As is always the case with bands, there’s a back story and a front story to Vancouver’s Snakeblade.

The back story is a tale of one person’s escape from the gloom of pandemic lockdown, an escape through tunnels carved by thrashing black metal fury but guided by concepts born of interests in fantasy. The name Snakeblade itself comes from the musical creator’s first character in Dungeons & Dragons (which was a bugbear). Further, Snakeblade’s new album (the project’s second one overall) was inspired by his favorite fantasy series, Game of Thrones, mixed with his own personal experiences. And so, as Snakeblade’s alter ego Mike Redston explains:

“What came out is a melting pot of nerdy fantasy shit plus my own personal shit. GOT plotlines of The Red Woman, Stannis Baratheon, and the Lord of Light religion meet my own personal plot lines of betrayal, failure, and rage. Overall, these songs are both deeply emotional and deeply nerdy. It was a long, pain-staking process making this thing. I hope you enjoy my latest album, The Curse.”

The front story, of course, is the music — well, the music plus the fantastic cover art for The Curse created by Elizabeth Holmes. And as a taste of the music, which has evolved since Snakeblade’s 2020 debut, we now present an album track named “The Red Mage’s Seduction“. Continue reading »