Blasphemy - A Sad Lament For An Old Friend

Blasphemy were one of the best metal bands ever to walk the face of the earth. They burst forth from deepest, darkest Burnaby in the mid-80s and immediately started wrecking shop, taking the day's conception of brutal metal and stomping it into a bloody pulp, in the process creating a subgenre that was dubbed "war metal" by their followers and imitators. The reign of terror lasted until Friday, July 13th, 2001, when Blasphemy unleashed their final onslaught on Vancouver, supported by Florida's Black Witchery. They are and will continue to be sorely missed.

I've pretty much been a death head since 1991 when Carcass showed me that there was listenable music outside of punk rock. For about a three-year period it was grindcore and death metal or nothing. Sure, I've branched out considerably since... jazz... hip hop... funk... classic rock... blues... reggae... you name it. Shit, I even own five Phish albums... but in the end, it always seems to come back to metal of the oppressively heavy variety. I just love the stuff, and Blasphemy stands proudly atop the heap alongside Sarcofago, Bathory, Sextrash, Conqueror, and their ilk.

I invite everyone to take a look at the cover of the "Gods of War" album. What's not to like? We've got a winged naked chick with a cape wielding a magic wand whilst cruising through outer space on some sort of wheel-less chariot pulled by a couple of war horses. Awesome.

And it bears noting that one of the most influential bands in black metal, a genre that isn't exactly renowned for tolerating racial diversity, had Caller of Storms as their lead guitar player. How Canadian is that? Hail the mighty Blasphemy! May Vancouver's Black Metal Skinheads rise from the dead to assault our ears once again.