Wuthering Heights (band)
Encyclopedia
Wuthering Heights is a Danish
heavy metal
band, with a somewhat eclectic musical style which falls in somewhere between progressive
, folk
, and power metal
.
for the release of a demo cassette, entitled Tales From the Woods in late 1992. By the release of their second demo in 1995 the band had changed their name to Vergelmir. They were inactive in the studio for a few more years until, as Wuthering Heights, they released Within in 1999. They followed this up with To Travel For Evermore
in 2002 and Far From the Madding Crowd
in 2004, which has received some critical acclaim amid the underground power metal
and folk metal
communities. In the summer of 2004 the band played outside Europe for the first time. The gig took place at the ProgPower festival in Atlanta, GA. The show was filmed and was supposed to feature as a bonus DVD on the fourth album, but it was later changed to a bonus live recording instead. The band's fourth release was The Shadow Cabinet
from 2006.
The band's line-up has changed a great deal over the years, and Erik Ravn is the only founding member remaining in the group today. They are currently signed to Scarlet Records
.
The band's 2010 album was called Salt. It was the Album Of The Month on the heavy metal database website www.metallian.com with a score of 80/100.
and power metal
along with the highly virtuosic speed metal
style, are mixed with strong folk
influences. Bagpipes
, violins, flutes, and other traditional instruments are included in many songs. As is typical of power metal, the songs feature strong melodies and clean vocals. The band is often described as being progressive metal
, though they are not strictly in-line with the genre. They are quite musically distinctive, with their closest musical neighbors probably being Falconer
and Elvenking
.
(sometimes with specific references to locales or creatures from Tolkien's works) and more traditional folklore-influenced works, with an additional emphasis on fantasy-tinged, new-age-style nature themes.
The band does not reference 19th-century literature in their lyrics to any real extent, despite the fact the band takes its name from the novel Wuthering Heights
by Emily Brontë
, and despite the allusion in the name of their 2004 album Far From the Madding Crowd
by Thomas Hardy
.
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
heavy 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...
band, with a somewhat eclectic musical style which falls in somewhere between progressive
Progressive metal
Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...
, folk
Folk metal
Folk metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. As the name suggests, the genre is a fusion of heavy metal with traditional folk music...
, and power metal
Power metal
Power metal is a style of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a...
.
Biography
The group formed in 1989 under the name Angelica. They recorded nothing under this name, changing the name to Minas TirithMinas Tirith
Minas Tirith , originally named Minas Anor, is a fictional city and castle in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings. It became the heavily fortified capital of Gondor in the second half of the Third Age...
for the release of a demo cassette, entitled Tales From the Woods in late 1992. By the release of their second demo in 1995 the band had changed their name to Vergelmir. They were inactive in the studio for a few more years until, as Wuthering Heights, they released Within in 1999. They followed this up with To Travel For Evermore
To Travel for Evermore
To Travel for Evermore is the second full-length album by Danish band Wuthering Heights.-Track listing:# "Behind Tearstained Ice" – 2:15# "The Nevershining Stones" – 6:25# "Dancer in the Light" – 5:31# "Lost Realms" – 8:28...
in 2002 and Far From the Madding Crowd
Far from the Madding Crowd (album)
Far from the Madding Crowd is the third full-length album by Danish band Wuthering Heights. The title is taken from the novel by Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd, though the subject matter of the songs themselves has little to do with the content of the novel, having more in common with the...
in 2004, which has received some critical acclaim amid the underground power metal
Power metal
Power metal is a style of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a...
and folk metal
Folk metal
Folk metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. As the name suggests, the genre is a fusion of heavy metal with traditional folk music...
communities. In the summer of 2004 the band played outside Europe for the first time. The gig took place at the ProgPower festival in Atlanta, GA. The show was filmed and was supposed to feature as a bonus DVD on the fourth album, but it was later changed to a bonus live recording instead. The band's fourth release was The Shadow Cabinet
The Shadow Cabinet
The Shadow Cabinet is the fourth full-length album by Danish power metal band Wuthering Heights.- Track listing :#"Demon Desire" – 5:18#"Beautifool" – 5:02#"The Raven" – 4:47#"Faith - Apathy Divine Part I" – 8:13#"Envy" – 6:41...
from 2006.
The band's line-up has changed a great deal over the years, and Erik Ravn is the only founding member remaining in the group today. They are currently signed to Scarlet Records
Scarlet Records
Scarlet Records is an Italian independent record label based in Milan. It is most notable for featuring two side projects from Soilwork front-man Björn "Speed" Strid, as well as band like Agent Steel, Royal Hunt, Skyclad, Eldritch, Hatesphere, Primevil, Labyrinth, Dark Moor and more. Born in 1998,...
.
The band's 2010 album was called Salt. It was the Album Of The Month on the heavy metal database website www.metallian.com with a score of 80/100.
