Blood Axis are an American band, made up of journalist and author Michael Moynihan, music producer Robert Ferbrache, and musician and author Annabel Lee.Liner notes of the ''Ultimacy'' compilation

Overview

Early Blood Axis (1989–1999)

Moynihan had founded Coup de Grace, a

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...

project that produced live performances and cassettes and also released booklets of images and texts, the last of which was

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

's '' The Antichrist''.An interview
by Jan R. Bruun The first output from the new appellation were two songs, "Lord of Ages" (employing lyrics from

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

's poem on

Mithras Mithraism, also known as the Mithraic mysteries or the Cult of Mithras, was a Roman mystery religion centered on the god Mithras. Although inspired by Iranian worship of the Zoroastrian divinity (''yazata'') Mithra, the Roman Mithras is linke ...

Kipling, Rudyard. "A Song To Mithras"
) and "Electricity", which appeared on a German music sampler. These tracks were well received in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and were followed by two more songs that appeared on the compilation, '' Im Blutfeuer''.Interview
from the EsoTerra #5, 1995 In 1995, Moynihan released the first full-length studio LP, ''

The Gospel of Inhumanity ''The Gospel of Inhumanity'' is the first album by Blood Axis. Conceived in the winter of 1994/95, it was performed, recorded and engineered at Absinthe Studios (Denver, Colorado) by Michael Jenkins Moynihan and Robert Ferbrache. The album inco ...

'' with the help of Robert Ferbrache.the album notes read "''The Gospel of inhumanity was ..entirely performed, recorded and engineered ..by Michael Jenkins Moynihan and Robert Ferbrache''". The album wedded the music of

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

and

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''., group=n (27 April .S. 15 April1891 – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, p ...

with modern

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

s. Moynihan implemented a recording of

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an expatriate American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Fascism, fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. His works ...

reading from his ''

The Cantos ''The Cantos'' by Ezra Pound is a long, incomplete poem in 120 sections, each of which is a ''canto''. Most of it was written between 1915 and 1962, although much of the early work was abandoned and the early cantos, as finally published, date ...

''.Pound, Ezra. "The Cantos"
/ref> He also included lyrics from

Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, Prose poetry, prose poet, cultural critic, Philology, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philo ...

and

Longfellow Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (February 27, 1807 – March 24, 1882) was an American poet and educator. His original works include "Paul Revere's Ride", ''The Song of Hiawatha'', and ''Evangeline''. He was the first American to completely transl ...

''Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth—The Challenge of Thor"
Pitt; . as well as his own to the work. The band consisted of Michael Moynihan (vocals, bodhrán), Annabelle Lee (melodeon, electric violin) and Robert Ferbrache (guitars, keyboards).from the notes of the album ''Blòt: Sacrifice in Sweden''

Contemporary Blood Axis (2000–2016)

In 2005, Blood Axis played the German '' Flammenzauber'' festival, showcasing reworked live versions of several previously released songs, a number of Irish folk songs and the live debut of a few new songs.from the interview for the Heaven Street magazine, Issue 3, spring 2006, available on-line o
Heaven Street website
April 2006 saw further live activity from Blood Axis, as well as a new medium for the duo's folk-oriented material entitled Knotwork at the Swiss Triumvirat festival.the flyer of the festival is available o
soleilnoir.ch event page
/ref> Beginning in 1998, Moynihan began saying that Blood Axis was at work on a second full-length album, at one time said to be entitled ''Ultimacy''.fro

made b
Occidental Congress
during winter 1998/1999 On 2 January 2009, Blood Axis played in Sintra, Portugal, with members of Portuguese band Sangre Cavallum. Moynihan stated on stage that the new album, now titled ''Born Again'', was to be released the following Easter.from th
Blood Axis archives
/ref> Blood Axis makes references to

neopagan Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, is a term for a religion or family of religions influenced by the various historical pre-Christian beliefs of pre-modern peoples in Europe and adjacent areas of North Afric ...

and '' völkisch'' concepts and figures such as

Ludwig Fahrenkrog Ludwig Fahrenkrog (20 October 1867 – 27 October 1952) was a German painter, illustrator, sculptor and writer. He was born in Rendsburg, Prussia, in 1867. He started his career as an artist in his youth, and attended the Berlin Royal Art A ...

and

Fidus Fidus was the pseudonym used by German illustrator, painter and publisher Hugo Reinhold Karl Johann Höppener (October 8, 1868 – February 23, 1948). He was a symbolist artist, whose work directly influenced the psychedelic style of graphi ...

