| Blood Axis | |
|---|---|
| Origin | United States |
| Genres | Experimental Folk Martial Neofolk Neoclassical Post-industrial Spoken word |
| Years active | 1989–present |
| Labels | Storm |
| Members | |
| Michael Moynihan Robert Ferbrache Annabel Lee |
|
Blood Axis is an American Neofolk/Post-industrial band consisting of journalist and author Michael Moynihan, music producer Robert Ferbrache and musician and author Annabel Lee.[1]
Contents |
Moynihan formed Blood Axis in 1989 after touring Japan at the request of experimental music pioneer, Boyd Rice. Moynihan had previously founded Coup de Grace, a multimedia project that produced live performances and cassettes and also released booklets of images and texts, the last of which was Friedrich Nietzsche's The Antichrist.[2] The first output from the new appellation were two songs, "Lord of Ages" (employing lyrics from Rudyard Kipling's poem on Mithras [3]) and "Electricity", which appeared on a German music sampler. These tracks were well received in Europe and were followed by two more songs that appeared on the seminal compilation, Im Blutfeuer.[4]
In 1995, Moynihan released the first full length studio LP, The Gospel of Inhumanity with the help of Robert Ferbrache.[5] The album wedded the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and Sergei Prokofiev with modern electronics. Moynihan implemented a recording of Ezra Pound reading from his The Cantos.[6] He also included lyrics from Nietzsche and Longfellow [7] as well as his own to the work. The album begins with a sample from the decisive final sequence of the film The Wicker Man.
After the release of The Gospel of Inhumanity, Blood Axis acquired Moynihan's partner Annabel Lee, previously of Amber Asylum, as a permanent member contributing vocals, violin, viola, accordion and various other instruments. This resulted in a considerably less electronic sound, a larger focus on Germanic polytheism and a more acoustic folk-based approach as well as covers of traditional recordings, particularly from Ireland, and continued use of historical European references. The first appearance of these changes took place in 1997, when Blood Axis played a concert for the tenth anniversary of Cold Meat Industry, a Swedish record label. The band consisted of Michael Moynihan (vocals, bodhrán), Annabelle Lee (melodeon, electric violin) and Robert Ferbrache (guitars, keyboards).[8] The performance was recorded, and later remastered and released as BLOT: Sacrifice in Sweden.
This period saw Blood Axis playing live shows in Portugal as well as various appearances with In Gowan Ring, whose main member, B'eirth, Blood Axis have appeared with as Witch-Hunt playing largely traditional Irish folk music. Out of this collaboration, they released the album Witch-Hunt: The Rites of Samhain, in 2001. During the same time, they produced a collaborative album with French artist Les Joyaux De La Princesse elaborating on the theme of absinthe appearing on The Gospel of Inhumanity. The album, entitled Absinthe - La Folie Verte, came in deluxe editions relating to the Parisian use of absinthe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This material was largely experimental, neoclassical and post-industrial in sound.
In 2005, Blood Axis released a lyrically modified cover of Brian Pearson's The Ride, to a 2005 compilation entitled Looking For Europe. 2005 also saw Blood Axis play the German Flammenzauber festival, showcasing reworked live versions of several previously released songs, an amount of Irish folk songs and the live debut of a few new songs.[9] They also made an unusual appearance in New York City on Easter Sunday (called the "Black Easter" concert) alongside Changes and two other bands, in what was their first, and what Moynihan himself said on stage would likely be their last, performance in the city. April 2006 saw further live activity from Blood Axis, as well as a new medium for the duo's folk-oriented material entitled Knotwork at the Swiss Triumvirat festival.[10]
Beginning in 1998, Moynihan began saying that Blood Axis was at work on a second full-length album, at one time said to be entitled Ultimacy.[11] On the 2nd of January, 2009, Blood Axis played in Sintra, Portugal, with members of Portuguese band Sangre Cavallum. Moynihan stated on stage that the new album, now titled Born Again, was to be released the following Easter.[12] Eventually the album got released on the 21st of March 2010.
On June 10, 2011 Blood Axis announced about their forthcoming mini tour in Europe, playing five concerts in Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Finland and Lithuania. The concerts eventually took place the last two weeks of August with final concert in Lithuania's post-folk and alternative music festival Mėnuo Juodaragis (MJR). The line-up was: Michael Moynihan, Annabel Lee, Robert Ferbrache, David E Williams (keyboards), Aaron Garlan (bass), and John Murphy (percussion). The set included new (Born Again, 2010) and old material. The compilation titled Ultimacy was eventually released in september.
| Witch-Hunt: The Rites of Samhain | |
|---|---|
| Live album by Blood Axis / In Gowan Ring |
Witch-Hunt: The Rites of Samhain is a recording of a 1999 live collaboration of Blood Axis and In Gowan Ring, performing as Witch-Hunt. The album was not released on a label. Limited to 100 CDR copies for private distribution, it was sold only at select Blood Axis concerts in Portugal. The album came in a special hand-made fold-out sleeve with leaf.
Track listing: