Blood Axis

Infobox musical artist
Name = Blood Axis


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Background = group_or_band
Alias =
Origin = United States
Genre = Experimental
Folk
Martial
Neofolk
Neoclassical
Post-industrial
Spoken word
Years_active = 1989–present
Label = Storm
Associated_acts =
URL =
Current_members = Michael Moynihan
Annabel Lee
Past_members =
Notable_instruments =

Blood Axis is the name under which journalist and author Michael Moynihan and musician and author Annabel Lee compose and release music.

Overview

Early Blood Axis (1989-1999)

Moynihan formed Blood Axis in 1989 after touring Japan at the request of experimental music pioneer, Boyd Rice. Moynihan had previously founded Coup de Grace, a multimedia project that produced live performances and cassettes and also released booklets of images and texts, the last of which was Friedrich Nietzsche's "The Antichrist".

The first output from the new appellation were two songs, "Lord of Ages" (employing lyrics from Rudyard Kipling's poem on Mithras Kipling, Rudyard. "A Song To Mithras" [http://whitewolf.newcastle.edu.au/words/authors/K/KiplingRudyard/verse/p2/mithras.html] ] ) and "Electricity", which appeared on a German music sampler. These tracks were well received in Europe and were followed by two more songs that appeared on the seminal compilation, "Im Blutfeuer". In 1995, Moynihan released the first full length studio LP, "The Gospel of Inhumanity".

The album wedded the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and Sergei Prokofiev with modern electronics. Moynihan implemented a recording of Ezra Pound reading from his "The Cantos" Pound, Ezra. "The Cantos" [http://www.etymonline.com/poems/canto.htm] ] . He also included lyrics from Nietzsche and Longfellow Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth. "The Challenge of Thor" [http://www.pitt.edu/~dash/longfellow.html#challenge] ] as well as his own to the work. The album begins with a sample from the decisive final sequence of the film "The Wicker Man".

In 1997, Blood Axis played a concert for the tenth anniversary of Cold Meat Industry, a Swedish record label. The performance was later recorded, remastered, and released as "".

Contemporary Blood Axis (2000-present)

Since the release of "The Gospel of Inhumanity", Blood Axis has acquired Moynihan's partner Annabel Lee, previously of Amber Asylum, as a permanent member contributing vocals, violin, viola, accordion and various other instruments. This has resulted in a considerably less electronic sound, a larger focus on Germanic polytheism and a more acoustic folk-based approach as well as covers of traditional recordings, particularly from Ireland, and continued use of historical European references.

This period also saw Blood Axis playing live shows in Portugal as well as various appearances with In Gowan Ring, whose main member, B'eirth, Blood Axis have appeared with as Witch-Hunt playing largely traditional Irish folk music.

Elaborating on the theme of absinthe appearing on "The Gospel of Inhumanity", a collaborative album with French artist Les Joyaux De La Princesse entitled "Absinthe - La Folie Verte" was released in 2001 in deluxe editions relating to the Parisian use of absinthe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This material is largely experimental, neoclassical and post-industrial in sound, more similar to the work of Les Joyaux De La Princesse than that of Blood Axis at the time likely due to the mail-based recording process and dominant contributions from LJDLP.

In 2005, Blood Axis contributed their latest recording, a lyrically modified cover of Brian Pearson's "The Ride", to a 2005 compilation entitled "Looking For Europe". 2005 also saw Blood Axis play the German "Flammenzauber" festival, showcasing reworked live versions of several previously released songs, an amount of Irish folk songs and the live debut of a few new songs.

April 2006 saw further live activity from Blood Axis, as well as a new medium for the duo's folk-oriented material entitled Knotwork, which at the Swiss Triumvirat festival.

Moynihan has mentioned the release of a second full length Blood Axis album then tentatively titled "Ultimacy" since at least 1998, though this album has yet to surface.

Discography

Albums and EPs

References

External links

Official

* [http://home7.swipnet.se/~w-78038/blood/ Semi-official Blood Axis Fansite] - Now extremely outdated and largely inoperative.
* [http://www.bloodaxis.com Blood Axis Fansite] - Recently redesigned.

Interviews

* [http://www.heathenharvest.com/article.php?story=20050514073345369 Heathen Harvest Interview] with Michael Moynihan of Blood Axis by Malahki Thorn, 2005.
* [http://www.wweek.com/html/leada081600.html Wilammette Weekly Culture Feature interview] with Michael Moynihan discussing controversy surrounding Blood Axis and related topics in depth by Zach Dundas.
* [http://www.esoterra.org/moynihan.htm The Storm Before the Calm: An Interview with Blood Axis] from Esoterra #5, 1995.
* [http://home.online.no/~janbruun/writings/blood.html Blood Axis Interview] by Jan R. Bruun from the early 1990s.

Reviews

* [http://www.filthforge.net/reports/report-blood_axis.htm Blood Axis in Italy 2004]
* [http://www.chroniclesofchaos.com/reviews/albums/2-232_blood_axis_the_gospel_of_inhumanity.aspx The Gospel of Inhumanity at Chronicles of Chaos]
* [http://www.chroniclesofchaos.com/reviews/albums/2-1040_blood_axis_blot_sacrifice_in_sweden.aspx Blot: Sacrifice in Sweden at Chronicles of Chaos]

Misc

* [http://www.discogs.com/artist/Blood+Axis Additional Discography] information at discogs.com