BLASPHEMY (ROTTEN ZINE #2, 1990) TRANSLATED

Interview done by Vesa Iitti. Finnish to English translation by Antti S. Photos and Youtube links added by me.

Dear readers, here we have a Canadian band ( from Vancouver to be exact ), whose music can only be commended. You just don't hear so beautifully brutal death metal every day. Obviously there are people disagreeing with me, but one could say that BLASPHEMY's "Blood Upon The Altar" demo is an absolute purchase for everyone into BATHORY, the tape won't collect dust in the shelf. Gerry ( check out the nicknames of these guys, "Angel Ripper" and co have to play second fiddle now... ) has phoned me several times, but because of my poor English this interview was done by letter...

Tell us a little about the history of BLASPHEMY.
- The band was formed by "Three Black Hearts Of Damnation & Impurity", "Nocturnal Grave Desecrator & Black Winds" and "Caller Of The Storms". In the year '86, "Black Priest Of The 7 Satanic Blood Rituals" joined in.

Do you have any other material beside the demo "Blood Upon The Altar”?
-Yes we do. We have accomplished also songs such as "Goddess Of Perversity", "Darkness Prevails", "Desecration", "Hording Of Evil Vengeance", "The Desolate One" and plenty of others.

Tell us about your live performances, you do fire breathing and spit blood at least…
-Yeah, "Nocturnal Grave Desecrator" does fire breathing, spits blood and he paints his tongue black. We also have this crucifix taken from a tombstone that we set inverted to the stage. We use lots of bullet belts etc.

Are you interested in occultism or Satan worship?
-Yes we are. We use to go to graveyard rituals, mainly to the island of Victoria which is the Satanic capitol of the world. Usually we go there by boat or by ferry.

How would you describe your music?
-Brutal death metal.

How's the scene like in Vancouver?
-Nowadays there are a lot of people into hardcore and black metal, there are lots of skinheads also. There's a good hardcore band called WITCHES HAMMER and others such as DAYGLOW ABORTIONS, OOC, DEATH SENTENCE. There used to be a group called FATAL HATRED with whom we played our first show.

What do you think about bands like VENOM, MORBID ANGEL, ANTHRAX, KREATOR, CANDLEMASS and MERCYFUL FATE?
-"Nocturnal Grave Desecrator & Black Winds" thinks that some of them are musically quite heavy, while some of them aren't really right up his alley. "Caller Of The Storms" thinks that all of them are okay, except KREATOR.

Have you heard any Finnish bands?
-No we haven't, but we're sure interested in hearing some.

Do you like hardcore music?
-Yeah, we all are into similar type of hardcore: DOOM, WITCHES HAMMER, NAPALM DEATH and really old DISCHARGE.

Do you read books?
-I'm reading a really old, black book called "The Wine Of Satan". Michelle Remembers is a weird one.

How would you describe you as persons?
-Black metal Satanist freaks, hard drinkers and dope smokers.

What do you think is the biggest problem for your band?
-Equipment and money.

What do you think about drugs?
-We use them at gigs and each week in our tattooing rituals.

How do you personally find your demo?
-We think it's a good one, but we are going to make even better one.

What are the topics that you want to bring forth with your lyrics?
-Death, Doom, Destruction, Hatred, Golgatha skin, Sodomy, Pain, Suffering, Lust and hailing everything that's wicked.

What are your favourite movies?
-Swedish porn, Sex with Satan. Above the Law, Blood Sports.

What's the worst Canadian band?
'UNNATURAL SILENCE.'

Is there anyone that you'd like to express your gratitude to or anyone to tell to fuck off?
-Thanks to Fallen Angel Of Armageddon. Fuck off to BROKEN BONES, because they were such a bunch of snobs when they visited here. Fuck off goes also to everyone saying that NAPALM DEATH and SODOM are rubbish, these bands are representing really good hardcore and metal. We like SODOM, DOOM and NAPALM DEATH.

What are you going to do after this interview?
-We're going to take some photos for you armed with all our new bullet belts.