Divine shelves

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Divine shelves
General information
origin Dover , New Hampshire , United States
Genre (s) Progressive metal
founding 1991, 2014
resolution 1997 or later
Current occupation
Dwight Hill
Gary Leighton
Jason Keazer
Chris Anderson
Electric guitar
 James Fairchild
Frank Couture
former members
Electric guitar
 Daniel Elliott
Electric bass
 Shawn Marcotte

Divine Regale is an American progressive metal band from Dover , New Hampshire that was formed in 1991, disbanded around 1997 and has been active again since 2014.

history

The band was founded in 1991 when guitarist Gary Leighton and drummer Chris Anderson decided to form a band. Shortly afterwards, Daniel Elliott was joined by a second guitarist, before a singer was found in Dwight Hill in 1992. All four members had known each other since high school . A first demo was recorded, which the group hoped for more local appearances. Jason Keyzer was added as keyboardist towards the end of the year, before Frank Couture on bass completed the line-up a little later. The EP Horizons was recorded within four to five months and completed towards the end of 1994. The EP was handed over to Brian Slagel of Metal Blade Records , who then decided to sign the band and release the song Cry to Heaven on the label sampler Metal Massacre XII . In 1997 the debut album Ocean Mind was released by Metal Blade Records. In their first creative period, the band was also able to do a four-week tour with Fates Warning on the east coast of the United States . An official breakup of the group was not announced after the album was released, rather their activity came to a standstill at some point. The band has been active again since 2014. The start-up can be traced back to a barbecue evening by the members in which all alumni took part, which led to them playing old Divine Regale songs and cover songs. Then they started writing new songs. They interrupted the writing process to prepare for a performance as opening act for Queensrÿche and the Scorpions . After that, the band continued to write new songs. The line-up now consists of the well-known members Dwight Hill (vocals), Frank Couture (electric bass), Jason Keazer (keyboard), Chris Anderson (drums) and Gary Leighton (electric guitar) as well as the new guitarist James Fairchild. The latter, however, has been a long-time friend of the group and had already helped out on bass in 1993 at a gig that had been booked as a supporting act for Dream Theater .

style

According to b_olariu from progarchives.com , the band was influenced by Queensrÿche and Marillion in the times of Steve Hogarth . This makes her comparable with these two groups, with the latter especially during his creative period in the 1990s, as well as with Fates Warning. Wolfgang Schäfer from Rock Hard wrote in his review of Horizons that comparisons to Dream Theater are wrong because the songs are on a high level, but calmer. The quieter way of playing can be attributed to the mostly balanced relationship between keyboard and electric guitars. Musically, the band moves between progressive rock and metal. In a later issue, Schäfer reviewed Ocean Mind and assigned it to Progressive Metal. The singing is mostly high, but a bit thin. Musically, the group managed to walk the tightrope between bombast and kitsch. Stylistically, there is a proximity to Crimson Glory . In another issue it was written that the album can be classified between Crimson Glory and Fates Warning. In an interview with the magazine, Chris Anderson named Fates Warning, old Queensrÿche, Dream Theater and Yes as influences on the band. He was able to confirm sonic parallels to Crimson Glory. His personal influences in childhood were Kiss and then Ozzy Osbourne and Judas Priest . Tore Wijnfurth from Metal Hammer also reviewed the album and recommended it to fans of Queensrÿche, Dream Theater, Fates Warning, Magellan and a little Rush . The band was inspired by these bands and processed these influences with a technically demanding playing style into something of their own.

Discography

  • 1992: Window (demo, self-published)
  • 1994: Horizons (EP, self-published)
  • 1997: Ocean Mind (album, Metal Blade Records )

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Divine shelves . Against the current. In: Rock Hard . No. 126 , November 1997, p. 76 .
  2. ↑ a b b_olariu (Bogdan): Divine Regale biography. progarchives.com, accessed December 30, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Stefan Glas: Divine shelves . It started with the barbecue. In: Rock Hard . No. 358 , March 2017, p. 76 .
  4. ↑ Wolfgang Schäfer: Divine shelves . Horizons. In: Rock Hard . No. 90 , November 1994, pp. 81 .
  5. ↑ Wolfgang Schäfer: Divine shelves . Ocean Mind. In: Rock Hard . No. 122 , July 1997, p. 108 .
  6. ↑ gates Wijnfurth: Divine Regale . Ocean Mind. In: Metal Hammer . July 1997, p. 49 .