Byron Alexander Roberts is the vocalist/lyricist and founder of the British

symphonic A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning ...

extreme metal Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. It has been defined as a "cluster of metal subgenres characterized by sonic, verbal, and visual tran ...

band

Bal-Sagoth Bal-Sagoth () are 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/lyricist Byron Roberts took the name 'Bal-S ...

. He is also the author of "The Chronicles of Caylen-Tor" book series published by DMR Books, as well as the author of several short stories and poems which have been published in various fantasy and horror fiction anthologies. Originally hailing from

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, England, and also holding full Canadian citizenship due to many years spent living in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

and

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Roberts graduated from

Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield station, Sheffield railway station, whil ...

with an Honours Degree in English, writing his final year thesis on the genres of pulp fantasy, science fiction and horror, and more specifically the works of H.P. Lovecraft. Roberts originated Bal-Sagoth's concept and writes all the lyrics for the band, having performed the vocals on all six Bal-Sagoth albums to date as well as the band's 1993 demo. Roberts also contributed guest vocals to the "Dominion" demo from

death metal Death metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep death growl, growling vocals; aggressive ...

band Blasphemer, and to the "Halcyon" EP from the

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

band

Solstice A solstice is the time when the Sun reaches its most northerly or southerly sun path, excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around 20–22 June and 20–22 December. In many countries ...

1989 – 1993: The inception of Bal-Sagoth

Roberts came up with the idea for the band

around 1989. For years, he had been seeking suitable musicians with whom he could collaborate to realise his grand vision of forming "a sublimely symphonic black/death metal band swathed in a concept of dark fantasy/science-fiction and ancient myths & legends." In 1993, after several aborted attempts to launch the project, the formal inception of Bal-Sagoth took place. The band began composing songs, the ultimate result (now some thirty years later) being a six album discography released via Cacophonous Records and

Nuclear Blast Nuclear Blast Records is a German record label with subsidiary, subsidiaries located in Germany, the United States and Brazil. It was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Donzdorf. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on ...

. For a more extensive account of the band and its releases, see

Lyrical content and influences

Drawing inspiration from such writers as

Robert E. Howard Robert Ervin Howard (January 22, 1906 – June 11, 1936) was an American writer who wrote pulp magazine, pulp fiction in a diverse range of genres. He created the character Conan the Barbarian and is regarded as the father of the sword and sor ...

H. P. Lovecraft Howard Phillips Lovecraft (, ; August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American writer of Weird fiction, weird, Science fiction, science, fantasy, and horror fiction. He is best known for his creation of the Cthulhu Mythos. Born in Provi ...

Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American writer, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best known for creating the characters Tarzan (who appeared in ...

Frank Herbert Franklin Patrick Herbert Jr. (October 8, 1920February 11, 1986) was an American science-fiction author, best known for his 1965 novel Dune (novel), ''Dune'' and its five sequels. He also wrote short stories and worked as a newspaper journalist, ...

J.R.R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlinson ...

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

Arthur C. Clarke Sir Arthur Charles Clarke (16 December 191719 March 2008) was an English science fiction writer, science writer, futurist, inventor, undersea explorer, and television series host. Clarke co-wrote the screenplay for the 1968 film '' 2001: A ...

Clark Ashton Smith Clark Ashton Smith (January 13, 1893 – August 14, 1961) was an influential American writer of fantasy, horror, and science fiction stories and poetry, and an artist. He achieved early recognition in California (largely through the enthusiasm ...

David Gemmell David Andrew Gemmell (; 1 August 1948 – 28 July 2006) was a British author of heroic fantasy, best known for his debut novel, ''Legend''. A former journalist and newspaper editor, Gemmell had his first work of fiction published in 1984. H ...

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (; born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comics artist, comic book artist, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He grew ...

and

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book author, writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which later bec ...

, Roberts set out to create his own dark and baroque fantasy universe, with tales told through the medium of extreme metal albums. He named the band Bal-Sagoth in honour of one of his primary literary inspirations, the writer

, whose story "The Gods of Bal-Sagoth" had first appeared in the legendary pulp fantasy magazine

Weird Tales ''Weird Tales'' is an American fantasy and horror fiction pulp magazine founded by J. C. Henneberger and J. M. Lansinger in late 1922. The first issue, dated March 1923, appeared on newsstands February 18. The first editor, Edwin Baird, printe ...

during the 1930s. Sometimes dubbed "The Multiverse" and/or "The Omniverse", Roberts's lyrical world is an extensive landscape of fantasy/science fiction, ranging from intergalactic tales of rogue gods and cosmic empires, to historical epics and high adventures, to sword and sorcery style sagas. The stories of the lyrical world are all connected to a greater or lesser degree, and are roughly divided into several different eras. The first era is the "antediluvian" epoch, during which most of the sword & sorcery style stories take place. Tales occurring even earlier than this, such as when the planet Earth consisted of the mega-continent

Pangaea Pangaea or Pangea ( ) was a supercontinent that existed during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras. It assembled from the earlier continental units of Gondwana, Euramerica and Siberia during the Carboniferous period approximately 335 mi ...

, are also usually grouped into this broad chronological categorisation. Then there is an era covering recorded human history from ancient times to roughly the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, during which Roberts's historical stories occur. Thirdly there is a future era, which roughly dates from the year 2104 all the way to a time frame many thousands of years in the future, and it is during this epoch that the science-fiction oriented stories take place. Roberts creates all the concepts, storylines, characters, places and lyrics for the Bal-Sagoth lyrics. He also designed the band logo, the album cover concepts, and all the booklet layouts.

Published short stories and poetry

On 21 February 2015 the fantasy anthology paperback ''Swords of Steel'' was 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 publication contains a short story by

vocalist/lyricist Byron Roberts entitled "Into the Dawn of Storms" which features Byron's character Captain Caleb Blackthorne who first appeared in the lyrics to the third Bal-Sagoth album Battle Magic in 1998. On 30 July 2015, the fantasy anthology ''Barbarian Crowns'' was published by Horrified Press/Barbwire Butterfly Books. This publication contains a short story by Roberts entitled "Chronicles of the Obsidian Crown" which features characters and events from the Bal-Sagoth lyrical canon. The story is part of the "Obsidian Crown Saga" which also features on the Bal-Sagoth albums

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. As with the first album, the band only had around two weeks to record this album. Th ...

and The Chthonic Chronicles. On the same day, the fantasy anthology ''Devil's Armory'' was also published by Horrified Press. This publication contains a short story by Roberts entitled "Darkfall: Return of the Vampyre Hunter" which features the character Joachim Blokk, who first appeared in the lyrics of the third Bal-Sagoth album Battle Magic. Additionally, a poem by Roberts entitled "When Dead Cthulhu Dreams" was included in the anthology ''Beyond the Cosmic Veil'', also published by Horrified Press. On 27 February 2016, the fantasy anthology paperback ''Swords of Steel II'' was published by DMR Books. This publication contains a short story by Roberts entitled "A Voyage on Benighted Seas", the second installment of the Caleb Blackthorne trilogy which began in the first volume of ''Swords of Steel''. On 19 May 2017, the fantasy anthology paperback ''Swords of Steel III'' was published by DMR Books. This publication contains a short story by Roberts entitled "The Scion at the Gate of Eternity", the third installment of the Caleb Blackthorne trilogy featuring characters from the

lyrical canon. On 18 March 2018 the sword & sorcery anthology ''Dreams of Fire and Steel'' was published by Nocturnicorn Books. The book includes a short story by Roberts titled "Caylen-Tor", featuring the character which first appeared in the lyrics of the second

album

in 1996. On 14 May 2019 the collection ''The Chronicles of Caylen-Tor'' was published by DMR Books. The book consists of three novellas by Byron Roberts featuring the character Caylen-Tor who first appeared in the lyrics of the second

album

in 1996. On 13 May 2021, the collection ''The Chronicles of Caylen-Tor Volume II'' was published by

. The book consists of four stories by Byron Roberts featuring his character Caylen-Tor who first appeared in the lyrics of the second Bal-Sagoth album

and is a sequel to "The Chronicles of Caylen-Tor". In February 2024, the collection ''The Chronicles of Caylen-Tor Volume III'' was published by

. The third volume in the series by Byron Roberts consists of three novellas featuring his character Caylen-Tor who first appeared in the lyrics of the second Bal-Sagoth album

. On 07 April 2025, the fantasy anthology paperback "Swords of Steel IV" was published by

. This publication contains a short story by Byron Roberts entitled "The Shrine of the Six-eyed Avatar", featuring characters and concepts from the

lyrical canon. Roberts also plans to publish a series of Bal-Sagoth related comic books/graphic novels further detailing the extensive stories of the lyrical multiverse, as well as a collection of illustrated prose stories, and even collectible cards featuring his characters.

