Most people in Southern Ontario know that Toronto's metal scene is dead, with the exception of a few small indie bands. What has grown to become Ontario's metal hot-spot is London, which has had visits from bands like Suffocation and Deicide in the past few months. There is also a very sturdy underground with some very talented bands. Blood of Christ is one of those bands, who have become the first to sign to a label, Pulverizer Records. I talked to brothers Jeff (guitars) and Jason (drums) Longo about BoC's past, present, and what seems like a very bright future. This is what transpired.
CoC: Tell me about the band's origins, how the band members joined together to become Blood of Christ?
Jeff: Blood of Christ started out in early 1994, actually probably earlier around late '93. In the summer of '94 we did two demos, _Divine Requiem_ and _Frozen Dreams_. The only remaining members from these demos are Jason Longo (drums), Marek Kopola (bass), and myself on guitar. Then we started playing live shows. Our first (which was promoted, booked, and set up by BoC) was with Cryptopsy and Nefarious on September 2nd, 1995. A while after this, after a whole year of constant problems and differences with our vocalist, Conan Bulani joined (August '96). The rest is history I guess, or is still to come.
CoC: How would you describe your sound to someone who hasn't heard your music? What bands have influenced BoC's sound?
Jason: Well, our music is very different from any other death metal band. For example we have a lot of time changes and we hardly ever play the same riff twice in our newer material. Some of the bands I personally listen to are Immolation, Korn, Suffocation, Cryptopsy, Primus, and the list goes on.
Jeff: There really aren't any "influences", we just play what comes to us naturally.
CoC: Tell me about your demo, _The Lonely Flowers of Autumn_. Did it result in the band receiving any international attention?
Jason: Our demo, _TLFoA_, was recorded in September 1995 and contains four songs. It was our first demo that introduced our new sound to people. We sold a lot of demos and made t-shirts for it, too. We also got reviews in magazines around the world. We got a lot of attention for this demo, there was interest from labels, bands, and 'zines alike.
Jeff: It also is what brought us to be heard by Randy Williams at Pulverizer Records!
CoC: Didn't the band release a 7-inch a while back?
Jason: Well, we recorded two songs for it but we never saw those 7-inches. It was with Torture Records (Italy) and I don't know if it got released in Europe or not, but it definitely didn't come out over here to us in the mail. By the way, we've waited for over eight months for that fucking 7-inch!
CoC: Of those recordings, what did the lyrics deal with?
Jeff: Well, our lyrics on the demo and the two songs (which will be released soon - so one way or another we've finally got those songs out) which were intended for the 7-inch, they're about life I suppose, but with a very morose outlook. Very depressing and sometimes using mythical or fantasy ideas to get the meanings across.
CoC: As you've hinted to earlier, and from what I've heard, Blood of Christ has signed to Pulverizer Records. What circumstances led up to signing with them? Did you have any other labels interested in you prior to signing with Pulverizer?
Jeff: Basically, Marek had sent the demo a very long time ago to Inner Source 'zine. Randy Williams is the editor of the 'zine, so he gets the demos and mail. Since he gets hundreds of demos, he doesn't get to listen to them very fast. But eventually he came across ours, and he said that it "kicked his ass!" So then he sent me a letter saying he wanted to do a CD with us, so we did.
Jason: There was interest from other labels, such as Torture, we were actually talking with him to do a CD, but... and other labels from around... well it doesn't matter, we're on Pulverizer now.
CoC: When will the debut CD be released?
Jason: _...A Dream to Remember_ is the name of our full-length. It will be released some time around the end of February. There are seven new tracks on it, "The Lost Shrine", "Moonlight Eclipse", and "Nocturnal Desire", to name a few, and then there are two older tunes re-recorded. Also, around March or later, we'll be re-releasing _TLFoA_ on CD [along with] the two songs from that aforementioned 7-inch, and a bonus track - it comes out on Pulverizer Records!
CoC: Has there been any talk about you touring out of country?
Jason: Yes, there has been a lot of talking amongst the band. In fact, we are playing some shows coming up in the States, hopefully Milwaukee Metal Fest, but I don't think that's for sure.
CoC: How is the London scene right now? Some feel that it is only second to Montreal in the way of underground metal bands in Canada?
Jason: The "scene" is weird because when we play with bands like Cryptopsy, maybe 80-100 people (and half of those 80 are from out of town anyway!) show up (at the most) and that pisses me off because you see people downtown with their death metal shirts on and they say that they're die hard fans, but where are they when it comes down to it? Personally, I'm sick of London, I hate it here. As far as bands go, there is some good talent here, my favorite band is Flesh Feast, they're brutal.
Jeff: Yes, I agree, but other than Flesh Feast and us, I don't think there's anything good (in death metal), and the other death metal bands here (well, they'd like to think they're death metal), all they do is let their jealousy ruin our scene. They have destroyed it 100% for the past two years. I am talking about, well, let's just call them the "S(t)D"'s for the sake of having a name to go by. They're fuckers to us and to Flesh Feast, but they're sad because both us and FF are what they wish they were. Sorry guys, but I've had enough of your carving on other bands. Oh, and there's also Porno, they're cool too with what they're doing, but I'm not too sure how they are with line-up changes and all... I just don't know.
CoC: What are your views on the Canadian metal scene?
Jason: I really don't know what my views are but, I'll tell you Europe and USA kick ass for death metal. Canada is not as good. I don't know why, but I think it will always be the "last stop" sort of things for bands.
CoC: Which bigger bands have you played with and did you learn anything from them?
Jason: We have played with bands like Cryptopsy, Kataklysm, Gorguts, Enemy Soil, and Oppressor. We learned some things but most of the learning was done on our own.
CoC: What personal achievements do you have for Blood of Christ?
Jason: I want to play a lot more shows around the world and make lots of CDs and move to Europe!
Jeff: Yes, moving to Europe would be cool! We've both been there and it's amazing. I also just want to play the music we love and play to all kinds of different crowds in different places. I'm also looking very hard for a seven-string Ibanez (Universe), that's a big goal of mine, to get the 7th string! So if anyone's got one they'd be willing to part with, call me now!
Contact address and merchandise information:
Demo: _The Lonely Flowers of Autumn_ -- $5 US
Jeff Longo, 27 Century Pl. London, ONT, N6H 4W9, CANADA