Blood Axis were 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

History

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 (literary theory), writing, Sound, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. T ...

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 (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philology, classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche bec ...

'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 journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...

's poem on

Mithras Mithraism, also known as the Mithraic mysteries or the Cult of Mithras, was a Roman Empire, Roman mystery religion focused on the god Mithras. Although inspired by Iranian peoples, Iranian worship of the Zoroastrian divinity (''yazata'') Mit ...

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 continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and were followed by two more songs that appeared on the compilation, ''

Im Blutfeuer IM or Im may refer to: Arts and entertainment * I.M, South Korean rapper and singer; member of boy band Monsta X * "I.M" (song), a song by Israeli singer Michael Ben David * Iron Maiden, a British heavy metal band * Iron Man, a comic book super ...

''.Interview
from the EsoTerra #5, 1995 In 1995, Moynihan released the first full-length studio LP, ''

The Gospel of Inhumanity Blood Axis were 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 History Early Blood Axis (1989–1999) Moynih ...

'' 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 (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

and

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...

with modern

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

s. Moynihan implemented a recording of

Ezra Pound Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (30 October 1885 – 1 November 1972) was an List of poets from the United States, American poet and critic, a major figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Ita ...

reading from his ''

The Cantos ''The Cantos'' is a long modernist poem by Ezra Pound, written in 109 canonical sections in addition to a number of drafts and fragments added as a supplement at the request of the poem's American publisher, James Laughlin. Most of it was wr ...

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

Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher. He began his career as a classical philologist, turning to philosophy early in his academic career. In 1869, aged 24, Nietzsche became the youngest pro ...

and

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

''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 online 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, spans a range of new religious movements variously influenced by the beliefs of pre-modern peoples across Europe, North Africa, and the Near East. Despite some common simila ...

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 Hugo Reinhold Karl Johann Höppener (8 October 1868 – 23 February 1948), known under the pseudonym Fidus, was a German illustrator, painter, and publisher. Part of the Symbolism (arts), symbolist movement, his later work took influence from the ...

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

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

'' 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 political philosopher and journalist, a founding member of the ''Nouvelle Droite'' (France's European Ne ...

Discography

Albums

* ''The Gospel of Inhumanity'', 1995

Collaborations and split releases

* ''Walked in Line'', 1995 * ''The March of Brian Boru'', 1998 * ''Witch-Hunt: The Rites of Samhain'', 2001 * ''Absinthe: La Folie Verte'', 2001 * ''Absinthe: La Folie Verte LP box'', 2002 * ''The Dream / Fröleichen So Well Wir'', 2010

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
from

Heathen Harvest Heathen Harvest was an Internet blog devoted to music criticism, music news, and interviews. It focused on underground and post-industrial music, including ambient, heavy metal, gothic, and industrial music. The site, which was established i ...

, 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