Universum | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Also known as | Universum |
Origin | Adelaide, Australia |
Genres | Melodic death metal, metalcore |
Years active | 2006−2012; 2018-present |
Labels | Riot |
Members | Adam Soininen Michael Soininen Stephen Murphy Jaron Soininen Rachael Madden Doug Clark |
Past members | Liam Brophy |
Universum are a heavy metal band from Adelaide, South Australia. The band completed formation in early 2007 and describe their sound a fusion of Scandinavian melodic death metal, new wave American metal, old school thrash metal and progressive metal. Universum have released two albums to date, the debut album Leto Destinatus on 15 June 2008 and their second album Mortuus Machina on 1 January 2011.
Formed in early 2006, their sound was influenced by such bands as Pantera, Death, and Iron Maiden. In 2007, Universum completed an eponymous demo. Soon Liam Brophy and Rachael Madden were added to the line up. Playing a string of Australian shows, Universum entered the Emergenza Battle of the Bands competition where they came away runners up in the South Australian state final, winning 'Best Vocalist' and 'Best Guitarist.' [1] Shortly following, the band recorded their debut album, Leto Destinatus , which was well received by critics. [2] [3] [4] [5] The album was mixed and mastered in Sweden by the renowned Jens Bogren (Opeth, Soilwork, Amon Amarth). [6] The artwork was done by Gus Sazes, [7] and the album featured a guest solo by Tomy Laisto from the Finnish melodeath band Mors Principium Est. Following the album's release, the band were signed by Riot Entertainment. In October 2008, Universum embarked on their first Australian national tour, with the UK's power metal band DragonForce. They have also secured 2009 shows with Cradle of Filth, Edguy, Cynic, Dark Funeral and Ensiferum. The band has featured on both the UK's Terrorizer magazine (Jan 2009, issue No. 180) and Metal Hammer's (Apr 2009, issue No. 191) covermount CDs.
On the back of releasing Leto Destinatus , Universum picked up a string of endorsements and in March 2010 Michael Soininen and Stephen Murphy were fortunate enough to be the first Australian guitarists listed on the Ibanez guitars web page artist roster.
In June 2010, the band confirmed on their Myspace page that they had parted ways with their longtime bassist Liam Brophy. He was replaced by Doug Clark.
Universum released their 2nd album Mortuus Machina intended for 15 December 2010 but pushed back to 1 January 2011, and it featured guest appearances from vocalist Christian Älvestam (ex Scar Symmetry, Miseration), vocalist Tommy Tuovinen (myGRAIN), as well as guest guitar solos from Nightrage guitarists, Marios Iliopoulos [8] and Olof Mörck. Jens Bogren of Sweden's Fascination Street Studios (Opeth, Soilwork, Amon Amarth, Katatonia) once again handled both mixing and mastering duties. [9]
Universum stopped touring and producing new music in 2012, suggesting that they quietly disbanded. However, on 30 December 2018, they shared a demo of a new song entitled "Burdened" on their Facebook page. They have not given any indication of whether a new album is in the works.
Name | Contribution | Band | Additional information |
---|---|---|---|
Christian Älvestam | Guest vocals | Miseration, Solution .45, ex Scar Symmetry | Vocals on the tracks "Sum of the Universe, Fractured Archetype, 2.0 - (Mortuus Machina)" |
Ola Frenning | Guest guitar | ex Soilwork | Lead solo on the track "Sum of the Universe - (Mortuus Machina)" |
Tommy Tuovinen | Guest vocals | myGRAIN | Vocals on the track "Asymmetric Dimensional State - (Mortuus Machina)" |
Marios Iliopoulos | Guest guitar | Nightrage | Lead solo on the track "Sum of the Universe - (Mortuus Machina)" |
Olof Mörck | Guest guitar | Amaranthe, ex Nightrage | Lead solo on the track "Asymmetric Dimensional State - (Mortuus Machina)" |
Tomy Laisto | Guest guitar | Mors Principium Est | Lead solo on the track "Ignite the Subconscious - (Leto Destinatus)" |
Paul Wardingham | Guest guitar | (solo musician) | Lead solo on the track "Aeon Displacement - (Mortuus Machina)" |
Date of Release | Title | Label | Peak | Sales |
---|---|---|---|---|
15 July 2008 | Leto Destinatus | Riot | ||
1 January 2011 | Mortuus Machina |
Daylight Dies is a melodic death-doom band from North Carolina, United States.
Alf Peter Tägtgren is a Swedish musician and record producer. He is the founder, main songwriter, lead vocalist, and guitarist of death metal band Hypocrisy as well as the industrial metal band Pain in which he is the only member. He is also the owner of The Abyss recording studio and the co-founder of Lindemann, a music project between Tägtgren and Rammstein vocalist Till Lindemann. Tägtgren left Lindemann in 2020.
Draconian is a Swedish gothic metal band formed in Säffle in 1994.
Once Sent from the Golden Hall is the debut studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Amon Amarth, released by Metal Blade Records and Sony Music on 10 February 1998. The album was originally limited and only 1000 copies were sold on CD and LP versions. Later the album was re-released by Metal Blade in 2005 on Picture LP with 500 hand-counted copies. A deluxe edition was released in 2009 that featured the album remastered by Jens Bogren, and a bonus CD of the original album played live in its entirety in Bochum, Germany. Martin Lopez left the band soon after the release of this album to join Swedish band Opeth, making this the only album with him on drums. Likewise, it is also the only album to feature guitarist Anders Hansson.
