Kohllapse
Encyclopedia
Kohllapse is a gothic-doom
metal band from Canberra
, Australia
, formed in the early 1990s. They were one of the better-known Christian gothic metal bands active in the 1990s, and was closely followed by the newsportals of the scene throughout the band's career. While Kohllapse released its only two albums independently, their catalogue was distributed widely through Nuclear Blast USA and Blast Beats distribution. The band is notable for its innovative music, which was said to be ahead of its time, that combines darkwave
and progressive
doom metal
, and the fact that they became significantly well-known in both secular and Christian metal scenes. Distant Mind Alternative was their most popular and critically acclaimed album, and has been re-issued by Soundmass in 2005. The band mainly consisted of guitarist-vocalist Ro Edwards and drummer-keyboardist Matt Aitchison. After Aitchison left in 1999 the band split up in 2001. In 2005, Edwards indicated in an interview that he's working on a third Kohllapse album.
In the year 1995, the band began independently recording its first album, originally intended as a promotional cd. The band released Kohllapse in 1996. It was noted for its exceptionally dark and varied tracklisting that combined death, doom, gothic and electronic elements. one song, "An End to Pain" features black metal type out put. Kohllapse was chosen as the "Pick of the Litter" in HM Magazine March–April issue in 1997, and was described as "the first Christian band that sounds like Type O Negative". The song "Tell Me Your Fears" was released on the magazine's sampler in 1998.
After the release, the Christian metal scene press began to follow the band's career, and reported any updates given in interviews or Kohllapse's website. Since Kohllapse are an Australian band, the European and United States labels were uncertain whether to sign the band, and the Australian labels couldn't sign a studioproject group, thus the band remained unsigned. However, they got a distribution deal with a Texas, United States based Blast Beats music seller, which distributed the album further. The album received positive notice: in 1997 they began receiving major label interest, and in 1998 the band signed a distribution deal with Nuclear Blast USA.
This distribution deals helped Kohllapse to reach new fans all over the world. During this time, few bassists joined and left the band, Bevan Carroll was one of them. It remains unknown whether Kohllapse ever played concerts in the local scene of Canberra. Around 1998, it was reported that the band went through "very rough times", while details of this were never revealed.
In 1999, Paul Sweeney joined as a bassist, and the band recorded and released Distant Mind Aternative, their darkest, doomiest and most atmospheric album. The album introduced a more mellow and somber direction with more emphasis on dark electronical sounds. Edwards switched his vocals to deeper baritone singing in contrast with the previous death grunt style. Distant Mind Alternative was distributed through Nuclear Blast, and achieved rave reviews and critics called it innovative for its style that combined darkwave with doom metal. Anne Marootians did some female vocals on the song "Contort". A musicvideo was shot for "Thorn", and was released on Heaven's Metal Video Magazine Volume 6 VHS. Soon, underground magazines began to call Kohllapse as one of the big names in Australian doom scene together with Paramaecium
and Avrigus
.
However, Aitchison left Kollapse after the release.
According to Edwards, after the release of Distant Mind Alternative, some notably big secular labels showed serious interest towards Kohllapse, but since Aitchison had left at a crucial point in the bands career, to pursue his own musical interests, the band couldn't sign a contract.
After 2 years of silence, Ro Edwards officially announced the end of Kohllapse in 2001. He mentioned about starting a project called Dead Sea, which would focus on a far more electronical style than Kohllapse. However, later in an interview Ro stated that he had recorded only two songs for Dead Sea, and left Dead Sea as an inactive project.
In 2005 the Australian label, Soundmass, reissued Distant Mind Alternative. Afterwards, it has been recognized as a masterpiece.
to Dolorian
and Katatonia
to Circle of Dust
. Their sound was mostly compared to Anathema
or Paradise Lost
. The band's trademark is the strong darkwave an industrial element on songs like "Real Man in Quicksand". Although they incorporate strong gothic influences, Kohllapses music has also been labeled simply as a very dark brand of progressive metal. However, their music is often dubbed gothic metal. Edwards' vocal patterns on the last album are said to be reminiscent of Peter Steele
(Type O Negative
) while he incorporates some extreme vocals.
