and was first published in the celebrated pulp magazine Weird Tales in 1931. The name "Bal-Sagoth" had always appealed to and fascinated me ever since I first read the story many, many years ago, and I always intended to use that name for this grand metal project, as it seemed to mirror the concept and thematic essence which I envisioned for the band perfectly. That's basically why I called the band BAL-SAGOTH. Anyone wishing to learn more should check out the story, which has been reprinted in many REH anthology editions over the years.
2) Why did the sixth album take so long to appear?
BYRON: We took quite a long time to create this album because we were almost waiting for recording technology to catch up to our ideal of what we wanted a Bal-Sagoth album to sound like. In the past when we recorded mainly on analogue media and equipment, we always found that we were almost running out of recording tracks, and that the medium wasn't flexible enough to incorporate all our strange ideas, subtle nuances and multi-layered audial soundcapes. With the advent of digital technology, we found that we could finally work in an almost unlimited environment, for example achieving truly organic sounding choirs and highly genuine orchestral effects, all without worrying about running out of tracks! Certain parts of "Atlantis Ascendant" were recorded digitally, but "The Chthonic Chronicles" is our first album to be created 100% in the digital realm. Of course one of the problems was getting to grips with the technology and manipulating it to its greatest extent, which is one of the reasons why the album took so long. And then of course the other reason why it took such a long time is beacuse we don't do Bal-Sagoth as a job, it's just a kind of hobby, so there were limits to how much time we could spend on things during any given day or week. Add to that countless arguments, several major hardware failures, and the fact that Jonny (who wrote the music for the sixth album as well as undertaking the duties of sound engineer) has an average working speed close to that of a catatonic sea-snail, and you have the reasons why "The Chthonic Chronicles" seemed to take so long to appear.
See the "Annotated Discography" elsewhere on this site for more information.
3) Will there be any more Bal-Sagoth albums?
BYRON: Well, whether or not there will be any further Bal-Sagoth albums is still undecided. There might be more albums, or there might not be.
If some label worthy of Bal-Sagoth makes a great offer that we just can't refuse, then it's a possibility. (We're not interested in the whole idea of self-financing and self-releasing abums... that's a retrograde step which would cheapen the Bal-Sagoth legend and is something we'll never do.)
Bal-Sagoth is essentially something we do in our spare time, we don't have the pressure of doing it as a job (which is good, because in truth we earn f*ck all money from this), so it's entirely possible that we might license a new album every now and again when we feel like it. Yes, there is enough material in the grand Bal-Sagoth story archive for a further six albums or more. We may record those albums, or we may call it a day before the glorious legend of Bal-Sagoth becomes overly sullied or tainted, leaving the existing hexalogy as our legacy to the world.
The Bal-Sagoth saga will continue at some point in other formats, such as short stories and graphic novels. And of course, fans of the music must remember that Jonny and Chris aren't chained exclusively to Bal-Sagoth. They are both quite free to go off and do other, different musical projects outside of the Bal-Sagoth concept which would no doubt interest fans greatly, and be very successful. (For instance, Jonny does his game soundtracks and is intertested in film and television work. In fact, he's also considering a solo project.) So, even if there are no more Bal-Sagoth albums, you'll still no doubt be hearing more music from J&C.
Ultimately, who knows what the future may bring? You'll all have to wait and see. We certainly appreciate all your support and interest.
4) Why doesn't Bal-Sagoth play many gigs?
BYRON: It is very difficult to recreate this material accurately in the live environment. The music of Bal-Sagoth is so multi-layered, multi-faceted and intricate that there is really no way in which we can genuinely translate the songs live to a truly satisfactory extent. Additionally, I have always felt that when a band plays live, some of the magic and the mystique which is contained on an album is generally lost. No matter how good the show is, the very act of playing live demystifies the band and brings them back down to a mundane and earthly level, such are the limitations of the technology and the very medium itself. To truly do justice to the Bal-Sagoth songs, we would require a gigantic stage presentation, including multiple pyrotechnics, lasers, snow and fog machines, a cast of extras, several keyboard players, and ideally a live orchestra. Perhaps one day the funds would become available to mount such an ambitious presentation, but realistically that is highly unlikely. Every show we do, we basically play for the die hard Bal-Sagoth fans, but every gig is inevitably a compromise which may often do more harm than good to this band's legend. That's basically why we don't play live very often.
5) And will any future gigs feature the swords & war-paint gimmicks like before?
BYRON: The origin of the paint and swords thing is as follows: I was thinking of ways in which Bal-Sagoth could be visually distinctive on stage amidst all the corpse-paint boom of the early to mid 90's, and the idea of warpaint or woad fitted into the whole Bal-Sagoth ideological parameters perfectly.
And here's the thing: all the other members initially thought it was a silly idea when I mentioned it, so I started out doing it by myself. Eventually, on the Dark Funeral tour in 1997, our keyboard player Leon finally joined in and started doing the paint too. But still, he and I were the only ones. Eventually, after a long time, Chris and Mac did it for one or two gigs too (albeit just a few small blue stripes which were perspired off within five minutes of starting the show, but what the hell, at least they finally joined in).... and utimately even Jonny wore it for one or two shows (during the first show that he finally wore paint he drew blue spectacles on himself as a joke). And for a few gigs I've also worn a custom made leather mask.
And that's the paint story. It has never been as big a part of the Bal-Sagoth live experience as people might think. Out of all the gigs we've done, we've only worn it for a relatively small percentage of them. These days, we don't really do the paint thing anymore. Ultimately it doesn't really mix with the normal apparel which the band wears on stage. I always thought that if warpaint was to be truly effective it would have to be combined with a whole theatrical ensemble consisting of other aspects of a costume too, as it just doesn't really work with black jeans/combats & t-shirts. After all, if you're going to embrace the theatrical aspect, it may as well be done either 100% or not at all, as anything in between just looks half-hearted and ineffective. And these days, there are bands out there that go for the paint in full and do it much, much better than we ever did.
6) Are the six Bal-Sagoth albums still available?
BYRON: Yes, all six chapters in the Bal-Sagoth hexalogy are still available. Some people have had difficulty finding certain albums in stores, particularly the earlier albums, but if you ask a shop to order them there's no valid reason why they shouldn't be able to get hold of them for you. There are also sub-licensed editions of the albums available in various countries. The six Bal-Sagoth albums and their catalogue numbers are as follows:
1) A BLACK MOON BROODS OVER LEMURIA
(Released: 1995, Cacophonous, NIHIL 4 CD)
2) STARFIRE BURNING UPON THE ICE-VEILED THRONE OF ULTIMA THULE
(Released: 1996, Cacophonous, NIHIL 18 CD)
3) BATTLE MAGIC
(Released: 1998, Cacophonous, NIHIL 29 CD)
4) THE POWER COSMIC
(Released: 1999, Nuclear Blast, NB 421-2, IROND CD 03-411)
5) ATLANTIS ASCENDANT
(Released: 2001, Nuclear Blast, NB 584-2)
6) THE CHTHONIC CHRONICLES
(Released: 2006, Nuclear Blast, NB 1048-2)