Zero Cipher
Encyclopedia
Zero Cipher were a metal
/rock
/alternative
band from Farnham
, Surrey
. The band formed in the year 1998 from members of other bands within their local area. They played a style of music that fuses metal
, rock
, and industrial
, although they cite wide ranging influences like Carcass
, Wham, and Depeche Mode
. Googlism describes them as 'noisecore
mixed with turntablism
'. They broke up in October 2009, citing numerous reasons behind the decision.
. They have released albums on Anticulture records, and Deck Cheese records, as well as self-funded releases on Copro records, and their own label, Null Void records. They have played in the past with bands such as Skindred
, Stampin' Ground
and Breed 77
; and have been supported by the likes of Enter Shikari
and Bullet For My Valentine
. They were the last band to tour with rap/metalcore band One Minute Silence
in July 2003, and OMS' singer Yap performs guest vocals on "My Statement of Misintent", a track on their second album "Diary of a Sadist".
An early demo from Juggernaut, titled "Fist of the North Star" was released by Metal Hammer
magazine in November 2007, to coincide with their appearance at the Hard Rock Hell festival with Cradle of Filth
and Twisted Sister
- The band have also been featured by Rock Sound
, Kerrang and Big Cheese, leading to performances at Kerrang's Scumfest and a European tour with Austrians, 'Spout', including a performance at Rock Im Park festival.
turning down the videos for "The Hijack" and "The Thrills, The Kills, The Rapture" because of their depictions of drug use and/or violence. Organ TV, a Public-access television
cable TV channel, screened the TV premier of the video for 2005 single "It's No Secret"
amplifiers before ever releasing an album. In 2006, Duncan became endorsed by Vigier guitars, who made him a custom all-black "Indus" model. Duncan subsequently appeared at the London International Music Show in 2008 on the Vigier stage.
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
/rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
/alternative
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band from Farnham
Farnham
Farnham is a town in Surrey, England, within the Borough of Waverley. The town is situated some 42 miles southwest of London in the extreme west of Surrey, adjacent to the border with Hampshire...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
. The band formed in the year 1998 from members of other bands within their local area. They played a style of music that fuses metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
, rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, and industrial
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
, although they cite wide ranging influences like Carcass
Carcass (band)
Carcass are an extreme metal band from England, who formed in 1985 and disbanded in 1995. A reunion was enacted in 2008 without one of its original members, drummer Ken Owen, due to health reasons....
, Wham, and Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in 1980 in Basildon, Essex. The group's original line-up consisted of Dave Gahan , Martin Gore , Andy Fletcher and Vince Clarke...
. Googlism describes them as 'noisecore
Noisecore
Noisecore is a term for three separate music genres:* A subgenre of hardcore techno, similar to power noise or breakcore.* A form of grindcore, also known as noisegrind....
mixed with turntablism
Turntablism
Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating music using phonograph turntables and a DJ mixer.The word 'turntablist' was coined in 1995 by DJ Babu to describe the difference between a DJ who just plays records, and one who performs by touching and moving the records, stylus and mixer...
'. They broke up in October 2009, citing numerous reasons behind the decision.
Overview
Zero Cipher take their name from a mathematical riddle based on cryptographyCryptography
Cryptography is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of third parties...
. They have released albums on Anticulture records, and Deck Cheese records, as well as self-funded releases on Copro records, and their own label, Null Void records. They have played in the past with bands such as Skindred
Skindred
Skindred is a Welsh rock band from Newport. The band was formed in 1998 following the disbandment of vocalist Benji Webbe's previous band, Dub War. Skindred's musical style mixes alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and reggae...
, Stampin' Ground
Stampin' Ground
Stampin' Ground was a groove metal/Hardcore band from Cheltenham, UK active from 1995 to 2006. The band had toured with the likes of Anthrax, Chimaira, The Haunted, Agnostic Front, Sick of it All, Soulfly, Arch Enemy and played the main stage at Download Festival 2003.-Members:*Adam Frakes-Sime ...
and Breed 77
Breed 77
Breed 77 is a British band from the overseas territory of Gibraltar whose music is a fusion of alternative metal and flamenco.-Origin:Breed 77 comes from the British overseas territory of Gibraltar. Old Gibraltarian school friends, Paul Isola, Danny Felice, and Stuart Cavilla met up in London and...
