CIRCA 1989 (C.E.): Byron begins formulating plans for the implementation of a new lyrical & musical project called 'Bal-Sagoth'; an avant-garde black/death metal band to be swathed in symphonic splendour and dark fantasy/science-fiction imagery. The project incubates for several years, awaiting the time of its awakening...
JULY 1993:Destiny leads Byron to meet the musicians Jonny Maudling and his brother Christopher, who are also looking to form a band and write original material. Byron unveils project: Bal-Sagoth, providing a catalyst and a source of inspiration and guidance. The legend begins.
SEPT. 1993: Vincent Crabtree is recruited into Bal-Sagoth as keyboard player. He thus joins Byron, Jonny Maudling, Chris Maudling and Jason Porter as part of the original line-up of Bal-Sagoth.
DEC. 1993: In the deep winter, Bal-Sagoth record their apocryphal promo/demo tape using primitive technology and archaic equipment. The songs, although unrefined, raw, and primal in the extreme, serve to establish the intent of the band. Frater Nihil of London- based Cacophonous Records hears the tape and promptly offers the band a three album recording deal. After careful deliberation, Bal-Sagoth accept the terms and sign to Cacophonous.
JAN-MAY 1994: Byron promotes the band unceasingly in the world-wide underground metal scene His extreme views on theological and historical matters gain the band a fearsome neo-pagan reputation, while a series of well circulated rehearsal tapes of new material confirm the band's artistic credibility.
JUNE 1994: Bal-Sagoth enter Academy Studios in West Yorkshire, England, to record their now legendary first album, 'A Black Moon Broods Over Lemuria'. The carnage commences!
JULY 1994- APRIL 1995: Due to various administrative inefficiencies at Cacophonous, the album's release is delayed for almost an entire year. Promo tapes of selected tracks are circulated strategically, and the world awakens to the erudite fury and sublime bombast of Bal-Sagoth.
It is during this period that Vincent Crabtree leaves the band, to be replaced by new recruit Leon Forrest.
Two proposed shows in December of '95 supporting Cradle of Filth in London and Bradford are cancelled due to Byron severely injuring himself during a whiskey-induced stage-diving frenzy at a Cannibal Corpse gig. Byron's mutant healing factor enables his bones to knit swiftly and a speedy recovery is achieved.
In April 1995, Bal-Sagoth finally play their first ever live gig as part of a two-day black/death metal festival at the Dublin Castle in London. The response is incredible.
MAY 1995: 'A Black Moon Broods Over Lemuria' is finally released, and is met by universal acclaim from fans and press alike The album swiftly becomes a best-seller and gains the band a vast army of fanatical supporters world-wide.
JUNE-JULY 1995: Bal-Sagoth return to London in June to headline a gig at the infamous Camden Underworld. In July, they play two incredibly successful dates with Portuguese band Moonspell at London & Bradford.
SEPT.1995: Bal-Sagoth travel to Dublin, Eire, for the first gig in a short UK tour with label-mates Sigh and Primordial. Unfortunately, the band is forced to withdraw from the tour due to dire treachery and vile subterfuge on the part of the promoter. They are never again to work with that promoter.
OCT. 1995-JULY 1996: Bal-Sagoth unexpectedly lock themselves away for many months to write their much-anticipated second album...
In the high summer, they re-enter Academy Studios and record their phenomenal follow-up to 'A Black Moon Broods Over Lemuria', the mighty 'Starfire Burning Upon The Ice-Veiled Throne Of Ultima Thule. A monumental milestone in the annals of metal is thus crafted. The world suspected little of what the band had in store with the second magnificent opus...
NOV.1996: Bal-Sagoth headline the Ragnarok all-day extreme metal festival in Belgium, unveiling a selection of the new songs for the first time.
'Starfire...' is released to meet with unparalleled praise and incredible adulation from all areas of the extreme music press and world-wide fandom. Bal-Sagoth have crafted a masterpiece which sends shockwaves throughout the globe. The musical splendour and extreme lyrical genius of the album garners countless more fanatical adherents for the band.
DEC.1996: Bassist Jason Porter is dismissed from the ranks of Bal-Sagoth to be replaced by Alistair Mac Latchy, an individual the band have worked with before, in the dim and distant past.
FEB. 1997: Bal-Sagoth embark upon their first European tour; a mammoth 23-date trek supporting Sweden's Dark Funeral and Norway's Ancient. The 'Starfire Engulfs Europe Tour' leaves a trail of destruction and chaos throughout countless lands.
OCT. 1997: And so Bal-Sagoth embark upon their second European tour, this time with Emperor and Nocturnal Breed. The tour is an unprecedented success, steeped in victory and untold triumph. The 'Starfire Engulfs Europe Part 2 Tour' further strengthens the glorious legend of Bal-Sagoth.
Upon their return to England, Bal-Sagoth enter Academy Studios once more, this time to record their crucial follow-up to 'Starfire...'. An astonishing magnum opus is thus unerringly crafted; a masterwork that forever redefines the genre of extreme metal. 'Battle Magic' is born!
JAN. 1998: Leon Forrest leaves the band to pursue a career in law enforcement. Jonny promptly forsakes drum duties and moves onto the keyboards for any future live shows, and Bal-Sagoth begin searching for a new drummer.
MARCH 1998: 'Battle Magic' is unleashed upon an unsuspecting world and proceeds to shock and amaze the entire music scene with its incredible originality and searingly evolutionary prowess. Lyrical and musical concepts are expanded inestimably, and the greatest & most avant-garde chapter in the legend of Bal-Sagoth is thus written in blood. The album strides over all boundaries like a great steel-thewed colossus, supreme in its pulse-pounding majesty and fearsome passion. The First Trilogy of Bal-Sagoth is thus complete.
MAY 1998: Drummer Dave Mackintosh joins the band.
JULY 1998:Alistair Maclatchy leaves the band to be replaced by new bassist Mark Greenwell, a former band mate of Dave Mackintosh.
SEPTEMBER 1998: Byron mysteriously vanishes and is believed to have been mystically enshrined within a vast vault of glacial ice whilst trekking at the North Pole. At the same time, Jonny strangely disappears in the mid-Atlantic, rumoured to have been lost at sea, and Chris is allegedly consumed by a great sandstorm in the Sahara Desert. Speculation as to the current exact whereabouts of England's most barbaric sons continues...
THEIR E-MAIL ADRESSES:
BYRON vocals
JONNY MAUDLING keybord
CHRIS MAUDLING guitars
DAVE MACKINTOSH war drums
MARK GREENWELL bass
