Agathodaimon (band)
Encyclopedia
Agathodaimon is a gothic
/melodic black metal band from Mainz, Germany
.
and drummer Matthias got together to assemble a dominant death metal
band with harmonic arrangements (melodic death metal
). They put adverts in several music magazines in the hopes that they would find suitable musicians to play with them. In answer to the advertisement, they were joined by bassist
Marko Thomas and keyboardist and vocalist Vlad Dracul. The last member of their initial formation was the second guitarist, Hyperion, who joined them by the end of that year. With this formation the band recorded the Carpe Noctem demo
tape, which received fair reviews from the German specialized press. It also attracted the attention of one of Century Media's executivies, who began keeping track of the band.
Agathodaimon then proceeded to play minor gigs and support some European bands. Eventually, they received an offer from Century Media to fund the recording of their second demo. This demo was recorded in early 1997 and was named Near Dark. It attracted the interest of quite a few recording labels, and in the end the band opted to sign with Nuclear Blast
.
After successfully composing the songs for their debut album Blacken the Angel, one of the members of Agathodaimon, Vlad, was forced to quit the band due to problems with immigration. After returning to his native Romania
, he was denied re-entry in Germany. The situation involved the fact that he had left the country during Ceauşescu
's regime. The band therefore was forced to make use of guest musicians to record their debut. Akaias (from Asaru) did the vocals and Marcel "Vampallens" (from Nocte Obducta
) took the role of the keyboards. Vlad's participation on the album was restricted to the solo song "Contemplation Song", which was sent to the band via air mail.
The CD caused some impact, and Agathodaimon proceeded to tour with bands such as Children of Bodom
and Hypocrisy
. At the height of the album's success they opened gigs for Dimmu Borgir
, Lacrimosa
and other bands.
In 1999, Vampallens decided to quit the band in order to dedicate himself fully to his main project Nocte Obducta. He was replaced by female keyboardist Christine S.
To record their second album - Higher Art of Rebellion - the band travelled to Romania, in order to be able to play together with Vlad. The vocalist Akaias also participated in the recording of this album, as well as singer Dan Byron performing clean vocals. Recordings took place at Magic Sound in Bucharest. A European tour as headliner with Graveworm and Siebenbürgen followed.
After a short hiatus, the band recorded the album Chapter III in 2001 at the Kohlekeller Studio, Germany.
Some changes to the band's structure followed, with Vlad definitely quitting the band, soon followed by Marko and Christine.
Marko did leave because of health problems and quit making music, while Christine formed her own band Demonic Symphony, where she handles bass guitar and vocals. Marko and Christine were replaced by Darin Smith and Felix Ü. Walzer.
In 2004 the band released the album Serpent's Embrace, which again was recorded at Kohlekeller Studio with Kristian Kohlmannslehner as producer.
In early 2006 personal differences led to the split of Eddy and the rest of the band. A new bass player named Till (formerly active in Misanthropic, where Matthias also played drums for a while) joined the ranks, and the song writing for the next album is currently taking place. Release is scheduled for March 2009. Singer, Guitarist Frank "Akaias" Nordmann left in January 2007 to carry on with other musical interests.
Matthias and Jonas left the band in 2008, with Manuel Steitz taking over on drums, and in October 2008, the band announced that they had recruited a new singer, Ashtrael.
Gothic metal
Gothic metal or goth metal is a subgenre of heavy metal music that combines the aggression of doom metal with the dark melancholy of gothic rock. The music of gothic metal is diverse with bands known to adopt the gothic approach to different styles of heavy metal music...
/melodic black metal band from Mainz, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Biography
The band began in September 1995, when guitarist SathonysSathonys
Sathonys is the founding member and guitarist of the German black metal band Agathodaimon.-References:...
and drummer Matthias got together to assemble a dominant death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
band with harmonic arrangements (melodic death metal
Melodic death metal
Melodic death metal is a heavy metal music style that combines elements from the New Wave of British Heavy Metal with elements of death metal. The style was developed during the early and mid-1990s, primarily in England and Scandinavia...
). They put adverts in several music magazines in the hopes that they would find suitable musicians to play with them. In answer to the advertisement, they were joined by bassist
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
Marko Thomas and keyboardist and vocalist Vlad Dracul. The last member of their initial formation was the second guitarist, Hyperion, who joined them by the end of that year. With this formation the band recorded the Carpe Noctem demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
tape, which received fair reviews from the German specialized press. It also attracted the attention of one of Century Media's executivies, who began keeping track of the band.
Agathodaimon then proceeded to play minor gigs and support some European bands. Eventually, they received an offer from Century Media to fund the recording of their second demo. This demo was recorded in early 1997 and was named Near Dark. It attracted the interest of quite a few recording labels, and in the end the band opted to sign with Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast
Nuclear Blast is an independent record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The record label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on to releasing albums by melodic...
.
After successfully composing the songs for their debut album Blacken the Angel, one of the members of Agathodaimon, Vlad, was forced to quit the band due to problems with immigration. After returning to his native Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, he was denied re-entry in Germany. The situation involved the fact that he had left the country during Ceauşescu
Nicolae Ceausescu
Nicolae Ceaușescu was a Romanian Communist politician. He was General Secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 to 1989, and as such was the country's second and last Communist leader...