. Moynihan is interested in rune mysticism. Beginning in the 2000s, he has been influenced by the neofascist movement ''

Nouvelle Droite The Nouvelle Droite (; en, "New Right"), sometimes shortened to the initialism ND, is a far-right political movement which emerged in France during the late 1960s. The Nouvelle Droite is at the origin of the wider European New Right (ENR). Vario ...

'' and

Alain de Benoist Alain de Benoist (; ; born 11 December 1943) – also known as Fabrice Laroche, Robert de Herte, David Barney, and other pen names – is a French journalist and political philosopher, a founding member of the Nouvelle Droite ("New Right"), and ...

Discography

Albums

* ''

'', 1995 *: CD and 2xLP. Released by

Cthulhu Cthulhu is a fictional cosmic entity created by writer H. P. Lovecraft. It was first introduced in his short story "The Call of Cthulhu", published by the American pulp magazine ''Weird Tales'' in 1928. Considered a Great Old One within the pan ...

/Storm. *: CD rerelease on Elfenblut/

Misanthropy Misanthropy is the general hatred, dislike, distrust or contempt of the human species, human behavior or human nature. A misanthrope or misanthropist is someone who holds such views or feelings. The word's origin is from the Greek words μῖσ ...

/Storm in 1998. *: CD rerelease with deluxe packaging on Tesco Distribution/Storm in 2001. * '' Blót: Sacrifice in Sweden'', 1998 *: CD and 2x12" LP limited to 600 copies. Released by Cold Meat Industry. * ''Born Again'', 2010 *: CD released on Storm. STRM12 * ''Ultimacy'', 2011 *: CD compilation of all the singles and compilation tracks. Released on Storm. STRM13

Collaborations and split releases

* '' Walked in Line'', 1995 *: Split 7" EP with Allerseelen. Released by Storm Records. * '' The March of Brian Boru'', 1998 *: Split 7" EP with Allerseelen. Released by Stateart. * '' Witch-Hunt: The Rites of Samhain'', 2001 *: Collaboration with

In Gowan Ring IN, In or in may refer to: Places * India (country code IN) * Indiana, United States (postal code IN) * Ingolstadt, Germany (license plate code IN) * In, Russia, a town in the Jewish Autonomous Oblast Businesses and organizations * Independ ...

. Privately released CD-R. * '' Absinthe: La Folie Verte'', 2001 *: Collaborative CD with Les Joyaux De La Princesse. Released by

Athanor In alchemy, an athanor ( ar, التنور, ''at-tannūr'') is a furnace used to provide a uniform and constant heat for alchemical digestion. Etymologically, it descends from a number of Arabic texts of the period of the Califate which use the t ...

. * ''Absinthe: La Folie Verte LP box'', 2002 *: Collaborative 2x10" LP box with Les Joyaux De La Princesse containing remixes of '' Absinthe: La Folie Verte''. Released by Athanor. *: Rereleased on CD as '' Absinthia Taetra'' by Athanor in 2004 * ''The Dream / Fröleichen So Well Wir'', 2010 *: Split 7" EP with Andrew King. Released on Storm. STRM09

Witch-Hunt: The Rites of Samhain

''Witch-Hunt: The Rites of Samhain'' is a recording of a 1999 live collaboration of Blood Axis and

, performing as Witch-Hunt. The album was not released on a label. Limited to 100 CDR copies for private distribution, it was sold only at select Blood Axis concerts in Portugal. The album came in a special hand-made fold-out sleeve with leaf. Track listing: :Witch Hunt recorded live on Samhain, 31 October 1999 # ''Welcoming By Harold McNeill'' # '' I Lay Stretched On Your Grave / Morning Dew'' # '' Two Magicians'' # ''Sea Ritual'' # ''Dead Men's Slip-Jig'' # ''The Rolling of the Stones'' # ''The Black One'' :Bonus tracks: #

''The Rolling of the Stones'' -

, from the compilation ''The Pact of the Gods'' # '' The March of Brian Boru'' - Blood Axis, from the compilation ''10 Years of Madness'' # '' Follow Me Up To Carlow'' - Blood Axis, previously unreleased

References

Citations

Sources

* *

External links

Official Blood Axis website

Blood Axis Archive
- the new location of the bloodaxis.com fansite
Michael Moynihan Interview; Between Birds of Prey
fro
Heathen Harvest
2005 {{Authority control American folk musical groups Neofolk music groups Musical groups established in 1989 American industrial music groups Martial industrial groups 1989 establishments in the United States Modern pagan musical groups