Musical style and genre
Wuthering Heights' musical style is relatively unique, combining various elements. Classic heavy metalHeavy 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...
and power metal
Power metal
Power metal is a style of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. The term refers to two different but related styles: the first pioneered and largely practiced in North America with a harder sound similar to speed metal, and a...
along with the highly virtuosic speed metal
Speed metal
Speed metal is a sub-genre of heavy metal music that originated in the late 1970s from NWOBHM and hardcore punk roots. It is described by Allmusic as "extremely fast, abrasive, and technically demanding" music....
style, are mixed with strong folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
influences. Bagpipes
Bagpipes
Bagpipes are a class of musical instrument, aerophones, using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. Though the Scottish Great Highland Bagpipe and Irish uilleann pipes have the greatest international visibility, bagpipes of many different types come from...
, violins, flutes, and other traditional instruments are included in many songs. As is typical of power metal, the songs feature strong melodies and clean vocals. The band is often described as being progressive metal
Progressive metal
Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...
, though they are not strictly in-line with the genre. They are quite musically distinctive, with their closest musical neighbors probably being Falconer
Falconer (band)
Falconer is a Swedish power metal band from Mjölby, formed in 1999. Founded by the former guitarist of Mithotyn, Stefan Weinerhall. Falconer carry on many of the traditions set by Weinerhall's previous band and play a style of power metal that utilises folk instrumentation and melody to create a...
and Elvenking
Elvenking (band)
Elvenking is a folk/power metal band from Italy. As of 2010, the band has released one demo, one single, and six full-length studio albums.- Biography :...
.
Lyrical themes
Wuthering Heights' subject matter is somewhat varied, but typically includes Tolkienic fantasyFantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
(sometimes with specific references to locales or creatures from Tolkien's works) and more traditional folklore-influenced works, with an additional emphasis on fantasy-tinged, new-age-style nature themes.
The band does not reference 19th-century literature in their lyrics to any real extent, despite the fact the band takes its name from the novel Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights is a novel by Emily Brontë published in 1847. It was her only novel and written between December 1845 and July 1846. It remained unpublished until July 1847 and was not printed until December after the success of her sister Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre...
by Emily Brontë
Emily Brontë
Emily Jane Brontë 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet, best remembered for her only novel, Wuthering Heights, now considered a classic of English literature. Emily was the third eldest of the four surviving Brontë siblings, between the youngest Anne and her brother...
, and despite the allusion in the name of their 2004 album Far From the Madding Crowd
Far from the Madding Crowd
Far from the Madding Crowd is Thomas Hardy's fourth novel and his first major literary success. It originally appeared anonymously as a monthly serial in Cornhill Magazine, where it gained a wide readership. Critical notices were plentiful and mostly positive...
by Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
.
Current members
- Erik Ravn – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA 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...
, 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...
(1989–present) - Morten Gade Sørensen – 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 ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
(2002–present), also member of PyramazePyramazePyramaze is a Danish/American progressive power metal band.-Biography:Pyramaze was formed in 2001 by guitarist Michael Kammeyer. Next to join were fellow Danes drummer Morten Sørensen and bassist Niels Kvist. American keyboardist Jonah Weingarten, who originally met Kammeyer over the Internet,... - Nils Patrik JohanssonNils Patrik JohanssonNils Patrik Johansson is a Swedish heavy metal singer, best known as the vocalist for both Astral Doors and Wuthering Heights.-Astral Doors:* Of the Son and the Father * Evil Is Forever * Raiders of the Ark...
– vocals (2003–present), also member of Astral DoorsAstral DoorsAstral Doors is a Swedish heavy metal band formed in 2002. They have released five studio albums and an EP. Their latest work is Requiem Of Time, released in February 2010...
and Lion's Share - Teddy MöllerTeddy MöllerTeddy Möller is a Swedish multi-instrumentalist and producer, best known for being the frontman of progressive metal band Loch Vostok, and drummer extraordinaire of defunct progressive metal band Mayadome. He is also a member of death metal act Flagellation, horror-thrashers F.K.Ü...
– bass, drums, guitar, vocals (2004–present) - Andreas Lindhal – keyboards (2004–present), also member of AudiovisionAudiovisionChristian Liljegren, known for his work in Narnia and Divinefire started up Audiovision during 2003 as his solo project. The first album The Calling was released in late 2004 in Europe and Japan, and it was produced by Lars Chriss [Lion’s Share, Road to Ruin]...
- Martin Arendal – guitar (2004–present), also member of ManticoraManticoraManticora is a Heavy metal band from Hvidovre, Denmark formed in 1996 by Lars and Kristian Larsen. Their current label is Locomotive Music. Their lyrical content typically consists of literature, fantasy, and science fiction. Although they are considered to be a progressive power metal band, they...
