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Abney Park (band)
Encyclopedia
Abney Park is a band based in Seattle that mixes elements of industrial dance
, world music
, and steampunk
influenced lyrics in their work. Their name comes from Abney Park Cemetery
in London (UK). Formerly a goth band, Abney Park has transformed their look and sound and has come to be known by some as the "quintessential" steampunk band.
Abney Park was formed by Robert Brown in 1997. They released their first full-length album Abney Park in 1998, and in 1999 they released Return to the Fire
. Their third album "Cemetery Number 1
" drew from their first two albums as well as introducing several new songs. In the early years of Abney Park, the band featured a gothic musical and visual style, which culminated with their 2002 release From Dreams Or Angels
.
In 2005, the band released Taxidermy
, which is a collection of new versions of songs from past albums, three live tracks and two covers. In 2006, the release of the album The Death of Tragedy
marked the beginning of a major change for the band, as their music departed from a goth/pagan sound to a more world music
/fusion
one. After this release, their line-up changed as well, with the departure of Traci Nemeth, Krysztof Nemeth and Robert Hazelton, replaced by Magdalene Veen, Jean-Paul Mayden and Nathaniel Johnstone. Shortly thereafter, Jean-Paul departed the band to be replaced by Daniel C.
In early 2006, Abney Park transformed themselves from a largely goth industrial band into a steampunk band. As part of that transformation, Abney Park invented fictional identities of themselves. Since steampunk is largely derived from science fiction and fantasy literature, the band also created a fictional backstory to explain the shake-up in membership and who they were now, and to set a stage for their new music. According to that story, the band's plane collided with a time-travelling dirigible called the Ophelia
—said to have been created by a Dr. Leguminous Calgori (presumably a reference to the 1920 silent film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
)—in a freak storm. The band commandeered the vessel, deciding to become airship pirates, and formed a new band from the surviving members of the crash. Much of their music since that time has been based around this fictional backstory.
In the spring of 2008, Magdalene Veen left the band and was replaced by Finn Von Claret. That year, they released Lost Horizons
, their first steampunk-themed album. Finn retired in the summer of 2009 to form Imaginary Daughter. Jody Ellen joined the band later that year and played her first show at Dragon*Con 2009. Also in 2009, the band released Aether Shanties
, their tenth album. Nathaniel Johnstone hinted in March 2010 that they were working on songs for their next album, though no names were forthcoming. A recording of a live performance of one of them (later confirmed to be the title track, "The End Of Days") can be found here. The End Of Days, their seventh studio album, was released on October 15, 2010.
Now sometimes called the "quintessential" steampunk band, Abney Park has been featured in major news media and interviewed by several genre magazines and websites, and has been highlighted on MTV
and G4TV
as primary examples of the steampunk musical scene.
Abney Park has performed at numerous goth and steampunk festivals, including Dragon*Con, Saturnalia, Utah Dark Arts, Bats Day
, Convergence
, Ravenwood Festival, Masque and Veil, Queen Mary
Pyrate Daze, the Bay Area
Maker Faire
, Steamcon
and Wild Wild West Con. Their music has also been featured in many compilation CDs, including Gilded Age Records' An Age Remembered: A Steampunk and Neo-Victorian Mix, Cleopatra Records' The Unquiet Grave vol. III, Sepiachord's A Sepiachord Companion, BLC Productions' Annihilation and Seduction, Squish Me Down Records' Eighteen (Eighteen NW Bands Benefit CD); and in several movie soundtracks, including Insomnis Amour, Goth, and Lord of the Vampires.
Industrial dance
Industrial dance is an US American alternative term for EBM and Electro-industrial music. The term was used since the mid-1980s to describe the music of Cabaret Voltaire, early Die Krupps, Portion Control, The Neon Judgement, Clock DVA, Nitzer Ebb, Skinny Puppy Front Line Assembly, Front 242,...
, world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
, and steampunk
Steampunk
Steampunk is a sub-genre of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, and speculative fiction that came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s. Steampunk involves a setting where steam power is still widely used—usually Victorian era Britain or "Wild West"-era United...
influenced lyrics in their work. Their name comes from Abney Park Cemetery
Abney Park Cemetery
Abney Park in Stoke Newington, in the London Borough of Hackney, is a historic parkland originally laid out in the early 18th century by Lady Mary Abney and Dr. Isaac Watts, and the neighbouring Hartopp family. In 1840 it became a non-denominational garden cemetery, semi-public park arboretum, and...
in London (UK). Formerly a goth band, Abney Park has transformed their look and sound and has come to be known by some as the "quintessential" steampunk band.
History
Return to the Fire
Return to the Fire is an album by Abney Park.-Track listing:#"The Wake"#"Rebirth"#"The Only One"#"Vengence" #"Blackday"#"Abney Park"#"NoLife"...
