Lee Dorrian | |
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![]() Dorrian in 2016 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Lee Robert Dorrian |
Born | 5 June 1968 |
Origin | Coventry, England |
Genres | Doom metal, stoner metal, crust punk, grindcore (early) |
Occupation(s) | Singer |
Years active | 1986–present |
Labels | Rise Above, Earache |
Member of | Septic Tank, With the Dead |
Formerly of | Cathedral, Napalm Death, Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine |
Website | riseaboverecords.com |
Lee Robert Dorrian (born 5 June 1968) is an English singer, best known as a former member of grindcore band Napalm Death and later as frontman of doom metal band Cathedral. He is currently singing with Septic Tank and With the Dead.
During his early teenage years, Dorrian was the editor of a local punk fanzine called Committed Suicide. [1] This led to him becoming a local punk promoter during the mid-late 80s, bringing bands such as B.G.K., Amebix, Antisect, Negazione, AntiCimex, Disorder, Bannlyst, Heresy, Icons of Filth, Anti System, Conflict, Concrete Sox, The Varukers and many others to various Coventry venues, such as the back room of The Hand & Heart public house on Far Gosford Street. [2] During this time he was a passionate animal rights activist [3] and involved in various anarchist groups and demonstrations. [4]
In April 1987 he became vocalist and lyricist with Napalm Death, recording one and a half albums with them, namely the second side of Scum and the whole From Enslavement to Obliteration album. During his time in the band, they were majorly championed by John Peel and recorded two sessions for his Radio One show. The band also made several significant TV appearances on BBC shows such as Snub TV, [5] Arena [6] and children's music show What's That Noise? They also appeared on the front cover of NME, [7] which was the inspiration to the lyrics of a song "No Mental Effort". This track appeared on Dorrian's final recording with Napalm Death, on the Mentally Murdered EP. To coincide with its release in 1989, friend Peel had helped to arrange a slot for them at Reading Festival. Unfortunately, the appearance had to be cancelled as Dorrian left the band due to disillusionment following their tour of Japan in July of that year. [8]
Whilst still a member of Napalm Death, Dorrian founded his own record label, Rise Above Records in 1988. Initially intended as a means to get him off the dole, Rise Above was kick-started as part of the Enterprise Allowance Scheme. His main aim was to release a few hardcore punk 7-inch singles in extremely limited runs, just for fun. [9] However, the label went from strength to strength and is today one of the most revered underground independent record labels in existence. Some of the artists that Dorrian has introduced to the world via Rise Above Records include Ghost, Electric Wizard, Uncle Acid & the Deadbeats, Circulus, Blood Ceremony and many more. [10]
Later in 1989, Dorrian formed doom metal band Cathedral, releasing their debut album Forest of Equilibrium in 1991. The album is considered a genuine cult classic and a cornerstone in the evolution of the genre. Cathedral existed as a band for over 23 years before deciding to call it a day in 2012, ahead of releasing their final album The Last Spire in 2013. [11] During their lengthy career, they played as main support to Black Sabbath on their Cross Purposes tour in 1994. [12] As a result, the band became friendly with Tony Iommi, which led to him making a very rare guest appearance on Cathedral's 1995 album The Carnival Bizarre. [13]
In 1995, Dorrian collaborated with Italian musician Paul Chain, with whom he co-wrote four songs which appeared on the Alkahest album. He appeared as vocalist/lyricist in extreme doom project Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine, featuring members of Sunn O))) and Iron Monkey, releasing the one-off album 'Rampton' in 2002. [14] In 2003, he appeared on the Probot album, which was curated by his old friend and former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl. [15]
Dorrian is currently a member of With the Dead, [16] in which he is joined by former Electric Wizard bassist Tim Bagshaw, along with former Cathedral bassist Leo Smee and former Bolt Thrower drummer Alex Thomas. Their self-titled debut album was released on Rise Above Records in October 2015. [17]
Dorrian first used an extreme and ferocious death grunt style of vocal mixed with hardcore screaming in Napalm Death, but later adopted a cleaner and more varied style with Cathedral. [2]
He presented an award to Napalm Death at the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Awards 2007. [18]
Dorrian has cited influences including Kelvin "Cal" Morris from Discharge, Pete Lyons from Antisect, Dean Jones from Extreme Noise Terror and Sakevi Yokoyama from GISM. [19]
Dorrian is from Wood End in Coventry. He has said he has a long history as an anti-fascist activist. [20] He has claimed he was an anti-racist skinhead in his teens and received death threats from neo-Nazi skinheads and white supremacists. [20] Dorrian also says he became a vegetarian at the age of 13. In a 2017 interview he stated that he has not eaten meat in 36 years. [20] He says he has since experimented with a vegan diet. [20]
Release | Band | Member | Year |
---|---|---|---|
Erased – Symbol of Life | Paradise Lost | Guest backing vocals | 2002 |
Ice Cold Man - Probot | Probot | Guest vocals | 2004 |
Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in Meriden, West Midlands in 1981. None of the band's original members have been in the group since 1986, but since Utopia Banished (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch Harris, drummer Danny Herrera and lead vocalist Mark "Barney" Greenway has remained consistent through most of the band's career. From 1989 to 2004, Napalm Death were a five-piece band after they added Jesse Pintado and Mitch Harris as replacements for guitarist Bill Steer. Following Pintado's departure, the band reverted to a four-piece.
Scum is the debut studio album by English grindcore band Napalm Death, released on 1 July 1987 by Earache Records. The two sides of the record were recorded by two different lineups in sessions separated by about a year; the only musician in both incarnations was drummer Mick Harris. The two sides are very different, and the two taken together serve to bridge stylistic elements of heavy metal and punk rock. While the songs on the A-side are influenced heavily by hardcore punk and anarcho-punk, the vocals and lower-tuned electric guitars on the B-side anticipate subsequent developments in extreme metal. Loudwire put it in the list of the best 10 metal albums of 1987.
Mentally Murdered is an EP by the English grindcore band Napalm Death, released in 1989. It was later included on the Harmony Corruption CD and the Death by Manipulation compilation album. On this EP the band's migration to death metal territory is more readily evident than on its previous album. It is the final studio recording with Bill Steer and Lee Dorrian, who simultaneously departed the band due to musical and personality differences.
Rise Above Records is a London-based independent record label owned by Lee Dorrian, former member of Cathedral and Napalm Death.
Cathedral were a doom metal band from Coventry, England. The group gained attention upon release of its debut album, Forest of Equilibrium (1991), which is considered a classic of the genre. However, the band's sound evolved quickly and began to adopt characteristics of 1970s metal, hard rock and progressive rock. After releasing ten full-length albums and touring extensively for over two decades, Cathedral broke up after the release of The Last Spire in 2013.
Mark Andrew "Barney" Greenway is a British extreme metal vocalist who is the current lead singer and primary lyricist of Napalm Death and a former member of Extreme Noise Terror and Benediction.
Michael John Harris is an English musician from Birmingham. He was the drummer for Napalm Death between 1985 and 1991, and is credited for coining the term "grindcore". After Napalm Death, Harris joined Painkiller with John Zorn and Bill Laswell. Since the mid-1990s, Harris has worked primarily in electronic and ambient music, his main projects being Scorn and Lull. He has also collaborated with musicians including James Plotkin and Extreme Noise Terror. According to AllMusic, Harris's "genre-spanning activities have done much to jar the minds, expectations, and record collections of audiences previously kept aggressively opposed."
Justin Karl Michael Broadrick is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer and a founding member of the band Godflesh, one of the first bands to combine elements of extreme metal and industrial music. Following Godflesh's initial breakup in 2002, Broadrick formed the band Jesu.
Teeth of Lions Rule the Divine is an English drone doom supergroup, formed in 2001 with musicians from other metal bands.
Come My Fanatics… is the second studio album by English heavy metal band Electric Wizard. The album was released in January 1997 on Rise Above Records and was produced by Rolf Startin, Mike Hurst and band member Jus Oborn. It was the group's follow-up to their eponymous album Electric Wizard. Oborn described the release as a reaction to the music on the earlier album, which he had felt was not as heavy as he wanted the group to sound. The songs on Come My Fanatics… were described by Lee Dorrian, Rise Above Records owner, as breaking from the traditional doom metal style, with an unpolished and chaotic approach.
Pre-Electric Wizard 1989–1994 is a compilation album featuring songs by Electric Wizard frontman Jus Oborn's previous band Eternal, formerly known as Lord of Putrefaction and Thy Grief Eternal. The album was released in 2006 and includes material taken from Eternal's demo Lucifer's Children (1993), Thy Grief Eternal's demo On Blackened Wings (1992), and the Lord of Putrefaction / Mortal Remains split LP (1991).
Adam Lehan is a British musician who has worked with doom metal bands Cathedral and Workshed, thrash metal bands Acid Reign, Deadline and Lord Crucifier and folk band Beneath the Oak.
The Roadburn Festival is an annual music festival held each April in Tilburg, Netherlands. It was founded by Walter Hoeijmakers and Jurgen van den Brand in 1999, who ran a stoner rock blog of the same name.
Sub Templum is an album by British doom metal band Moss. Released in 2008, it is their first for Rise Above Records and second overall. It was produced by Electric Wizard guitarist/vocalist Jus Oborn, and it features 4 songs, two of which are over 20 minutes in length.
The Guessing Game is the ninth full-length album by the British doom metal band Cathedral. It was released on 26 March 2010. It is the first double-album from the band.
The Last Spire is the tenth and final studio album by the British doom metal band Cathedral. Intended by the band as their farewell album, it was released in April 2013 on Rise Above Records and Metal Blade Records. The album was praised for returning the band to its doom roots, with Nick Green of Decibel Magazine observing that "few bands get to write their own epitaphs in such vivid, exacting terms".
Blood Ceremony is a Canadian rock band formed in 2006 in Toronto, Ontario. Blood Ceremony's style has been described as "flute-tinged witch rock" and their lyrics are filled with black magic imagery and references to classic horror films. Their music has been also characterized as hard rock, psychedelic folk, progressive rock, and doom metal.
The discography of the English doom metal band Cathedral consists of ten studio albums, eight EPs, a number of singles, one live album and two collections. Led by ex-Napalm Death vocalist Lee Dorrian, the band was signed to Earache Records in 1991. They briefly switched to Spitfire Records in 2002 and released The VIIth Coming. Later, they switched to Nuclear Blast and released two more studio albums. Cathedral's final album, The Last Spire was released through Dorrian's own label, Rise Above.
With the Dead are an English doom metal supergroup founded in 2014 by Tim Bagshaw, Mark Greening and Lee Dorrian.
Garry "Gaz" Jennings is an English musician best known for his work as the guitarist for doom metal band Cathedral. In addition, he has also worked as the guitarist of thrash metal band Acid Reign, punk rock band Septic Tank and heavy metal bands Lucifer and Death Penalty.