Interview: Tyrants Blood's Marco Banco

Tyrants Blood

Tyrant's Blood is a busy group of guys. For the past decade plus they've been out making music, playing shows, and recording albums.

Tridroid Records will be re-issuing their debut record on my birthday next month. Thank you for the awesome present!

Today guitarist, Marco Banco, talks the re-issue, Tyrants Blood, and the music industry in 2016.

Check it out.

Glacially Musical: First off, let's talk about your name. What does it mean?

Tyrants Blood: Tyrants Blood means a few different things to people. 

The tree of liberty must be refreshed with the blood of tyrants for instance. But to us the name described how we treated the band when we started in (20)05.

We were quite rigid in our ideals that we would not be  another hackish photo copy desperately attempting to appeal to any limp scene. 

That we would always be separated from what is considered popular at the time. Which for a few of the original people that tried to be with us, proved that they were not going to be able to stick.

So the name describes that we are the tyrants and the sound is our blood

GM: Marco Banco is late of Blasphemy, but I don't hear much Black Metal influence in the music. How would you guys describe Tyrants Blood?

TB: Actually Marco is originally from Witches Hammer. 

In 1984 they were the first speed/ thrash band from Vancouver. They gave Blasphemy their first show in 1988. Pretty famous show in our city. After Witches Hammer split in 89, Marco joined Blasphemy for the West Coast Blood Upon The Altar Tour and then of course onto Fallen Angel of Doom

Nobody in Tyrants Blood have performed in black metal bands except for marco. Infernal Majesty, Agression,Disciples of power, Witches Hammer and Blasphemy are our former groups.

 The music is extreme, but it (is) metal. It's been around for so long, we are influenced by many styles and groups we all grew up on. So it's parts of all those early influences with our own quality put upon it.

GM: If you had to pigeonhole Tyrants Blood into one of metal's 3,587 sub-genres, where would you put it?

TB:  it's been called Death Thrash, or extreme speed metal. Death metal, blackened Death. 

I (think) usually death metal is commonly phrased. 

GM: Into The Kingdom of Graves is being reissued (on my birthday incidentally) on Tridroid Records. Will you be doing a special tour behind it or any thing like that?

TB: Not a tour for the re-release. 

But We'll be touring after our new album comes out ,which isn't too far off. We have some shows booked while we finish up the music. 

A few in town here with Razor and some locals, an NYDM Portland show, then we should be in the studio.

GM: As musicians, you've been around the block a bit. What do you think about the music industry now compared to the 90's?TB: Not a huge fan of the later 90's, but the original 91:92 Florida death metal is massive for us. 

Nothing really has compared to that era since for us personally. Of course the mid eighties metal is just as great, the NWOBHM scene. 

Those times will be hard to match surely.

GM: Into the Kingdom of Graves sounds like an explosion of sound. How do you write those kinds of songs?TB: It's quite natural. 

It's been such a part of our psyche for so long . It's our life blood artistically really. As musicians, this style is much more cohesive than if we tried performing some other style.

GM: Can you pick a song off the record and tell me what it's about?

TB: Sure. Spiral Sea, the first song. It's a song about sheer maniacal insanity. The sound is written to complement that idea. 

The sound of total chaos.

GM:What are your biggest influences right now?

TB: Destroyer666's latest release, seeking out lots of bizarre ambient sounds.

GM: What should I have asked that I didn't?TB: You did well. We're good.