Bloodforge
Bloodforge is a Brazilian
based band that released an EP a few months ago. Musically they are hard
to label and present since their music bears influences from almost the
whole heavy metal spectrum. Lyric-wise now the band could be called white
metal cause their lyrics deal with moral problems and try to lead us to
the way of Christ. Being believers or not, I think you should check this
band out. They deserve it. So, read what Doug Barthman, the band's bassist,
and Gilmore Lucassen, their vocalist, told us about Bloodforge and not
only...
1. HELLO! HOW ARE YOU? I READ IN YOUR BIO
THAT BLOODFORGE IS FORMED FROM MUSICIANS THAT ALSO PLAY IN OTHER BANDS.
CAN WE SAY THAT BLOODFORGE IS A KIND OF A PROJECT BAND? CAN YOU TELL US
A FEW THINGS ABOUT THE PREVIOUS BANDS THAT YOU ARE/USED TO PLAYING?
DB - First of all we would like to thank the
crew of the “Behind the Veil” Webzine for giving us a very good attention
and all our friends and fans. Thanks a lot!!!
About the question: Bloodforge is not a project
band, but our main musical activity. At this moment, Rod Silva, one of
our guitar players, is playing in another band called “Satan’s Doom”, and
J. Marcel, the Keyboard player, in a Gospel band. All the rest is only
dedicated to Bloodforge. I am the bassist, started playing Rhythm Guitars
and vocals in a Thrash Metal band called “Crownthorn”. I have also played
bass and vocals in a Hard n’ Heavy Band called “Militia”, and in some other
little bands. Vagner Machado played guitars in some Hard Rock bands such
as “Ersa 14” and “Soulshine”, with Gilmore Lucassen, singing. Jason Loureiro
played drums in Melodic Heavy Metal bands. Cinthia Tchy has a very good
vocal background in Prog Metal bands.
2. BY LISTENING TO THE CD I REALLY HAD A VERY
HARD TIME DESCRIBING IT IN WORDS, BECAUSE YOUR MUSIC MIXES A LOT OF DIFFERENT
METAL STYLES. HOW DO YOU DESCRIBE THE SOUND OF BLOODFORGE? HOW EASY
OR DIFFICULT IS FOR YOU TO MIX SO MANY DIFFERENT STYLES IN ORDER TO HAVE
A SOLID SOUND?
DB - Each one of the band has different influences.
My favorite style is the 80’s Thrash/Heavy Metal. To Vagner the 70’s Rock
n’ Roll, to Marcel, the 70’s progressive and some pop, to Gilmore and Tchy,
the 90’s Prog Metal, to Jason, Speed and melodic metal, and to Rod, Death
Metal as well as the 80’s Gothic. Due to this mix of influences, the music
is just born that way, different. And it is working!! Due to some
Doom or melancholic excerpts, and also due to the female vocals, we’ve
been categorized as “Gothic Metal”.
3. LET’S TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE LYRICS. WHO
IS THE RESPONSIBLE FOR THEM AND WHAT KIND OF THINGS/EMOTIONS INSPIRE YOU
TO WRITE ABOUT? CAN YOU EXPLAIN US IN A FEW LINES WHICH THE THEME OF EACH
OF HE 3 SONGS THAT YOU HAVE INCLUDED INTO YOUR MINI – CD IS?
DB - “Show you the Way” was written by Gilmore,
“Inside my Mind” by Rod and “Morning Star” by me. Nowadays we have other
songs written by the other band members, except by the two new members,
Tchy and Jason. But surely they will have their own lyrics for the band
soon. We are inspired by what we believe. We believe that in spite of the
problems that can be found in all religions, God is always waiting for
a sincere heart to call him for help. We believe that mankind is worried
and busy just with their little daily problems, and the highest aspiration
for them is money, sex and power. Mankind pretends that there will be nothing
to face after the death, and with it, plays a very dangerous game, whose
prize is its soul. As in the “The Skull” song from the band “Trouble”,
we think that, at least, each person must try not to be another face in
the crowd, and try to change their ways for what they know it’s right.
“Forged” tells the history of a character that had lots of frustrations,
and is having a very confused life. In “Show you the way”, someone shows
him the way to leave this life “there’s a love that’s real…the life that
shines from above you show you the way”. In “Inside my Mind”, he does a
reflection of his own life “I open my eyes and see a deep darkness…I have
a doubt: which is the right way to follow?”. Finally, in “Morning Star”
he finds the way that was already shown. In the beginning of the song he
says “The day will come, I wanna see You Morning Star…please show me your
love, let me feel joy”. In the end, he finally meets the way “The
day has come, and I saw the Morning Star, that gave me true love, there’s
no more cry”.
4. WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO RELEASE A MINI-CD FOR
A FIRST RELEASE AND NOT A DEMO OR A FULL LENGTH? DO YOU HAVE ANY MORE SONGS
READY AND WHY DIDN’T YOU INCLUDE THEM IN THIS RELEASE?
DB - This EP was the best way we found for
publishing Bloodforge. At that moment, those 3 songs were totally ready.
We had other songs, an introduction called “Be Exalted”, a Trouble cover
“The Skull”, a Lacuna Coil cover “Heir of a Dying Day” and a version from
Kiss’ “God Gave Rock n’ Roll to You”, and other not finished songs,
but we decided not to record them. Nowadays for sure we have many other
songs.
5. YOU NAMED YOUR RELEASE WITH THE TITLE “FORGED”.
WHY DID YOU DO THAT? DOES IT HAVE A SPECIAL MEANING TO YOU? I PERSONALLY
BELIEVE THAT THE TITLE INDICATES THE DETERMINATION OF THE BAND TO SUCCEED.
AM I RIGHT?