; and have been supported by the likes of Enter Shikari
Enter Shikari
Enter Shikari are a British band, that combine post-hardcore with elements of various electronic genres, formed in 2003 in St Albans, Hertfordshire. The band is named after a boat belonging to Roughton "Rou" Reynolds' uncle, and a character in a play which he wrote before forming the band, both of...
and Bullet For My Valentine
Bullet for My Valentine
Bullet for My Valentine are a Welsh heavy metal band from Bridgend, formed in 1998. The band is composed of Matt Tuck , Michael Paget , Jason James , and Michael Thomas . They were formed under the name Jeff Killed John and started their music career by covering songs by Metallica and Nirvana...
. They were the last band to tour with rap/metalcore band One Minute Silence
One Minute Silence
One Minute Silence is a four-piece band based in London that combined influences from metal, hardcore punk and rap and as of 2010 they have sold over 500,000 albums. The band consisted of vocalist Brian 'Yap' Barry from Templemore, Co. Tipperary, guitarist Massimo Fiocco from Limerick City, drummer...
in July 2003, and OMS' singer Yap performs guest vocals on "My Statement of Misintent", a track on their second album "Diary of a Sadist".
Recent news
Zero Cipher have a third album, titled Juggernaut due out in 2009.An early demo from Juggernaut, titled "Fist of the North Star" was released by Metal Hammer
Metal Hammer
Metal Hammer is a monthly heavy metal music magazine published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing, and in several other countries by different publishers. Metal Hammer articles feature both mainstream bands and more unusual acts from the whole spectrum of heavy metal music...
magazine in November 2007, to coincide with their appearance at the Hard Rock Hell festival with Cradle of Filth
Cradle of Filth
Cradle of Filth are an English extreme metal band, formed in Suffolk in 1991. The band's musical style evolved from black metal to a cleaner and more "produced" amalgam of gothic metal, symphonic black metal, and other extreme metal styles, while their lyrical themes and imagery are heavily...
and Twisted Sister
Twisted Sister
Twisted Sister is an American heavy metal band from Long Island. Musically, the band implements elements of traditional heavy metal bands such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, along with a style that is similar to early glam metal bands...
- The band have also been featured by Rock Sound
Rock Sound
Rock Sound is a British magazine which champions rock music. The magazine aims at being more "underground" and less commercial, whilst also giving coverage to more well known acts.-History:...
, Kerrang and Big Cheese, leading to performances at Kerrang's Scumfest and a European tour with Austrians, 'Spout', including a performance at Rock Im Park festival.
Line-up changes
Zero Cipher changed rhythm section in 2003, appointing Ryan Harris of Fony on bass guitar.Video Controversy
Zero Cipher's video for the track "Stupid People Make Me Angry" was playlisted on Totalrock Radio and Scuzz TV. Subsequent Zero Cipher videos have failed to make such an impact on mainstream music television, with MTV2MTV2
MTV2 is a cable network that is widely available in the United States on digital cable and satellite television, and is progressively being added to analogue cable lineups across the nation...
turning down the videos for "The Hijack" and "The Thrills, The Kills, The Rapture" because of their depictions of drug use and/or violence. Organ TV, a Public-access television
Public-access television
Public-access television is a form of non-commercial mass media where ordinary people can create content television programming which is cablecast through cable TV specialty channels...
cable TV channel, screened the TV premier of the video for 2005 single "It's No Secret"
Endorsements
Somewhat unusually for an unsigned band, Zero Cipher were endorsed by MarshallMarshall Amplification
Marshall Amplification is a British company, founded by drummer Jim Marshall, that designs and manufactures music amplifiers, brands personal headphones/earphones , and, after acquiring Natal Drums, drums and bongos. Marshall amplifiers, and specifically their guitar amplifiers, are among the most...
amplifiers before ever releasing an album. In 2006, Duncan became endorsed by Vigier guitars, who made him a custom all-black "Indus" model. Duncan subsequently appeared at the London International Music Show in 2008 on the Vigier stage.
