INTERVIEW: Ryan Förster (Death Worship, Conqueror & Blasphemy)

Ryan Förster is a well known entity in the visceral world of War Metal. I do not feel a need to introduce this bestial icon, so let’s get into it!

1. First and foremost, thank you for taking some time to spew blasphemies with me. Let’s get this rolling with a wider question. Canada’s Ross Bay Cult takes its name from a graveyard in which many private Rites (which I shall not pry into) occur, what do you think the significance of this cult is to Black / Death Metal outside of Canada?

Some people into the underground metal scene look for Norwegian Black Metal because the band is from that region and they are interested in that sound. Or maybe they used to look for Gothenburg bands from Sweden because they are after that sound. Of course it’s nowhere on the same scale, but when you see the Ross Bay Cult logo or know that the band is part of this cult then you know you are in for some brutal und unrelenting desecration! We’re more on the fringes of the underground scene and too scathing and savage for most listeners compared to the majority of Black Metal bands that seem to put more of an emphasis on melody and melancholy.

2. Many maniacs appreciate your work with the magnificent CONQUEROR. Since then you have joined the equally highly regarded BLASPHEMY and also work with J. Read on DEATH WORSHIP. All of these bands fall into the War Metal scene and share bestial similarities, so what do you get from each that is unique?

Yes, all of these bands have a similar approach, but the difference is in the creation of the songs. Of course I had nothing to do with the writing of the old Blasphemy songs because they were made about a decade before I even joined that band, but Conqueror was an equal collaboration between J Read and me. With Death Worship I take the reins so what you hear in the music is mainly my ideas and the artwork/imagery are all my visions brought to light.

3. Aside from the bands (which I will get back to), you run the Ross Bay Cult label. This seems to be in conspiracy with Nuclear War Now, this makes sense as NWN has closely worked with all of your bands. So why the need for a sub label? Or is this about personal identity and ownership of your craft?

I started the Ross Bay Cult label because I was getting demo tapes of killer bands and I was perplexed that no one wanted to sign them. They had the sounds and the ideologies of bands that I am into, but I guess that it was too brutal and not market worthy for most labels that need to keep their money in profitable projects. So out of my undying interest in underground bestial metal I decided to start up Ross Bay Cult to release music by these bands that I was into, and it was also as a way to get merchandise from the bands that I was in distributed. So I had bands like Proclamation from Spain, Wrathprayer from Chile, Antichrist from Canada, and I also got to work with killer bands like Diocletian and Teitanblood, etc on exclusive tshirts and hoodies and what not. NWN Productions got involved as Yosuke had faith my vision and that made it possible to release music from the bands we signed on vinyl as well as CD and cassette. My original idea was to just release CDs and tapes at first and then build later into vinyl, but with the backing of NWN Productions I was able to skip most of the struggles of a new business and get right to it. Ross Bay Cult was running great as a label and distribution for a few years until Canada Post decided to raise the cost for mailing packages to unreasonable rates and I was forced to shut things down. For example it was $70 to mail one Blasphemy hoodie to Europe from Canada. The postage was more than the hoodie itself!! Then I moved to Germany and started up the label again as a way to promote Death Worship and of course the other RBC bands. Unfortunately the German Postal System also raised their rates soon afterwards and I stopped the label again. It was embarrassing to ask for so much money to mail the supporters a package. But it seems people are getting used to paying ridiculous postal rates, so I am about to get things up and running again.

4. Back to the music, touring is a very rare thing compared to many legendary Extreme Metal titans. Is this down to location, personal lives or to make the shows more of a spectacle? If the latter, please shed some light on this for those who have never seen you perform.

Over the past decade we had the urge to start doing shows again. But we are not like other bands that hit the stage in order to promote their new release. And we don’t have label backing or a promotion company like most active touring bands. We just do shows to meet up with old friends and contacts that we have around the world. For some reason that doesn’t compute in some people’s minds and they can’t understand that there might be another reason to play live other than for promotion of your band. Also I think that we add something a bit more exclusive to festivals instead of the same old circuit bands that seem to rotate on all the bills. And of course most importantly it rules to be able to bring our desecration to the stage and remind people how Black Metal once was!

5. Your guitar style is ruthlessly primal, do you see progressive Metal as something negative or did it just not come naturally to the feel of the rituals you want to create sonically?

Since I was a teenager there was this sound in my head that I felt was the perfect Black Metal style! I searched for this sound through 100s of albums and demos and no one really seemed to hit the mark. Sodom and Bathory came close on their early records. Then of course Blasphemy, Beherit and Sarcofago and also bands like Grotesque and Tiamat on the “Sumerian Cry” album almost hit the mark, but in the end I felt compelled to pick up the guitar and try to get that sound in my head onto tape. I still haven’t quite been able to get the sound in the recordings I’ve done to match the sound in my head, but I’ve come close. And at least I got the pick slide forever ingrained as a signature of the genre, heh!

6. Finally, what can we expect to come next from your various endeavours? Perhaps the 3rd BLASPHEMY record? A CONQUEROR comeback? More DEATH WORSHIP? All of the above?

For sure there will never be another Conqueror show or recording! We have decided that we have said and done everything that we wanted to with that cult. There most likely won’t be any more new Blasphemy records, and maybe not even any more shows….! Maybe you can check out Blasphamagoatachrist to get a bit of a Blasphemy feel, but that is probably the closest you will get to a new Blasphemy album. I have plans for a Death Worship full length LP! That is something that I am slowly working on. Unfortunately there are restrictions in place right now that prevent rehearsals with J Read, but as soon as those restrictions are lifted we will get some savagery unleashed once again! ROSS BAY CULT ETERNAL!!!!