Blasphemy are a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with tr ...

band based in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

that formed in 1984. The band was formed initially by vocalist and occasional bassist Gerry Bull and drummer Sean Stone, known better by their respective

stage names A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Nocturnal Grave Desecrator and Black Winds & 3 Black Hearts of Damnation and Impurity. Shortly thereafter, guitarist Geoff Drakes, also known better by his

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Caller of the Storms, would join the band. The band formed first as ''"Antichrist"'', and would see two further name changes (''"Desaster"'' and ''"Thrash Hammer"'', respectively) before settling on Blasphemy in 1987. The band have a reputation for violence, as well as some members being involved in

criminal activity In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Cane ...

; including a member

smuggling Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. More broadly, soc ...

both

narcotics The term narcotic (, from ancient Greek ναρκῶ ''narkō'', "I make numb") originally referred medically to any psychoactive compound with numbing or paralyzing properties. In the United States, it has since become associated with opiates ...

and his

girlfriend A girlfriend is a woman who is a friend, acquaintance or partner to the speaker, usually a female companion with whom one is platonically, romantically, or sexually involved. In a romantic context, this normally signifies a committed r ...

onto a

commercial flight Commercial aviation is the part of civil aviation that involves operating aircraft for remuneration or hire, as opposed to private aviation. Definition Commercial aviation is not a rigorously defined category. All commercial air transport and ae ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, assaulting a

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

, and

drug dealing The illegal drug trade, drug trafficking, or narcotrafficking is a global black market dedicated to the cultivation, manufacture, distribution and sale of prohibited drugs. Most jurisdictions prohibit trade, except under license, of many types ...

. Consequently, most of the members have spent time in

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol, penitentiary, detention center, correction center, correctional facility, or remand center, is a facility where Prisoner, people are Imprisonment, imprisoned under the authority of the State (polity), state ...

History

Blasphemy formed in 1984. The band released a demo titled ''"Blood Upon the Altar"'' in 1989 and their debut album, ''" Fallen Angel of Doom"'', the following year through

Wild Rags Wild Rags Records was an independent record label and store located in Montebello, California. It was founded in 1986 by Ricardo Campos, better known as Richard C. Wild Rags Records was known as "The Worlds Smallest But Heaviest Record Label." Wil ...

, to whom they had signed to whilst touring the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Blasphemy's second full-length studio album, 1993's ''" Gods of War"'', was released through

Osmose Productions Osmose Productions () is a French independent record label created in 1991 by Hervé Herbaut, after he had spent three years running a small mail order company. They specialize mainly in death and black metal bands. Many of the groups who began ...

. 1993 also saw Blasphemy a part of the European tour dubbed the ''"Fuck Christ Tour"''; touring alongside

Immortal Immortality is the ability to live forever, or eternal life. Immortal or Immortality may also refer to: Film * ''The Immortals'' (1995 film), an American crime film * ''Immortality'', an alternate title for the 1998 British film '' The Wisdom of ...

and

Rotting Christ Rotting Christ is a Greek black metal band formed in 1987. They are noted for being one of the first black metal bands within this region, as well as a premier act within the European underground metal scene. They are also responsible for creat ...

. Nocturnal Grave Desecrator and Black Winds left the band during the first few days of the tour after experiencing problems with then bassist Ace Gustapo Necrosleezer and Vaginal Commands. For the rest of the tour, Ace replaced Nocturnal Grave Desecrator and Black Winds on lead vocals. After the ''"Fuck Christ Tour"'', Blasphemy became inactive for several years. Ryan Förster, known better as Deathlord of Abomination and War Apocalypse, joined the band in 1999 as a second guitarist. The band next played in July 2001 in

, with a recording of the show released as the

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th centur ...

'' Live Ritual – Friday the 13th'' the following year. They were inactive again until 2009, when they played two concerts; one in

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and one in

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, in the Black Flames of Blasphemy festival, with Proclamation, Black Witchery, Revenge and Archgoat. In 2010, Blasphemy headlined the second installation of the Nuclear War Now! festival in Germany. Blasphemy's song "War Command" has been covered by

Beherit Beherit is a Finnish black metal band from Rovaniemi. The band was formed in 1989 by Nuclear Holocausto Vengeance (Marko Laiho), Demonic Fornication (Jari Vaarala) and Sodomatic Slaughter (Jari Pirinen), with the purpose of performing "the most ...

and the cover appeared on Beherit's 1999 compilation album ''Beast of Beherit - Complete Worxxx''. Blasphemy's "Winds of the Black Gods" was the opening track on the 2004 compilation '' Fenriz Presents... The Best of Old-School Black Metal''.

Members

Current line-up * Nocturnal Grave Desecrator and Black Winds – vocals and formerly bass * Caller of the Storms – guitars * Deathlord of Abomination and War Apocalypse – guitars * Hellfukker – drums Session and live performers * Kadeniac - bass, backing vocals Former members * Three Black Hearts of Damnation and Impurity – drums * Ace Gestapo Necrosleezer and Vaginal Commands – bass * Black Priest of 7 Satanic Rituals – guitars * The Traditional Sodomizer of the Goddess of Perversity – guitars * Bestial Saviour of the Undead Legions – bass and backing vocals * Pyramist Cunnilinguist of the Incarnate Fizj Blister Fist-a-Mister - kazoo and chimes of Valhalla * V.K. – live session bass Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

* '' Fallen Angel of Doom....'' (1990) * '' Gods of War'' (1993)

Live albums

* '' Live Ritual – Friday the 13th'' (2001) * ''Desecration of São Paulo - Live in Brazilian Ritual Third Attack'' (2016) * ''Victory (Son of the Damned)'' (2018)

Demo albums

* ''Blood Upon the Altar'' (1989) * ''Die Hard Rehearsal'' (2001) * ''Blood Upon the Soundscape'' (2018)

References

External links

Blasphemy Blasphemy refers to an insult that shows contempt, disrespect or lack of Reverence (emotion), reverence concerning a deity, an object considered sacred, or something considered Sanctity of life, inviolable. Some religions, especially Abrahamic o ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

Blasphemy
at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blasphemy Canadian black metal musical groups Canadian death metal musical groups Blackened death metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1984 Canadian musical quintets 1984 establishments in British Columbia