Former members
- John Sønder – guitar (1989–1990)
- Morten Birch – bass (1989–1994)
- Kenneth Saandvig – drums (1990–1998)
- Martin Røpcke – guitar (1991–1992)
- Jannik B. Larsen – guitar (1992–1994)
- Troels Liebgott – vocals (1993–1996)
- Tim Christensen – keyboards (1993–1996)
- Tim Mogensen – bass (1994–1995)
- Rune S. Brink – keyboards (1996–2004), now with Cornerstone
- Morten Nødgaard – vocals (1996–1997), drums (1998–2000)
- Kasper Gram – bass (1996–2000), now with ManticoraManticoraManticora is a Heavy metal band from Hvidovre, Denmark formed in 1996 by Lars and Kristian Larsen. Their current label is Locomotive Music. Their lyrical content typically consists of literature, fantasy, and science fiction. Although they are considered to be a progressive power metal band, they...
, previously with Evil MasqueradeEvil Masquerade-Biography:Evil Masquerade was founded in the summer of 2003 in Copenhagen by guitarist Henrik Flyman . He hooked up with Dennis Buhl behind the drums, Kasper Gram on bass and Henrik Brockmann on vocals to record the band's debut album. It was released early 2004 under the name "Welcome to the... - Kristian Andrén – vocals (1998–2002), previously with Tad MoroseTad MoroseTad Morose is a Swedish progressive / power metal band formed in 1991 and led by guitarist Christer 'Krunt' Andersson.-Biography:Their full-length debut was Leaving the Past Behind, a minor hit that established the band within the continental European heavy metal community. Sender of Thoughts was...
, Memento MoriMemento Mori (band)Memento Mori was a Swedish doom metal band with power metal influences. The band was founded by Messiah Marcolin and Mike Wead in 1992 after Messiah left Candlemass. After two albums, however, Messiah left the band; the third album was sung by a different singer. For the fourth album, Messiah... - Peter Jensen – guitar (1999), now with CommunicCommunicCommunic is a progressive metal band from Kristiansand, Norway. The band was founded in 2003 and has released four albums. The first two have received good reviews from magazines and critics.-Beginning :...
, previously with Sinphonia - Lorenzo Dehò – bass (2002)
- Henrik FlymanHenrik FlymanHenrik Flyman is a Swedish guitarist, award winning composer and producer. Henrik is best known from his current, and longest lasting, band Evil Masquerade. He was the founding member of Swedish fantasy metal band Moahni Moahna where he was active between 1992-1997. Shortly after he formed ZooL,...
– guitar (2002–2004), now with Evil MasqueradeEvil Masquerade-Biography:Evil Masquerade was founded in the summer of 2003 in Copenhagen by guitarist Henrik Flyman . He hooked up with Dennis Buhl behind the drums, Kasper Gram on bass and Henrik Brockmann on vocals to record the band's debut album. It was released early 2004 under the name "Welcome to the...
and LacrimosaLacrimosa (band)Lacrimosa is a duo led by German Tilo Wolff, the main composer, and Finnish Anne Nurmi, currently based in Switzerland, but originally from Germany...
, previously with Moahni MoahnaMoahni MoahnaMoahni Moahna is a Swedish band that was created in the early 90's by guitarist Henrik Flyman and guitarist Tommy Rehn. They wrote and performed their own brand of hard rock that was described as "Fantasy Metal"...
, ZooLZooLZooL is a defunct Swedish band that was created by guitarist Henrik Flyman as a platform for classic hard rock. ZooL released one album 2002 and has not been heard of since, though it was never officially declared extinct. Flyman himself is today active in Evil Masquerade... - Eric Grandin – bass
Discography
| Year | Title | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Within | Demo |
| 1999 | Within | Studio |
| 2002 | To Travel for Evermore To Travel for Evermore To Travel for Evermore is the second full-length album by Danish band Wuthering Heights.-Track listing:# "Behind Tearstained Ice" – 2:15# "The Nevershining Stones" – 6:25# "Dancer in the Light" – 5:31# "Lost Realms" – 8:28... |
Studio |
| 2004 | Far from the Madding Crowd Far from the Madding Crowd (album) Far from the Madding Crowd is the third full-length album by Danish band Wuthering Heights. The title is taken from the novel by Thomas Hardy, Far from the Madding Crowd, though the subject matter of the songs themselves has little to do with the content of the novel, having more in common with the... |
Studio |
| 2006 | The Shadow Cabinet The Shadow Cabinet The Shadow Cabinet is the fourth full-length album by Danish power metal band Wuthering Heights.- Track listing :#"Demon Desire" – 5:18#"Beautifool" – 5:02#"The Raven" – 4:47#"Faith - Apathy Divine Part I" – 8:13#"Envy" – 6:41... |
Studio |
| 2010 | SALT SALT (Wuthering Heights album) Salt is the fifth full-length album by Danish band Wuthering Heights. It has been received with great reviews from the fans and the press. The album takes themes that involve the sea, and other myths and tales from the sailors culture.... |
Studio |