Lifeblood

On their second album, Toronto deathcore squad Brand of Sacrifice delves deeper into the world of Berserk, the manga series from which they take their name. This time, frontman Kyle Anderson puts lyrical focus on the character of Guts, a conflicted wanderer and mercenary. “I think Guts is a struggler and a survivor,” Anderson tells Apple Music. “Even though he's constantly haunted by literal demons, he's able to push forward and find his lifeblood.” Musically, Lifeblood sees the band incorporating more electronics and synth-generated choirs into their futuristic deathcore palette. “We took what worked best from our previous album, God Hand,” Anderson explains. “So we doubled down on the electronics and insane dynamics, but we also tried to streamline the songs and go for mostly traditional song structures with repeating choruses.” Below, Anderson walks us through the Lifeblood storyline.

Dawn
“This track is pretty unrelenting. I wanted to introduce the listener to the general theme of the record, which is the negative emotions that Guts struggles with. There's a whispered voice clip that says, ‘Hatred is where you turn when you can't face your grief,’ and that's actually voiced by our guitarist's fiancée. We woke her up from a nap with a mic in her face and asked her to speak that line. She wasn't too pleased.”

Demon King
“This one's a tale of a great yet cocky emperor’s rise and fall. The character's called Ganishka. He got power-hungry and greedy, and we personified that in the breakdown of the song. So the buildup sort of takes and takes and takes, before lashing out with an intense rage that builds on itself—like the emperor no doubt felt when he was losing everything to his successor. It’s probably one of the more intense songs on the record.”

Animal
“This song is about a battle with an inner beast or demon. The beast in this case is the manifestation of Guts' wrath and bloodlust, which constantly torments him and wants to take over. In this instance, our hero prevails and suppresses the furious emotions. From an instrumental standpoint, we wanted to write this song to be grand and epic with the use of choirs and synths while maintaining precision and speed during the verse sections. I think the chorus hook is quite a shock, but it’s a hint of what’s to come on the album.”

Altered Eyes
“This tune takes us back to the day when Guts' life changed forever. It discusses tremendous loss and sadness while painting a hellish picture of what occurred. I think the video kind of does that, too. From this day forward, his life was constantly in jeopardy as otherworldly forces pursued him to collect a life debt he owed for being branded for sacrifice. Add to that the anguish from seeing a horrible atrocity committed to his lover that would render her mind broken, and it becomes one of the darker songs on the record.”

Prophecy of the Falcon (feat. Frankie Palmeri)
“This song discusses the dream of Griffith, the antagonist, of having a kingdom and power. He was born a common man, and he would do anything to achieve that—even if it means sacrificing those who are closest to him. Instrumentally, the song ramps up with a little bit of black metal influence, and there’s heavy use of choirs and other electronics as well. We included Frankie on this song because I grew up listening to his music when I was a teenager, and I was always a fan of his sound. His voice has an inhuman wetness to it, like he’s gargling blood.”

Perfect World
“It's pretty brief, but this instrumental passage takes you on a journey led by a powerful female lead vocal. It's similar to ‘Prophecy of the Falcon’ in that sense, but we wanted this song to have a feeling of triumph and victory, almost like our antagonist Griffith was looking over a conquered and prestigious kingdom.”

Mortal Vessel (feat. Ben Duerr)
“This song is one of the more technical and difficult songs to play. Lyrically, it’s actually the part two of ‘Animal,’ except this time, Guts is losing his fight to his rage and bloodlust. The beast of darkness is taking over, and who better to express that than Ben Duerr of Shadow of Intent? As a death metal superfan, we knew he would absolutely crush this part. He's got one of the most powerful voices in the metal scene, but it's so clear and his enunciation is exceptional.”

Foe of the Inhuman (feat. Eric Vanlerberghe)
“This one is from the standpoint of the Skull Knight, and he's sort of an enigma. He's an undead character who wages war against the Demon King, but he's ironically inhuman himself. He’s helped Guts out of a few dire situations, but we're not sure of his true motives. Musically, we wanted to create a song that had an anthem of a chorus and utilize some clean vocals behind the typical guttural screams. Then we’ve got Eric from I Prevail during the breakdown section, which makes a great addition to the song.”

Vengeance (feat. Jamie Graham)
“This song examines Guts' feelings towards Griffith, due to what Griffith did to his love interest. As is often the case with vengeance, the feeling is only causing him to break down more and more. And here he's starting to understand this. So, from an instrumental standpoint, we wanted to create something straightforward and bouncy that would let Jamie Graham's singing abilities shine through in the chorus section through the use of powerful chugging grooves and rhythm work.”

Ruin (feat. Tyler Shelton)
“This song is a dialogue between Guts and his love interest, Casca. He's explaining his views on the new kingdom that Griffith has built, which he thinks is far from what the real world should reflect. Instrumentally, it’s more open than the other songs on the record, not utilizing as many electronic elements because we wanted to give it more of a raw feel. Tyler Shelton perfectly illustrates that raw sound in the ending section of the breakdown. We specifically built that section for his vocal style, and I think he absolutely nailed it.”

Corridor of Dreams
“This is inspired by the video game series Halo. We wanted to take the listener on an angelic, ethereal voyage, and what I picture when I hear this is that it's sort of like an aha moment for Guts. It's the soundtrack to his remembrance. He's in a dreamlike state and he's remembering the good times that he had with his love interest, and he completely understands now who or what his lifeblood is. And then the dream comes to a crashing end and reality begins to set in, which transitions into the title track.”

Lifeblood
“Our protagonist understands what he's learned from the Corridor of Dreams: He wants to carry on, and his love interest is the reason for that. One day, he will ultimately have to choose between love and vengeance, but for now his main focus is restoring the mind of his lover. Instrumentally, I think this song utilizes almost every tool from the Brand of Sacrifice toolbox—the choirs, electronics, and there's also a classic sort of deathcore feel, and we really wanted to include a chant in the song. Lyrically, I approached it from a more uplifting and inspiring perspective, with the words ‘rise up’ repeated a few times. In the end, there’s a children’s choir breakdown that’s almost like the spiritual successor to the closing of our song ‘Eclipse’ from our EP.”