Kyle Chapman & Christopher Jones of Blighted Eye
Seattle’s Blighted Eye are an up and coming progressive death metal act from the Pacific Northwest. With a sound fitting the dark, bleak and overcast nature of the region, the band formed and released their debut EP Wretched, during the close of the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown. Weathering the storm, the band hunkered down and fine-tuned their sound even further to truly define and make an impact with their sound. That sound is encapsulated on the band’s upcoming debut album Agony’s Bespoke, set to be released September 20th on Beyond The Top Records. An album dealing with loss, grief, revenge and how the human mind deals with death. With a sound that matches those waves of emotions, incorporating progressive death, blackgaze, ambience, to melodic death metal. It is an emotional, sonic journey that is heavy and complex in it’s delivery.
I sat down with the band’s vocalist/guitarist Kyle Chapman & guitarist Christopher Jones. We talk about the formation of the band and how they handled the COVID-19 lockdown. We talk about the lyrical concepts and the writing process for their debut album, and how the band decides when to growl and when to sing on a song.
FMP: How was Blighted Eye formed?
Chapman: Pretty naturally honestly. Chris and I have been friends for over 15 years at this point. We first met when our old bands were coming up in the local Seattle/Tacoma metal scene during the late 2000’s/early 2010’s. I had been pestering him for years about us doing some sort of a project together. In 2019, he approached me with some of the material he had been working on that would ultimately become part of the debut Blighted Eye EP and asked if I was interested. Later we ended asking John (who we had known for a similar amount of time) if he’d be interested in doing session drums for the EP. He ended up liking the material so much that he joined as a full member. Later in 2022 when we were finally given the opportunity to play live, I suggested my longtime Aethereus bandmate Ben about joining on bass to round out the lineup and that was that. Basically, just a bunch of old friends finally coming together after almost 2 decades to make some awesome music.
FMP: Your debut E.P. Wretched was released during the lockdown of COVID-19 in 2020. How did the band survive the pandemic?
Jones: Being a band that wasn’t fully formed until the pandemic, we didn’t really have a lot we could do outside of write more music and some very limited promotion for the EP. We really didn’t start doing normal band things, like rehearse and play our first show, until 2022. So in some way it feels like we’ve only been a band for 2 years.
Chapman: Yeah, recording and releasing anything during the pandemic was an interesting experience to say the least. Like Chris said, with the band being so new and not really an established live act, it was a little easier to weather the storm.
FMP: The band is releasing their debut album Agony’s Bespoke on September 20th. Can you explain the meaning or origin of the album’s title?
Jones: The title has two parts in its origin and meaning. The actual title was a line from a show called The Third Day. The character was describing the grief he and his wife were experiencing after the death of their child and said “agony’s bespoke, yours is yours, theirs is theirs. Mostly grief is just lonely”. Meaning your suffering and grief is custom made for you, and that really stuck with me, so I made a mental note of it. The album is inspired by the film The Nightingale, but Kyle wrote the lyrics from a more personal perspective, so it’s not a direct concept album from the film. It follows the path of grief and revenge born from the death of a loved one, and all the mental anguish that follows it just seemed like the perfect use of the term agony’s bespoke.
FMP: What was the writing process like for the record? Did you have an idea or direction you wanted to go with the band’s debut?
Jones: I really like writing with an intent or theme that I am trying to convey. It makes me focus less on just sticking riffs together and more on what kind of mood or atmosphere am I trying to achieve. As I mentioned above, the album was inspired by the film The Nightingale. When I watched that, I was really inspired by how the film showcased revenge in a more realistic way, well for a movie that is. It wasn’t this badass untouchable character; it was intense trauma and grief masked by a path of violence that did not transpire in a way that was predictable. Just a lot of messy emotions that I found really interesting. It took me writing a few songs to kind of feel my way through it until I was like ok, that’s starting to match what’s in my head. From there it kind of snowballed, but there were a few songs that did not end up on the record.
Chapman: Yeah, intention is definitely key. I think once Chris and I established the sort of guiding narrative outline for the album, it became clearer how to approach the lyrical content/vocal delivery. Same goes for the two songs I had a primary hand in writing. Coming from more of a tech/disso death background, it definitely required me checking certain writing impulses to make sure the songs fit with the mood/theme/style Chris had so clearly carved out with the rest of the material.
FMP: It is such a complex record and plays around with so many genres and elements like shoegaze, black metal, progressive and melodic death metal. Do you have a favorite track off the album that would be a great introduction track to new fans?
Jones: I would say either our first single “In Enmity” or the opening track on the album “Tragoedia”. I think both feature a lot of what’s contained throughout the album and prep you for what you’re in for. “In Enmity” might be the more immediately engaging track where “Tragoedia” starts a bit more eerie and has more of a buildup.
Chapman: “In Enmity” is probably the best first introduction to us as it has a little bit of everything we do condensed into one song, but I love them all. Personally, my favorite is the title track that closes the record, but I don’t know if an 11-minute dirge is necessarily the best introduction, but who knows.
FMP: Kyle’s vocals are impressive with the combination of clean vocals and growl vocals. With this genre, is it hard to decide when to growl and when to sing in the writing process?
Chapman: Thank you! I think it depends on the song. For some, it’s immediately apparent what will work and what won’t based on the mood/emotion of a given section (for instance, growling incoherently over a delicate acoustic passage might sound a little bizarre). For others, you get sections that are a little more open to interpretation and give you the opportunity to bring in some unexpected elements. I have been doing extreme metal vocals for almost two decades at this point, but singing was new territory for me. I had sung on previous records in a very limited capacity (usually just for a small section or for effect), but I wanted to push myself to try something new. Thankfully, there were 3 songs on this album that presented the opportunity to incorporate some actual singing as an actual focal point.
FMP: Are there any plans to tour in support of the new album following the album release show in Seattle on October 4th?
Chapman: That’s something we’re currently working on, but we are planning on doing some touring in 2025 to support the album. Might even be trying to get out to the East Coast!
