Alchemist (band)
Encyclopedia
Alchemist is an Australia
n progressive metal
band from Canberra
whose style combines death metal
, progressive rock
, psychedelic
, Eastern, Aboriginal and electronic
influences. The band formed in 1987 and has so far released six studios albums, an EP and a compilation album. Work began on a new EP in 2010 but the band is now on an indefinite hiatus. They are the only group to appear at every Metal for the Brain
festival, an event they ran and organised from 1996. Alchemist has also played at the Big Day Out
and toured Europe
several times.
(lead vocals/guitar
) as a death metal act. The band released a demo the same year entitled "Eternal Wedlock". The band's style was raw and undeveloped, and began to evolve with the addition of new drummer Rodney Holder in 1989. The following year, the line-up of Agius, Holder, Andrew Meredith (guitar) and James Preece (bass
) recorded a second demo. The demo showed the beginning of the band's experimentation with avant-garde arrangements and psychedelic influences inspired by the likes of Pink Floyd
and Frank Zappa
. Another demo was produced in 1991, with Preece replaced by John (The Seal) Bray from another local band called Exceed. Alchemist also performed at the first Metal for the Brain
festival in Canberra, eventually becoming the only group to feature at every occasion. The track "Escapism" from the demo recording was featured the following year on the Roadrunner (Australia)
compilation album
Redrum, which included other rising metal acts of the time such as Sadistik Exekution
, Allegiance, and Shihad
.
n label Lethal, who released their first album
, Jar of Kingdom
, the next year. The album was recorded in Sydney
and featured an eclectic mixture of death metal, grindcore
and psychedelia. Two songs featured vocals from Michelle Klemke, a friend of Agius' mother. According to the notes accompanying the 2005 compilation album Embryonics
, Agius lost his voice during the recording. Dissatisfied with the sound of the album, the band re-mastered and re-released it in 1999. Alchemist was also dissatisfied with Lethal's handling of Jar of Kingdom and soon parted ways with them. After releasing Jar of Kingdom, the band went on their first tour.
During 1994, Alchemist recorded a promotional tape to shop to record companies and a version of the Venom
song "Black Metal" for a Swedish
tribute album
called The Promoters of the Third World War: A Tribute to Venom, now a collector's item. The band also began work on its next album, titled Lunasphere
, which was released in 1995 by Melbourne
label Shock Records
through its subsidiary Thrust. Lunasphere showed a further development of Alchemist's unusual style, adding Eastern motifs and keyboards
to its already diverse style. The track "Garden of Eroticism" was added to the Triple J
compilation album This Is Twelve (ABC
/EMI
) in 1996 and both this song and "Yoni Kunda" remain live staples. The group supported the release of Lunasphere with a heavy touring schedule that included several shows with joint UK/Australian ambient
act Deathless, a slot on the Sydney leg of the 1996 Big Day Out
, supporting Cathedral
and Paradise Lost
on their dual headlining tour, and also opening for Fear Factory a second time. They performed live-to-air on the Triple J metal program Three Hours of Power. Two songs from this session would later be included on the Embryonics
compilation album in 2005. During the same year, pioneering Canberra death metal band Armoured Angel
disbanded. The band's drummer Joel Green handed over the running of the festival to Holder, who with the rest of Alchemist was responsible for the event for the next decade.
in late 1996. After enduring a problematic recording process, the band handed production over to D.W. Norton, the guitarist with Melbourne band Superheist
and the part-owner of Back Beach Studios in Rye, Victoria
. Spiritech introduced more electronic elements as well as tribal rhythms and heavy sampling into the band's oeuvre and opened with the sprawling nine-minute "Chinese Whispers", which remains a particular favorite for group and fans alike.
