Church of Misery
| Church of Misery | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| General information | |
| origin | Shinjuku , Japan |
| Genre (s) | Doom metal |
| founding | 1995 |
| Website | http://www.churchofmisery.net/ |
| Current occupation | |
| Tatsu Mikami | |
| Eric Little | |
| Scott Carlson | |
| David Szulkin | |
| former members | |
Drums |
Hideki Shimizu |
Electric guitar |
Tomohiro Nishimura |
singing |
Kazuhiro Asaeda |
singing |
Nobukazu Chow |
singing |
Yoshiaki Negishi |
Electric guitar |
Osamu Hamada |
Electric guitar |
Takenori Hoshi |
Electric guitar |
Tom Sutton |
Electric guitar |
Kensuke Suto |
Drums |
Junji Narita |
singing |
Hideki Fukasawa |
Electric guitar |
Ikuma Kawabe |
Church of Misery is a Japanese doom metal band from Shinjuku that was formed in 1995.
history
The band was formed in the spring of 1995 by bassist Tatsu Mikami after his previous band Salem broke up. Initially still a solo project, guitarist Tomohiro Nishimura, drummer Hideki Shimizu and singer Kazuhiro Asaeda joined the cast in 1995. From April to June 1996 the group recorded their first demo with ADV.1996 . This was sent to various fanzines , labels and other bands. Doom Records became aware of the demo and released it under the name Vol. 1 without the band's approval . However, this enabled the group to increase its awareness. Ten years later, Vol. 1 was officially released on Leaf Hound Records . In 1997, Cornucopia Records released the split release Doomsday Recitation , on which Church of Misery and the Japanese groups Eternal Elysium, Millarca and Berenice could be heard. At that time, singer Nobukazu Chow had already joined the band as a new member. In 1998 the EP Taste the Pain followed on Bad Acid Records and the split release Born Too Late together with the Canadian band Sheavy . In addition, the group now held regular appearances mainly in the Tokyo area.
In 2000, the line-up around Mikami changed significantly: Yoshiaki Negishi was added as the new singer, while Junji Narita now played the drums. In 2001 the debut album Master of Brutality followed via Southern Lord . Shortly after the release, guitarist Nishimura left the band and was replaced by Takenori Hoshi. Three years later, the singer Negishi left and was replaced by Hideki Fukasawa. In 2004 the second album The Second Coming followed on Diwphalanx Records . This was followed by tours through the USA and Europe , playing with groups such as Saint Vitus , Cathedral , EyeHateGod , Electric Wizard , Orange Goblin , Firebird , The Gates of Slumber , Death Row and Angel Witch . The band also played at the Dutch Roadburn Festival , the French Hellfest and the Maryland Deathfest . Their first appearances outside of Japan took place in the spring of 2005.
In 2006 the guitarist Hoshi left the band for personal reasons and was replaced by the Australian Tom Sutton. Sutton, who had already taken part in the band's performances and was therefore a fan of the band, was already familiar with almost all of the songs at the first rehearsals. The group then wrote on their third album, which was released in 2009 under the name Houses of the Unholy on Rise Above Records . Shortly after the album was finished, singer Fukasawa left the band, whereupon Yoshiaki Negishi returned to the band. This was followed by tours through Europe and the USA, including playing together with EyeHateGod. After that, guitarist Tom Sutton left the band to move to England . However, since the group had problems finding a suitable successor, Sutton stayed in the band for the time being, before they signed a suitable replacement in 2012 with Kensuke Suto. In 2011 the band had previously played at the Tuska Open Air Metal Festival . After Suto was added, the band went on another European tour. The group also took part in the Inferno Metal Festival Norway . After the tour, Church of Misery separated from Suto and also from singer Negishi. Hideki Fukasawa then returned to the band as a singer, while Ikuma Kawabe joined the band as a new guitarist in late May 2012. Then the band began work on the next album, which was finished on January 26th. The album was released in the same year under the name Thy Kingdom Scum on Rise Above Records in the UK and on Metal Blade Records in the USA. The name of the album is based on the title of the song Kingdom Scum from Vol. 1 . The album also included a cover version of the song One Blind Mice , originally by Quatermass .
