Dirge (band)
Encyclopedia
Dirge is a French band formed in 1994. From the industrial metal
genre that exploded in the first part of the 90s, the band slowly evolved toward a more atmospheric and progressive form of metal, related to post-metal
bands such as Neurosis
, Isis
, and Cult Of Luna
.
and Optimum Wound Profile
, the duo's music was a hybrid of corrosive guitars, robotic hammerings, and scratching samples. Three demo tapes were recorded during this first period.
After the departure of Laurent, bass player David K. and guitarist Franck T. joined the band. This first change in the line-up coincided with a noisier and less electronic curve: dark, tortured, and dissonant, the first album Down, Last Level was released in 1998.
In 1999, Alain B. (drums) and Christophe "Zomb" D. (machines) joined the band. Re-humanized with the use of a real drum, the music of Dirge became much more massive and stifling, as the guitars became the center of gravity with the release of the second album Blight And Vision Below A Faded Sun (released in 2000 on the own band’s label, Blight Records). With this record, the band took "a further step toward a much heavier music with more progressive and dark compositions", as written by C. Lorentz in the book "Carnets Noirs, Acte II."
Replacing Franck and David, Christian M. (bass) and guitarist Stéphane L. joined Dirge in 2001. Three years later, the third record, And Shall The Sky Descend, saw the light and presented a more psychedelic aspect of the band’s music. If heavy guitars stayed in the center of the four long pieces that had built ASTSD, the extremely slow-downed tempos, creeping samples, minimal parts, violin, didgeridoo and female vocals of Von Magnet’s Flore Magnet presented the result of four years of musical evolution.
In November 2006, the band went back into the studio to record its fourth album, Wings Of Lead Over Dormant Seas. Released one year later as a double CD set, it featured Kill The Thrill’s singer Nicolas Dick on two tracks and received a notable welcome from the press, Terrorizer's J. C. Santos summing up about WOLODS that "For once the word 'genius' is entirely appropriate".
To this day, Dirge has toured with a wide array of bands, including Unsane
, Earth
, Cult Of Luna
, Nasum
, Kill The Thrill, Baroness
, and Knut
.
Industrial metal
Industrial metal is a musical genre that draws from industrial music and many different types of heavy metal, using repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Founding industrial metal acts include Ministry, Godflesh, and KMFDM.Industrial metal's...
genre that exploded in the first part of the 90s, the band slowly evolved toward a more atmospheric and progressive form of metal, related to post-metal
Post-metal
Post-metal is a music genre, a mixture between the genres of post-rock and heavy metal.Hydra Head Records owner and Isis frontman Aaron Turner originally termed the genre "thinking man's metal", demonstrating that his band was trying to move away from common metal conventions...
bands such as Neurosis
Neurosis (band)
Neurosis is a post-metal band, based in Oakland, California. They formed in 1985 as a hardcore punk band, and their sound progressed towards a doom metal style that also included influences from dark ambient and industrial music as well as incorporating elements of folk music...
, Isis
Isis (band)
Isis was a Los Angeles, California-based post-metal band, founded in Boston, Massachusetts, with a career spanning from 1997 to 2010...
, and Cult Of Luna
Cult of Luna
Cult of Luna is a Swedish post-metal band from Umeå. They formed from the remnants of a Umeå hardcore punk band called Eclipse in 1998. They slowly garnered critical appreciation and underground popularity with early releases Cult of Luna and The Beyond ; however, it is 2004's Salvation that can...
.
History
Dirge was formed near Paris in 1994. The original band members were Marc T. (guitar / programming) and Laurent P. (vocals / programming). In the industrial genre of bands like GodfleshGodflesh
Godflesh are an English industrial metal band from Birmingham, England. Originally known as Fall of Because, they formed in 1988 by Justin K. Broadrick and G.C. Green and disbanded in 2002. Godflesh's innovative music is widely regarded as a foundational influence on industrial metal and post-metal...
and Optimum Wound Profile
Optimum Wound Profile
Optimum Wound Profile were an industrial metal band from Ipswich, UK, active between the years 1991-1996. Combining elements of metal, crust punk, and sampling/programming technologies they released three albums and toured across Europe....