In 1999, the band's next project was an EP
that featured as its title track a version of "Eve of the War
", the opening piece from the 1978 production, Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds
. Josh Nixon from Canberra doom metal
band, Pod People featured as a guest guitarist. The EP also included live versions of "Yoni Kunda" and "Chinese Whispers", an electronica
remix of "Yoni Kunda" retitled as "Koni Yunda" and two Jar of Kingdom tracks, "Brumal: A View from Pluto" and "Worlds within Worlds." These last two were a precursor to the band's re-release of Jar of Kingdom
the following year. This re-release included some new overdubs as the album's original master tapes were damaged, and included the 1991 demo in its entirety. This release completed their contractual obligation to Shock Records and Alchemist began to shop for a new local deal as well as international distribution. The group's albums had attained a heavy cult following in parts of Europe, particularly in the Netherlands, but they had not had European representation since their failed association with Lethal. In the meantime, Alchemist toured with Entombed
and Pitchshifter
.
Late in 1999, a new Alchemist track called "Austral Spectrum" appeared on a compilation of Australian metal called Under the Southern Cross and issued by Sydney label Chatterbox Records
(with whom the band had just signed for Australian release). A slightly different version of the song then appeared on the Organasm
album, again recorded with D.W. Norton in Rye and released in early 2000. To promote Organasm, Alchemist undertook a three-month Australian tour during autumn. Billed as "World War Three", the tour also featured Sydney thrash
bands Cryogenic
and Psi.Kore, both of whom had also just released CDs. Organasm featured a warmer sound and a focus on tighter songwriting with tracks embellished even more by duelling slide guitar
s, keyboards
and samples.
, which was released by Chatterbox in May 2003. This latest album showed a mellower side of Alchemist, with highly polished production and a heavily electronic sound. Influenced by the rock
band Midnight Oil
, the lyrics of the semi-conceptual album focused on environmental
issues affecting their country, specifically the impact of man on the ecology. Alchemist added a fifth member, Nick Wall, to provide samples
during live shows.
In late 2004, Alchemist embarked on their first tour outside of Australia. Because of these commitments, Metal for the Brain was held off until February 2005. In the same month Alchemist won their first Australian Heavy Metal Music Awards, with "First Contact" awarded Best Video Clip, and Agius awarded Best Keyboardist.
, was released in October 2005. It covered material recorded between 1990 and 1998, including tracks from the first three albums, the 1998 EP release and demo songs. Bonus tracks included two of the songs recorded on the radio in 1996. The band also announced a companion DVD
release due for 2006, which, however, is yet to be released.
After ten years of successfully organising Metal for the Brain, Alchemist laid the festival to rest, playing the final event on 4 November 2006. Holder, now based in Brisbane
, moved on to organise the 20-band Abducted Metal Horror Festival held in July 2007. In May of that year Alchemist completed work on their next album Tripsis
, which the band declared to be a return to the earlier sound of Lunasphere and Spiritech. To coincide with the release of Tripsis, Alchemist headlined the European ProgPower event and played selected other dates. In July 2008 the band played at the Graspop Metal Meeting
in Belgium
as part of their European tour. In October 2008, Alchemist returned to Australia to tour with Meshuggah
. Afterwards, the band premiered the video for "Tongues and Knives" on 9 December. In January 2010 Alchemist began recording a new EP as a follow-up to Tripsis. In an article in Sydney's Drum Media
in July, drummer Rodney Holder claimed that Alchemist was currently on "extended hiatus". The band's website reflects this with a splash page
declaring that "Alchemist are hibernating indefinitely". Holder organised the Bastardfest-festival which was held on 28 August in Brisbane, 4 September in Melbourne, and 16 October in Perth.
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...
n progressive metal
Progressive metal
Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...
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...
whose style combines 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....
, progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
, psychedelic
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
, Eastern, Aboriginal and electronic
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
influences. The band formed in 1987 and has so far released six studios albums, an EP and a compilation album. Work began on a new EP in 2010 but the band is now on an indefinite hiatus. They are the only group to appear at every Metal for the Brain
Metal for the Brain
Metal for the Brain was Australia's largest heavy metal music festival. The event was held in Canberra annually, usually towards the end of the year, and featured Australian bands almost exclusively...
festival, an event they ran and organised from 1996. Alchemist has also played at the Big Day Out
Big Day Out
The Big Day Out is an annual music festival held in several cities in Australia and New Zealand in late January. It started in Sydney in 1992, spread to Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth by 1993, with the Gold Coast and Auckland joining in 1994...
and toured Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
several times.
1987−1992
Alchemist was formed in 1987 by Adam AgiusAdam Agius
Adam Agius is the vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist and a founding member of the progressive metal band Alchemist. He formed Alchemist in 1987 while still in high school and is the group's only remaining original member...
(lead vocals/guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
) as a death metal act. The band released a demo the same year entitled "Eternal Wedlock". The band's style was raw and undeveloped, and began to evolve with the addition of new drummer Rodney Holder in 1989. The following year, the line-up of Agius, Holder, Andrew Meredith (guitar) and James Preece (bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
) recorded a second demo. The demo showed the beginning of the band's experimentation with avant-garde arrangements and psychedelic influences inspired by the likes of Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
and Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
. Another demo was produced in 1991, with Preece replaced by John (The Seal) Bray from another local band called Exceed. Alchemist also performed at the first Metal for the Brain
Metal for the Brain
Metal for the Brain was Australia's largest heavy metal music festival. The event was held in Canberra annually, usually towards the end of the year, and featured Australian bands almost exclusively...
festival in Canberra, eventually becoming the only group to feature at every occasion. The track "Escapism" from the demo recording was featured the following year on the Roadrunner (Australia)
Roadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records is an American record label that concentrates primarily on heavy metal bands. It is currently a subsidiary of Warner Music Group.-History:...
compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
Redrum, which included other rising metal acts of the time such as Sadistik Exekution
Sadistik Exekution
Sadistik Exekution is an Australian Death Metal band that formed in 1985 and has existed somewhat sporadically ever since. While last playing live in 1999, the band recorded two more albums and while they have publicly declared to have disbanded several times since, the group reunited for a single...
, Allegiance, and Shihad
Shihad
Shihad is a New Zealand hard/alternative rock band, currently based in Melbourne, Australia. During Shihad's recording career, they have produced four number-one studio albums and three top-ten singles in their home country of New Zealand....
.
1992−1996
In 1992, Roy Torkington joined Alchemist in place of Meredith. By this time the demos had created enough interest for them to be approached by AustriaAustria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n label Lethal, who released their first album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, Jar of Kingdom
Jar of Kingdom
-Band members:* Adam Agius − vocals, guitar* Rodney Holder − drums, * John Bray − bass guitar* Roy Torkington − guitar, artwork, layout and design-Production:* Mixed at Rich Music Studios, Sydney, Australia in February 1993...
, the next year. The album was recorded in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
and featured an eclectic mixture of death metal, grindcore
Grindcore
Grindcore is an extreme genre of music that started in the early- to mid-1980s. It draws inspiration from some of the most abrasive music genres – including death metal, industrial music, noise and the more extreme varieties of hardcore punk....
and psychedelia. Two songs featured vocals from Michelle Klemke, a friend of Agius' mother. According to the notes accompanying the 2005 compilation album Embryonics
Embryonics
Embryonics is a double-CD compilation of tracks by the Australian progressive metal band, Alchemist. It was released in 2005 in Australia by Chatterbox Records and worldwide by Relapse Records...
, Agius lost his voice during the recording. Dissatisfied with the sound of the album, the band re-mastered and re-released it in 1999. Alchemist was also dissatisfied with Lethal's handling of Jar of Kingdom and soon parted ways with them. After releasing Jar of Kingdom, the band went on their first tour.