Vocal style

Roberts's original vocal style combines

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 ...

screams with a pitched-down "narrator's" voice, enabling him to relay story elements in a clear and compelling manner, present dialogue between characters, and imbue the vocals with a "light and dark" contrasting feel. Roberts's primary musical inspirations are bands such as Bathory,

Celtic Frost Celtic Frost () was a Swiss metal music, heavy metal band from Zürich. They are remembered for their strong influence on the development of several metal subgenres, particularly extreme metal,Bukszpan, Daniel. ''The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal' ...

Deicide Deicide is the killing (or the killer) of a god. The concept may be used for any act of killing a god, including a life-death-rebirth deity who is killed and then resurrected. Etymology The term deicide was coined in the 17th century from ...

Morbid Angel Morbid Angel is an American death metal band based in Tampa, Florida, formed in 1983 by guitarist, primary composer and sole remaining original member Trey Azagthoth, vocalist and bassist Dallas Ward, and drummer Mike Browning. Widely considere ...

Sabbat The Wheel of the Year is an annual cycle of seasonal festivals, observed by a range of modern pagans, marking the year's chief solar events (solstices and equinoxes) and the midpoints between them. Modern pagan observances are based to varying ...

Slayer Slayer is an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California, formed in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them ...

, et al.''Cult Never Dies: The Mega Zine'', Cult Never Dies, 2016, p. 46.

Discography

Discography (1993–2013) *Bal-Sagoth Demo (1993) * A Black Moon Broods Over Lemuria (Cacophonous, 1995) *

(Cacophonous, 1996) * Battle Magic (Cacophonous, 1998) *

The Power Cosmic ''The Power Cosmic'' is the fourth album by the English metal band Bal-Sagoth, released in 1999. The album was their first recording for Nuclear Blast. It was the first Bal-Sagoth album to not contain a full lyric booklet (earlier releases inclu ...

(Nuclear Blast, 1999) * Atlantis Ascendant (Nuclear Blast, 2001) * The Chthonic Chronicles (Nuclear Blast, 2006) *Apocryphal Tales (Godreah/Exhumation, 2013)

Bibliography

Caylen-Tor series

*"Caylen-Tor" (2018) *"The Siege of Gul-Azlaan" (2019) *"The Battle of Blackhelm Vale" (2019) *"The King Beneath the Mountain of Fire" (2019) *"The Trial of Blood and Steel" (2021) *"Carnage at the Crimson Stones" (2021) *"In the Hall of the Wolfborn Liege" (2021) *"The Devil Beyond the Gate of Shadow" (2021) *"Lords of the Ensanguined Sea" (2024) *"The Wolf and the Eldritch Moon" (2024) *"The Vengeance of the Witch-Queen" (2024) *''The Chronicles of Caylen-Tor'' (collection) (DMR Books, 2019) *''The Chronicles of Caylen-Tor, Volume II'' (collection) (DMR Books, 2021) *''The Chronicles of Caylen-Tor, Volume III'' (collection) (DMR Books, 2024)

Captain Caleb Blackthorne series

*"Into the Dawn of Storms" (2015) *"A Voyage on Benighted Seas" (2016) *"The Scion at the Gate of Eternity" (2017) *"The Voyages of Caleb Blackthorne" (compendium) (2019)

Verse

*"When Dead Cthulhu Dreams" (2015)

Novels

*''Karnov: Phantom-Clad Rider of the Cosmic Ice'' (with Howie K. Bentley and Matthew Knight) (DMR Books, 2019)

References

Sources

* Hill, Gary. ''"The Strange Sound of Cthulhu"'', Lulu, 2006, pp. 54–57 * ''"The Cimmerian"'', vol. 4, number 3, 2007, p. 9 * ''"The Jack Kirby Collector"'', issue 50, TwoMorrows Publishing, 2008, p. 145
Official Bal-Sagoth WebsiteOfficial site for Byron Roberts MySpace page of Byron Roberts
* AllMusic Guidebr>Byron Roberts DiscographyThe Internet Speculative Fiction Database

External links

Official Bal-Sagoth websiteISFDB bibliography for Byron Roberts Official site for Byron Roberts Official Bal-Sagoth blog site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Byron Living people Bal-Sagoth members English male singers English heavy metal singers Canadian heavy metal singers Black metal musicians English lyricists English fantasy writers Musicians from Sheffield Alumni of Sheffield Hallam University English horror writers Year of birth missing (living people)