, the duo's music was a hybrid of corrosive guitars, robotic hammerings, and scratching samples. Three demo tapes were recorded during this first period.
After the departure of Laurent, bass player David K. and guitarist Franck T. joined the band. This first change in the line-up coincided with a noisier and less electronic curve: dark, tortured, and dissonant, the first album Down, Last Level was released in 1998.
In 1999, Alain B. (drums) and Christophe "Zomb" D. (machines) joined the band. Re-humanized with the use of a real drum, the music of Dirge became much more massive and stifling, as the guitars became the center of gravity with the release of the second album Blight And Vision Below A Faded Sun (released in 2000 on the own band’s label, Blight Records). With this record, the band took "a further step toward a much heavier music with more progressive and dark compositions", as written by C. Lorentz in the book "Carnets Noirs, Acte II."
Replacing Franck and David, Christian M. (bass) and guitarist Stéphane L. joined Dirge in 2001. Three years later, the third record, And Shall The Sky Descend, saw the light and presented a more psychedelic aspect of the band’s music. If heavy guitars stayed in the center of the four long pieces that had built ASTSD, the extremely slow-downed tempos, creeping samples, minimal parts, violin, didgeridoo and female vocals of Von Magnet’s Flore Magnet presented the result of four years of musical evolution.
In November 2006, the band went back into the studio to record its fourth album, Wings Of Lead Over Dormant Seas. Released one year later as a double CD set, it featured Kill The Thrill’s singer Nicolas Dick on two tracks and received a notable welcome from the press, Terrorizer's J. C. Santos summing up about WOLODS that "For once the word 'genius' is entirely appropriate".
To this day, Dirge has toured with a wide array of bands, including Unsane
Unsane
Unsane is an influential noise rock trio that formed in New York City in 1988. Their music also touches on elements of hardcore punk and metal...
, Earth
Earth (band)
Earth is an American musical group based in Seattle, Washington, formed in 1989 and led by guitarist Dylan Carlson.Earth's music is nearly all instrumental, and can be divided into two distinct stages...
, Cult Of Luna
Cult of Luna
Cult of Luna is a Swedish post-metal band from Umeå. They formed from the remnants of a Umeå hardcore punk band called Eclipse in 1998. They slowly garnered critical appreciation and underground popularity with early releases Cult of Luna and The Beyond ; however, it is 2004's Salvation that can...
, Nasum
Nasum
Nasum was a political Swedish band that played a mixture of grindcore and death metal. The band's name, meaning 'nose', was taken from the horror film Flesh for Frankenstein.-Biography:...
, Kill The Thrill, Baroness
Baroness (band)
Baroness is a band from Savannah, Georgia whose members grew up together in Lexington, Virginia.-Formative years:Baroness formed in mid-2003, founded by former members of the punk/metal band Johnny Welfare and the Paychecks...
, and Knut
Knut (band)
Knut is a sludge metal/post-hardcore band from Geneva, Switzerland that formed in 1994. Early material was put out on Snuff Records, which was run by Séverin and Mounir. They are currently signed to Hydra Head Records, which is owned and operated by Aaron Turner of Isis...
.
Albums
- Down, Last Level (1998)
- Blight And Vision Below A Faded Sun (2000)
- And Shall The Sky Descend (2004)
- Wings Of Lead Over Dormant Seas (2007)
- Elysian Magnetic Fields (2011)
Demo Tapes
- Infected Brain Machine (1994)
- Mind Time Control (1995)
- Dead Network Access (1996)
Compilation appearances
- Hard Core Is A State Of Mind, (1996)
- Lágrimas De Miedo Nº3, (1996)
- Rock Sound 99, (2005)
- Elegy Sampler 49, (2007)
- Hard Rock Sampler 07, (2007)
- Lágrimas De Miedo N°14 - Pornography: Re-heat (2008)
- Falling Down Compilation (2008)