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Astennu | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | James Stinson |
| Origin | Sydney |
| Genres | Black metal Death metal |
| Occupation(s) | Musician songwriter sound engineer |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, bass, vocals, keyboard, drum programming |
| Years active | 1993–present |
Astennu is the professional name of Australian heavy metal musician Jamie Stinson. His name is derived from a creature in Egyptian mythology.
Astennu first came to notice as the guitarist and songwriter for the Australian black metal band Lord Kaos. The band recorded both the demo Path to My Funeral Light and a full-length album Thorns of Impurity in 1995. Before the album's release Astennu went to Norway and found interest in the album from Head Not Found Records however the other members of the band decided to remain in Australia and Thorns of Impurity was released by Sydney label Warhead Records in 1996. Astennu stayed in Norway and reworked some music he had written for Lord Kaos into songs for a solo project called Carpe Tenebrum. [1]
The first Carpe Tenebrum album Majestic Nothingness featured Astennu on all instruments with vocals from Nagash of Dimmu Borgir and The Kovenant. It was released in 1997. Later the same year, Astennu joined Dimmu Borgir on guitar, freeing Shagrath to concentrate on vocals. Astennu's first recording with the band was the 1998 EP Godless Savage Garden . He was also a member of Nagash's other band, The Kovenant, at that time and was featured on the band's 1998 album Nexus Polaris . He also contributed some guitar solos to the Aggressor album and the Triumph of the Blasphemer EP by Nocturnal Breed, a band that also featured Dimmu Borgir's other guitarist Silenoz.
A second Carpe Tenebrum album, Mirrored Hate Painting , again featuring Nagash, was released in 1999. Astennu's second album with Dimmu Borgir, Spiritual Black Dimensions was released the same year, on 2 March. During the tour in support of the album, Astennu was fired from Dimmu Borgir and returned to Australia in late 1999.
Once back in Australia, Astennu worked as a live sound engineer for a number of bands on the Sydney heavy metal scene and also acted as mixer, engineer and producer on a number of albums and releases. In 2002 he recorded and released a third Carpe Tenebrum album, Dreaded Chaotic Reign , this time performing vocals himself. Dreaded Chaotic Reign was a death metal album whereas previous Carpe Tenebrum recordings had been black metal. In May 2003, Astennu returned to the live circuit with Sydney band Infernal Method, for whom he had been engineering for several months.
with Lord Kaos
with Dimmu Borgir
with Covenant
with Nocturnal Breed (as guest)
with Carpe Tenebrum
Dimmu Borgir is a Norwegian symphonic black metal band from Jessheim, formed in 1993. The name is derived from Dimmuborgir, a volcanic formation in Iceland, the name of which means "dark cities" or "dark castles/fortresses" in Icelandic, Faroese and Old Norse. The band has been through numerous lineup changes over the years; vocalist Shagrath and rhythm guitarist Silenoz are the only original members who still remain, with lead guitarist Galder being a longstanding member.
The Kovenant is a Norwegian industrial metal band from Hamar. The band originally formed as a symphonic black metal act known as Covenant in 1993, but in 1999 were forced to change their name to The Kovenant due to a dispute with a Swedish electronic band of the same name. The band's name change also marked a change in sound/style as well, as the band from there on began to focus more on an aggrotech/industrial metal sound heavily influenced by Europe's EBM scene. Despite their style change, The Kovenant did however later reissue their early albums under The Kovenant name.
Nicholas Howard Barker is an English extreme metal drummer best known for his work in Cradle of Filth from 1993 to 1999 and Dimmu Borgir from 1999 to 2004. Currently he is the drummer for Brujeria, Borstal and Shining.
For all tid is the debut studio album by Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir. It was released in 1995 through No Colours. It was remastered and re-released in 1997 through their new label Nuclear Blast with the front cover art in full color and the entire Inn i evighetens mørke EP added. It is the band's only studio album on which Shagrath is on drums, Tjodalv on guitar and Silenoz on vocals.
