History
Whispers in the Shadow was formed as a solo project by Ashley Dayour (vocals, guitars, also known as guitarist for L'Âme Immortelle & Veneno para las Hadas) in 1996.
They soon developed into a full lineup and released their first album, Laudanum in 1997 followed by their second album November in 1999. These two albums are heavily influenced by the sound of The Cure's early recordings such as Pornography .
In 2000, they released the third album A Taste of Decay which was a departure into a more rock oriented sound. This was followed a year later by Permanent Illusions which was very much far from the gothic rock origins of the band. Psychedelic and progressive rock bands such as Pink Floyd had a major influence on the sound of this record.
After touring all over Europe in 2001, they released their first live album called Everything You Knew Was Wrong in 2003, but several lineup and record label changes forced them to take a break.
Whispers in the Shadow returned in 2007 with the live album A-Cold-Night followed by the re-releases of their first two albums Laudanum and November, remastered with new cover artwork and unreleased bonus tracks.
In 2008, they released their fifth studio album called Into the Arms of Chaos. This album can be seen as a new beginning and was produced by John A. Rivers at Woodbine Street Recording Studios. He also worked with bands such as The Chameleons, Clan of Xymox, Love and Rockets, Dead Can Dance and Sopor Aeternus and created a more harsh and powerful but still dark and psychedelic sound, which was described by the press as "Goth-Floyd", a mixture of the traditional gothic rock sound like Fields of the Nephilim with the soundscapes of Pink Floyd.
In 2010, they released The Eternal Arcane, the second part of a 4-piece cycle about the occult concept of alchemy.
In 2011, a live DVD called Searching for Light was released. The band then toured with Vendemmian and Merciful Nuns throughout Europe. In April 2011, they released a 6-track EP, The Lightbringer which includes a cover version of the Leonard Cohen classic "First We Take Manhattan" as well as other unreleased tracks. The main theme of the EP is the fall of the archangel Lucifer. The lyrics are inspired by chaos magic and occult writers such as Austin Osman Spare, Aleister Crowley, Dion Fortune, Kenneth Grant, as well as writers from the Weird Fiction genre like Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Machen and the Cthulhu Mythos by H. P. Lovecraft.
2012 marked the release of their self-produced seventh studio album, which is the third part of the ongoing conceptual cycle, The Rites of Passage, and 2014 marked the release of their eighth studio album, the fourth and final part of the cycle, Beyond the Cycles of Time.
In 2018, the band released their ninth studio album The Urgency of Now and released their tenth album Yesterday Is Forever in 2020.
Fields of the Nephilim are an English gothic rock band formed in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, in 1984. The band's name refers to a Biblical race of angel-human hybrids known as the Nephilim.
Cradle of Filth are an English extreme metal band formed in Suffolk in 1991. The band's musical style evolved originally from black metal to a cleaner and more "produced" amalgam of gothic metal, symphonic metal and other metal genres. Their lyrical themes and imagery are heavily influenced by Gothic literature, poetry, mythology and horror films. The band consists of its founding member, vocalist Dani Filth, drummer Martin 'Marthus' Škaroupka, bassist Daniel Firth, guitarists Marek 'Ashok' Šmerda and Donny Burbage, and keyboardist Zoe Marie Federoff.
Porcupine Tree are an English rock band formed by musician Steven Wilson in 1987. During an initial career spanning more than twenty years, they earned critical acclaim from critics and fellow musicians, developed a cult following, and became an influence for new artists. The group carved out a career at a certain distance away from mainstream music, being described by publications such as Classic Rock and PopMatters as "the most important band you’d never heard of".
Atreyu is an American metalcore band from Yorba Linda, California, formed in 1998. The band currently consists of clean vocalist Brandon Saller, guitarists Dan Jacobs and Travis Miguel, bassist and unclean vocalist Marc "Porter" McKnight, and drummer Kyle Rosa.
Alchemist was an Australian progressive metal band from Canberra whose style combined death metal, progressive rock, psychedelic, Eastern, Aboriginal and electronic influences. The band formed in 1987 and released six studio albums, an EP and a compilation album. Work began on a new EP in 2010 but the band went on an indefinite hiatus and then split up. They are the only group to appear at every Metal for the Brain festival, an event they ran and organised from 1996. Alchemist also played at the Big Day Out and toured Europe several times.
Anders Björler is a Swedish musician, best known as a former guitarist in metal bands The Haunted and At the Gates, alongside his bass-playing twin brother Jonas Björler.