During 1994, Alchemist recorded a promotional tape to shop to record companies and a version of the Venom
Venom (band)
Venom are an English heavy metal band that formed in 1979 in Newcastle upon Tyne. Coming to prominence towards the end of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, Venom's first two albums—Welcome to Hell and Black Metal —are considered a major influence on thrash metal and extreme metal in general...
song "Black Metal" for a Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
tribute album
Tribute album
A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.There...
called The Promoters of the Third World War: A Tribute to Venom, now a collector's item. The band also began work on its next album, titled Lunasphere
Lunasphere
Lunasphere is the second full-length album by the Australian progressive metal band Alchemist, and the first of their albums to be released by Shock Records through its metal subsidiary Thrust, in 1995...
, which was released in 1995 by Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
label Shock Records
Shock Records
Shock Records is Australia's largest independent record label. It helps distribute records from overseas records labels such as Epitaph Records, and also for small record labels designed specifically for that band such as Cement Records...
through its subsidiary Thrust. Lunasphere showed a further development of Alchemist's unusual style, adding Eastern motifs and keyboards
Electronic keyboard
An electronic keyboard is an electronic or digital keyboard instrument.The major components of a typical modern electronic keyboard are:...
to its already diverse style. The track "Garden of Eroticism" was added to the Triple J
Triple J
triple j is a nationally networked Australian radio station intended to appeal to listeners between the ages of 18 and 30. The government-funded station is a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...
compilation album This Is Twelve (ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
/EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
) in 1996 and both this song and "Yoni Kunda" remain live staples. The group supported the release of Lunasphere with a heavy touring schedule that included several shows with joint UK/Australian ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
act Deathless, a slot on the Sydney leg of the 1996 Big Day Out
Big Day Out
The Big Day Out is an annual music festival held in several cities in Australia and New Zealand in late January. It started in Sydney in 1992, spread to Adelaide, Melbourne and Perth by 1993, with the Gold Coast and Auckland joining in 1994...
, supporting Cathedral
Cathedral (band)
Cathedral are a doom metal band from Coventry, England. The group forged a link between early doom metal and a 1990s extreme metal aesthetic, making doom slower and heavier. Their debut album, Forest of Equilibrium, is considered a classic of the genre. They later on changed their doom style,...
and 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...
on their dual headlining tour, and also opening for Fear Factory a second time. They performed live-to-air on the Triple J metal program Three Hours of Power. Two songs from this session would later be included on the Embryonics
Embryonics
Embryonics is a double-CD compilation of tracks by the Australian progressive metal band, Alchemist. It was released in 2005 in Australia by Chatterbox Records and worldwide by Relapse Records...
compilation album in 2005. During the same year, pioneering Canberra death metal band Armoured Angel
Armoured Angel
- External links :*** *...
disbanded. The band's drummer Joel Green handed over the running of the festival to Holder, who with the rest of Alchemist was responsible for the event for the next decade.
1996−2000
Alchemist began recording SpiritechSpiritech
Spiritech is the third full-length studio album by the Australian progressive metal band, Alchemist. It was released in 1997 by Australian label Thrust and distributed by Shock Records. A promotional music video for the song "Road to Ubar" was released...
in late 1996. After enduring a problematic recording process, the band handed production over to D.W. Norton, the guitarist with Melbourne band Superheist
Superheist
Superheist was an Australian nu metal band that attained a significant degree of success with a string of EPs and singles and two full-length albums that charted in the Top 40 before suddenly disbanding in 2004.-Formation and early period:...
and the part-owner of Back Beach Studios in Rye, Victoria
Rye, Victoria
Rye is a seaside resort town, approximately 83 km south of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia. Its bay beach is popular with swimmers, fishermen, yachtsmen and kitesurfers. Its ocean beach is also popular with surfers...
. Spiritech introduced more electronic elements as well as tribal rhythms and heavy sampling into the band's oeuvre and opened with the sprawling nine-minute "Chinese Whispers", which remains a particular favorite for group and fans alike.
