Line #33 Music/BalSagoth


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/BalSagoth_5125.jpg]]
2	Bal-Sagoth are a [[SymphonicMetal symphonic extreme metal]] band from Yorkshire, England, formed in 1993.
3
4	Bal-Sagoth began as a black metal band with more fantastic themes than usual in the genre, and mixed more and more elements of power metal in their music as they recorded new albums. Their lyrics are DarkFantasy, ScienceFantasy and {{Horror}} based, taking part in a {{Verse}} created by vocalist Byron Roberts and strongly influenced by Creator/RobertEHoward and Creator/HPLovecraft. Their name is taken from the Robert E. Howard short story ''The Gods of Bal-Sagoth''.
5
6	!!Line-up
7	[[AC:Current line-up as of 2009]]
8	* Byron Roberts - vocals
9	* Jonny Maudling - keyboards
10	* Chris Maudling - guitar
11	* Mark Greenwell - bass
12	* Paul "Wak" Jackson - drums
13
14	[[AC:Former members]]
15	* Jason Porter - live bass
16	* Vincent Crabtree - live keyboards, plus some tracks on 1993 demo and first album
17	* Leon Forrest - live keyboards
18	* Alistair [=MacLatchy=] - live bass
19	* Dave Mackintosh - drums
20	* Dan Mullins − drums
21
22	!!Discography
23
24	* ''A Black Moon Broods over Lemuria'' (1995)
25	* ''Starfire Burning Upon the Ice-Veiled Throne of Ultima Thule'' (1996)
26	* ''Battle Magic'' (1998)
27	* ''The Power Cosmic'' (1999)
28	* ''Atlantis Ascendant'' (2001)
29	* ''The Chthonic Chronicles'' (2006)
30
31	!!Tropes
32
33	* TheAlcatraz:
34	** The Black Pyramid contains the Well of the Black Flame, a horrible place were Zurra was imprisoned and the escaped, then he was put beneath the Mare Imbrium in the Moon.
35	** The Black Galaxy also works as a prison.
36	* BeneathTheEarth: A considerable part of The Chthonic Chronicles is dedicated to this trope.
37	* BetaTestBaddie: Zurra, he was intended to be a clone of the divinity named Zuranthus but his DNA source was corrupted by a chaos fiend.
38	* CursedWithAwesome: Caleb Blackthorne, he was originally an Atlantean who was cursed to always die in battle and be reborn, remembering his previous life, although he stated that there has been so many times at that point he only remember the most important ones.
39	* DefaceOfTheMoon: A Black Moon broods over Lemuria, although this may also have been [[ThatsNoMoon not the real moon]] but a HellGate.
40	* DemonicInvaders: The fall of the city of Kor-Avul-Thaa is one of the majors examples found in the lyrics, this apparently unconquerable city was taken with relative ease by the fiends of the Outer Darkness after some magic experiments went horribly right, Lemuria and Atlantis were besieged and eventually destroyed by hordes of demons, and the Voyagers had to face one invasion on their time, to be exact there are many songs who are themed about this kind of events.
41	* DetonationMoon: There were originally three moons orbiting Earth, one of them ''fell from the sky''.
42	* DragonRider: ''Black Dragons soar above the Mountain of Shadows'' and ''Draconis Albionensis'' feature them.
43	* EldritchAbomination: Everything that comes from the Black Galaxy falls under this trope, including the Black Galaxy itself.
44	* TheEmpire: One of the states of the Antediluvian World, The Imperium fits particularly well to this trope, not to be confused with that other Imperium of TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}.
45	* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: Six times, nothing less!
46	* GrimUpNorth: All over the place on ''Starfire Burning Upon the Ice-Veiled Throne of Ultima Thule''.
47	* GoMadFromTheRevelation: This is a usual price to pay for further knowlegde of the {{Verse}}.
48	%%* HeavyMithril
49	* {{Hell}}: The Outer Darkness. The Black Galaxy seems to be a major portal to that place; fortunately it's well contained by cosmic entities.
50	* HellGate: Oops, you opened a portal to the Outer Darkness.
51	* TheLegionsOfHell: Everything that comes from across the Black Galaxy or directly from the Outer Darkness, and I mean EVERYTHING.
52	* LostTechnology: And sometimes Lost Magic, or a fusion of both.
53	* LargeHam:
54	** Roberts can really get hammy (Draconis Albionensis, for example), and the sweeping keyboard and guitar work accentuates this. Nevertheless, it's the ''good'' type of ham.
55	** [[https://youtu.be/hYWWtA084ts?t=159 "Such diabolical evil...sublime macrocosmic malevolence!"]]
56	* PersonOfMassDestruction:
57	** The answer of why the civilization of Mu no longer exists? Zurra, he has been also responsible in part for the destruction of Atlantis, Lemuria and Ys.
58	** Lord Angsaar, who also is TheChessmaster.
59	* PortalNetwork: One of the features of the {{Verse}}, it's described up to a point at ''Star-Maps of the Ancient Cosmographers''.
60	* RankScalesWithAsskicking: Warrior kings and chieftains abound.
61	%%** The Voyager Prime.
62	* {{Precursors}}: The Mera and to a lesser extent the Voyagers, although the lyrics hint there are even older races who even them call gods.
63	* ProudWarriorRaceGuy: Caylen-Tor from "To Dethrone the Witch-Queen of Mytos-K'Unn (The Legend of the Battle of Blackhelm Vale)" and many others.
64	%%* PurpleProse
65	* RousingSpeech: The Hyperborean King gives them to his troops when they are going to face the minions of Angsaar:
66	-->Hearken, sons of the glorious Empire...
67	-->Here we stand upon the Field of Blood...
68	-->Though this day we may die,
69	-->Our legend shall live forever.
70	* SesquipedalianLoquaciousness: Just take a look at their lyrics!
71	* SpokenWordInMusic: The vocals alternate between this and BlackMetal-styled shrieks.
72	* StalkerWithACrush: Zurra, guess who is singing "Return to the Praesidium Of Ys", probably this contributed to make Zurra even [[LoveMakesYouEvil more evil]].
73	* SufficientlyAdvancedAlien: The Mera, in one of the songs they are called "the gods-who-are-not-god".
74	%%* SymphonicMetal
75	* TimeAbyss: Caleb Blackthorne again, during his first life he marched with the vast Atlantean armies, long before the birth of our current civilization.
76	%%** Also the Voyager Ones.
77	* WarIsGlorious: Many songs. Look at "The Splendour of a Thousand Swords Gleaming Beneath the Blazon of the Hyperborean Empire":
78	-->Hearken, the clarion is upon the winds,\
79	now the call to arms is upon us all.\
80	The glory of battle is nigh at last.\
81	Our banner shall fly this day in victory!\
82	My warriors, a legacy shall this day be wrought by our blades.\
83	Decreed by the gods, blessed by the blood of vanquished foes.\
84	Our destiny beckons...

Context Music / BalSagoth