Basingstoke metal band Blood of The Spectre are a band that's been getting a lot of media attention recently. I've seen them get column space in both Terrorizer and Rock Sound magazine's, to which I subscribe. They are another band in a long line of UK metal bands who are beginning to come to the fore.
I caught up with BOTS recently to find out what influenced them, what there take on UK metal and what bands they're repping:-
First of all, can you tell us a bit about
Blood Of The Spectre and how you guys started?
It all started when previous bands fell apart
and 5 mates just wanted to get together and play some tasty metal- kinda like
most schoolboy bands! We’ve been through many member changes and it seems we’ve
finally settled on the current line up but since the beginning we’ve always had
positive responses and hopefully we’ll keep that going!
What are your influences, musically or otherwise?
What are your influences, musically or otherwise?
Musically we all like to think we’re very open-minded.
We love to listen and headbang to bands like Killswitch Engage, Limp Bizkit and
Deftones, but a lot of the main influences you’ll hear in the Ep are more a
mish mash of thrash in the likes of Sylosis and Viatrophy to techy death bands
like Black Dahlia Murder Etc.
Your debut release has been out for a little while now. What has the reaction been like to it?
Your debut release has been out for a little while now. What has the reaction been like to it?
The reaction, in our eyes, has been
incredible! We reached over 1000 downloads a few weeks back and had so much
positive feedback online and in person. Still getting random people post on our
Facebook wall saying that listened to it and enjoyed it. That’s all we can
really ask to be honest, we put it up for free so more people can access it and
listen… if you don’t like it- you can shove a tampon up your arse and leave it
be! We write metal we enjoy and the fact others do is a massive bonus!
What has been the highlight for you so far?
We’ve had a lot of fun as a band whether it
comes to playing gigs or going out partying! Our tour last year was pretty
mental, being chased around by naked guys in Brighton, playing to a headbanging
man and his broom in Wales or generally chilling getting high in a van! But I
think the most memorable show for us has to be when we played the 100% stage at
Basingstoke live. It seemed like all our mates came to our hometown filled up
one tent in a massive field and went nutty! Was a massive high for us and we’re
playing again this year so hopefully it will be equally as insane.
What are your plans for the future (that you
can share with us!)?
Right now, we’re getting a tour booked for
this September, playing shows wherever, whenever we can and righting for our
next release! It’s all go right now and we just hope we can keep some hype up
and really take it somewhere…
What do you think about the state of the UK metal scene at the moment?
What do you think about the state of the UK metal scene at the moment?
This is a hard one for sure man! A lot of
people/bands say its going to absolute shit right now, which I kinda agree
with, however a lot of bands are just starting to get arrogant and lazy when it
comes to… being in a band! It sounds extreme but, a lot of bands get big in
their local scene and then think they’re the finished article and will go on to
headline download just of the back of filling their local venue. So many people
are all out for themselves when we should all help other bands, help promoters
and anyone else, turn up to shows, network and really show support for others
then yourself. However, there’s so many bands about, its impossible to cater
for everything and everyone, but surely in a scene the more the better? Before
I bore everyone with my rant, one thing I find is people that go to shows just
never seem interested in anything “new” or from “out of town” we need to watch
these new bands, there’s so much talent about and so much we’re missing out on
just because we just wanna watch the bands we know. It probably seems like I’m
being a massive cock right now! Aha sure its not all this extreme over the UK
but we all need to pull our fingers out our arses and get to more shows and
watch more small bands!........ rant over! Sorry haha
Which bands from your local scene should we be listening to?
Which bands from your local scene should we be listening to?
There’s so many bands we would want to shout
out too! Bands we’ve become close to our ones like “Entro-P”, “Doomed From Day
One” or “Ageless Oblivion” But there’s also bands who have helped us out a
great deal like “The Sorrow of Mastema” and Dan from “No Consequence” mixed and
mastered our Ep!. Other young bands from our scene like “Eyes of the Fallen”
deserve your time too… there’s so many bands we’ve met and played with along
the way, I really can’t list them all because I’d be here forever aha! So sorry
if we’ve missed you out but rest assured we love you all!
Doomed From Day One - http://www.facebook.com/DoomedFromDayOne
Blood of The Spectre - EP
Tracklist:-
1. Introduction
2. Darkened Majesty
3. Defeatist
4. Lexical Gap
5. Interlude
6. Dystopia
7. End Era
The EP begins with an awesome intro track, niftily titled -
Introduction. It's filled with technical drumming and guitar rhythms, smart
breakdowns and a pretty bass heavy low end.
Darkest Majesty begins with some classic metal riffs and
dual-harmonies. The vocals are deep raspy-growls and BOTS use thrash metal
elements, which make them sound damn heavy! There's breakdowns too, and awesome
sweeping guitar melodies throughout the song.
BOTS like to write epic, experimental metal songs though, as
the song lengths demonstrate. They push plenty of ideas to the fore and sound
very forward thinking, while nodding to the past.
Defeatist follows straight on from Darkened Majesty. This
song is less indulgent but no less powerful. It's seems to embrace more of the
bands thrash influences, with fast rhythms and twin guitar being the mainstays.
In the interview above, the guys named bands like Killswitch Engage as
influences, alongside modern UK death metal bands like Viatrophy, which is a
pretty good benchmark for their sound.
Lexical Gap is filled with absolutely ferocious drumming and
Meshuggah inspired riffage. It's pretty awesome and thanks to the production,
everything sound clear, especially the pinch-harmonics embraced in the song. The
more introspective passage towards end couple with the great solo, shows what
the band are capable of when they take the foot off the gas slightly, which is
to provide the listener with clever variation and atmosphere.
Interlude gives you brief respite thanks to the thoughtful,
clean acoustic guitar that fills the speakers.
Penultimate song Dystopia starts with the kind of soundscape
you'd expect from one of the big American hitters, but sounds authentically
British at the same time. When the frenetic double bass and screams kick in
though, it is a distant memory, as BOTS set about battering you with their progressive,
modern metal sound. There are elements of hardcore amongst their music, but the
rhythms and passages that BOTS employ, does make you pay more attention, thus
proving this is not just a throwaway record.
Final song End Era is the longest song on the EP, but is
also the culmination of all of the bands influences and shows their song
writing off brilliantly. Plenty of experimentation and instrumental layers are
used too the record and make this the most well rounded song on the EP.
Overall, BOTS have managed to write a really impressive EP,
full of hooks and music that should make people pay attention. They definitely
deserve the exposure they're getting.
Now, to listen to the EP yourself, just click play below on the band's Bandcamp link below:-
And, if that wasn't enough, you can download it for free from the same link.
As well as that. Check out the bands video for closing song - End Era below:-
Make sure you keep one eye on their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/bloodofthespectre for updates on that upcoming September tour!
Now, to listen to the EP yourself, just click play below on the band's Bandcamp link below:-
And, if that wasn't enough, you can download it for free from the same link.
As well as that. Check out the bands video for closing song - End Era below:-
Make sure you keep one eye on their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/bloodofthespectre for updates on that upcoming September tour!
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