In 1999, the band's next project was an EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
that featured as its title track a version of "Eve of the War
Eve of the War
Eve of the War is an EP from the Australian progressive metal band, Alchemist. The EP was released by Shock Records through its subsidiary label Thrust in November 1998. The title track, "Eve of the War" is a cover of the opening piece from the 1978 production, Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The...
", the opening piece from the 1978 production, Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds
Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds
Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds is a 1978 concept album by Jeff Wayne, retelling the story of The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells. Its format is progressive rock and string orchestra, using narration and leitmotifs to carry the story via rhyming melodic lyrics that express...
. Josh Nixon from Canberra 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...
band, Pod People featured as a guest guitarist. The EP also included live versions of "Yoni Kunda" and "Chinese Whispers", an electronica
Electronica
Electronica includes a wide range of contemporary electronic music designed for a wide range of uses, including foreground listening, some forms of dancing, and background music for other activities; however, unlike electronic dance music, it is not specifically made for dancing...
remix of "Yoni Kunda" retitled as "Koni Yunda" and two Jar of Kingdom tracks, "Brumal: A View from Pluto" and "Worlds within Worlds." These last two were a precursor to the band's re-release of Jar of Kingdom
Jar of Kingdom
-Band members:* Adam Agius − vocals, guitar* Rodney Holder − drums, * John Bray − bass guitar* Roy Torkington − guitar, artwork, layout and design-Production:* Mixed at Rich Music Studios, Sydney, Australia in February 1993...
the following year. This re-release included some new overdubs as the album's original master tapes were damaged, and included the 1991 demo in its entirety. This release completed their contractual obligation to Shock Records and Alchemist began to shop for a new local deal as well as international distribution. The group's albums had attained a heavy cult following in parts of Europe, particularly in the Netherlands, but they had not had European representation since their failed association with Lethal. In the meantime, Alchemist toured with Entombed
Entombed (band)
Entombed is a Swedish death metal band which formed in 1987 under the name of Nihilist. Though Entombed began their career as an early pioneer of Scandinavian death metal which initially differed itself from its American counterpart with its distinct guitar tone, by the early 1990s their sound had...
and Pitchshifter
Pitchshifter (band)
Pitchshifter are a British five-piece electronic-metal band from Nottingham, United Kingdom formed in 1989. The band was started by bassist and vocalist Mark Clayden, lead guitarist and programmer Johnny A...
.
Late in 1999, a new Alchemist track called "Austral Spectrum" appeared on a compilation of Australian metal called Under the Southern Cross and issued by Sydney label Chatterbox Records
Chatterbox Records
Chatterbox Records was an independent record label based in Sydney, Australia, founded in 1997 by musician Nik Tropiano and Sebastian Chase of Phantom Records. The label boasts an eclectic mixture of artists across various genres. Its first release was a vinyl EP from Sydney electro-goth band Cult 45...
(with whom the band had just signed for Australian release). A slightly different version of the song then appeared on the Organasm
Organasm
Organasm is the fourth full-length studio album by the Australian progressive metal band, Alchemist. It was issued in Australia by Chatterbox on 6 March, 2000 as their first release with the label. The album release was supported by a three-month Australian tour with the bands Cryogenic and Psi.Kore...
album, again recorded with D.W. Norton in Rye and released in early 2000. To promote Organasm, Alchemist undertook a three-month Australian tour during autumn. Billed as "World War Three", the tour also featured Sydney thrash
Thrash metal
Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...
bands Cryogenic
Cryogenic (Band)
Cryogenic was an Australian thrash metal/death metal band formed in 1992 in Wetherill Park, a suburb of Sydney, Australia.-Early:The band originally featured guitarist Steve Essa, bass player Anthony Henning, singer/guitarist Russell Player and drummer Chad Bartosik, who was also a member of...
and Psi.Kore, both of whom had also just released CDs. Organasm featured a warmer sound and a focus on tighter songwriting with tracks embellished even more by duelling slide guitar
Slide guitar
Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
s, keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
and samples.
