Please tell us about the history of your band and its members.
Snakeblade was formed just months ago during the coronavirus quarantine. It honestly all began as just a fun project to distract myself and fill my time in isolation but after writing a few songs, I really liked what I had come up with and recognized it was something special that I should pursue. I kept on writing and everything flowed so naturally that soon I had an album ready to go!
Snakeblade is a one-man project, all instruments are played and recorded by Mike Redston at his apartment in East Vancouver.
How would you describe your style? Which bands influenced your music?
Snakeblade is one-man black metal that’s fun and nerdy as hell! It’s very different than most one-man black metal projects in that it's upbeat and high-energy but maintains that raw, frostbitten black metal sound.
Snakeblade combines big influences from black metal and speed metal - think Immortal meets Bewitcher. I also love all shapes and sizes of metal but death metal is probably the biggest influence (The Black Dahlia Murder, Archspire, Gatecreeper are all some of my favorites). On top of this, I also take a big influence from an early love of pop-punk. I guess it’s pretty rare for a black metal band to admit but Fall Out Boy, Blink-182, Rise Against - that’s all my jam. They write great songs and are successful for a reason.
Why should a metalhead buy your demos/albums?
Metal is all about passion. Take a listen to my music and hear for yourself - there’s no denying I pour my heart and soul into it. Feel the passion in what I create and share this with me. This is what I love to do and I’m super stoked to share it. Plus, if you’re somewhat of a nerd (and come on be honest I know a lot of you are) Snakeblade is your wonderland with lyrical topics of fantasy, medieval battles, and video games.
Fun fact: The name Snakeblade actually comes from my first character in Dungeons and Dragons, which was a bugbear.
What have you released so far and how were your releases received by the public/media?
The Kingdom is my debut album coming out on July 31st, 2020! So far I’ve had amazing feedback on the first single: “When Kingdoms Collide”.
Do you play live as well? How's your live activity so far?
I would love to bring Snakeblade to the live stage. With the pandemic situation live shows will have to wait a while but this also gives me more time to build a live band and practice up.
Being a one-man project there hasn’t been much in the way of live performances so far, although I do post live playthroughs of my songs on my Youtube.
What should labels/zines/promoters know about your band? Why should they be interested in it?
I have a colossal amount of material that I’m working on for upcoming albums. The Kingdom is just the beginning. I’ve got big plans for the project and a lot of exciting things on the horizon.
Look at what I’ve managed to do on my own - now imagine what we could accomplish with your support.
What plans do you have for the near future as a band?
I have not stopped writing for a second even after finishing The Kingdom. There’s an onslaught of new music coming, so prepare for yourselves. Over the next few months, I also plan to put together a music video which will be really cool for me as I’ve never done one before.
Where can we listen to your band and where can we buy your stuff?
The best way to support my project is by purchasing HQ audio through Bandcamp: https://snakeblade.bandcamp.com/
Snakeblade is on all major streaming services:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1NZFW3E4qVkPGT2eEptZGf?si=Intpd_HfTeiPVtZpLtwi6Q
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/artist/snakeblade/1522824553
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/music/artist?id=Ajv6atwsrbgiey6gmibuc2i2eau&hl=en
You can also watch playthroughs, covers, and behind the scenes videos on my Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeAzzCbHtEk_6qjIWq61byQ
July 2020