Interview with death metal band from Australia - CIRCLE OF BLOOD.
Answered Dave, thank you!
Recenze/review - CIRCLE OF BLOOD - In Praise of Darkness (2026):
Ave, CIRCLE OF BLOOD! Greetings from the Australian catacombs. First, let me pay you a compliment. I’ve been following your band since 2021, when you released your first EP, “Insania Seorsum,” and you’ve long been among my favorite bands. Here in the Czech Republic, however, you aren’t very well known; we’re a small country with a small underground scene. How did you actually get together, and how did CIRCLE OF BLOOD come to be?
Hi Jakub! Thanks for your support over the years, we appreciate it! CIRCLE OF BLOOD started early in 2019. Myself (Dave – vocals and guitar) and Chris (bass and vocals) had been friends for many years, and after both playing in hardcore bands for a long time, we wanted to try something heavier and more challenging. We met Pete (drums) in 2018 and I had started writing several death metal songs. We worked on songs in the practice room until 2020, and then Covid put a stop to all that for some time; „Insania Seorsum“ was recorded in four different recording sessions in between lockdowns. Once the restrictions lifted and we could travel and rehearse more, we had our first performance in 2022, and haven’t stopped since.
This year you’ve released your new album “In Praise of Darkness,” which is once again full of pure, authentic death metal. What were your feelings going into the studio? Did you have any specific plan for where and how you wanted to move forward from your last album? Personally, the new record strikes me as darker and at the same time colder. I have to admit that the atmosphere of the entire album has literally captivated me.
Thank you, I’m glad the atmosphere had the desired effect! Going into the studio this time, we knew we wanted to create something bigger, heavier and more powerful than our previous releases. Every element needed to be a step up from everything else we had done previously; the performances, the writing, and the production. Previously we would write and release material quite quickly – mostly because I’m just very impatient - but this time we spent close to 8 months recording the songs on weekends, and then several more months editing and mixing; it was frustrating at the time, but not rushing anything made a huge difference in my opinion.
But let’s talk about the new album. I’m listening to it right now, and I have to say that this time it took me a while to really get into it. I popped the album into the player and am listening to it in the car. I really like the sound. It’s lively, organic, old-school, and at the same time very clear. It strikes me as different (more massive) from your previous recordings. Where did you record it, and who is credited with the sound?
The entire album was recorded, edited, mixed and mastered by our second guitarist, Reece Hickey. He has a home studio setup at his house, and he has recorded most of our previous material. The difference is this time, because we didn’t have a deadline for finishing the recording, he was able to spend a lot of time experimenting with the different tones of each instrument, and applying a lot of mixing techniques he had developed. We wanted this release to have the same vibe and atmosphere as the classic early albums by Bloodbath, Deicide and Immolation, and there were several full mixes of the album before we finally got the massive, clear (but also filthy) sound he created.
I’m also quite particular about the visual aspect of CDs, and I’ve really taken a liking to your covers. Who is the artist behind the new release “In Praise of Darkness,” and what is it actually meant to convey? I really like the motif just please tell us how it relates to the music, how are they thematically interconnected?
The cover art for „In Praise of Darkness“ is a painting which was created by an artist who goes by the name Misanthropic-Art. I follow a number of aritsts on social media to see what they are creating, and I’m a big fan of his art and also his very vocal political positions. We contacted him, sent him some ideas and a basic concept, and he created the amazing cover for the album – it’s one of my favourite pieces of art. Lyrically, the album tells a loose narrative of Lucifer returning to Earth, seeing creation has been abandoned by the Christian god, and leading humanity in a war on Heaven. As a concept, the album art depicts a Satanic equivalent of the virgin Mary cradling the newborn antichrist, with a tableau of horrors occurring in the background. Each visual element refers to a song lyric on the album, and as a whole, it represents – and celebrates – the overthrow of the Christian dominion by Lucifer.
I’d be interested in the process behind how CIRCLE OF BLOOD creates a new song. Are you the classic type who locks yourselves in the rehearsal room and jams, or do you use modern technology to send ideas back and forth? Do you guys even go out for a beer together?
