Bloodstrike [Scandinavian over the American incarnation of death metal]

Bloodstrike is a new band, but everyone played somewhere before. How joined up your ways?

I had been writing a few songs trying to find some guys to play with, but hadn’t had much luck. I sort of stopped looking for a while when Jeff mentioned that he and Holly had been wanting to start up a new project. Having known Jeff and Holly for a few years I knew it would be a good fit. We all knew exactly what style we wanted to play. We went through a few drummers and bass players before being fortunate enough to find Ryan and Rhia.

You come from the United States. So why did you choose Scandinavian death metal style of playing? Is it, in your opinion, better than its American incarnation?

I don’t think we ever made a real conscious decision to play Scandinavian style death metal. But it kind of came naturally considering many of those bands are our favorites.
We all have slightly different favorites and big influences but I would say i am much more of a fan of Scandinavian over the American incarnation.

How was the recording process of the new album – what was the biggest challenge for you?
As far as the initial recording goes it was quite smooth. We were able to track at the place we practice since Jeff has a recording studio there. I would say the biggest challenge was trying to get that grinding guitar tone while maintaining a clear and heavy sound. HM-2!!

 How do you think the female singer has a beneficial effect on the general interest in the band?

I honestly often forget that there are female members in the band. It doesn’t seem different to me. I guess that people might seek out bands that have female singers since it is not quite as common, so any added interest is a bonus.

How do you look back on the shows you did so far?

For the most part we have had awesome shows so far. Not to many technical issues. Our friends and fans are always awesome. Even had someone try to endlessly hug our bass player in the middle of a set. Haha.

The inspirations today, are they any different from when you first began your adventure with music?

No. While we all are fans of lots of different styles of metal, our writing style always points at straight up old school death metal.

Why did you choose „Soulless” performed by Grave on the cover? Do you like the song from the new album the Swedes?

Well obviously Grave is a huge influence on our band. We had a few ideas for songs to cover but once we thought of Soulless we all new that was the one.
Its awesome to play and record a song you have loved for years.

 How much do you pay attention to what is going on in the underground and death metal in general nowadays?

Well, definitely always searching for new bands all the time. Not necessarily death metal but any kind of metal that is good. Being an underground band and playing underground venues makes it easy to keep up on a lot of what is going on.

If you could be invisible for a day what would you do and why?

Haha, probably just walk around and mess with people. Maybe make them feel like they are in a creepy movie or something. Hopefully Judas Priest or Black Sabbath would be playing and i could go hang out backstage with them.

What are your goals from now on?

We have a few shows planned, We might get a tour in to get this album out there a bit more, but its time to start working on the next album and keep the ball rolling.

Thanx for the interview. Do you have any closing words for our readers?

No problem. Thanks for all the support and interest in the band. Its awesome to be able to play the music we love and know there are people out there that enjoy it just as much as we do.