BLINDED BY FAITH – Interview with Guitarist Daniel Gingras

Quebec, Canadas BLINDED BY FAITH is a melodic black metal band that has musically matured from their demo Veiled Hideousness to their first full-length Under an Occult Sun. Starting with a strong CRADLE OF FILTH influence on Veiled Hideousness the band kept the dark edge, yet become more technical and introduced fantasy metal elements on their next album. Guitarist, Daniel Gingras answered a few questions concerning the band and what direction they are headed with their forthcoming release Weapons of Mass Distraction.

Thank you for lending your time. Please give a brief history of your band.

Please refer to the biography: www.blindedbyfaith.com

Blinded by Faith has been described as symphonic black metal, but your subject matter is quite different from the typical black metal band. How would you describe your music?

We were obviously influenced by some black metal bands when we started to play together. What really inspired us is that most black metal bands have added a touch of melody in their music, as well as melodic death metal bands, such as DARK TRANQUILITY and IN FLAMES, which really inspired us too. I must admit that COFs records Vempire… and Dusk and her Embrace were obviously a major influence at this time. Today, BBF is a blend of aggressive and melodic death metal (even if it still remains some black metal influences), and, as you mentioned in your question, our subject matter never had anything to do with true evil black metal, simply because we just dont like this way of thinking. You can believe in Satan or Jesus, and we do respect that, but to us both ways lead to a dead end….

Speaking of lyrical matters, much of your lyrics deal with conspiracy theories. Where do you get your inspiration to write such songs? Do you visit David Ickes website or Alex Jones www.infowars.com?

I have read a lot about conspiracies for 4 or 5 years now. I was previously introduced to these theories by my father and by a friend (Julien, our drummer by the way). The first book I read was Le livre Jaune no 5 (Les éditions Félix, France). The information written in it totally blew me away and confirms the thoughts I ever had about the true will of the worlds elite. At this moment, I started to introduce my partners to this information and suggest that we should expose in our songs the obscure activities of the Elite, as well as their strange purposes. David Icke is by far my favorite writer. With such books like The Biggest Secret 1 & 2, he just helped me to become a stronger fellow, especially in terms of self-control. I deserve some respect to Alex Jones as well; he is a courageous journalist and his site (infowars) is truly interesting. Notice that it is Danny (keyboards) who writes most of the lyrics. I wouldnt say that he is inspired by David Icke or any conspiracies writer, but he was much more willing to write about these themes after the wave of lies and nonsense which followed September 11th 2001.

I recently saw a documentary on the history of the Free Masons. Do you believe this order is as powerful and evil as many have written?

Yes, but I dont believe every person associated to these orders are evil. I think some powerful secret orders are hiding important knowledge which would help human beings to understand their true nature and the reason why were here. I think it is only those who stand at the very top of these societies that could be animated by evil purposes.

Ive heard many people compare your sound, especially Veiled Hideousness, to CRADLE OF FILTH. How do you feel about this comparison?

Well, a lot of things changed since we have released Veiled… At that moment time, Tommy was really impressed by Dani Filth and he did really want to reproduce his vocals. Like I said before, all of us were very impressed by COF and it just comes out in our songs. At that time, we were proud to be compared to such a great band, but the time has come for us to try to take off this never-ending comparison, what I think weve done well with our new material.

You released two albums, the Veiled Hideousness demo and re-release and Under an Occult Sun. Under an Occult Sun seems more technical and the keyboards have more of a fantasy metal vibe. Would you agree with this statement? Is that what you were going for?

You are right. Under an Occult Sun was written while we were discovering new power metal bands like RHAPSODY, and this is shown through songs like A Perfect Imperfection and The world has something to offer. We did really want to add more melodies in this record which is a bit more positive and joyful than the record to come. Concerning the technical aspects, this is simply due to our musician improvement, as three years passed between Veiled Hideousness and Under an Occult Sun.

BBF is releasing a new album soon. Can you give our readers some details about this album?

Our best material by far! People will discover some new elements in our music such as clean vocals. Weve tried to switch a bit from melodies and happiness to aggressive rhythms, but melody still remains a big part of BLINDED BY FAITHs music. Moreover, keyboards are much more elaborate (in terms of sound & efficacy) than on the previous records. There are more sampling & strange sound effects added to the usual melody took from basic musical scales. The whole songs are built much better; their structures have been simplified as we now love to fit a catchy chorus in our songs. We now have a record which is distinguished by a unified concept. It is a global denial against the official information we are assailed by, a denial against the mass media and the usual North American way of life. Weapons of Mass Distraction will be our fiercest record to date

I felt that Under an Occult Sun showed you becoming more mature as musicians and finding a truer identity. Will listeners hear you becoming even more mature and identifiable with the new album?

I hope so! So much metal music has been written so far and having our true identity remains a big challenge, but I do believe were on the right path to be easily identifiable. Speaking of maturity, Ill let people make their own conclusion.

Your keyboardist Danny Émond also plays in SUMMONING OF FLESH. What style of music does this band play? Where can we get a copy of their music?

Well, SUMMONING OF FLESH is now buried six feet under. It was the first band of our keyboardist, which was a brutal death metal one. I was one of the biggest fans of SOF and, at that time, I wasnt able to play a single note on the guitar. They released only one demo entitled Born from Gore and I think it has been sold out for a long time.

BBF hails from Levis, Quebec, Canada. Is there any type of metal scene in this area? What venues do you like to play?

Yes, there is a metal scene here, but there are much more metal core, hardcore & death metal bands. To name a few, there are our rehearsal room neighbors SMOG & Ill-Gotten Throne (the side-band of our drummer Julien). Our best venue isnt the biggest one but more convenient for our fan base. I mean we dont want to play in front of an empty large room.

Does BBF have any tour plans? Tell our readers about your CD release show.

Yes we have. We are going to ride all across Canada this summer and well visit almost every important city across the country, starting in the Eastern provinces on mid-July. Moreover, Weapons of Mass Distraction will be launched in almost every area of the province of Quebec, starting on May 12th in Montreal at the Medley (w/ QUO VADIS & MARTYR), and schedule on May 18th in Quebec City. These are the only dates confirmed so far.

Is there a message you would like to relay to our readers?

Our next record will be available via Galy Records (www.galyrecords.com) in every well-known store. Im proud to tell you that Pascal and I are now sponsored by German guitar amps manufacturer ENGL (www.engl-amps.com)! Please, keep in touch as we probably soon visit your place to launch this new record. People can contact us via our website: www.blindedbyfaith.com or at www.myspace/blindedbyfaith.com. Thanks to you Darren for this interview. This is much appreciated and dont hesitate to promote Blinded by Faiths music!! Any help-hand is a source of hope for us, as we all dream to expose our music worldwide!!