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...
metal band from Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, formed in the early 1990s. They were one of the better-known Christian gothic metal bands active in the 1990s, and was closely followed by the newsportals of the scene throughout the band's career. While Kohllapse released its only two albums independently, their catalogue was distributed widely through Nuclear Blast USA and Blast Beats distribution. The band is notable for its innovative music, which was said to be ahead of its time, that combines darkwave
Darkwave
Dark Wave or darkwave is a music genre that began in the late 1970s, coinciding with the popularity of New Wave and post-punk. Building on those basic principles, dark wave added dark, introspective lyrics and an undertone of sorrow for some bands...
and progressive
Progressive metal
Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...
doom metal
Doom metal
Doom metal is an extreme form of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other metal genres...
, and the fact that they became significantly well-known in both secular and Christian metal scenes. Distant Mind Alternative was their most popular and critically acclaimed album, and has been re-issued by Soundmass in 2005. The band mainly consisted of guitarist-vocalist Ro Edwards and drummer-keyboardist Matt Aitchison. After Aitchison left in 1999 the band split up in 2001. In 2005, Edwards indicated in an interview that he's working on a third Kohllapse album.
Biography
Kohllapse was formed by guitarist-vocalist Ro Edwards and drummer-keyboardist Matt Aitchison in the early 1990s as a death metal band. By mid 1990s, just like many other former death metal groups, Kohllapse began developing their sound away from its roots to more experimental direction.In the year 1995, the band began independently recording its first album, originally intended as a promotional cd. The band released Kohllapse in 1996. It was noted for its exceptionally dark and varied tracklisting that combined death, doom, gothic and electronic elements. one song, "An End to Pain" features black metal type out put. Kohllapse was chosen as the "Pick of the Litter" in HM Magazine March–April issue in 1997, and was described as "the first Christian band that sounds like Type O Negative". The song "Tell Me Your Fears" was released on the magazine's sampler in 1998.
After the release, the Christian metal scene press began to follow the band's career, and reported any updates given in interviews or Kohllapse's website. Since Kohllapse are an Australian band, the European and United States labels were uncertain whether to sign the band, and the Australian labels couldn't sign a studioproject group, thus the band remained unsigned. However, they got a distribution deal with a Texas, United States based Blast Beats music seller, which distributed the album further. The album received positive notice: in 1997 they began receiving major label interest, and in 1998 the band signed a distribution deal with Nuclear Blast USA.
This distribution deals helped Kohllapse to reach new fans all over the world. During this time, few bassists joined and left the band, Bevan Carroll was one of them. It remains unknown whether Kohllapse ever played concerts in the local scene of Canberra. Around 1998, it was reported that the band went through "very rough times", while details of this were never revealed.
In 1999, Paul Sweeney joined as a bassist, and the band recorded and released Distant Mind Aternative, their darkest, doomiest and most atmospheric album. The album introduced a more mellow and somber direction with more emphasis on dark electronical sounds. Edwards switched his vocals to deeper baritone singing in contrast with the previous death grunt style. Distant Mind Alternative was distributed through Nuclear Blast, and achieved rave reviews and critics called it innovative for its style that combined darkwave with doom metal. Anne Marootians did some female vocals on the song "Contort". A musicvideo was shot for "Thorn", and was released on Heaven's Metal Video Magazine Volume 6 VHS. Soon, underground magazines began to call Kohllapse as one of the big names in Australian doom scene together with Paramaecium
Paramaecium
Paramaecium was an Australian death/doom metal band formed in 1991. There is use of instrumentation like flutes, cellos and violins on some albums. Paramaecium is one of the few doom metal bands that focus on Christian lyrical themes and Christian concepts...
and Avrigus
Avrigus
Avrigus is an Atmospheric Gothic Metal band from Sydney, Australia consisting of two members, Simon Gruer and Megan Robins. The group has released two EPs and one full-length album to date.-History:...