Versus the World is the fourth studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Amon Amarth, released on 18 November 2002 by Metal Blade Records and Sony Music. It was also released with a bonus disc featuring the Sorrow Throughout the Nine Worlds EP as well as their two demos; Thor Arise, The Arrival of the Fimbul Winter and a German version of "Victorious March" entitled "Siegreicher Marsch" which was on Once Sent from the Golden Hall. The song "Death in Fire" was made into a music video. Versus the World was the first Amon Amarth album to showcase a more midpaced and heavy sound, unlike their earlier faster works. A deluxe edition was released in 2009 that featured the album remastered by Jens Bogren, and a bonus cd of the original album played live in its entirety in Bochum, Germany.
The Avenger is the second studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Amon Amarth, released by Metal Blade Records and Sony Music on 2 September 1999. It was the first Amon Amarth album with guitarist Johan Söderberg and drummer Fredrik Andersson, Thus completing the line-up that remained up until 2015, following Andersson's departure from the band. It was also released as a digipak version, containing a bonus track "Thor Arise", a re-recording of the title track from their first demo, Thor Arise. The album was also released as an LP version. Later, Metal Blade Records re-released the album in 2005 on Picture LP, limited to 500 hand-counted copies. A deluxe edition was released in 2009 that featured the album remastered by Jens Bogren, and a bonus cd of the original album played live in its entirety in Bochum, Germany.
With Oden on Our Side is the sixth studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Amon Amarth, and their first album to enter the Billboard charts, the Top Heatseekers and the Independent Albums chart, peaking at number 15 and number 26 respectively.
Olof Mörck is a Swedish musician who is the guitarist and one of the songwriters of the heavy metal band Amaranthe, as well as guitarist of the power metal band Dragonland. He was also a member of Nightrage between 2006 and 2011 as a guitarist. Notably, he has provided two guitar solos for the 2009 album The Isolation Game by the Italian melodic death metal band Disarmonia Mundi.
Twilight of the Thunder God is the seventh studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Amon Amarth. Twilight of the Thunder God was released in September 2008. The album's name and title track refer to Thor's slaying of the Midgard Serpent Jörmungandr.
Double Dragon was a heavy metal band from Adelaide, Australia. Their name is a homage to the 1980s cult video game Double Dragon. Double Dragon's musical style is heavy metal, but has also been described variously as melodic death metal or metalcore, featuring twin guitar harmonies, prominent lead guitar solos, and both clean and screamed vocals.
Leto Destinatus is the debut album by Australian metal band, Universum. This album was mixed and mastered by Jens Bogren of Sweden's Fascination Street Studios and is available through Australia's largest heavy music distributor Riot Entertainment, which the band is also signed to.
The Panic Broadcast is the eighth studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Soilwork, released 2 July in Europe and 13 July in North America, 2010. The album marks the return of long-time Soilwork guitarist and founder Peter Wichers, who also took on the role as the album's producer, though Wichers would leave Soilwork in 2012. The album also features the debut of guitarist Sylvain Coudret who replaced longtime guitarist Ola Frenning in 2008. Mixing was done by Jens Bogren. According to Nielsen SoundScan, The Panic Broadcast sold around 5,257 copies in its first week of sales in the United States. The album debuted at #88 on the Billboard 200 chart, making it their highest-charting album in their entire career at the time.
Iron Mask is a power metal band formed in 2002 by Belgian guitarist Dushan Petrossi, also known from Magic Kingdom.
Creation's Tears are an Irish heavy metal/gothic metal band based in Northern Ireland, with some members based in England.
Surtur Rising is the eighth studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Amon Amarth. It is named after the mythical giant, Surtr. The album was released on 29 March 2011. The album debuted at number 34 on the American Billboard 200 chart as well as number 19 on the Canadian album charts.
Methods to End It All is the debut album by heavy metal band Creation's Tears who are based in Northern Ireland, with some members based in England. Methods to End It All has been referred to by journalist Malcolm Dome and producer Jens Bogren as belonging to the Gothic metal genre while others have drawn comparisons to Lacuna Coil, Within Temptation, Opeth, Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride and Anathema.
Mortuus Machina is the second album by Australian Metal band Universum. This album features guest contributions from many high profile musicians within the melodic death metal subgenre, including Christian Älvestam, Ola Frenning (ex-Soilwork), Tommy Tuovinen (MyGRAIN), Marios Iliopoulos (Nightrage), Olof Mörck (Amaranthe), and Paul Wardingham.
Jens Peter Daniel Bogren is a Swedish record producer, mixer and recording engineer specializing in heavy metal music. He has worked on albums by Opeth, Dimmu Borgir, Sepultura, Arch Enemy, At the Gates, Katatonia, Babymetal, Soilwork, James LaBrie, Moonspell, God Forbid, Kreator, Devin Townsend, Ihsahn, Dark Tranquillity, Paradise Lost, Amon Amarth, DragonForce, The Ocean, Haken, Between the Buried and Me, Rotting Christ, Symphony X, Myrath, Angra, Dir En Grey, and Powerwolf, amongst others. Bogren lives in Örebro, Sweden and runs both Fascination Street Studios and Bogren Digital.
Vengeance Descending is a double CD reissue by the Greek/Swedish melodic death metal band, Nightrage. It was released by Century Media Records on 19 November 2010. The Sweet Vengeance disc features the bonus track "Gloomy Daydreams" which is a demo version from either their first or second demo which was only for Japanese releases. The Descent into Chaos disc features the song "Black Skies" which was also the Japanese bonus track for that album. This disc also comes with the previously unreleased track "Gallant Deeds" which was sung entirely by Mikael Stanne.
Trees of Eternity was a Swedish metal band from Örebro that began in 2009 as a musical collaboration between Finnish guitarist Juha Raivio and South African-born Swedish singer Aleah Stanbridge.