In this interview, we delve into the world of Black Legion with Moord, the guitarist and vocalist of the British band Blasfeme. Moord reveals the medieval inspirations behind their latest album, explores the dark evolution of Blasfeme’s sound, and shares his thoughts on the future of the UK black metal scene. Discover how Black Legion represents a new chapter in the band’s journey and how historical and dark themes blend with their music.
Serial Metalbums: Let’s dive into the world of "Black Legion." Can you describe the atmosphere and themes you aimed to explore in this album, compared to your first release?
Moord: The overarching theme is medieval, be it medieval warfare like the title track, pagan gods like Czernobog, or sadistic torture and true stories from older, darker times like Cachtice 1611. The music is straight black metal with traditional metal touches, not medieval in sound, but rooted in the primitive aspects of the genre, a place where the embers have never truly died and where evil music can still find life. Our first release was very heavy, with breathing space between the songs in the form of acoustic interludes and such, whereas this record is nonstop black heavy metal until the closing number, which is an acoustic track that conjures the atmosphere and theme of the record and draws the musical story to a close.
Serial Metalbums: The title "Black Legion" is quite powerful. What is the significance of this title and how does it represent the essence of this album?
Moord: The title works on a couple of levels, but mainly it is simply the best name given to the Hungarian army of mercenaries (1458-1494). It can also refer to us as the band and to the collective listeners. We are Black Legion, You are Black Legion... that sort of thing. Now that I think of it, it also sort of tips its hat to LLN...
Serial Metalbums: The production of "Black Legion" seems darker and denser than your first album. What artistic and technical choices did you make to achieve this result?
Moord: Years ago I met Azhari when Beyond Man toured with our friends Trivax. We hit it off, and when it came time to work on the record, he beat out the other producers shortlisted and ended up being a perfect choice for the project. He brings the Nidaros sound without it affecting our style and really took time to get to know the songs and the story of the album. The fact we had taken time to record and engineer the record well in the first instance with Tim Vincent, who produced the *Fuck Your Starving Planet* EP, made the mixing and mastering fairly painless! The end result is very pure. It is how it was always supposed to sound, a blend of Norwegian black metal and British heavy metal that sounds exactly as good as you'd expect.
Serial Metalbums: How do you see the evolution of the British black metal scene and what is your personal contribution to this genre?
Moord: The UK scene is surprisingly strong these days. Some people may still just think of Cradle of Filth when they think of UKBM, but contemporaries are all releasing strong albums: Andracca, Aklash, Volniir, Trivax, to name only a few off the tip of my head! Our label Wulfhere is one of many underground companies providing a strong lifeline of dark music from the UK to the rest of the world. To simply be recognized as someone who, whether you like me or not, gives it a hundred percent every time and has an undying love for black metal is enough of a contribution to the scene. I'm glad to have been able to provide four different sounding releases so far with Blasfeme. I'm pleased our early work with Jake divides opinion, and that our recent work is so different and seems to have hit the mark more readily and is being enjoyed and received well. If everyone is cool with it, I'll just keep to myself, keep getting stoned, and write my own evolving style of black metal!
Serial Metalbums: What are your future plans? Can we expect a tour to promote "Black Legion"?
Moord: I'd love to be able to tell you we're already on our way to your city, but as of yet nothing past festival appearances this summer is confirmed! Of course, the plan is to take *Black Legion* as far and wide as possible, and in the meantime, use this momentum to start work on the third record!