2000−2005
Following 2000's Metal for the Brain, Alchemist went off the road for more than a year to work on Austral AlienAustral Alien
- Credits :* Adam Agius − vocals, guitar, keyboards* Rodney Holder − drums, triangle* John Bray − bass guitar* Roy Torkington − guitar, artwork, layout and design...
, which was released by Chatterbox in May 2003. This latest album showed a mellower side of Alchemist, with highly polished production and a heavily electronic sound. Influenced by the 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...
band Midnight Oil
Midnight Oil
Midnight Oil , were an Australian rock band from Sydney originally performing as Farm from 1972 with drummer Rob Hirst, bass guitarist Andrew James and keyboard player/lead guitarist Jim Moginie...
, the lyrics of the semi-conceptual album focused on environmental
Natural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
issues affecting their country, specifically the impact of man on the ecology. Alchemist added a fifth member, Nick Wall, to provide samples
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
during live shows.
In late 2004, Alchemist embarked on their first tour outside of Australia. Because of these commitments, Metal for the Brain was held off until February 2005. In the same month Alchemist won their first Australian Heavy Metal Music Awards, with "First Contact" awarded Best Video Clip, and Agius awarded Best Keyboardist.
2005−present
A compilation album, EmbryonicsEmbryonics
Embryonics is a double-CD compilation of tracks by the Australian progressive metal band, Alchemist. It was released in 2005 in Australia by Chatterbox Records and worldwide by Relapse Records...
, was released in October 2005. It covered material recorded between 1990 and 1998, including tracks from the first three albums, the 1998 EP release and demo songs. Bonus tracks included two of the songs recorded on the radio in 1996. The band also announced a companion DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
release due for 2006, which, however, is yet to be released.
After ten years of successfully organising Metal for the Brain, Alchemist laid the festival to rest, playing the final event on 4 November 2006. Holder, now based in Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
, moved on to organise the 20-band Abducted Metal Horror Festival held in July 2007. In May of that year Alchemist completed work on their next album Tripsis
Tripsis
Tripsis is the sixth full-length studio album by the Australian progressive metal band, Alchemist. Recorded in 2007, Adam Agius stated that the songwriting focused on a consistently heavy approach. A promotional music video for the song "Wrapped in Guilt" is planned...
, which the band declared to be a return to the earlier sound of Lunasphere and Spiritech. To coincide with the release of Tripsis, Alchemist headlined the European ProgPower event and played selected other dates. In July 2008 the band played at the Graspop Metal Meeting
Graspop Metal Meeting
Graspop Metal Meeting is an annual metal festival in Dessel, Belgium that has taken place each year since 1996. Despite the small size of the festival grounds the festival draws a large number of international spectators, with a total of 142,000 visitors in the course of the 2011 edition...
in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
as part of their European tour. In October 2008, Alchemist returned to Australia to tour with Meshuggah
Meshuggah
Meshuggah is an extreme metal band from Umeå, Sweden, formed in 1987. Meshuggah's line-up has primarily consisted of founding members vocalist Jens Kidman and lead guitarist Fredrik Thordendal, drummer Tomas Haake, who joined in 1990, and rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagström, who joined in 1992...
. Afterwards, the band premiered the video for "Tongues and Knives" on 9 December. In January 2010 Alchemist began recording a new EP as a follow-up to Tripsis. In an article in Sydney's Drum Media
Drum Media
Drum Media is a free weekly tabloid-sized music and lifestyle magazine established in 1990 and based in Sydney, Australia. It is distributed throughout Sydney, Wollongong, Newcastle and Canberra, and surrounding districts. A separate weekly issue began circulating in Perth in September 2006. The...
in July, drummer Rodney Holder claimed that Alchemist was currently on "extended hiatus". The band's website reflects this with a splash page
Splash page
Splash page may refer to:* Splash page, a comic book page that is mostly or entirely taken up by a single image or panel* A splash screen on a website or software...
declaring that "Alchemist are hibernating indefinitely". Holder organised the Bastardfest-festival which was held on 28 August in Brisbane, 4 September in Melbourne, and 16 October in Perth.
