The essence of BAL-SAGOTH originally began in the late 1980’s as one of vocalist/lyricist Byron’s idealistic flights of fancy... a high concept project intended to take the form of a sublimely symphonic black/death metal band swathed in a lyrical concept of dark fantasy & science-fiction, inspired by the celebrated style of the grand pulp horror and fantasy literature of the 1930’s, whilst simultaneously being infused with the baroque and arcane mysteries of ages long past and Byron’s enduring fascination with ancient mythology and occultism. The idea was finally put into action in 1993 when Byron met the Brothers Maudling, and after releasing a mysteriously apocryphal demo in the deep winter of 1993, Bal-Sagoth signed to London’s Cacophonous Records, a sub-label of Vinyl Solution. Over the course of five years Bal-Sagoth recorded their celebrated First Trilogy of albums, comprising 1995’s “A Black Moon Broods Over Lemuria”, 1996’s “Starfire Burning Upon The Ice-Veiled Throne Of Ultima Thule”, and 1998’s “Battle Magic”. Bal-Sagoth toured extensively to promote their trilogy of works, including successful European excursions with Sweden’s Dark Funeral and Norway’s Emperor, including a now legendary appearance at London’s prestigious Astoria theatre, with Byron gaining a sponsorship deal with the UK’s leading arms & armour suppliers Battle Orders Ltd in the process. In 1999 the band signed to the German label Nuclear Blast and began the creation of their long awaited Second Trilogy, beginning with their fourth overall album, the incredible stellar symphony entitled “The Power Cosmic”. This was followed up in 2001 with the band’s fifth full length album, the acclaimed magnum opus “Atlantis Ascendant”, and Bal-Sagoth immediately embarked upon the “No Mercy” festival tour of Europe alongside such bands as Marduk, Mortician, Amon Amarth and Vader, a tour which was swiftly followed by a further phenomenally successful trek around Europe, including two long awaited and critically acclaimed UK shows to round out 2001, additionally a year in which the band enjoyed extensive worldwide press coverage, including exhaustive airplay on BBC Radio 1 courtesy of the late DJ John Peel. In 2002 they returned triumphantly to the UK stage with an appearance at the Bloodstock 02 UK Metal Festival, followed by subsequent UK gigs with thrash veterans Sabbat in late 2002 and early 2003. In mid 2003 the band locked themselves away to write their much anticipated sixth album, emerging only to play the prestigious and world renowned Wacken Open Air festival in August 2004. The long awaited sixth Bal-Sagoth album and cataclysmic conclusion to the band's epic hexalogy, "The Chthonic Chronicles", is due to be released through Nuclear Blast during the first quarter 2006. Bal-Sagoth transcend all boundaries, striding over the limitations of the black metal genre like a great steel-thewed colossus. The mammoth Bal-Sagoth engine is fuelled with the mana of genius; epic and baroque sagas of darkest fantasy & science fiction set against a stirring orchestral metal soundtrack, multifaceted and exciting stories given the spark of thespian life and resonating within this grandiose musical soundscape... the key to a sublime artistic odyssey taking listeners on a journey to the infinite realms beyond. This is pure sinister and bombastic art the likes of which the world has never before seen! The peerless power of the mighty Bal-Sagoth is truly a wondrous and sublimely disturbing thrill-ride for all those brave and imaginitive souls who have ever craved music which is exciting, entertaining, enchanting and wholly enthralling! No other band captures the imagination like Bal-Sagoth... no other band has carved for themselves such a unique place in the annals of musical history, reigning supreme as the true kings of bombastic baroque Britannic battle-metal! All hail Bal-Sagoth!
Byron Roberts (vocals)
Jonny Maudling (keyboards)
Chris Maudling (guitar)
Mark Greenwell (bass)
Paul "Wak" Jackson (drums)