.
However, Aitchison left Kollapse after the release.
According to Edwards, after the release of Distant Mind Alternative, some notably big secular labels showed serious interest towards Kohllapse, but since Aitchison had left at a crucial point in the bands career, to pursue his own musical interests, the band couldn't sign a contract.
After 2 years of silence, Ro Edwards officially announced the end of Kohllapse in 2001. He mentioned about starting a project called Dead Sea, which would focus on a far more electronical style than Kohllapse. However, later in an interview Ro stated that he had recorded only two songs for Dead Sea, and left Dead Sea as an inactive project.
In 2005 the Australian label, Soundmass, reissued Distant Mind Alternative. Afterwards, it has been recognized as a masterpiece.
Music
Kohllapse's music combines a variety of different melancholic doom genres including atmospheric doom, melodic doom-death, gothic-doom, melodic doom-black and funeral doom. Influences range from My Dying BrideMy Dying Bride
My Dying Bride are an English doom metal band formed in 1990. To date, My Dying Bride have released eleven full-length studio albums, three EPs, one demo, one box set, four compilation albums, one live album, and one live CD/DVD release. The band released their tenth studio album, For Lies I Sire,...
to Dolorian
Dolorian
Dolorian is a doom metal band from Oulu, Finland. Their early recordings are viewed as some of the earliest examples of blackened doom metal. Later recordings mixed dark ambient music with the traditional doom metal style....
and Katatonia
Katatonia
Katatonia is a Swedish metal band formed in Stockholm in 1991 by Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström .-1991-1993:The early Katatonia releases, such as the EP Jhva Elohim Meth.....
to Circle of Dust
Circle of Dust
Circle of Dust were a 1990s Industrial rock band created and run by Klayton who is now more widely known for his solo band Celldweller. Circle of Dust was, along with contemporaries Mortal and Deitiphobia, instrumental in bringing industrial metal to the Christian alternative metal scene...
. Their sound was mostly compared to Anathema
Anathema (band)
Anathema are an English band from Liverpool primarily known for their ever evolving sound. Beginning as pioneers of the death/doom metal sub-genre, their later albums have been associated with genres such as alternative rock, progressive rock, art rock, new prog, and post-rock.-History:Anathema...
or Paradise Lost
Paradise Lost (band)
Paradise Lost are a heavy metal band that formed in 1988 in Halifax, England.-History:Their first three full-length albums are examples of the death/doom style, although the latter two incorporated some melodic and gothic elements...
. The band's trademark is the strong darkwave an industrial element on songs like "Real Man in Quicksand". Although they incorporate strong gothic influences, Kohllapses music has also been labeled simply as a very dark brand of progressive metal. However, their music is often dubbed gothic metal. Edwards' vocal patterns on the last album are said to be reminiscent of Peter Steele
Peter Steele
Peter Thomas Ratajczyk , better known by his stage name Peter Steele, was the lead singer, bassist, and composer for the gothic metal band Type O Negative...
(Type O Negative
Type O Negative
Type O Negative was a gothic metal band from Brooklyn, New York City. The band also incorporated elements of doom metal and thrash metal. Their dramatic lyrical emphasis on themes of romance, depression, and death resulted in the nickname "The Drab Four"...
) while he incorporates some extreme vocals.
Discography
- KohllapseKohllapse (album)Kohllapse is the self-titled debut full-length album by the Australian group Kohllapse.-Recording history:In 1995, the band began independently recording this album, originally intended as a promotional CD. The band released Kohllapse in 1996. It was noted for its exceptionally dark and varied...
(1996) - C.Y.E demo (1997)
- Distant Mind AlternativeDistant Mind AlternativeDistant Mind Alternative is the second full-length album by the Australian group Kohllapse, released in 1999.-Recording history:While the album was originally self-released, Distant Mind Alternative was distributed through Nuclear Blast USA...
(1999)