''Battle Magic'' is the third album by

Bal-Sagoth Bal-Sagoth ( /baʊl 'sægɑθ/ ''b-owl SA-goth'') were a symphonic black metal band from Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, formed in 1993. Originally formed as an epic symphonic black metal band with strong death metal elements, vocalist/lyrici ...

, released in 1998 on Cacophonous Records, and is their last recording for that company before they signed to

Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast is a record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label mov ...

. It is the last album to feature

Jonny Maudling Jonny Maudling (born Jonathan Maudling) is an English composer, keyboard player and former drummer for the band Bal-Sagoth, keyboardist with the band Kull, former bassist with the unsigned UK thrash band Igniter, and frequent collaborator with ...

on drums, who following this album would go on to concentrate fully on playing the keyboards. The cover artwork for the album features the fantasy character "Caylen-Tor", created by

vocalist/lyricist

Byron Roberts Byron Roberts, also known as Byron A. Roberts, is the vocalist/lyricist and founder of the British symphonic extreme metal band Bal-Sagoth. He is also the author of "The Chronicles of Caylen-Tor" book series published by DMR Books, as well ...

. The character was originally introduced in the lyrics of the band's previous album

Starfire Burning Upon the Ice-Veiled Throne of Ultima Thule ''Starfire Burning Upon the Ice-Veiled Throne of Ultima Thule'' is Bal-Sagoth's second full-length album, released in November 1996 through Cacophonous Records. This was the last album to feature Jason Porter on bass guitar, as he was replaced b ...

and would later appear in two novels written by Roberts, "The Chronicles of Caylen-Tor" and "The Chronicles of Caylen-Tor Volume II", both published by

DMR Books DMR Books is a Chicago-based small publisher active since 2015. The press was founded by D. M. Ritzlin. It is primarily a paperback and ebook publisher specializing in "fantasy, horror, and adventure fiction in the traditions of Robert E. Howard ...

. The band were awarded one full month to record, much of which was spent on the orchestral arrangements. The keyboards in "Blood Slakes the Sand at the Circus Maximus" alone took six full days to complete. The opening of "Blood Slakes the Sand at the Circus Maximus" is identical to the score for the film ''

Spartacus Spartacus ( el, Σπάρτακος '; la, Spartacus; c. 103–71 BC) was a Thracian gladiator who, along with Crixus, Gannicus, Castus, and Oenomaus, was one of the escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major slave uprising ...

'', composed by

Alex North Alex North (born Isadore Soifer, December 4, 1910 – September 8, 1991) was an American composer best known for his many film scores, including ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' (one of the first jazz-based film scores), ''Viva Zapata!'', ''Spa ...

. On 16 September 2016, Battle Magic was reissued on CD by Cacophonous Records, featuring remastered audio, an expanded lyric booklet and new cover artwork.

Track listing

All songs composed by

and

Jonny Jonny is a masculine given name, and pet name, in the English language. A pet form of Jon, the natural diminutive of given name Jonathan, in some cases it can also mean a condom. A variant form of ''Jonny'' is ''Jonnie''. People with the name *J ...

and Chris Maudling.

Personnel

– vocals * Chris Maudling –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

s, bass *

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

, keyboards

Additional personnel

* Mags –

producer Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

engineering Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...

* Jeroen van Valkenburg – artwork (inner inlay) * J.C. Dhien – photography * Simon Lee – artwork

References

Bal-Sagoth albums 1998 albums Cacophonous Records albums {{1990s-metal-album-stub