Baelfyr Talk New EP, Favourite Instruments And More

Blackened Brit heavyweights, BAELFYR, set loose their colossal new EP, Empowered By Hatred, which lands on Friday 8th August 2025. The ferocious five piece have also revealed their savage new single and video, ‘At The Mercy Of A Vain God’. We at JLTT spoke to the band about their new music and more: 

 

Who is in BAELFYR, how did you meet and what do you play?

Baelfyr consists of myself (Zak, bass), Allan on vocals, Harry & Tom playing guitar and Lorraine, our drummer. I’m the newest member, having joined in March of this year. I responded to a post on Facebook after a few friends encouraged me to, learnt a few songs, went down to a practice to meet everyone and that was pretty much it.

 

What is your earliest musical memory?

 

I don’t know about earliest memory, but there’s one that’s always stuck with me back from 2003. I was around 13 and starting to get into music in general but particularly rock music. My dad took me to his floor-to-ceiling CD rack said “check this out”. It was Roots by Sepultura and I will never forget the smile on my dad’s face as the opening track kicked in and I got my first taste of heavy metal. The funny thing is that he mostly listened to Jazz. I have no idea how he ended up with that album, but I’m eternally glad that he did.

 

When did you begin songwriting?

I probably began songwriting in 2006. I’d been learning to play the guitar for a couple of years without much creativity in what I was doing. It wasn’t until I was in college, studied music and joined a band where my understand of creating new songs, rather than learning them, started to solidify.

 

You have released your latest single ‘Mercy Of A Vain God’. What was the story/inspiration behind the track?

This song is a condemnation of religious attitudes towards morality and the idea held by some, that one can only ever be truly good if their actions are guided by religious doctrine.

 

The single is accompanied by an official music video. What was the thought process behind the video and who directed it?

The video was directed by Ben Thurlow of Last Man Standing Films. We wanted to make a performance video for Mercy and most of our time was spent trying to find a suitable location to film. Eventually we found the tunnel from the video, which allowed us to get some bleak, yet striking visuals for the video.

 

 

You have your new EP ‘Empowered By Hatred’ released on Friday 8th August 2025. How did you want to approach the making of the EP?

I joined very late into the songwriting process of Empowered by Hatred, as all of the songs had already been written, except for their final basslines. My approach to add these started by looping individual sections of every song and just jamming over them until something I liked fell into place. Part of this process was trying to find areas where I could contrast with the guitars and add more depth to the songs, particularly by finding little melodic lines I could sprinkle throughout the EP.

I then showed my ideas to everyone to iterate on and suggest areas where I could try something different, or where what I’d written didn’t quite work. This is a part of the process I really enjoy because seeing how someone else can change what I’ve written gives me new perspectives and ideas that I hadn’t previously considered.

 

Where did you record the EP and who produced it?

It was recorded at Grindfarm Studios and produced by Neil Hudson. His years of experience can be felt all through the EP and his incredible ear for detail made the recording process super smooth and easy.

 

Do you have any interesting, funny or memorable stories from the recording sessions?

We recorded the whole EP in the space of four days, so there wasn’t a lot of time to spare for anything other than knuckling down and nailing every track. Beyond playing our parts, we mostly tried to eat our own weight in biscuits.

 

Did you use any particular instruments, microphones, recording equipment to help you get a particular sound/tone for the record?

I used my regular live setup that I’m comfortable and knowledgeable with to record my parts. This meant I already had the sound I wanted dialled in and didn’t need to spend time figuring things out with other equipment I wasn’t familiar with.

 

Which of your new EP tracks hear you at your a) happiest, b) angriest and c) most reflective?

I genuinely don’t know what I could consider to be our ‘happiest’ song. Perhaps Evil Incarnate as I get a lot of joy playing the bass parts I wrote for this?

Sound wise, I think our angriest song is Innocence Defiled, the second track of the EP.

It’s difficult to say which song is the most reflective, as I feel Allan’s lyrics explore many different concepts ponder the different areas of life.

 

Was it a difficult EP to write?

My part of the process was very smooth, and the basslines came very naturally to the songs. I know that many of the tracks had multiple iterations and a lot of time was taken to refine them before they started getting played for audiences.

 

Who designed the EP artwork?

This was done by The Rotted Artist Crew, who have done a lot of phenomenal artwork with other bands. They really knocked it out of the park with the artwork for our EP and I love having such a beautiful image to represent us.

 

Where is your hometown and could you please describe it in five words?

 

I’m from Nottingham. Not perfect, but it’s home.

 

How do you look after your voices?

Thankfully I don’t do any vocals so it’s not something I need to worry about.

 

Do you have any live dates planned in the UK/Europe in 2025/2026?

We have shows planned throughout the rest of the year around the country. This month, leading up to Bloodstock, we’ll be playing in Leicester, Newcastle-under-Lyme and Mansfield, as well as the Northants Rocks festival in Northampton. The Bloodstock is the big one for August, which is going to be an incredible experience. After that, moving into the latter part of the year we’re currently visiting Portsmouth, Southampton, Whitchurch and Cambridge. We’re always looking for more shows to play and new places to visit so I imagine this list will only grow as the weeks go by.

 

What two things do you hope to have achieved once you have left the stage?

Played the best I can and left people wanting more.

 

Do you have any favoured stage instruments, effects, pedals, microphones etc?

I play an Ibanez SR500L. This has been my trusty bass for about 18 years now and it’s been perfect for me all that time. It’s had a lot of knocks and dings over those years but it’s still going strong and hopefully it’ll still serve me for many years to come.

Beyond that I’m a big guitar pedal nut and love trying out new pedals to find new sounds. Currently my board consists of a Zoom MS-60B+, a Digitech Ricochet and an Old Blood Noise Endeavours Dark Star. The Zoom makes up the majority of my sound and it packs a lot of punch into a small form factor. The other two pedals are there to add some spice and flavouring to a couple of our songs.

 

You are given the opportunity to write the score for a film adaptation of a novel that you enjoy. Which novel is it and why?

I read a lot more comics than anything else so I’m going to draw from that. My favourite writer is Jeff Lemire and he wrote a really great sci-fi series called Descender. Outside of playing bass, I love to make electronic music and a sci-fi epic would allow me to get super creative and experimental.

 

Who are some of your musical influences? Do you have any recommendations?

I try to take influence from anything and everything and would always recommend to people they check out artists that may fall outside of their normal wheelhouse. In that vein I’d recommended people check out the Trip-Hop band Portishead and Noise Rap group Clipping.

 

What makes BAELFYR happy and what makes you unhappy?

Putting on a good show and entertaining people with a good time makes us happy. Personally, feeling like I’ve done a bad job or disappointed someone is one of the worst feelings imaginable.

 

Feature Image Photo Credit:  Ben Thurlow

BAELFYR release  new EP, ‘Empowered By Hatred’ on Friday 8th August 2025.

The ferocious five piece have also released their savage new single and video, ‘At The Mercy Of A Vain God’.

Listen Here: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5RUxsJHJ7q

 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BaelfyrBand

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/baelfyr_band/

Official Merchandise: https://baelfyr.bandcamp.com/merch