. Their third album "Cemetery Number 1
Cemetery Number 1
Cemetary Number 1 [sic] is the third album by Abney Park.-Track listing:#"The Wake"#"Rebirth"#"The Only One"#"Burn"#"Vengeance"#"The Shadow of Life"#"Black Day"#"No Life"#"Abney Park"#"The Change Cage"...
" drew from their first two albums as well as introducing several new songs. In the early years of Abney Park, the band featured a gothic musical and visual style, which culminated with their 2002 release From Dreams Or Angels
From Dreams or Angels
From Dreams or Angels is an album by Abney Park.-Track listing:#"The Root Of All Evil"#"Tiny Monster"#"Holy War"#"Kine"#"Breathe"#"Hush"#"Thorns & Brambles"#"Child King"#"The Box"#"Twisted & Broken"#"Breathe "-Credits:...
.
In 2005, the band released Taxidermy
Taxidermy (Abney Park album)
Taxidermy is an album with gothic rock and industrial dance by Abney Park. The album is a collection of new versions of songs from past albums, some live tracks and two covers.-Track listing:#"The Wake "#"New Black Day"...
, which is a collection of new versions of songs from past albums, three live tracks and two covers. In 2006, the release of the album The Death of Tragedy
The Death of Tragedy (Abney Park album)
The Death Of Tragedy is a gothic hybrid of industrial, dance, Celtic, Symphonic and Middle Eastern musics from Abney Park.-Track listing:#"Stigmata Martyr"#"The Wrong Side"#"Dear Ophelia"#"Witch Cult"#"Sacrilege"#"All The Myths Are True"...
marked the beginning of a major change for the band, as their music departed from a goth/pagan sound to a more world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
/fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
one. After this release, their line-up changed as well, with the departure of Traci Nemeth, Krysztof Nemeth and Robert Hazelton, replaced by Magdalene Veen, Jean-Paul Mayden and Nathaniel Johnstone. Shortly thereafter, Jean-Paul departed the band to be replaced by Daniel C.
In early 2006, Abney Park transformed themselves from a largely goth industrial band into a steampunk band. As part of that transformation, Abney Park invented fictional identities of themselves. Since steampunk is largely derived from science fiction and fantasy literature, the band also created a fictional backstory to explain the shake-up in membership and who they were now, and to set a stage for their new music. According to that story, the band's plane collided with a time-travelling dirigible called the Ophelia
Ophelia
Ophelia is a fictional character in the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare. She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes, and potential wife of Prince Hamlet.-Plot:...
—said to have been created by a Dr. Leguminous Calgori (presumably a reference to the 1920 silent film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is a 1920 silent horror film directed by Robert Wiene from a screenplay by Hans Janowitz and Carl Mayer. It is one of the most influential of German Expressionist films and is often considered one of the greatest horror movies of the silent era. This movie is cited as...
)—in a freak storm. The band commandeered the vessel, deciding to become airship pirates, and formed a new band from the surviving members of the crash. Much of their music since that time has been based around this fictional backstory.
In the spring of 2008, Magdalene Veen left the band and was replaced by Finn Von Claret. That year, they released Lost Horizons
Lost Horizons (Abney Park album)
Lost Horizons is the 8th studio album by Abney Park, subtitled The Continuing Adventures of Abney Park.-Track listing:#""#"The Emperor’s Wives"#""#"She"#""#"This Dark and Twisty Road"#"Herr Drosselmeyer's Doll"#"Virus"...
, their first steampunk-themed album. Finn retired in the summer of 2009 to form Imaginary Daughter. Jody Ellen joined the band later that year and played her first show at Dragon*Con 2009. Also in 2009, the band released Aether Shanties
Aether Shanties (Abney Park album)
Æther Shanties is the 10th album by steampunk band Abney Park. It is subtitled Further Trials and Tribulations of Abney Park.It is also their second steampunk themed album.-Recording:...
, their tenth album. Nathaniel Johnstone hinted in March 2010 that they were working on songs for their next album, though no names were forthcoming. A recording of a live performance of one of them (later confirmed to be the title track, "The End Of Days") can be found here. The End Of Days, their seventh studio album, was released on October 15, 2010.
Now sometimes called the "quintessential" steampunk band, Abney Park has been featured in major news media and interviewed by several genre magazines and websites, and has been highlighted on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
and G4TV
G4 (TV channel)
G4, also known as G4 TV, is an American cable- and satellite-television channel originally geared primarily toward young adult viewers, originally based on the world of video games...
as primary examples of the steampunk musical scene.