Our use of modern technology has definitely increased as the band has developed and our own grasp of how to use technology has improved. The songs for „Insania Seorsum“ started as very basic demo recordings on my laptop with some basic programmed drums, and then we practiced them in the jam room until we we ready to record them. For „In Praise of Darkness,“ I was sending ideas for riffs and song structures to the band, and then Pete would program drums on his computer and add them in. Once we started recording properly, Reece essentially learned how to play all the songs as part of his process for how to communicate the ideas in the music, and then recorded some ideas for what a second guitar would do and sent those to us. We typically practice once or twice a week, and if a band we like is playing, some or all of us will go watch them together and hang out.
You’re seasoned pros who play your own way. You have your own signature style, which is something that’s sometimes forgotten these days. A lot of bands just sound like copies of others. You must have had some role models? Who influenced you as a musician, and who was your role model? When and how did you actually start playing? What was the initial impulse that made you pick up an instrument?
I can’t speak for the other guys in terms of role models, but we have a wide variety of influences. I think our style is unique because we’re not trying to imitate one particular type of death metal – we love the brutal slamming NYDM, the melodic Gothenberg style, the tight technical Florida style, and more – as well as grindcore, black metal, sludge and hardcore punk, so when we write it’s a mix of all these different influences. As far as metal role models go, the first mention has to go to Slayer; the riffs and songwriting of Jeff Hannemann and Kerry King really did set the standard for everyone else in terms of aggression and attitude. Kurt Ballou from Converge is another huge influence, not just for style of playing but also for songwriting. Early childhood role models that made me want to play guitar would have been the 60s and 70s rock my dad played around the house – Hendrix, Zeppelin, all that classic old stuff – and I always wanted something like that, but louder, heavier, and meaner.
I think the biggest reward for any band is the fans’ reaction. I prefer smaller clubs where the musicians and fans are close to each other. How often does CIRCLE OF BLOOD actually perform? Do you go on tour, for example? I searched online and didn’t find many live recordings of your performances. So what’s the deal with CIRCLE OF BLOOD’s concerts? How about a tour of Europe? I’d really love that.
I personally love smaller clubs and venues because you can socialise with the fans and hang out and watch the other bands from the pit – our favourite places we’ve played are all 100-200 capacity rooms. Before we released „In Praise of Darkness,“ we’d around play 6 to 8 times a year, just depending on everyone’s availability. Previously we‘ve had commitments that limited how much time we all had for the band – at one point I was active in two other bands, and the other guys had some pretty big commitments – but we’ll be performing a lot more this year.
Australia as a country doesn’t have a huge number of cities, and they’re quite spread apart – the closest major city is an 8 hour drive, and we all work full-time during the week. So rather than go on a full tour of the country, it’s more practical to make a number of short journeys to different cities. We’re going on a short tour next weekend, and are planning more gigs in other cities around Australia later in the year. A tour of Europe is very high on our list of goals for a while, so hopefully we’re able to make the journey there in the couple of years!
I’ve always been curious about what kind of music musicians actually listen to. Do you have any albums you like to revisit often? And what about any new releases from recent years? Has anything caught your attention enough to make you buy a CD?
We are all big fans of music, with lots of different styles. Pete loves progressive metal and jazz; I listen to a lot of synthwave and industrial music, as well as death metal, sludge and my friends‘ hardcore bands; Reece and Chris work together and listen to a huge range of music, from funk to classic rock to industrial harsh noise. Depending on what mood I’m in and what I’m doing, I like to revisit favourite albums by Year Of No Light, Pig Destroyer, Aphex Twin, Converge, Windhand, Nine Inch Nails... Windhand and Crowbar are great music for cooking!
Some recent releases I’ve been playing regularly that deserve some attention are Gutless „High Impact Violence,“ Faceless Burial „At the Foothills of Deliration,“ Time Peace „We Remain,“ Malignant Aura „Where All of Worth Comes to Wither,“ Stressed „A World From Ashes“ and also last year’s albums from Blood Incantation, Dying Fetus, Perturbator, Proscription, Health and Ultha. Most of these I’ve bought on CD or vinyl, but I most commonly listen to music in the car, so my Tidal playlist includes all of these.
