Interview with Blight
Rezine: Who plays in Blight?
Blight: For now and for the foreseeable future, BLIGHT functions as a four-piece. Pascal on the guitars, Cedric on bass guitar, Rob on drums, and myself G. on vocal duties and lyrics. This incarnation of Blight is thus comprised of comrades who, for the most part, met way back in the early 2000 when I was in Unquintessence and Trails of Anguish, and the others were in Ontôs-On. Fast forward a couple of years into the future and we reconnected to form BLIGHT as it stands now, back in 2012 upon the demise of our previous, separate efforts, namely InseCT & Vatican.
Rezine: How did it all start?
Blight: As mentioned above, upon demise of Vatican (a Black & Roll project I was struggling to get off the ground, given the ridiculous amount of problems I was having trying to hold it all together), Rob, which was also the last drummer of Vatican, simply suggested we continue rehearsing but with a different lineup; friends of his, that had been rehearsing for quite some time without a vocalist, and simply start a new band.
I was quite reluctant at first, being overly disappointed with the drama, and internal struggles of maintaining a solid lineup for a band, and was rather thinking of quitting music for a while.
Fortunately though, I did not. Rehearsing with the other guys really proved to be quite easy flowing, and very quickly we went back to our roots and finally I was able to be involved in a band treading familiar Black Metal territories in which I could exploit my utmost devotion to Lucifer & the Mystery Arte.
I decided to use, once again, the name BLIGHT, which I had already used for a tiny DIY side-project releasing only old-school BM tapes that I had started in 2009, but that was in a dormant state. I picked up the concept from where I had left it, but we moved musical direction since we now had a full lineup, eventually willing to play shows and such.
Rezine: What influences the lyrics of your songs?
Blight: Everything BLIGHT related is deeply rooted into Luciferian philosophy and symbology with a good dose of Alchemical dissolution, amalgamation and sublimation, that comes in correlation with the work I do, both as practitioner of the Occult and founder/editor of Anathema Publishing.
And so, each ‘song’ may have a different approach in tone and context, but the over-arching theme of the lyrics will always have that hint of intense forethought that comes with ritualistic meditation and its resulting imagery. Sometime it can manifest in a purely narrative form, sometimes as an intricate yet puzzling blur, or sometimes as a wholly devotional outcry and outburst of energy.
I am also fond of repurposing some excerpts from my operational writings, to suit a particular track, giving it New Life, so-to-speak.
Rezine: What is Blight for you?
Blight: A mean of expression, nothing more nor less. BLIGHT is a conduit, and I, as a Vessel of Hir Teachings & Light, act as a lens distilling Hir truth into everything I do, say, write, breathe, and build. It is an ongoing process, an eternal process, Blight is but a tiny fragment of that scalding system.
Rezine: Does it take you a long time to come up with songs?
Blight: Depends on external pressure, everyday hassle and mundane reality. Admittedly, we do BLIGHT ‘on-the-side,’ and all have other occupation and priorities. Sometimes we’ll be caught into an inspirational frenzy and sometimes its the ’dry season’ for a long while. We do seem to take forever before we are confident in our material enough to go into the studio to record them.
Admittedly, I did have to go through several surgeries and a plethora of health problems in the past years which, at times, did put the band on hold for extended periods of time. But since BLIGHT is a sideline thing, it doesn’t really matter in the end.
Rezine: What's coming up for Blight?
Blight: Hopefully further recordings, as we have a brand new EP in the work, tentatively titled ‘Temple of Wounds.’ We are also preparing for a full-on comeback to the stage, and expound upon the ritualistic aspect of these, yet opportunities to do so in our province seems scarce for now and given how low-profile BLIGHT is, we do not have many propositions alas.
Also, our latest EP, ‘The Teachings’ got recently released as a Deluxe, limited edition Tape (with, as bonus tracks the ‘Death Reborn’ EP in it as well), on Heathen Tribes, otherwise all of our tracks can be downloaded via Bandcamp for a minimal fee.
Rezine: Do you have other projects?
Blight: Many, but not in the realm of music endeavours anymore. My main life devotion is to Anathema Publishing, and the product I invest time, money and passion in, as well as trying to write my first manuscript as well. Most of my past bands are dead and buried and shall remain so. However, I do support and occasionally participate in other musical projects, whether as guest vocalist, lyricist or graphic designer. But, it’d be too long and too hectic of a list to detail here.
A.M.L.G.
https://blightbm.bandcamp.com/
https://heathentribes.bandcamp.com/
http://www.anathemapublishing.com/