Enochian Theory
Encyclopedia
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...
/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...
/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...
band, formed in 2004 in Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. The original lineup of the band consisted of drummer Sam Street, bass guitarist Shaun Rayment, guitarist Scott Ware, and singer/guitarist/keyboard player Ben Harris Hayes.
Formation
The band members met through their individual involvements in the south coast of England local music scene Drummer Sam Street, bass guitarist Shaun Rayment and guitarist Scott Ware came together to start jamming after meeting in school.In September 2004, Ben Harris-Hayes came to audition for the band after being handed an advert/flyer for the band by his sister and impressed them with his vocals and songwriting ability.
He became a permanent member shortly after and with the line-up complete, ENOCHIAN THEORY were formed officially.
The band began to write and demo music, completing their first recording in March 2005.
Our Lengthening Shadows
Their first recording was Our Lengthening ShadowsOur Lengthening Shadows
The debut recording by Enochian Theory was a partly self-recorded E.P that was sold only at the bands early shows and via their website. It was used to secure them exposure and gigs around the country during the bands formative years....
, a seven track CD, which was sold at shows and via the band's website. It was well received by the local music press who saw great promise in the band and their songs. The innovative rock/metal E.P opened new doors for the band and allowed them to secure shows around the UK. The E.P would eventually sell out.
Over the course of supporting its release, the band’s sound continued to evolve and led them back in to the studio for their next recording.
A Monument to the Death of an Idea
The band entered The Old Blacksmiths studios in Portsmouth, during June 2006 with Emmy nominated producer and engineer Rich Tamblyn in order to record the five new tracks that would make up their second record. It was entitled A Monument to the Death of an IdeaA Monument to the Death of an Idea
A Monument to the Death of an Idea is an EP by the band Enochian Theory.-History:In June 2006, Enochian Theory entered The Old Blacksmiths studios in Portsmouth with Emmy nominated producer and engineer Rich Tamblyn and began to record the tracks for their second record, entitled A Monument to the...
and would showcase the progressive, hard rock and atmospheric style they had developed over the course of the past two years.
The E.P was ready for release by August that year.
With the 2005 Our Lengthening Shadows E.P. now discontinued and the self-financed A Monument to the Death of an Idea, initially only available only through the band, Enochian Theory managed to secure support shows with several established bands including Twin Zero
Twin Zero
-Biography:The band's first release was 7" vinyl Earthbound on Danish label Futhermocker Records. Released in November 2004, this featured one 7 minute track split over both sides of the record....
, Red Sparrowes and Ephel Duath
Ephel Duath (band)
Ephel Duath is an Italian progressive metal band, formed in 1998 in Padova, Italy. They have had a constantly changing line-up with guitarist and songwriter Davide Tiso, being the only original member. To date, they have released one demo, four studio albums, and two remix albums...
.
In order to promote the release on a wider scale, the band used their musical knowledge and contacts they had made since their formation and formed a partnership called Anomalousz Music Records Ltd.
By setting up their own record label, A Monument to the Death of an Idea would become available worldwide. The band signed with CODE 7/Plastic Head Distribution to handle this, allowing the CD to become available through all major music outlets such as Play.com
Play.com
Play Ltd., trading as Play.com, is a Jersey-based online retailer of DVDs, CDs, books, gadgets, video games, DRM-free MP3 downloads, and other electronic products, as well as clothes and accessories. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Rakuten Group....
, Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
, and HMV
HMV
His Master's Voice is a trademark in the music business, and for many years was the name of a large record label. The name was coined in 1899 as the title of a painting of the dog Nipper listening to a wind-up gramophone...
.
With the CD now available worldwide, press coverage followed with such music publications as 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...
, Classic Rock Magazine
Classic Rock (magazine)
Classic Rock is a British magazine dedicated to the radio format of classic rock, published by Future Publishing, who are also responsible for its "sister" publication Metal Hammer. Although firmly focusing on key bands from the 1960s through early 1990s, it also includes articles and reviews of...
