Penumbra is a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 gothic metal

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...

 band. They have released their last two albums through Season of Mist

Season of Mist

Season of Mist is a record label and record distributor with subsidiaries in France and the United States. The record label was founded in 1996 by Michael S. Berberian in Marseille, France. From the start releasing black metal, pagan metal and death metal records, the label moved on to releasing...

. http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=5110

Formation of Penumbra

The original founders of Penumbra were Jarlaath and Dorian, who met at a concert in 1996. They found that they had similar views and philosophies regarding music; both agreed that there were too many bands who had similar sounds, and not enough bands using classical

Classical music

Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...

 influences. At this point, they agreed to rehearse together, and shortly thereafter left their original bands to form Imperatoria.

Around November 1996, Imperatoria split, and Jarlaath created a new band known as Penumbra. He was joined once again by Dorian, along with Herr Rikk and three other musicians. They first appeared at the St. Denis University Festival in 1997, where they were received well. Shortly after this, they got the offer to play with the French metal band Misanthrope

Misanthrope (band)

Misanthrope is a French metal band, formed in 1988. The name of the band is taken from Molière's play Le Misanthrope, reflecting the band's very theatrical style and the influence of the French dramatist on their music and lyrics....

. The same year, they released their first demo, "Falling Into My Soul".

Recording of Emanate

In mid-1998, Penumbra's keyboardist, Benedicte, left the band to join Misanthrope. She was replaced by Zoltan. Medusa and Elise joined the band as soprano

Soprano

A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...

s, and Amaris joined as a baritone

Baritone

Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...

. With this formation, the band recorded their first full-length album, Emanate, throughout the second half of 1998.

Throughout 1999 and 2000, Penumbra played various live shows in France and Switzerland, as well as playing at the Leipzig Festival.

Discography

• Emanate (1999)
• The Last Bewitchment (2002)
• Seclusion
  Seclusion (Penumbra album)
  Seclusion is the third album by the French band Penumbra.- Track listing :# "Tragical Memories" # "Cursed Destiny" # "Seclusion" # "The Prophetess" # "Hope" # "Crimson Tail" # "Conception"...
  
  (2003)

Demos

• Falling Into My Soul (1997)
• Emanate (1997)
• The Last Bewitchment (2001)

Current members

• Asphodel - Vocals (2006–)
• Jarlaath - Vocals, oboe (1996–)
• Néo - Guitars
• Loïc - Guitars (2004–)
• Agone - Bass (2001–)
• Zoltan - Keyboards (1998–)
• Arathelis - Drums (2003–)

Former members

• Ohra - Vocals (2002–?)
• Medusa - Vocals (1999–2001)
• Scyllia - Vocals (1998–2001)
• Lyrissa - Vocals (2004–2006)
• Krysten - Vocals
• Aldric - Bass (1999–2001)
• David - Bass (1998–1999)
• Nicolas - Bass (1996–1998)
• Dorian - Guitars (1996–2003)
• Benedicte – Keyboards (1996–1998)
• Garlic - Drums (2001–2003)
• Hekchen - Drums (1999–2001)
• Herr Rikk - Drums (1996–1999)