Blackguard
| Blackguard | |
|---|---|
 |
|
 Blackguard at a concert in Denver in April 2013. |
|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Folk Metal , Melodic Death Metal |
| founding | 2001 (as Profugus Mortis) |
| Founding members | |
| Alkyne (until 2003) | |
| Aegis (until 2003) | |
guitar |
Terry "Roadcase" Deschenes |
| Mordred (until 2004) | |
| Justine Éthier | |
| Keleos (until 2003) | |
| Current occupation | |
singing |
Paul "Ablaze" Zinay (since 2004) |
guitar |
Terry "Roadcase" Deschenes |
guitar |
Kim Gosselin (since 2006) |
bass |
Étienne Mailloux (since 2005) |
Drums |
Justine Éthier |
| former members | |
Violin , guttural singing (live only)
|
Émilie Livernois-Desroches (2003-2008) |
Keyboard |
Jonathan Lefrançois Leduc (2003-2010) |
Blackguard is a Canadian folk metal band founded in 2001 , which played under the name Profugus Mortis until 2008 .
Band history
Founding phase and early development
Blackguard was founded in 2001 under the band name "Profugus Mortis" in Montreal . The first demo, United Under a Shadowed Nightsky , was released in 2003. At that time, violinist Émilie Livernois-Desroches joined the band. In the same year the founding members Alkin, Mordred and Keleos left the band.
Between 2003 and 2005, Étienne Mailloux, Jonathan Lefrançois Leduc and Paul Zinay joined them, so that a full-fledged line-up was created again. During this time the band had re-recorded the title track of the demo and re-released it as a promo CD / single in 2004. The second, nameless demo followed in 2004. The increasing popularity of the band in the scene helped Blackguard to the first tours and concerts with well-known bands such as Ensiferum , Lacuna Coil and The Agonist . In 2006, Kim Gosselin joined the band as a second guitarist . The first studio album was released in 2007 under the name So It Begins on the Prodisk label. In terms of sales, it became the label's most successful album at the time. In 2008 the EP Another Round was released and Émilie Livernois-Desroches left the band.
The international breakthrough through Nuclear Blast
Every year, MySpace and Nuclear Blast advertise a competition in which the winner receives a record contract. In 2008 Blackguard, at that time still under the name Profugis Mortis, took part in the competition. The band was able to prevail against almost 3000 competitors and won the contest, so that it came to the signing of a contract with Nuclear Blast. In the course of this, the name was changed to "Blackguard".
“We are completely off the mark that we were selected as a winner by Nuclear Blast. Working with such a respected label is an honor and a privilege for us. We are confident that 2009 will be a great year for us and with Nuclear Blast behind us, we don't see why it shouldn't be! "
The second studio album, Profugus Mortis , which was named after the old band name, was released on March 20, 2009 via Nuclear Blast. From April 28 to October 3, 2009 the band took part in the Pagan Festival and played alongside bands such as Korpiklaani , Die Apokalyptischen Reiter or Alestorm .
In May 2010 Blackguard supported the Swedish band Hypocrisy on their North American tour together with Hate and Swashbuckle .
The time after Nuclear Blast
In October 2010 the band announced the change to the Victory Records label and the exit of the keyboardist Leduc. For now the band would like to continue as a quintet and not look for a replacement for Leduc.
The third studio album, Firefight , was released on March 29, 2011 via Victory Records. The single release of the title track was released on February 22, 2011.
style
Initially, the band played black-metal- influenced folk metal . At that time the texts mostly told fantasy stories, later they dealt with philosophical questions. While the lyrical concept was largely retained, but again numerous stories and legends were brought in, from 2003 onwards they moved away from Black Metal influences and approached Melodic Death Metal . The band describes their style as epic metal .
On Profugus Mortis , the lyrics are about stories and reflections that the band has heard over the years. The lyrics usually have a happy, positive character. B. with I, Demon there is also a melancholy, gloomy text. According to singer and front man Paul "Ablaze" Zinay, "[it's] lyrically [...] about the fact that we can be our own worst demons." The song The Last We Wage , for example, is based on a folk tale from the Québec region , where also the band's hometown, Montreal, is located. The cover of Profugus Mortis also refers to this fairy tale.
Discography
Albums
- 2007: So It Begins (Prodisk)
- 2009: Profugus Mortis (Nuclear Blast)
- 2011: Firefight (Victory Records)
- 2020: Storm
Singles
- 2004: United Under a Shadowed Nightsky
- 2011: Firefight (Victory Records)
Demos and EPs
- 2003: United Under a Shadowed Nightsky
- 2005: demo
- 2008: Another Round
Web links
- Official profile on MySpace
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Interview with Blackguard in March 2009 , metalnews.de, accessed on February 25, 2011
- ^ Official MySpace page, accessed June 28, 2010
- ↑ MySpace Contest Prize accessed June 28, 2010
- ↑ Line-Up from Paganfest 2009 ( Memento of the original from May 3, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on smnnews.com; Retrieved August 31, 2010
- ↑ Hypocrisy-Tour with Blackguard (Myspace Blog, January 21, 2010) , myspace.com, accessed on February 25, 2011 (English)
- ↑ a b Label and line-up change (Myspace Blog, October 13, 2010) , myspace.com, accessed on February 25, 2011 (English)
- ↑ Announcement of the release date of Firefight Myspace Blog, January 8, 2011 , myspace.com, accessed on February 25, 2011 (English)
