The Blues For The Redsun Talks

Dear friends, two weeks passed since the release of the new full-length "Dragon Tail Revelation" of the Czech sludge-doom act Blues For The Redsun and there is but final shard to this heavyweight mosaic, namely, to chat with the band about the release as part of our irregular "Talks" series. Enjoy!

BLUES FOR THE REDSUN: To reach a sonic thrust is no small feat. Much is in the drums!

After a longer while, Blues For The Redsun are back with new offerings. Their robust full-length Dragon Tail Revelation was released on vinyl in early September by MetalGate Records. We talked things with Jakub Mořický (vocals, noise).

The new album is out. What does it mean for you?

It is for me another imprint that Blues For The Redsun will leave behind. Another proof of our trifling existence, wherein we sporadically let the world know we are still around. Thanks to Ondra and MetalGate for making that possible.

I find it peculiar that the album was finished two years ago. Why is there such a gap between recording and release?

We did one other song along with this recording, making it in total about an hour of new music. We had it all scheduled in a way that when we finally finished the mixing and mastering, a whole year was gone. And MetalGate also had their other plans and projects. In essence though, the delay was mainly us getting the album into a final shape. Thanks again to Ondra, as well as to Amák for being patient and forthcoming.

The album is out on vinyl. Is having it on a physical medium important for you?

For me personally, very much. I got into music in times before the internet, so even now I listen to it mainly from physical releases. That said, from time to time I do buy something digitally on Bandcamp and listen to music from my phone when traveling.

There are some electronic samples on the album. Is it possible that you will be heading in this direction even more in the future?

Since I am taking care of that, I do think about it. That said, my approach is rather determined by the nature and vibe of the music in question. I believe electronic samples should change the atmosphere, not the character of the music itself. I would find it ideal if we could compose the next material with samples already from the get-go, but I don’t know if I am able like that. It will, however, more likely be the case that the music comes first, and the vocals and noise are to follow later.

Is it difficult to make a sound that has a real thrust?

It does require some skill. It is not just about having loads of gear as we initially thought, although for us, it is still the alpha and omega of what we sound like. What I see as vital (though not necessary) is a large scale drumkit. When it’s possible for Bary to use his own, I do relish it far more.

Which sonic bands do you like?

When you say sonic, for me that means something along the lines of harsh noise/power electronics, which is in fact what I currently listen to a lot. So, I spin Agonal Lust, Geography Of Hell, Skin Crime or Genocide Organ. But if you had in mind something like what we play, then I would say Black Shape Of Nexus, Cough, Amarok, Laudanum, Kongh, Whitehorse or Graves At Sea. If there is, however, one thing I truly listen to when it comes to slow music, it is the northern funeral doom. Just yesterday I was in Copenhagen and saw the Tyranny on the Kill-Town Death Fest and it was breathtaking.

The album offers two long tracks. Can you disclose your songwriting style a bit? Do you have a basis on which you then gradually build, or do you simply continue one passage after another? I am asking because I am curious as to how difficult it is to say: That’s it. This is how we end.

The way this material came about was that our guitarist Kokr brought already pretty much the whole tracks. We decently tweaked some arrangements, some bridges and solos, and added the noise parts. When it comes to vocals, those usually take me a while longer. In our early days, when we used to improvise more and went by feeling, we tended to try things out a lot more. Now everything has its fixed place, although when playing live, I sometimes add some more samples.

It seems to me that fans have recently been finding their way to drone and other such experimental metal forms. Do you see any progress, or do you still feel that you stand on the very fringe of metal-related interest?

As music became readily available digitally, you can find your way to anything, so various forms of music can reach people. The fact that they do not then become utter enthusiasts for the given style is perhaps another matter. Maybe we were lucky to be one of the first who started playing such music on the local scene, so we got noticed fairly quickly. Today we stand on the fringe rather because of our sporadic activity.

I think our country is small for such music. There is then of course the international scene, where there are certainly specialized events. Do you have such ambitions?

I don’t really think so. There are styles which are popular and then there are others less so. It seemed to me that back in the day there were a lot of local shows with foreign bands of such style. I guess we will try something abroad, but we don’t have any big ambitions in this regard.

You continue working with MetalGate Records. How is the cooperation so far?

Excellent in my view. Ondra is great to deal with and a really forthcoming guy in general, so I have nothing but thanks.