Wildhoney is the fourth studio album from Swedish music group Tiamat. The album was produced by Waldemar Sorychta and released by Century Media records in 1994. Vocalist Johan Edlund and John Hagel were the only two remaining members of Tiamat who were still with the group after their previous album Clouds in 1992. The album was marked a strong change in the style of Tiamat's music with more progressive rock and psychedelic music-influenced music and a less death metal-oriented style. The music on the album deals with the occult, nature, and LSD.
Jeffrey Scott Martin is a Canadian guitarist and singer, best known for fronting the rock band The Tea Party. He began his career as a solo artist in 2005, when The Tea Party went on hiatus.
Anders Nyström, also known as Blakkheim, is a Swedish musician.
H. P. Lovecraft was an American psychedelic rock band, formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1967 and named after the horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. Much of the band's music was possessed of a haunting, eerie ambience, and consisted of material that was inspired by the macabre writings of the author whose name they had adopted. Combining elements of psychedelia and folk rock, the band's sound was marked by the striking vocal harmonies of ex-folk singer George Edwards and the classically trained Dave Michaels. In addition, Michaels' multi-instrumentalist abilities on organ, piano, harpsichord, clarinet and recorder provided the band with a richer sonic palette than many of their contemporaries.
Joey Eppard is a music writer, recording artist, and the lead vocalist and guitarist for the experimental/progressive rock band, 3. He is also the brother of Josh Eppard, the drummer for Coheed and Cambria and former drummer of 3.
Gitane DeMone is an American singer, musician and visual artist. Her career spans more than 30 years. She came to prominence in the mid-1980s as the keyboardist and backing vocalist of the influential death rock band Christian Death. In addition to her work with Christian Death, Demone was previously a member of Pompeii 99, worked with Dreadful Shadows, and has had a solo career which has included three studio albums: Am I Wrong?, Stars of Trash and The Reflecting Shadow.
Moss was a three-piece English doom metal band that formed in 2001. Influenced by H. P. Lovecraft and the occult, songs usually average the 20 minute mark and incorporate dense and otherworldly atmospheres. Despite the use of extreme bass frequencies, Moss features no bass guitarist.
Nox Arcana is the American neoclassical dark wave musical project of Joseph Vargo. The group was founded in 2003 as a duo with William Piotrowski, who left the group in 2008 to pursue a career in film score composing and Vargo continued on as a solo act under the name. Piotrowski still acts as Nox Arcana's studio engineer. The name in Latin translates to "mysteries of the night." All of Nox Arcana's music is released independently on the Monolith Graphics label, a publishing company owned by Vargo. With their third album, Nox Arcana became a Billboard Top Ten charting artist in the holiday genre.
Dreadful Shadows is a German rock band formed in 1993 in Berlin. Initially part of the gothic rock and dark wave movement, the band had developed considerably by the time of the release of their debut album, incorporating metal elements and modern electronics, causing the band to be considered part of the gothic metal genre. Dreadful Shadows disbanded in 2000 to work on separate projects.
Creaming Jesus were an English band, influenced by gothic rock, punk and thrash metal, who formed in London, England. Formed in 1987, their original line up was Andy (vocals) Lil (vocals) Tally (bass) Roy (drums) Lindy (drums) and Paul (guitar). Their original sound was a wall of percussive noise, Slayer type thrash metal guitars and screamed vocals.
Gideon Smith and the Dixie Damned is a band based in North Carolina. Gideon Smith began singing with local bands in the Carolina music scene in 1989. In 1997, he formed "Gideon Smith & The Dixie Damned" with friends Otis Hughes and Boo Duckworth; who were formerly of the PolyGram Records act, Animal Bag. In 1998 they recorded a self-titled EP which was picked up for distribution by 'Game Two Records'. Small Stone Records signed Smith in 1999 after hearing the disc. In 2000, Smith recorded demos at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee.
Jonathan Alejandro Pérez is a Chilean drummer who is currently based in Kristiansand, Norway. He is known for his work with the Norwegian gothic metal and symphonic metal bands Trail of Tears and Sirenia. He is currently the drummer of Green Carnation since 2016.
Tribulation are a Swedish heavy metal band from Arvika that formed in 2005. In early 2009, the band released its debut studio album The Horror. Their second full-length studio album The Formulas of Death was released in 2013. In 2015, they released their third full-length studio album Children of the Night which showed a departure from the death metal sound of their first two albums, drawing significantly on traditional heavy metal, black metal, psychedelic rock, gothic rock, as well as the occult and supernatural mythology.
Arcane Roots were a three-piece alternative rock band from Kingston upon Thames, England, formed in 2006. In its final incarnation, the band consisted of Andrew Groves, Adam Burton (bass), and Jack Wrench (drums).