, Zero Tolerance Magazine
Zero Tolerance Magazine
Zero Tolerance Magazine is an extreme music magazine published by Obdurate Ltd. in the United Kingdom. Published bi-monthly, it can be found on newsstands in the UK, Europe and North America - and is available on newsstands in Australia and specialist retailers in New Zealand and Taiwan...
, Power Play Big Cheese (magazine)
Big Cheese (magazine)
Big Cheese is an independent British magazine which covers alternative music including rock, punk, and metal amongst others. It is circulated monthly.-Features:...
, Black Velvet
Black Velvet (magazine)
Black Velvet is a quarterly independent rock magazine based in the UK.The zine originated in 1994 and is published/edited by Shari Black Velvet. The zine includes in-depth interviews, CD, concert and zine reviews and more...
, Play Music, the Greek version of Rock Hard
Rock Hard (magazine)
Rock Hard is a heavy metal magazine originally released in Germany. It was founded in 1983 by Holger Stratmann and is dedicated to all styles of rock and heavy metal. The magazine has independent offspring with the same name in France, Greece, Italy and Spain....
and Spanish rock and metal magazine This Is Rock all featuring articles about the band and reviews of the E.P.
The band chose to release "Namyamka" to rock and internet radio stations making it available as a downloadable single and shot a video to accompany it which was made available for request on rock channels Kerrang! TV
Kerrang! TV
Kerrang! TV is a digital television station owned by Box Television, which is loosely connected to the magazine, Kerrang!. As of 2005, all of its programme content is music videos, the majority of which is open scheduled, for text requests from their playlist....
, Scuzz
Scuzz
Scuzz is a British music television channel owned and operated by CSC Media Group . It launched on 17 April 2003 and has gone on to be the highest-rated rock TV station on UK satellite. The channel plays a broad range of rock and all its subgenres...
and Rockworld TV
Rockworld TV
Rockworld TV was a British television channel which featured rock music, and was aimed to highlight "underground" lifestyles and artists.It broadcasted on Sky Digital ch. 378, and also streamed content online...
.
To further support the release of the E.P and the "Namyamka" single, the band booked and embarked on their first U.K tour, entitled 'Theory in practice'. It was promoted by their Anomalousz Music Records label and booked for them by The S-a-N Agency.
It initially ran through the month of October as a three band bill with two other up and coming bands, SpeedTheory and About A Plane Crash, who had been receiving positive reviews of their own in many magazines and other media outlets. It took them to venues in Liverpool, Cardiff, Brighton, London, Nottingham, Leicester and Cambridge.
With the success of the first leg, and with positive feedback from crowds and venues alike, the band extended the tour, with a short second leg which ran in early December. The itinerary took the band to venues and places they had not seen during their first leg including Plymouth, Exeter and Cheltenham.
Personnel change
On 21 December 2007, it was announced via the bands official website, that guitarist Scott Ware had left the band. The remaining members wished him well in his future endeavors.The remaining members continued as Enochian Theory and auditioned for a new guitarist early in the 2008. The band played a well received and successful home coming gig show at the Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth 24 June, with a stand in second guitarist.
In August 2008 while recording their new CD, the band decided that they would continue recording and touring as a three piece.
Evolution: Creatio Ex Nihilio
On 28 May 2008, the band officially announced on their website, that their next full length release would be called ‘EVOLUTION: Creatio Ex Nihilio’. The band had been working on new material since the turn of the year and had thirteen tracks written and ready to take in to the studio.Pre-production for the new recording began at the beginning of July with the recording of the album completed on 12 October 2008. The finished recording was mixed and mastered in Sweden by David Castillo, who had co-produced the Katatonia
Katatonia
Katatonia is a Swedish metal band formed in Stockholm in 1991 by Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström .-1991-1993:The early Katatonia releases, such as the EP Jhva Elohim Meth.....
record 'The Great Cold Distance' on the Peaceville label as well as mixing the Opeth
Opeth
Opeth is a Swedish heavy metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. Though the group has been through several personnel changes, singer, guitarist, and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt has remained Opeth's driving force throughout the years...
record ‘Watershed’ on the Roadrunner records
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:...
label.
It was mixed in Castillo’s recently completed new state of the art recording facility ‘Ghostward’ and had the honor of being the first project worked on there.
The artwork for the album was conceived and realized by Swedish artist Robin Portnoff, after the band sent him the lyrical and musical themes behind the album.
The band began their pre-release preparations by headlining a show at the Enska Club in Portsmouth on 2 May, and then providing support for chart topping Australian rockers - The Butterfly Effect
The Butterfly Effect (band)
The Butterfly Effect are an alternative metal band from Brisbane, Australia, formed in 1999. The band consists of Clint Boge , Ben Hall , Glenn Esmond and Kurt "Puddles" Goedhart . Their debut album received high rotation play on influential radio station Triple J.-The Butterfly Effect EP:The band...
at their show at the Hamptons venue in Southampton on Thursday 14 May 2009.
In the weeks prior to its release’ tracks from the new album received rotation on Kerrang radio and Bruce Dickinson
Bruce Dickinson
Paul Bruce Dickinson is an English singer, songwriter, airline pilot, fencer, broadcaster, author, screenwriter, actor and marketing director, best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden....
's BBC 6 Music
BBC 6 Music
BBC 6 Music is one of the BBC's digital radio stations, was launched on 11 March 2002 and originally codenamed Network Y. It was the first national music radio station to be launched by the BBC in 32 years....
rock show.
The album was released through the bands own independent label on 3 August 2009 with CODE 7/Plastic Head Distribution once again handling distribution.
The release was met with exceptional reviews in musical publication across Europe including the English, German and Polish editions of 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...
, Classic Rock Magazine
Classic Rock (magazine)
Classic Rock is a British magazine dedicated to the radio format of classic rock, published by Future Publishing, who are also responsible for its "sister" publication Metal Hammer. Although firmly focusing on key bands from the 1960s through early 1990s, it also includes articles and reviews of...
, Terrorizer (magazine), Zero Tolerance Magazine
Zero Tolerance Magazine
Zero Tolerance Magazine is an extreme music magazine published by Obdurate Ltd. in the United Kingdom. Published bi-monthly, it can be found on newsstands in the UK, Europe and North America - and is available on newsstands in Australia and specialist retailers in New Zealand and Taiwan...
, Power Play, the German, Greek and Italian editions of Rock Hard
Rock Hard (magazine)
Rock Hard is a heavy metal magazine originally released in Germany. It was founded in 1983 by Holger Stratmann and is dedicated to all styles of rock and heavy metal. The magazine has independent offspring with the same name in France, Greece, Italy and Spain....
, Big Cheese (magazine)
Big Cheese (magazine)
Big Cheese is an independent British magazine which covers alternative music including rock, punk, and metal amongst others. It is circulated monthly.-Features:...
, Spanish magazine 'This Is Rock', Italian magazine 'Metal Maniac', Norwegian magazine 'Helvete', Finnish magazine 'Inferno' and Romanian rock and metal magazine 'Maximum Rock'. It was also reviewed on nearly 100 websites throughout Europe.
On April 29, 2010, the band released a press release via the musical press and their official website saying they had signed a deal with Mascot records. As part of this deal the album was rereleased worldwide through the label on September 27 of that year.
'Evolution: Creatio Ex Nihilio' Tour 2009 - 2011
In May 2009, Blabbermouth.netBlabbermouth.net
Blabbermouth.net is a website dedicated to heavy metal and hard rock news, as well as album and music DVD reviews. Blabbermouth.net was founded and is run by Borivoj Krgin. The first version of the website was officially launched in March 2001...
reported that the band had been confirmed to appear at the
ProgPower Europe
ProgPower Europe
ProgPower Europe is a progressive and power metal festival held annually in the Netherlands since 1999. The last edition, the 13th, was held at Sjiwa in Baarlo on September 30 – October 2, 2011...
2009 festival. Festival organisers were quoted saying "probably hardly anyone has ever heard of this band, but that will definitely change when they will release their new album in August 2009.” and also “ENOCHIAN THEORY definitely will surprise many of you." The festival took place between 2–4 October at JC Sjiwa in Baarlo, The Netherlands.