's regime. The band therefore was forced to make use of guest musicians to record their debut. Akaias (from Asaru) did the vocals and Marcel "Vampallens" (from Nocte Obducta
Nocte Obducta
Nocte Obducta were a German Avant Garde Black metal band. They were founded in 1993 in Mainz under the name Desîhra. The band released seven albums, the first four of them under Grind Syndicate Media, all albums from 2003 were published under Supreme Chaos Records.- Discography :* 1998: Doch...
) took the role of the keyboards. Vlad's participation on the album was restricted to the solo song "Contemplation Song", which was sent to the band via air mail.
The CD caused some impact, and Agathodaimon proceeded to tour with bands such as Children of Bodom
Children of Bodom
Children of Bodom is a Finnish heavy metal band from Espoo. Formed in 1993, the group currently consists of Alexi Laiho , Roope Latvala , Janne Wirman , Henkka Seppälä , and Jaska Raatikainen...
and Hypocrisy
Hypocrisy (band)
Hypocrisy is a melodic death metal band from Sweden. It was formed in 1990 in Ludvika, Sweden by Peter Tägtgren.Musically, the band started off with a traditional death metal sound on their first albums, and soon drifted to become a melodic death metal band. The lyrics in their early stages -...
. At the height of the album's success they opened gigs for Dimmu Borgir
Dimmu Borgir
Dimmu Borgir is a Norwegian black metal band from Oslo, Norway, formed in 1993. Dimmu borgir means "dark cities" or "dark castles/fortresses" in Icelandic, Faroese and Old Norse. The name is derived from a volcanic formation in Iceland, Dimmuborgir...
, Lacrimosa
Lacrimosa
Lacrimosa is a duo led by German Tilo Wolff, the main composer, and Finnish Anne Nurmi, currently based in Switzerland, but originally from Germany...
and other bands.
In 1999, Vampallens decided to quit the band in order to dedicate himself fully to his main project Nocte Obducta. He was replaced by female keyboardist Christine S.
To record their second album - Higher Art of Rebellion - the band travelled to Romania, in order to be able to play together with Vlad. The vocalist Akaias also participated in the recording of this album, as well as singer Dan Byron performing clean vocals. Recordings took place at Magic Sound in Bucharest. A European tour as headliner with Graveworm and Siebenbürgen followed.
After a short hiatus, the band recorded the album Chapter III in 2001 at the Kohlekeller Studio, Germany.
Some changes to the band's structure followed, with Vlad definitely quitting the band, soon followed by Marko and Christine.
Marko did leave because of health problems and quit making music, while Christine formed her own band Demonic Symphony, where she handles bass guitar and vocals. Marko and Christine were replaced by Darin Smith and Felix Ü. Walzer.
In 2004 the band released the album Serpent's Embrace, which again was recorded at Kohlekeller Studio with Kristian Kohlmannslehner as producer.
In early 2006 personal differences led to the split of Eddy and the rest of the band. A new bass player named Till (formerly active in Misanthropic, where Matthias also played drums for a while) joined the ranks, and the song writing for the next album is currently taking place. Release is scheduled for March 2009. Singer, Guitarist Frank "Akaias" Nordmann left in January 2007 to carry on with other musical interests.
Matthias and Jonas left the band in 2008, with Manuel Steitz taking over on drums, and in October 2008, the band announced that they had recruited a new singer, Ashtrael.
Line-up
- SathonysSathonysSathonys is the founding member and guitarist of the German black metal band Agathodaimon.-References:...
- Guitar, clean vocals - Jan JansohnJan JansohnJan Jansohn is the guitarist of the German black metal band Agathodaimon.-References:...
- guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
s - Felix Ü. Walzer - Keyboards
- Manuel Steitz - drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
- Ashtrael - vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
Former members
- Vlad Dracul - Vocals, keyboards
- Marcel "Vampallens" - Keyboards
- Christine S. - Keyboards
- Marko Thomas - Bass
- Darin "Eddie" Smith - Bass
- Hyperion - Guitar
- Frank Nordmann (Akaias) - Vocals, guitars (1998–2007)
- Byron - clean vocals (on Higher Art of Rebellion)
- Matthias R. - Drums
- Jonas Iscariot - vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
Discography
- Carpe Noctem - Demo I (1996)
- Near Dark - Demo II (1997)
- Tomb Sculptures (1997)
- Blacken the AngelBlacken the AngelBlacken the Angel is the debut album from German black metal band Agathodaimon. It was released 4 August 1998 through Nuclear Blast records.- Track listing :# "Tristetea Vehementa" – 8:11# "Banner of Blasphemy" – 5:48# "Near Dark" – 15:37...
(1998) - Higher Art of RebellionHigher Art of RebellionHigher Art of Rebellion is the second full-length studio album by the Symphonic black metal band Agathodaimon.- Track listing :# Ne Cheamă Pamîntul - 5:36# Tongue of Thorns - 4:36# Glasul Artei Viitoare - 8:37# When She Is Mute - 4:03...
(1999) - Chapter III (2001)
- Serpent's EmbraceSerpent's EmbraceSerpent's Embrace is the fourth studio album of the gothic metal band Agathodaimon. It was released 24 August, 2004 through Nuclear Blast records.The album had a more progressive style compared to previous albums...
(2004) - Phoenix (2009)
- In Darkness (2011)
External links
- Agathodaimon official website
- Rivadavia, Eduardo "[ Agathodaimon - Serpent's Embrace]" (review), Allmusic, Macrovision Corporation