Albums
- Jar of KingdomJar of Kingdom-Band members:* Adam Agius − vocals, guitar* Rodney Holder − drums, * John Bray − bass guitar* Roy Torkington − guitar, artwork, layout and design-Production:* Mixed at Rich Music Studios, Sydney, Australia in February 1993...
(1993) - LunasphereLunasphereLunasphere is the second full-length album by the Australian progressive metal band Alchemist, and the first of their albums to be released by Shock Records through its metal subsidiary Thrust, in 1995...
(1995) - SpiritechSpiritechSpiritech is the third full-length studio album by the Australian progressive metal band, Alchemist. It was released in 1997 by Australian label Thrust and distributed by Shock Records. A promotional music video for the song "Road to Ubar" was released...
(1997) - OrganasmOrganasmOrganasm is the fourth full-length studio album by the Australian progressive metal band, Alchemist. It was issued in Australia by Chatterbox on 6 March, 2000 as their first release with the label. The album release was supported by a three-month Australian tour with the bands Cryogenic and Psi.Kore...
(2000) - Austral AlienAustral Alien- Credits :* Adam Agius − vocals, guitar, keyboards* Rodney Holder − drums, triangle* John Bray − bass guitar* Roy Torkington − guitar, artwork, layout and design...
(2003) - TripsisTripsisTripsis is the sixth full-length studio album by the Australian progressive metal band, Alchemist. Recorded in 2007, Adam Agius stated that the songwriting focused on a consistently heavy approach. A promotional music video for the song "Wrapped in Guilt" is planned...
(2007)
Demos and EPs
- "Eternal Wedlock" (1987)
- "Demo '90" (1990)
- "Demo '91" (1991)
- "Promo 94" (1994)
- "Eve of the WarEve of the WarEve of the War is an EP from the Australian progressive metal band, Alchemist. The EP was released by Shock Records through its subsidiary label Thrust in November 1998. The title track, "Eve of the War" is a cover of the opening piece from the 1978 production, Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The...
" (1998) - "Promo 99" (1999)
Compilations
- Jar of Kingdom Re-Release 99 (1999)
- EmbryonicsEmbryonicsEmbryonics is a double-CD compilation of tracks by the Australian progressive metal band, Alchemist. It was released in 2005 in Australia by Chatterbox Records and worldwide by Relapse Records...
(2005)
Current members
- Adam AgiusAdam AgiusAdam Agius is the vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist and a founding member of the progressive metal band Alchemist. He formed Alchemist in 1987 while still in high school and is the group's only remaining original member...
− 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...
, guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, keyboardsElectronic keyboardAn electronic keyboard is an electronic or digital keyboard instrument.The major components of a typical modern electronic keyboard are:...
(1987−present) - John Bray − bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, keyboards (1991−present) - Rodney Holder − 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 ....
(1988−present) - Roy Torkington − guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
(1992−present)
Former members
- Andrew Hall − drums (1987−89)
- Andrew Meredith − guitar (1990−92)
- James Preece − bass guitar (1989−91)
- Scott Chivers − bass guitar (1987−89)
- Murray Neill − vocals (1987−88)
- Nick Paddon-Row − drums (1987)
- Nick Wall − live samplesSampler (musical instrument)A sampler is an electronic musical instrument similar in some respects to a synthesizer but, instead of generating sounds, it uses recordings of sounds that are loaded or recorded into it by the user and then played back by means of a keyboard, sequencer or other triggering device to perform or...
(2003−2008)
External links
- Alchemist official Site
- Alchemist at MySpaceMySpaceMyspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
- Interview at Saviours of Rock