style
According to the band's biography, the group was initially influenced by doom metal bands such as Saint Vitus and Black Sabbath and rock bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s such as Leaf Hound , November , Gun , May Blitz and Blue Öyster Cult . From the year 2000 the band used live analog synthesizers and increasingly brought influences from Krautrock and Psychedelic Rock . According to the Myspace page, the group was lyrically influenced by Charles Manson and serial killers like Jeffrey Dahmer and Richard Ramírez . According to Garry Sharpe-Young in his book AZ of Doom, Gothic and Stoner Metal , the band also made songs about serial killers like Graham Young , Ed Gein , John Wayne Gacy , Herbert Mullin , Peter William Sutcliffe , Edmund Emil Kemper and Gary Ridgway . According to Greg Prato from Allmusic , the group was musically influenced by bands like Black Sabbath, Kyuss and Saint Vitus. According to Robert Müller from Metal Hammer, the band plays Doom Metal on Master of Brutality , with a beat that is powerfully sluggish. The music is comparable to that of EyeHateGod. Detlef Dengler from Metal Hammer compared the band in his review of House of the Unholy with regard to the song content with Macabre , which would also mainly be dedicated to serial killers. The use of voice samples is also characteristic. Dengler went on to comment on the album: “The mixture of Black Sabbath Doom, mangy seventies list, pig toughness and a morbid atmosphere sounds overwhelmingly authentic, almost malicious”. According to Petra Schurer from Metal Hammer , the band on Thy Kingdom Scum is also dedicated to the topic of mass murderers, whereby the band also plays Doom Metal here, comparable to the music of Black Sabbath. In addition, psychedelic impact can also be heard.
Discography
- ADV.1996 (demo, 1996, self-published)
- Doomsday Recitation (Split with Eternal Elysium, Millarca and Berenice, 1997, Cornucopia Records )
- Taste the Pain (EP, 1998, Bad Acid Records )
- Born Too Late (Split with Sheavy , 1998, Game Two Records )
- Live Beyond the East (Live album, 1998, self-published)
- Murder Company (EP, 1999, Man's Ruin Records )
- Iron Monkey / Church of Misery (Split with Iron Monkey , 1999, Man's Ruin Records)
- Master of Brutality (album, 2001, Southern Lord )
- Boston Strangler (EP, 2002, Kult of Nihilow Records )
- Acrimony / Church of Misery (Split with Acrimony , 2003, Game Two Records)
- The Second Coming (album, 2004, Diwphalanx Records )
- Early Works Compilation (Compilation, 2004, Leaf Hound Records )
- Wizard's Convention (DVD, 2005, Diwphalanx Records)
- Wizard's Convention (Split-DVD with Eternal Elysium , Boris and Greenmachine, 2005, Diwphalanx Records)
- Houses of the Unholy (DVD, 2006, Diwphalanx Records)
- Live in Red, Eurotour 2005 (DVD, 2006, Salvation Records )
- Church of Misery / Sourvein (Split with Sourvein , 2006, Dada Drumming Records )
- Sourvein / Church of Misery (Split with Sourvein, 2006, Calculon Records )
- Church of Misery / Deer Creek (Split with Deer Creek, 2007, Game Two Records)
- Vol. 1 (EP, 2007, Leaf Hound Records)
- Dennis Nilsen (EP, 2008, Kult of Nihilow Records)
- Houses of the Unholy (album, 2009, Rise Above Records )
- Greetings from Jonestown (EP, 2009, A Pile of Dirt Music )
- Live at Roadburn 2009 (Live album, 2010, Roadburn Records )
- Thy Kingdom Scum (Album, 2013, Rise Above Records (Great Britain) / Metal Blade Records (USA))
- And Then There Where None ... (Album, 2016, Rise Above Records)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Bio. Myspace , archived from the original on November 11, 2012 ; accessed on March 15, 2014 .
- ↑ AT THE GATES, ARCH ENEMY, EXODUS, MESHUGGAH Confirmed For Finland's TUSKA Festival. Blabbermouth.net , accessed March 15, 2014 .
- ↑ TRIPTYKON Confirmed For Norway's INFERNO Festival. Blabbermouth.net, accessed March 15, 2014 .
- ↑ a b Taka Okuno: Biography. churchofmisery.net, accessed March 15, 2014 .
- ↑ Garry Sharpe-Young : AZ of Doom, Gothic and Stoner Metal . Cherry Red Books, London 2003, ISBN 1-901447-14-6 , pp. 88 f .
- ^ Greg Prato: Church of Misery. Allmusic , accessed March 15, 2014 .
- ^ Robert Müller: Church of Misery . Master of Brutality. In: Metal Hammer . May 2001, p. 88 .
- ↑ Detlef Dengler: Church of Misery . House of the Unholy. In: Metal Hammer . July 2009, p. 98 .
- ^ Petra Schurer: Church of Misery . Thy Kingdom Scum. In: Metal Hammer . July 2013, p. 77 .