INTERVIEW: Blood Star

Hot on the heels of their magnificent debut album and directly after seeing them at Keep It True, I decided a chat must be had with BLOOD STAR. Let’s get into “First Sighting” and more with Madeline!

1. Greetings Madeline, please do the honours of introducing your band and giving us the basic background for those unfamiliar!

Hello! Thanks for your time. We are Blood Star from Salt Lake City, Utah and we play traditional heavy metal/rock ‘n roll. We’ve been a band since 2017 and we’re going stronger than ever!

2. While on the topic of introductions, a couple of your bandmates are linked to the fantastic Visigoth. Do you have any prior experience as a Heavy Metal (or any other style) vocalist or is Blood Star your debut as a singer?

No, not really. Blood Star is my first band. I used to play guitar and sing in coffee shops doing the singer songwriter thing when I was younger but that was a long time ago.

3. With the formalities out of the way, let’s first talk about your debut 7”. Back in 2020, Shadow Kingdom Records put out 2 songs on this classic format. What made you want to go for this as opposed to a demo, longer EP or straight to the full length? Also, do you feel “The Fear” and “Tortured Earth” are still representative of the band. I must assume they are to a degree as both were in the live set.

We recorded the The Fear and Tortured Earth in 2018 prior to our first tour with Night Demon because those were the only two tracks we had at that time that we felt were ready for recording. We redid the vocals on those tracks though, cause they were in no way ready to be heard by the public and it took me a really long time to find my voice and my confidence. I think we finished vocals at the end of 2019 so “The Fear” single was prepared prior to us signing with Shadow Kingdom. The label was super excited about the songs and really believed in us so Shadow Kingdom decided a 7″ would make the biggest splash.

I think both tracks are still representative of us as a band. They fit pretty well with the newer material and the lyrics are definitely still relevant. Fearless Priestess came out of that time as well actually and we played it on that first tour, but the lyrics and vocal melodies changed quite a bit from the original version.

4. Now, the new record, “First Sighting” is out (also via Shadow Kingdom Records) and I believe doing quite well? How happy is the band with the reception of this record?

We are blown away! We already have a second pressing in the works not even two months after the release. It’s amazing to see how many people have discovered us since the full length came out and we have had such an incredible response to our live shows performing these songs.

5. Lyrically you seem to dance with more of a Sci-Fi aesthetic mixed with the turmoils of human life, what inspires your lyrical approach? Perhaps some element of despair for the state of the current world or a yearning for adventure?

Yeah a bit of both I would say. We love science fiction and consume quite a bit of it through different media. It’s a great way to escape. Also life can be really dark and painful and writing about it is a great way to process that. Personally I like writing about my struggles because if it helps even one person feel like they’re seen or heard then I feel like I’m using my voice for something good. There’s no shortness of despair in the world today so the inspiration is endless and even though we’re so connected it’s really easy to feel alone. I turn to music in times like that and I want our music to have a strong impact.

6. Sound-wise, Blood Star seems to walk the line between some of the late 70s crunchiness and pure 80s Heavy Metal steel. Which bands inspire you? And which newer bands do you consider worthy contemporaries?

We’re all huge Blue Oyster Cult fans. We love Accept, WASP, Uriah Heep, Rainbow, Saxon, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Black Sabbath of course. I draw a lot of influence from Omen and Warlock/Doro as well. There are SO MANY great newer bands. Sonja, Solicitor, Spell, Tyrann, Seven Sisters, Century, Amethyst, Night Demon, Unto Others, Blind Oath, Savage Master, Tower, Traveller, Smoulder, Riot City, Night Cobra, and Sanhedrin just to name a few.

7. Ryan T. Hancock provided a truly magnificent album cover, what does it depict from the bands perspective? This very lonesome lady (or “Fearless Priestess” perhaps) in a very looming landscape. How does this aesthetically represent the record and its themes?

It was really cool working with Ryan actually. He wanted to know about our track titles and lyrical themes and he worked those in to the cover. You nailed it, the little lady with a light in the darkness represents Fearless Priestess. The menacing black orb that appears to be in a place that it doesn’t belong is the Blood Star and that ties in to a whole story of the destruction this roaming star unleashes on planets across the universe. But you’ll have to wait for the next record for that song.

8. In the introduction, I mention your recent blinding show at Keep It True. It was a pleasure to see and hang with you guys a bit! How has the touring been and what’s coming up? I saw you’re opening for Exciter on some of their Euro dates, is anything else in the pipeline?

Thank you! We had such a blast. Keep it True was an absolute dream come true. We had an incredible turnout for being the very first band of the festival. Our European tour with Exciter was amazing as well! We played 4 countries that we had never played and our music was well received. We always learn a lot from the bands we tour with and Exciter has been around for 40 years so we soaked up as much knowledge as we could from them. They are absolute sweethearts and so funny! We have two smaller west coast runs in the US coming up this fall and in the meantime we’re working on the second album.

9. The last words are yours, anything you want to promote / tell / warn / prophecise.

The wait for a new album won’t be as long as the wait for this first one was, I promise you that! We’re looking forward to playing anywhere and everywhere we can and we are so grateful to everyone who has purchased merchandise, followed us on social media and shared our music. None of this would be possible without the support of our friends, fans and the greater music scene. Across the world we’re all connected through heavy metal music and that’s such an incredible feeling. Thank you all and see you on the road!