Studio Albums
| Year | Album | Label | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 45 Minutes of FairyTale Endings 45 minutes of fairytale endings 45 Minutes of Fairytale Endings is the debut album released in 2003 by the British metal band Zero Cipher. All copies of the album came bundled with a 2nd disc; a copy of Zero Cipher's 45rpm EP.-Trivia:... / 45rpm |
Copro Records | 6 June 2003 |
| 2005 | Diary of a Sadist Diary of a Sadist Diary of a Sadist is the second album from British metal band Zero Cipher. It was released in 2005 on Anticulture Records to universal critical praise.-Track listing:#"Kiss and Tell"#"Single White Female"#"The Thrills, The Kills, The Rapture"... |
Anticulture Records | 31 October 2005 |
| 2007 | Diary of a Sadist 2nd Edition | Null Void Records | 7 May 2007 |
| 2009 | Juggernaut | Null Void Records | 31 March 2009 |
Compilation Appearances
| Year | Compilation | Label | Catalogue No. | Track |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Class of 2002 | Future Publishing Future Publishing Future plc is a media company; in 2006, it was the sixth-largest in the United Kingdom. It publishes more than 150 magazines in fields such as video games, technology, automotive, cycling, films and photography. Future is the official magazine company of all three major games console manufacturers... |
MHR97/01/02 | "She Loves Me Not" (demo) |
| 2003 | Sound of the Underground | Future Publishing Future Publishing Future plc is a media company; in 2006, it was the sixth-largest in the United Kingdom. It publishes more than 150 magazines in fields such as video games, technology, automotive, cycling, films and photography. Future is the official magazine company of all three major games console manufacturers... |
MHR121/13/03 | "Stupid People (Make Me Angry)" |
| 2005 | Zero Tolerance | Zero Tolerance Magazine | ZTAudio004 | "Kiss and Tell" |
| 2006 | Hard 'n' Heavy Vol. 84 | Cyber Press | HNHCD119 | "It's No Secret" |
| 2007 | Hard Rock Hell | Future Publishing Future Publishing Future plc is a media company; in 2006, it was the sixth-largest in the United Kingdom. It publishes more than 150 magazines in fields such as video games, technology, automotive, cycling, films and photography. Future is the official magazine company of all three major games console manufacturers... |
MHR171CD2/11/07 | "Fist of the North Star" |
Other songs
- "Gay Bar" (cover of Electric SixElectric SixElectric Six is a six-piece metro Detroit-based band that plays what has been described as a brand of rock music infused with elements of "garage, disco, punk, new wave, and metal." The band met recognition in 2003 with the singles "Danger! High Voltage" and "Gay Bar", and subsequently recorded...
) - was A listed on Totalrock Radio and has been played by Colin Murray on BBC Radio 1. - "Vitriolic HSF" (cover of earthtone9Earthtone9earthtone9 is an alternative metal band hailing from Nottingham, UK. Their line-up on most of their major releases was Karl Middleton on vocals, Owen "Oz" Packard, Joe Roberts on guitar, Graeme Watts on bass and Simon Hutchby on drums .-History:Signing to Copro Records in 1998, the band's first...
) - appears on debut album which was released by the same label as the earthtone9Earthtone9earthtone9 is an alternative metal band hailing from Nottingham, UK. Their line-up on most of their major releases was Karl Middleton on vocals, Owen "Oz" Packard, Joe Roberts on guitar, Graeme Watts on bass and Simon Hutchby on drums .-History:Signing to Copro Records in 1998, the band's first...
albums, copro records.
Band members
- Duncan Williams − Vocals, guitar
- Barnaby Whattingham - scratch DJ
- Ryan Harris − Bass
- Lewis Wheeler − Drums
Achievements
- Kerrang!Kerrang!Kerrang! is a UK-based magazine devoted to rock music published by Bauer Media Group. It was first published on June 6, 1981 as a one-off supplement in the Sounds newspaper...
- Runner up for Best Unsigned Band 2002. (Runner Up) - Amplify This - Best British Band 2003. (Won)
- Rancid News - Best New Band 2003. (Won)