The band’s history dates back to 2019. How did the idea to play death metal even come about? Who were your role models? Please take a moment to reminisce for us! What were your early days like? When did you first pick up an instrument, and what was your first concert or first time performing on stage?
As mentioned earlier, Chris and I had been playing in hardcore bands for many years. But we were also fans of death metal, so as far back as 2010 we were hanging out at his house, watching videos of Bloodbath and At The Gates, and sending each other recommendations of death metal and extreme metal albums we’d just heard. Our early days as a band involved a lot of practicing, trying to figure out how our different playing styles would work together to create something we hadn’t tried before – lots of trial and error, and my vocals were not very good (practice makes... not perfect, but better).
I got my first guitar when I was 12 – I had been playing the keyboard since I was 8 or 9, learning the music theory at my parents‘ insistence. The guitar store in the city had tablature books of whole albums, so I would go there on the weekend, pick up a guitar from the rack and start teaching myself songs I liked. I was in the school band too, so my first performance would probably have been when I was 14 or 15, playing 50s pop songs with a full horn section. I was very briefly in a death metal band when I was 15 - we didn’t really even know how to play death metal, it was just trying to imitate what we saw Cannibal Corpse do in the Ace Ventura movie – but we had to break up when our school found out our name.
And what about the underground scene in your area in general? Is it thriving in Australia? You’re from Melbourne it’s a big city. Do you guys ever meet up somewhere to play death metal? If I were to visit the city, where should I go to catch a concert? And what about the fans? Do they support the bands?
The underground in Australia has so many amazing bands at the moment, with dozens of killer bands in every city and promoters like Your Mate and Grindhead bringing out amazing European and US bands to tour. Melbourne especially has a thriving extreme metal scene at the moment – bands like Carcinoid, Bog Monster, Munitions, Choof, Gutless, Mammon’s Throne, Algor Mortis, Munt, Writhing and Black Jesus all playing their own killer flavours of death metal and extreme metal. We’re lucky to have several venues that host heavier shows – if you find yourself in town, The Last Chance, The Old Bar, The Tote and The Bendigo are all fantastic venues which play a big part in supporting and fostering the death metal scene. Everyone who is in a band is also a fan, so quite often we’ll see friends from other bands when we go to a local show or to see a bigger international band (I ran into so many friends from other bands when Cryptopsy toured last year).
Death metal is my favorite music genre. What fascinates me most about it is the darkness that musty stench of old graves. Then there’s the power and intensity. When I listen to a good album, I’m literally charged with energy. What does it mean to you? How does it influence your life, your view of the world, how do you perceive it as a creator?
Death metal for me is the genre that has created some of my favourite art. It’s a genre where, as long as you have some key components (distorted guitars, double-kick drums, and screaming or growling vocals), there are no real limits on what you can do musically, or on how you want to present that art. I see death metal as being like the horror movie genre – sometimes you want an A24 „elevated“ intellectual horror film with deep themes and social commentary, and sometimes you want Art the Clown sawing somebody in half, and there’s room for both those extremes and everything in between. Death metal, and the possibilities for creativity and expression, is exciting and inspiring for me, because it makes me think of the possibilities for other aspects of my life.
The essential question to end with. What does CIRCLE OF BLOOD have planned for the coming months? If you have a message for fans, promoters, or labels, this is the place…
In the coming months, Circle Of Blood is touring in April and June, and are working on October or November as well, with performances at home in Melbourne too. We want to see as many new places as we can, so if you enjoy our album and want to see us in your city, contact us or your local promoter. In the meantime, death metal is thriving at the moment, so keep supporting the bands in your local scene and help them grow! Our album is out through Grindhead Records, and they have a tonne of greaet Australian death metal and extreme metal releases worthy of your attention.
Thank you so much for the interview! I wish not only the new album “In Praise of Darkness” but also the entire CIRCLE OF BLOOD much success. I’m going to listen to the album again! It’s truly great. May you also thrive in your personal lives.
Thanks so much for the time and your support Jakub, we appreciated it! Have a great day and best of luck in future, hope to speak with you again soon.
Recenze/review - CIRCLE OF BLOOD - In Praise of Darkness (2026):
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
sledujte nás na sociálních sítích - follow us on the social media:
instagram:
facebook:
