Nemhain (band)
Encyclopedia
Nemhain is a London-based 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...

/punk
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

/gothic rock
Gothic rock
Gothic rock is a musical subgenre of post-punk and alternative rock that formed during the late 1970s. Gothic rock bands grew from the strong ties they had to the English punk rock and emerging post-punk scenes...

 influenced band named after Nemhain, the mythological Celtic goddess of battle fury. It was formed by Adrian Erlandsson
Adrian Erlandsson
Adrian Erlandsson is a prolific Swedish heavy metal drummer, who currently plays in Brujeria, Netherbird, with his wife in Nemhain and in Yorkshire doom metal band Paradise Lost...

, then 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 his wife, model Morrigan Hel in 2006.

Their music deals with the darker side of sex, drugs, addiction, passion and revenge. They have also recorded and performed covers of songs by The Distillers
The Distillers
The Distillers were an American punk rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1998. They released their first two albums on Hellcat Records/Epitaph Records before moving to Sire, part of the Warner Music Group. The Distillers were originally formed by Australian-born Brody Armstrong , a woman with a...

, Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...

, Misfits and The Gits
The Gits
The Gits were an American punk rock band, formed in Yellow Springs, Ohio in 1986. Known for their part in the burgeoning Seattle music scene of the early 1990s, their distinct punk rock sound gained a reputation for its bluesy street punk aesthetic...

.

Their first album, From The Ashes, was released on 22 January 2010 on Tiefdruck-Musik.

2006

One night early in 2006, Erlandsson on guitar and Hel (Amber Erlandsson) sang Leadbelly
Leadbelly
Huddie William Ledbetter was an iconic American folk and blues musician, notable for his strong vocals, his virtuosity on the twelve-string guitar, and the songbook of folk standards he introduced....

's classic "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" and had the idea to start their own band came. They decided to draw on their influences from the likes of Danzig
Danzig (band)
Danzig is an American heavy metal band, formed in 1987 in Lodi, New Jersey. The band serves as a musical outlet for the singer/songwriter Glenn Danzig. Danzig can be seen as the third stage in Glenn Danzig's musical career, preceded by the horror punk bands The Misfits and Samhain...

 and the Ramones
Ramones
The Ramones were an American rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first punk rock group...

 and to create a self styled "Blues stained punk rock" group.

Adrian's career began in 1981 when, inspired by Judas Priest
Judas Priest
Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band from Birmingham, England, formed in 1969. The current line-up consists of lead vocalist Rob Halford, guitarists Glenn Tipton and Richie Faulkner, bassist Ian Hill, and drummer Scott Travis. The band has gone through several drummers over the years,...

, he formed the Black Nuns which evolved into Berits Polisonger playing until 1986. There then followed a series of other bands including thrash metal
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...

 band Penance in 1987, until he became a founding member of At the Gates
At the Gates
At the Gates is an extreme metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden, and a major progenitor of the Gothenburg death-metal sound. Their early albums lean towards a death metal sound, but later albums sound more like melodic death metal.Initially active from 1990 to 1996, the band reformed in 2007 for a...

 in 1990.

During his time with them he was part of the punk band Skitsystem
Skitsystem
Skitsystem is a Swedish crust punk band formed in early 1994. Their sound was heavily influenced by death metal and d-beat. In actuality, band members originally came from different death metal bands, bonding over a common interest in d-beat. The band announced in December 2007 that they were on...

, recording three EPs between 1995 and 1996. Erlandsson had another two bands with ATG connections with Terror (who recorded a three track demo) and Hyperhug. In 1996 he formed The Haunted
The Haunted
The Haunted is a Swedish metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1996.The original members were Anders & Jonas Björler, Peter Dolving, Adrian Erlandsson and Patrik Jensen...

 with fellow ATG brothers Jonas and Anders Bjorler, cutting one demo in 1997 and releasing one album in 1998.

Leaving late in 1998, Erlandsson drummed for Swedish black metal
Black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....

 purists Nifelheim and numerous other bands. He was approached by Cradle of Filth in June 1999 and played drums on one track of the Cradle To Enslave EP, before becoming a full time member, playing on no less than 20 albums, singles and DVDs until May 2006 when he joined Needleye playing on their album Ode To None as well as additional demos that were available on their Myspace page.

Morrigan Hel is also well-known for her Cradle of Filth connections, touring as a stage performer with them as well as being the model on the Cradle To Enslave EP, in the video for "Born In A Burial Gown" and the horror movie Cradle of Fear
Cradle of Fear
Cradle of Fear is a 2001 horror film directed by Alex Chandon. Taking inspiration from the portmanteau films produced by Amicus in the 1970s it features three separate half-hour segments, linked by a fourth story. The main narrative involves imprisoned serial-killer Kemper wreaking vengeance on...

. That aside, she has had a career as a fetish model, TV presenter, stage/fire performer with bands such as Motörhead and Godhead and actress in Nature Morte and as an extra in the films Still Crazy, Judge Dredd and Hackers. Her musical projects date back to her teens when she first learned the guitar and with a friend played and sang along to Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...

; they formed a band called The Art Of Falling Apart. Later she joined the band Obsidian. They also recorded a version of "Girls Like Honey", a song later resurrected for Nemhain.

Cherry Forever began her music career as bass guitarist with all-girl group Desolation Angels. When their drummer dropped out, Charlie Simpson
Charlie Simpson
Charles Robert Simpson , is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He was the youngest member of multi BRIT Award-winning band Busted, and is the lead vocalist, guitarist and co-lyricist in alternative rock band Fightstar...

 (Busted, Fightstar
Fightstar
Fightstar are an English alternative rock band from London. They formed in 2003 and their lineup comprises lead vocalist, guitarist and keyboardist Charlie Simpson, guitarist and vocalist Alex Westaway, bass guitarist Dan Haigh and drummer Omar Abidi...

) stepped in.

Forever also sang backing vocals for Franz Ferdinand
Franz Ferdinand (band)
Franz Ferdinand are a Scottish post-punk revival band formed in Glasgow in 2002. The band is composed of Alex Kapranos , Bob Hardy , Nick McCarthy , and Paul Thomson .The band first experienced chart success when their second single, "Take Me Out", reached #3 in...

 on the track "L.Wells" (on the single "The Fallen") in April 2006 and numerous tracks on the Demented Scum Cats LP, which was an all-star side project from Demented Are Go
Demented Are Go
Demented Are Go are a Welsh psychobilly band that was formed around 1982 in Cardiff. They were one of the earliest in the initial wave of bands to mix punk rock with rockabilly, and as a result, are considered to be highly influential to the psychobilly scene....

. Forever then switched from bass guitar to guitar and continued to write songs drawing on her numerous influences. When not making music, Forever was also a model and made an appearance in the film Nature Morte.

Music had always been part of Lisa Witch's (Lisa Dickinson) life since learning to play the tenor horn at school. When she went to university she and some friends "messed around" with some comic songs but nothing came of this. In 1997, Witch decided to learn the bass guitar. She also made an appearance in the film Nature Morte.

Liv Fast (Olivia Boeree), a lead guitarist, completed the line up. When Fast entered a poker competition she became hooked and was soon offered a job presenting Poker TV in Las Vegas, which she accepted.

Her replacement was Sam Hain (Sam Astley), a multi-talented musician who can play numerous instruments. Despite the experimental nature of his solo work, under the name of ‘EWSS’, he is a fan of Slash
Slash (musician)
Saul Hudson , known by his stage name Slash, is a British-American musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. During his later years with Guns N'...

 and Children of Bodom
Children of Bodom
Children of Bodom is a Finnish heavy metal band from Espoo. Formed in 1993, the group currently consists of Alexi Laiho , Roope Latvala , Janne Wirman , Henkka Seppälä , and Jaska Raatikainen...

. He is also one half of The Cry & The Chainsaw, a small independent film company which has made a number of music videos (including "Ana"’) and short films. Apart from the production and filming he contributes to the soundtracks.

After rehearsals and writing sessions a small private gig took place at the Dungeon. By August they were ready to perform at an all day music festival at the Bar Monsta in Camden
Camden Town
-Economy:In recent years, entertainment-related businesses and a Holiday Inn have moved into the area. A number of retail and food chain outlets have replaced independent shops driven out by high rents and redevelopment. Restaurants have thrived, with the variety of culinary traditions found in...

. More gigs followed in October as did a recording session in Eastbourne, resulting in the EP called Blood Runs Free, named after a song written by Morrigan but not recorded. Cradle released the Thornography album and soon after the official announcement was made about Erlandsson leaving.

The Blood Runs Free demo was released as a limited pressing of 1000 copies only. It went on sale at the Bar Monsta gig on 12 November 2006, the same day they also shot the promo video for the song "Ana". The year ended with a New Year's Eve gig with King Lizard
King Lizard
- Biography :The band first formed in 2002, and after extensive line-up changes, took its final form in 2006.Lead singer Flash Roxx started the band aged 19 Sky London joined the band when he thought he could do a better job than the existing drummer. Israeli guitarist Niro Knox was in a band...

 at the Purple Turtle club in Camden.

2007

In January 2007, they played the newly located Intrepid Fox in London wearing clothes designed by Kates Clothing at a launch party gig. They also recorded a version of "Die Die My Darling" with Tristian McGarrigle for the Misfits tribute album Anniversary of Brutality. The band minus Hain then went to Los Angeles for the NAMM convention, where much work was done including gaining a sponsorship deal with Orange Amps.

Erlandsson also announced a busy schedule with sessions for Netherbird, Tenet with former guitarist Jed Simon (Strapping Young Lad
Strapping Young Lad
Strapping Young Lad was a Canadian extreme metal band formed by Devin Townsend in Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1994. The band started as a one-man studio project; Townsend played most of the instruments on the 1995 debut album, Heavy as a Really Heavy Thing...

) and joining Mexican legends Brujeria
Brujeria (band)
Brujeria is an extreme metal band formed in Tijuana, Mexico in 1989. Their name comes from the Spanish word for "witchcraft". Their songs, which are sung in Spanish, are focused on Satanism, anti-Christianity, sex, immigration, narcotics smuggling, politics....

 on their first world tour. When Needleye announced that they had taken the band as far as it could go, Duncan Wilkinson and Ray Holoryd began working on some new ideas and demos and formed 12 Ton Method with Erlandsson as session drummer. Two further tracks were recorded, "From The Ashes" and "Dirty Weekend" (based on the book by Helen Zahavi
Helen Zahavi
Helen Zahavi is an English novelist and screenwriter. Before becoming a writer she worked as a Russian translator, and has spent several years living in Paris....

), at Fortress Studios and produced by Greg Brimson (Rammstein
Rammstein
Rammstein is a German Neue Deutsche Härte band from Berlin, formed in 1994. The band consists of members Till Lindemann , Richard Z. Kruspe , Paul H. Landers , Oliver "Ollie" Riedel , Christoph "Doom" Schneider and Christian "Flake" Lorenz...

) and Russ Russell (Dimmu Borgir
Dimmu Borgir
Dimmu Borgir is a Norwegian black metal band from Oslo, Norway, formed in 1993. Dimmu borgir means "dark cities" or "dark castles/fortresses" in Icelandic, Faroese and Old Norse. The name is derived from a volcanic formation in Iceland, Dimmuborgir...

).

In March, Nemhain was given the opportunity to support Australian rock group Rose Tattoo
Rose Tattoo
Rose Tattoo is an Australian rock and roll band, now led by Angry Anderson, that was formed in Sydney in 1976. Their sound is hard rock mixed with blues rock influences, with songs including "Bad Boy for Love", "Rock 'n' Roll Outlaw", "Nice Boys", "We Can't Be Beaten" and "Scarred for Life"...

 at the Scala in London. As Erlandsson was touring with Brujeria at the time he asked his friend and fellow session drummer Robin Guy to take his place. Guy is a seasoned session musician whose credits include Faith No More
Faith No More
Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed originally as Faith No Man in 1981 by bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist Wade Worthington, vocalist Michael Morris and drummer Mike Bordin. A year later when Worthington was replaced by keyboardist Roddy Bottum, and Mike...

, 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....

 and GMT.

April began with two gigs in Wales and London. On the 26th Hain left the band. His replacement on the 28th was Dick Limelight (Daniel Kjolsrud) a Swedish bass guitarist previously with King Lizard
King Lizard
- Biography :The band first formed in 2002, and after extensive line-up changes, took its final form in 2006.Lead singer Flash Roxx started the band aged 19 Sky London joined the band when he thought he could do a better job than the existing drummer. Israeli guitarist Niro Knox was in a band...

. Limelight had played on their third EP, titled Late Night Dynamite.

The new line up made its debut at Camden's Electric Ballroom on 6 May, followed by its first mini UK Tour. New songs were introduced into the set, including a disturbing cover of Nirvana
Nirvana (band)
Nirvana was an American rock band that was formed by singer/guitarist Kurt Cobain and bassist Krist Novoselic in Aberdeen, Washington in 1987...

's "Rape Me". Also in May, Cradle of Filth released a live DVD/CD set from April 2001, and the song "Dirty Weekend" appeared on a CD given away with Devolution magazine.

At the end of June, the band was due to play the River Town Festival in Prague, but the band never made it there as both Limelight and Forever suddenly left due to "personal reasons" as stated in an email on July 2. Model/TV presenter/music journalist Samara Kain, the bass guitarist with Spiders Superstars was found as a replacement for Forever. Stevie Lee, formerly of controversial glam band Spit Like This
Spit like this
-Introduction:Spit Like This is a four-piece rock band which plays their own original music. Not properly fitting into any single genre , they are described as the "bastard child between Motley Crue & Motorhead" on their website.SPiT LiKE THiS...

, replaced Limelight. Lee had made himself known to the band at the Download Festival
Download Festival
The Download Festival is a three day rock music festival held annually at Donington Park, England . It usually takes place in June...

.

The new line-up made its debut at the Revue Bar in Soho on July 30 and then set off on a tour of Holland.

In November, they went to Belgium to record a new EP. Erlandsson also announced that At the Gates were reforming for a series of one-off gigs around the world.

After a gig at club SIN in Soho it seemed that there was a degree of tension in the band. They played the Hard Rock Hell festival without Kain then Lee quit afterwards and Samara did not return.

In December, a reliable and talented guitarist was found with Lakis Kyriacou. Kyriacou has been playing in bands since the age of 13; he was the driving force behind the band Area 54 formed in the late 1990s. Their brand of thrash/maiden styled music saw them release three albums: No Visible Scars (2000), Beckoning of the End (2003) which featured guest vocals from At the Gates vocalist Tomas Lindberg and Bring Out Your Dead (2007). In July, however, they decided to end the band with Kyriacou putting all his efforts into the glam influenced band Love & Bullets which he had formed in September 2006.

2008

2008 began with a return to NAMM in America again, but this time they played two gigs as well. Returning to the UK, Erlandsson set off on a massive European tour with Swedish glam/goth band Deathstars
Deathstars
Deathstars is a Swedish band from Stockholm that perform industrial and gothic metal. Formed in 2000, the group are noted for their dark horror-themed lyrics, pessimistic and misanthropic social commentary, distinctive trademark face paint, dark stage uniforms and physical appearances that...

 who were supporting KoRn
Korn
Korn is an American nu metal band from Bakersfield, California, formed in 1993. The current band line up includes four members: Jonathan Davis, James "Munky" Shaffer, Reginald "Fieldy" Arvizu, and Ray Luzier. The band was formed as an expansion of L.A.P.D.The band released their first demo album,...

 throughout February.

In March and April, they recorded their first album in Sweden with Fredrik Nordstrom (At the Gates, Dimmu Borgir
Dimmu Borgir
Dimmu Borgir is a Norwegian black metal band from Oslo, Norway, formed in 1993. Dimmu borgir means "dark cities" or "dark castles/fortresses" in Icelandic, Faroese and Old Norse. The name is derived from a volcanic formation in Iceland, Dimmuborgir...

, Arch Enemy) producing, one song of which features a guest appearance from The Haunted
The Haunted
The Haunted is a Swedish metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1996.The original members were Anders & Jonas Björler, Peter Dolving, Adrian Erlandsson and Patrik Jensen...

 vocalist Pete Dolving is a cover of The Gits
The Gits
The Gits were an American punk rock band, formed in Yellow Springs, Ohio in 1986. Known for their part in the burgeoning Seattle music scene of the early 1990s, their distinct punk rock sound gained a reputation for its bluesy street punk aesthetic...

 'Second Skin'.

With huge touring commitments with At the Gates the band was quiet until October 5 when they appeared on Total Rock radio and broadcast four new tracks.

A four track promotional EP was also released and they then played the "Night of the Evil Red" Halloween show at the Big Red bar in London's Holloway Road.

In November, Kyriacou performed at the Camden Underworld for a one -ff appearance with Love And Bullets, where he was joined by Fast as guest guitarist. Also, Mick Priestley and Adrian released an EP under the name of the Green River Project. On the 15th, Nemhain had the honour of playing the final night at the Ruskin Arms in East London for the charity Clive Aid, which is a charity to help Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...

's original drummer Clive Burr
Clive Burr
Clive Burr is a British drummer, best known as a member of Iron Maiden from 1979 to 1982.-Career:Previously a member of Samson, Burr joined Iron Maiden in 1979...

, making them the last female fronted band to perform at the venue.

The December gig with Municipal Waste
Municipal Waste (band)
Municipal Waste is a thrash metal/crossover thrash band from Richmond, Virginia.They performed at the UK's Download Festival on June 15, 2008, on the tuborg stage....

 at the Peel in Kingston saw the return of Hain bringing the band's twin guitar sound back.

2009

In January 2009, they filmed a video for the song "Second Skin" with Gdrax from Ted Maul replacing Dolving who was touring with The Haunted
The Haunted
The Haunted is a Swedish metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1996.The original members were Anders & Jonas Björler, Peter Dolving, Adrian Erlandsson and Patrik Jensen...

at the time. They also headlined a charity concert called Rock Against Rape in aid of Rape Crisis.

Discography

  • Blood Runs Free EP [2006]
  • Various Artists - Hotter Than Hell - 08/09/07 [2 Tracks] [2007]
  • Various Artists - Devolution Unsigned Summer Spirit (Magazine Covermount CD) [1 Track] [2007]
  • Various Artists - Anniversary Of Brutality (Tribute To The Misfits) [1 Track] [2007]
  • Album Preview EP [Promotional Only] [2008]
  • From The Ashes [2010]

Videography

  • Ana [2007]
  • Second Skin [The Gits Cover] [2009]


From the Ashes cover and band logo designed by Jordan Smith from Darkview
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