Spiritual Black Dimensions is the fourth studio album by Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir. It was released in 1999 by Nuclear Blast Records. A deluxe edition was released in 2004 with bonus material. There is also a digipak edition of this album which contains no bonus tracks. The digipak has reflective/holographic cover art. This release featured keyboardist Mustis and the clean vocals of ICS Vortex, as well as the departure of long-time drummer Tjodalv, guitarist Astennu, and bassist Nagash.
Nexus Polaris is the second studio album by the Norwegian metal band Covenant, and was released in 1998 through Nuclear Blast.
Enthrone Darkness Triumphant is the third studio album by Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir, released on 30 May 1997 through Nuclear Blast. It was the band's first release through Nuclear Blast. This is the last release to feature keyboardist Stian Aarstad and the first with bassist Nagash.
Mustis is the pseudonym of Øyvind Johan Mustaparta, a Norwegian keyboardist best known for his work in the symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir, as well as the black/thrash metal band Susperia.
Puritanical Euphoric Misanthropia is the fifth studio album by Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir. It was released by Nuclear Blast Records in 2001. This is the first album to feature drummer Nicholas Barker, guitarist Galder, and ICS Vortex on bass. It is also the first album upon which the band used real orchestral instrumentation instead of keyboard lines.
Simen Hestnæs, better known by his stage name ICS Vortex or simply Vortex, is a Norwegian musician. He is the vocalist of the similarly named band ICS Vortex, the avant-garde metal band Arcturus and the doom metal band Lamented Souls. He is also the vocalist and bass guitarist to the heavy metal band Borknagar, and the former bass guitarist and backing vocalist for the symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir.
Godless Savage Garden is the first compilation album by Norwegian symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir. It was released in 1998 by Nuclear Blast and re-released on 3 October 2006 with 2 bonus tracks.
Carpe Tenebrum was a black metal solo project of the former Dimmu Borgir and Covenant guitarist Jamie Stinson, better known as Astennu. Stian Arnesen (Nagash) was also involved with the project. Very little has been heard of the project since the release of the third album, Dreaded Chaotic Reign, in 2002.
Chrome Division is a Norwegian heavy metal band formed in 2004 by Shagrath, the lead vocalist of symphonic black metal band Dimmu Borgir. Its current lineup consists of him on rhythm guitar, along with Eddie Guz as the vocalist, Mr Damage on lead guitar and Tony White on drums. The band plays biker metal and has released five albums, Doomsday Rock 'n Roll in 2006, Booze, Broads and Beelzebub in 2008, 3rd Round Knockout in 2011, Infernal Rock Eternal in 2014, and One Last Ride in 2015, the band has announced that their fifth album is their last album.
Lord Kaos is an Australian black metal band that formed in Sydney in 1994. For several years the group was the most prominent act of its style in the country with one founding member going on to record and perform with several Norwegian black metal bands including Dimmu Borgir. While Lord Kaos only released one album, the group was a considerable influence on the local heavy metal music scene as not only arguably the first but one of the few bands to record and perform Norwegian-style symphonic black metal.
Hammerheart Records is a Dutch independent record label specializing in death metal, black metal, doom metal and folk metal bands from around the world. The label was founded in 1995 and is currently located in Valkenburg aan de Geul. It is incorporated in the Netherlands as Hammerheart Holdings B.V. In 2010, the label changed its name back to Hammerheart Records again and started signing new bands.
Mirrored Hate Painting is the second studio album by the Norwegian black metal band Carpe Tenebrum. It was recorded in winter 1998 at The Abyss Studio and released in 1999 through Karmageddon Media. Stylistically the album is similar to Dimmu Borgir'sSpiritual Black Dimensions, albeit heavier and less symphonic. The album has an arguably obscure atmosphere because of the atypical cover artwork, the poetic lyrics and the bizarrely edited speech samples between some of the songs. The band again used a drum machine although Nagash is listed as the drummer.
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