Abney Park has performed at numerous goth and steampunk festivals, including Dragon*Con, Saturnalia, Utah Dark Arts, Bats Day
Bats Day in the Fun Park
Bats Day in the Fun Park, also known as Bats Day, Goth Day, Bats Day in the Park and Bats Day Out, started in August 1999 as a joint effort between the promoters of the goth/industrial and deathrock clubs Absynthe and Release the Bats. It has become an annual three-day event taking place in...
, Convergence
Convergence (goth festival)
Convergence is the annual net.goth party run by and for members of the alt.gothic and alt.gothic.fashion newsgroup, and other related Usenet newsgroups. Started in 1995, it is a chance for net.goths and others who normally only meet on the Internet to come together in real life...
, Ravenwood Festival, Masque and Veil, Queen Mary
RMS Queen Mary
RMS Queen Mary is a retired ocean liner that sailed primarily in the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard Line...
Pyrate Daze, the Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
Maker Faire
Maker Faire
Maker Faire is an event created by Make magazine to "celebrate arts, crafts, engineering, science projects and the Do-It-Yourself mindset".-Past events:The first was held April 22 – 23, 2006, at the San Mateo Fairgrounds...
, Steamcon
Steamcon
Steamcon is one of the largest regional steampunk conventions/symposia in the United States. Located in the Seattle area of Washington state, Steamcon held its first symposium in 2009.-Overview:...
and Wild Wild West Con. Their music has also been featured in many compilation CDs, including Gilded Age Records' An Age Remembered: A Steampunk and Neo-Victorian Mix, Cleopatra Records' The Unquiet Grave vol. III, Sepiachord's A Sepiachord Companion, BLC Productions' Annihilation and Seduction, Squish Me Down Records' Eighteen (Eighteen NW Bands Benefit CD); and in several movie soundtracks, including Insomnis Amour, Goth, and Lord of the Vampires.
Discography
Albums:- Abney Park (1998)
- Return to the FireReturn to the FireReturn to the Fire is an album by Abney Park.-Track listing:#"The Wake"#"Rebirth"#"The Only One"#"Vengence" #"Blackday"#"Abney Park"#"NoLife"...
(1999) - Cemetary Number 1 (2000)
- From Dreams Or AngelsFrom Dreams or AngelsFrom Dreams or Angels is an album by Abney Park.-Track listing:#"The Root Of All Evil"#"Tiny Monster"#"Holy War"#"Kine"#"Breathe"#"Hush"#"Thorns & Brambles"#"Child King"#"The Box"#"Twisted & Broken"#"Breathe "-Credits:...
(2002) - Twisted & Broken: Abney Park RemixedTwisted & BrokenTwisted & Broken is an album by Abney Park.-Track listing:#"Holy War "#"The Wake "#"Tiny Monster "#"Vengeance "#"The Wake "...
(This album is available from the band as part of a special package) - TaxidermyTaxidermy (Abney Park album)Taxidermy is an album with gothic rock and industrial dance by Abney Park. The album is a collection of new versions of songs from past albums, some live tracks and two covers.-Track listing:#"The Wake "#"New Black Day"...
(2005) - The Death of TragedyThe Death of Tragedy (Abney Park album)The Death Of Tragedy is a gothic hybrid of industrial, dance, Celtic, Symphonic and Middle Eastern musics from Abney Park.-Track listing:#"Stigmata Martyr"#"The Wrong Side"#"Dear Ophelia"#"Witch Cult"#"Sacrilege"#"All The Myths Are True"...
(2005) - Lost HorizonsLost Horizons (Abney Park album)Lost Horizons is the 8th studio album by Abney Park, subtitled The Continuing Adventures of Abney Park.-Track listing:#""#"The Emperor’s Wives"#""#"She"#""#"This Dark and Twisty Road"#"Herr Drosselmeyer's Doll"#"Virus"...
(2008) - Dark ChristmasDark ChristmasDark Christmas is an album by Abney Park.-Track listing:#"Little DrummerBoy"#"Winter Wonderland"#"Dance of the sugar plumb fairies"#"Carol Of The Bells"#"Rudolf"#"God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen"#"Good King Wenceslas"#"Coventry Carol"#"We Three Kings"...
(Special website digital release, 2009) - Æther ShantiesAether Shanties (Abney Park album)Æther Shanties is the 10th album by steampunk band Abney Park. It is subtitled Further Trials and Tribulations of Abney Park.It is also their second steampunk themed album.-Recording:...
(December 1, 2009) - The End Of DaysThe End of DaysThe End of Days is the eleventh album by steampunk band Abney Park, and their third steampunk-themed album. The album was released on October 15, 2010.-Digital release:...
(October 15, 2010) - Off The GridOff the gridOff the grid may refer to:*Off-the-grid, housing not connected to public utilities*Off the Grid , the first single from the Beastie Boys album The Mix-Up...
(2011)