Made up of members from Opeth, Paradise Lost, Katatonia and Craft there is little wonder that Bloodbath are considered to be a death metal supergroup. Already in operation for sixteen years now the band have made a huge impact on the European live scene and have created a huge fan base through some four amazing albums. Now the band return with their brand new album The Arrow Of Satan Is Drawn, which already has the world talking, and are preparing themselves for another European tour.
As the band prepare for the tour HEAVY Mag caught up with frontman ‘Old Nick’ Holmes to chat about how the album came together and how goes about juggling both Paradise Lost and Bloodbath.
“File sharing is a wonderful thing when you are spread out far and wide,” says Holmes when I ask how the band members find time to record for Bloodbath when they are all so busy with their other bands. “We don’t even have to rehearse together, we can do it all via the internet. It actually makes things easier because I can rehearse a lot more efficiently at home then what I can in the rehearsal studio. All the guys kind of go away to their own places and do their own stuff and then we just file share until the thing is done. I mean Anders, Jonas and Joakim all write their own music, their own entire songs, and I have kind of helped Anders and Joakim with the lyrics on a couple of songs but generally speaking everybody does their own thing so it is not like we are all in a room jamming like some 1970s band.”
I ask Holmes whether that means that sometimes he gets that ‘wow factor’ when he opens up a file. “Yeah I do,” he says. “But that is how I have been working with Paradise Lost for the past twenty years as well because I believe you can take things in a lot better when you are in your own environment, you don’t have distractions around you and you can properly listen. I mean if you are listening to it through a phone or something you really need to be in a place where you can really take it in and you can think ‘it does this and this and this.’ And you also need a few days to get into it as well. For me it is a much better way to work because it is much more efficient.”
The Arrow Of Satan Is Drawn is out now through Peaceville Records.