On 11 November 2009, the official website for The Metalcamp
Metalcamp
Metalcamp is a heavy metal music festival held annually in Slovenia since 2004.-2004:Danzig, Apocalyptica, Hypocrisy, Sentenced, Primal Fear, Katatonia, Dew-Scented, Dead Soul Tribe, Fleshcrawl, Mnemic, Prospect, Belphegor, Ancient, Destruction, Brainstorm, Dark Funeral, Vintersorg, Finntroll,...
festival confirmed that Enochian Theory were to co-headline the second stage at the 2010 event. They will. Festival organisers at the time were quoted as saying "Enochian Theory are gaining more and more reputation with their music, crossing various genres. The aim of pushing themselves as musicians and expanding their sound further creates an even more epic addition to their already impressive repertoire”. The festival took place between 5–11 July 2010 in Tolmin, Slovenia.
To support the release of the new album, the band began working with booking agents in the UK and around Europe to arrange their own tour. The tour itself began on 21 September and ran through in to 2011 seeing them tour England but also make their first forays in to Scotland, Holland, France, Ireland, Slovenia, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia.
During the course of the tour, the band have secured the prestigious support slot for Spocks Beard on a full European tour as well as Katatonia
Katatonia
Katatonia is a Swedish metal band formed in Stockholm in 1991 by Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström .-1991-1993:The early Katatonia releases, such as the EP Jhva Elohim Meth.....
's show in Southampton, UK on the 6 November 2009.
In conjunction with Classic Rock Magazine and Factory Music booking agency, Enochian Theory were part of the Progression 2.0. - 'The New Breed' UK tour in March 2011. They were joined by Touchstone
Touchstone
A touchstone is a small tablet of dark stone such as fieldstone, slate, or lydite, used for assaying precious metal alloys. It has a finely grained surface on which soft metals leave a visible trace.-History:The touchstone was used in ancient Greece...
and Jurojin
Jurojin (band)
Jurojin is a five-piece experimental rock music group from London, England formed in early 2008. The band incorporates various influences into its sound, including English folk, progressive rock, Indian classical, and heavy metal...
. The itinerary for the tour covered Sheffield, Glasgow, Manchester, Bristol and London.
Future plans
Towards the end of 2010, the band began shooting a completely animated video for their song 'A Fire Around The Lotus' which will be released online. The band also requested producers and DJ's submit their ideas for remixes of the bands songs.The band have finished writing new music for the follow up to 'Evolution: Creatio Ex Nihilio'. They entered Rob Aubrey's, Aubitt recording studio, on 16th August 2011 with a view to releasing the new album in early 2012. Aubrey has previosuly worked with Transatlantic
Transatlantic (band)
Transatlantic is a progressive rock supergroup consisting of Roine Stolt of The Flower Kings, Pete Trewavas of Marillion, Mike Portnoy formerly of Dream Theater and Neal Morse formerly of Spock's Beard. They formed in 1999 as a side project to their full time bands until 2002...
, IQ
IQ (band)
IQ are a British neo-progressive rock band founded by Mike Holmes and Martin Orford in 1981 following the dissolution of their original band The Lens...
, Spocks Beard and Tony Levin
Tony Levin
Tony Levin is an American progressive rock musician, specializing in bass guitar, Chapman stick and upright bass ....
among others and will be overseeing the recording and mixing of the album.
Discography
- Our Lengthening ShadowsOur Lengthening ShadowsThe debut recording by Enochian Theory was a partly self-recorded E.P that was sold only at the bands early shows and via their website. It was used to secure them exposure and gigs around the country during the bands formative years....
(2005) - A Monument to the Death of an IdeaA Monument to the Death of an IdeaA Monument to the Death of an Idea is an EP by the band Enochian Theory.-History:In June 2006, Enochian Theory entered The Old Blacksmiths studios in Portsmouth with Emmy nominated producer and engineer Rich Tamblyn and began to record the tracks for their second record, entitled A Monument to the...
(2006) - Evolution: Creatio Ex NihilioEvolution: Creatio Ex NihilioEvolution: Creatio Ex Nihilio is the first full length album by Enochian Theory and was released initially via their own independent label on August 3, 2009. The album received its worldwide major label release via Mascot records on September 27, 2010....
(2009) - TBA (2012)