Blindfolded and Led to the Woods Ecstatic for ‘Extreme’ Boise Gig Tonight
Blindfolded and Led to the Woods have a lot to say on their brain-scrambling new record, The Hardest Thing About Being God Is That No One Believes Me. But more than that, they have a lot of appeal in concert, which the New Zealand prog/death-metal quintet will prove tonight at the Shredder in Boise. The Bad Penny caught up with the band’s guitar/synth player, Stu Henley-Minchington, to discuss the album, which came out two Fridays ago via Prosthetic Records; their first tour of the States; and what makes a BFALTTW show great.
I can’t seem to find any indication you’ve played Boise before. Did you decide to come here simply because of routing, or were there other reasons why you’re choosing to grace this city?
We have been working alongside [booking agency] Heavy Talent to plan the routing for this tour. As this is our first time in the USA, we wanted to maximize the amount of places we could play, so we were happy to visit anywhere that would have us!
Aside from integrating new material, is your set on this tour different in any other ways than in tours past?
We have a focus on the new album, however we will be covering a lot of our catalog in the set. We actually may play some different tracks depending how we feel on the night, so we have a few cards up our sleeve.
What vision did you have for The Hardest Thing About Being God Is That No One Believes Me going into the making of it? In what ways did it turn out as you expected and in what ways did it not?
We wanted this album to be more aggressive in some ways but also stay true to what people expect from our music. In saying that, we have always thrown curveballs! This album has no shortage of that. We expected it to be the most intense piece of work we have released, but I don’t think we anticipated just how extreme it would turn out. The songs really grew into different beasts from demo to final product.
What are you most proud of in terms of the new album? What aspects of Blindfolded and Led to the Woods does the record reveal that even devoted fans hadn’t been aware of before?
We really dug into the atmosphere in this one, using layers and layers of instruments to levels we have never done before. There is a lot of synth, which we touched on with [2023’s] Rejecting Obliteration, however we really utilized it to create an extra depth of darkness on this one. There is also a lot of beauty within some of the songs. We were not afraid to experiment and we had more time given we self produced the record.
We also spent more time than ever on vocals and making sure that the concept of the album really shone through vocally. The album is faster than we have ever been with the addition of Anthony Coota on drums and there are some wild parts amongst the drum tracks.
Which came first, the thematic concept of the record or the songwriting for it? If you could elaborate a bit, that’d be appreciated.
As all of our albums have started, we begin with myself (Stu) writing the music. We then work together to expand on that with Nick [Smith] taking the bass lines to the next level, Coota taking the drums to places I couldn’t imagine, and [guitarist] Dan [Hayston] working and reworking guitar parts. All of the lyrics on this album were written by our vocalist, Stace [Fifield], and he came to us with the theme early on. We were then able to pair the lyrical content to songs and work the order to fit with the story.
This is the first concept album we have ever done, and we are extremely proud of how it has turned out. The lyrics are very poetic. The 10 songs really could expand into a visual series from start to finish, and we really encourage people to read them along with the music.
What item/request on your tour rider might surprise people the most?
I don’t think we have anything too surprising in there to be honest! Just no smoke machines!
What’s the craziest show you guys have performed thus far?
We were lucky to open for a huge radio-friendly band from our country, New Zealand, called Devilskin. They have a massive following here, so to have a tech-death band open was really something. We got to play at the Christchurch Town Hall, which is an enormous venue and held the largest crowd we have played to. The acoustics in there are incredible, and it was certainly something being exposed to an audience who did not expect something so extreme!
What’s the lamest show you guys have performed thus far?
I don’t know if I would call any shows we have played “lame.” We have had some very random experiences over the years, though. If I had to choose anything, it would probably be the time we were on tour and, [ahead of] one of the shows, the venue owner lied about payment, and we left with $60. Kind of funny now, though. That was very early on and we learned our lesson.
What’s the best show you’ve ever attended?
Personally, I would have to say the time we opened for Nile. We were supposed to tour with them, but then COVID happened. As they are my favourite death-metal band, it sucked that the tour got cancelled, so it was pretty amazing when it finally happened. We got to hang with them, and given we had released [“Atop the Wings of a Magpie”] with [Nile guitarist/vocalist] Karl Sanders years ago, it was an all-around amazing experience that came full circle.
Pick up a ticket for Blindfolded and Led to the Woods’ show at the Shredder tonight in Boise here for about 19 bucks. Doors open at 7 p.m., with Volcandra handling opening duties. Read The Bad Penny’s interview with Volcandra here.
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