DB - When we chose a forge as our symbol,
we wanted to share a message. A forge is a tool that changes something
into another better thing. It changes steel into a Sword, for example.
This is what we mean with that name, the process where the character begins
with a confused and destroyed life, and, at the end, he meets the way and
his life is changed. His life was forged!
6. I WANT TO STAND A LITTLE BIT ON THE COVER ARTWORK
OF YOUR CD, WHICH I FIND VERY BEAUTIFUL. WHO IS THE ARTIST THAT MADE IT?
HOW IS IT CONNECTED WITH YOUR LYRICS AND MUSIC? DID THE ARTIST LISTEN TO
YOUR MUSIC BEFORE CREATING IT?
DB - The Artist is Fernando Nambara, a very
good friend of mine. He was with us since the beginning of the band; we
use to call him as the “8th passenger”. He took his inspiration from the
theme (part of the theme was created by him!), also from the songs, but
his own inspiration is his prayers. He’s the craziest and simplest Christian
I have ever met!
7. THE COVER SHOWS A GIANT THAT IS READY TO HIT
THE MANKIND OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. TO BE MORE SPECIFIC IT REMINDED ME
OF A MIGHTY GOD OF OLYMPUS OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. CAN YOU GIVE ME YOUR
OWN INTERPRETATION OF THE CD COVER?
DB - Actually, that Giant is the Blacksmith.
He is the man who works with the forge of blood, and is a kind of a Messenger
of God on earth. If you see, when you open the cover, in the left side
of the artwork there’s a crowd, and each person is without any specific
characteristics, they are all the same, without will, without personality,
as we see mankind today, always walking trying to find something that can
fill their emptiness, but always searching in the wrong places. The farther
they are from the forge, the more confused they are, desperate. As I’ve
already said, the forge represents a tool that changes something into another
better one. Christ made himself a human sacrifice, to taking us out of
our cursed doom, changing us with sacrifice and blood. Those were his tools
to change us. Crossing those two ideas, you understand the meaning of the
Forge of Blood, the Bloodforge. Also, Blacksmith is “showing the way” to
the people, and a Light shines from above.
8. I BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE STILL IN SEARCH FOR
A LABEL. WHAT EXACTLY DO YOU WANT FROM A LABEL TO OFFER YOU IN ORDER TO
CUT A DEAL WITH THEM?
DB - We would like to find some Label without
any prejudice from our style and message. We are here not just to share
the message, but also for spreading good Heavy Metal around.
9. BRAZIL, WHERE YOU ARE FROM, IS A VERY BEAUTIFUL
AND YET POOR COUNTRY. DO THESE 2 THINGS INFLUENCE IN ANYWAY THE MOOD OF
YOUR MUSIC?
GL - Sure. But we don’t follow a pattern
of composing our music though; we just let it flow without missing the
goal, and the message we want to share. Most of them are about the deplorable
human condition, focused on showing hope to a broken spirit.
10. IN THE SONG “MORNING STAR” YOU USE IN THE
BEGINNING A FLUTE AND IT BROUGHT TO MY MIND JETHRO TULL. DO YOU AGREE?
WHICH BANDS AND ARTISTS HAVE INFLUENCED YOUR STYLE?
DB - We are influenced by lots of bands. I
can list some of them: Deep Purple, Rush, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppellin,
Iron Maiden, Metallica, Judas Priest, Within Temptation, After Forever,
Nightwish, Dream Theater…
11. SUS, YOUR SINGER HAS A VERY BEAUTIFUL VOICE.
HAS SHE DONE ANY STUDIES OR IS THE WAY SHE SINGS A NATURAL TALENT?
DB - Sus is no longer our singer. She lives
since September’05 in Germany, taking care of her career, but we keep in
touch with her. Nowadays our singer is Cinthia Tchy, and yes, she has a
very good natural talent, but she also studies a lot.
12. WHAT ABOUT LIVE SHOWS? HAVE YOU DONE ANY LIVE
SHOWS LATELY OR DO YOU HAVE PLANS FOR LIVE APPEARANCES IN ORDER
TO PROMOTE YOUR NEW RELEASE?
DB - From the beginning of the band until
today we played lots of times, but unfortunately just inside Brazil. We
would like to play overseas, but I’m sure in the right time all things
will happen.
13. IMAGINE THAT THERE IS A WORD IN THE BOOK OF
HEAVY METAL THAT DESCRIBES THE SOUND OF BLOODFORGE, WHAT KIND OF WORD DO
YOU THINK THAT IT WOULD BE?
DB - Hope. This is what we would like to share
with our listeners. In spite of the situation a person can be found into,
there will always be a Light that can annihilate all darkness. Always,
you just have to evocate it.
14. THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR TIME REPLYING
TO THESE QUESTIONS! THE LAST LINES OF THIS INTERVIEW BELONG TO YOU …
DB – As a final message we would like once
more to thank all of you who supported us since the beginning of the band.
Bands, magazines, Zines, friends, mates, wives, fiancées, families,
churches, clubs. Also, we want to leave a warning. In those days of great
tribulation, be near to God. As told Isaiah, “Seek the Lord while He may
be found; call on Him while he is near”. Do not lose your hope, believe.
It’s that worth to dedicate yourself to the God who made himself a man,
suffered as one of us, was a true opponent to corruption and hypocrisy,
and also died for that, changing the course of this planet people with
his resurrection.
Also, do not forget the wise words from Kai
Hansen and Michael Weikath from Helloween:
Heavy Metal is the law that keeps us all united
free
A law that shatters earth and hell
Heavy Metal can't be beaten by any dynasty
Thank You!!
DOUG BARTHMAN & GILMORE LUCASSEN
Bass & Vocals
Bloodforge
http://www.bloodforge.net
Email:[email protected]
Nick “William_Kidd”
Parastatidis
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