Gallóglaigh Interview

 

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the musical project?

 Black Metal in general has always been a passion of mine, but I could never find like minded musicians to write and play it with me, especially in southern Texas. We have quite a large death metal scene here, but very little black metal. That seems to be changing post COVID times though. Galloglaigh was born from an accidental riff I was writing for another project. I said to myself, “this riff has a very raw, sharp sound to it, I wonder if I did this or that with it” and before I knew it, I’d had about a 7 minute length track. I kept going and I had my first full length called “Sparth”. I’d hired a session vocalist as I can’t sing, but everything else you hear on that album is all me. I was ultimately unhappy with the end result. The vocalist put in his best, and I wrote some quality music but in the end it wasn’t the sound I was going for. That’s when inspiration for the second full length, “Luaith”, struck.

 2.So far this year you have released 2 full lengths, musically how do they both differ from each other?

 Sparth and Luaith are very different albums. Sparth walks a fine line between death metal and black metal, with a lyrical focus less on darker influences and more about war and the Galloglaigh warrior specific themes. I am proud of the release, but I am ultimately unhappy with the end result as it wasn’t really what I wanted to focus on. There are some quality tracks on the release, both with the vocal styles and musical compositions, but it isn’t what I wanted to represent the Galloglaigh name.

Luaith on the other hand takes the listener back through time, to the early 90s and the peak of the second wave of black metal. I don’t try to copy that sound, instead I use it as a foundation and sprinkle in new elements to produce my own vision. I wanted to, like so many others, pay tribute to early black metal groups like Mayhem, Dissection, Burzum, Von, Emperor, Immortal and so many more while harnessing the sounds they created to hone my own craft. I introduced extended ranges for my own personal tastes. I’m not in “djent”, metalcore, hardcore, or whatever you want to label those genres, but I appreciate the range of a 9 string guitar. Any and all writing I do for Galloglaigh is done on this instrument. 

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band has explored so far with the music?

 As I write lyrics, I tend to focus on things that interest me. If I have little knowledge, I do research on it and I try to explore the darker side of whatever topic I may be focusing on. I feel the anti-religious/Satanic theme may be a little overdone in the black metal genre these days, but I also have absolutely nothing against these types of themes. I tend to focus on things such as medieval times, celestial beings, ancient times, etc.

4.One of the band members also goes by the name 'Beleth', do the band members also have some interest in occultism and demonology?

We may, or may not. We’ll leave that up to the listener’s imagination.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Gallóglaigh'?

Galloglaigh literally translated means “foreign warrior”, specifically from the isle’s of Ireland and Scotland. I wanted to focus on themes from these areas as these warriors tend to be forgotten in favor of the Viking. Oddly enough, the Galloglaigh are extremely similar to the Vikings, so much so that they are considered to be norse-gaelics. I don’t claim to be an expert on the history of these warriors however, but what I do know interested me enough to start a musical project about them.

6.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?

The album cover stems from an idea I drew on a napkin. It features a fallen soldier that is reaching out to a void. The idea stems from the aforementioned forgotten warrior themes. On the right horizon, we can see a castle tower. This tower is one of seven. The themes of these towers will unfold in future releases. I commissioned an artist on a website to draw the final product for me and I could not be happier with his work.

7.Currently there are only 2 members in the band, are you open to expanding the line up or do you prefer to remain a duo?

Right now we’ll probably remain a duo. I was hesitant to expand to a duo initially because I sometimes find it harder to work with other people’s schedules. I like to write when inspiration strikes, which for 2022 seems to be all the time. When I commissioned Beleth for session vocals, I was completely blown away by his style. It really took no time for me to decide to ask him to become the permanent vocalist. I can do just about everything else but vocals, so it was a no brainer. 

8.On the new album you also had done a 'Behemoth' cover, what was the decision behind doing your own version of one of their songs?

I’m a fan of Behemoth, come at me bro. In all seriousness, I am a big fan of theirs and their album “The Satanist” has been in a permanent rotation for me since its 2014 release. I’ve always wanted to play a song of theirs but I feel like a lot of people that do cover their tracks tend to cover the same ones. “At the left hand ov God”, “Ov Fire and The Void”, “Demigod”, etc. I chose “Blow your trumpets” because I just love the track, plus the end with the actual trumpets was fun to recreate with guitars. 

9.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?

I do have some interest and I am keeping my options open, but so far any labels I’ve submitted to I have not heard back from yet.

 10.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black metal?

Quite well, I’m actually very surprised. I didn’t expect anyone to ever listen to these tracks, but when Luaith was featured on a prominent black metal youtube channel it just kind of took off from there. I don’t have the recognition of similar up and coming black metal acts yet and that is completely ok, we’ll get there.

11.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

I want to grow the soundscape, I want to evolve where we need to. But I don't want to change. I wrote the sounds on Luaith with purpose, with reason. I don’t want to deviate from that too much, but I also don’t want to bore people.

12.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

Influences on my style: So many to list, but primarily Mayhem, Dissection, Immortal, Morbid Angel (fight me), Death (Fight me again), Gorgoroth, Mgla, Marduk, Dark Funeral to begin with.

Listening to these days: Behemoth, Belphegor, Vermilia, Blackbraid, Dissection, Batushka (Derph’s version), Drudkh, Archgoat, Inquisition

 13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

I’d like to say thank you to all that support my music, well, our music going forward since I’ve brought Beleth onboard. It is great to know that there are people out there that care and actually want more. As long as you keep listening, we’ll keep writing. 

Keep black metal alive. Hails.

Spotify  - YouTube