deanocity3

Attrition
Attrition is an electronic music band, formed in Coventry, England in 1980 by Martin Bowes and Julia Niblock. Influenced by punk's do-it-yourself aesthetic, Attrition appeared on compilation cassettes featuring contemporaries such as Portion Control, Konstruktivits, Chris and Cosey, Legendary Pink Dots, Nurse With Wound, Metamorphosis et al. However, while associated with the industrial scene, the band found it difficult to attract an appreciative audience.

Their early post-punk stylings soon gave way to a distinctive electro-acoustic sound.[citation needed] This was based on Martin's deep growl, Julia's fretless bass work and breathy sub-operatic vocals, and a backline of electronic instrumentation, comprising analogue synthesizers (including a Korg MonoPoly and Korg MS20), sequencer (Roland MC202), drum machine (Roland TR808), and various effects units.

"At first, there wasn't the same sort of scene and we were in more of an 'industrial' thing. There was nothing like the clubs you get now, it was actually quite difficult to play anywhere that would appreciate you. It's a lot easier now, it's not just Goth, it's a mix - Darkwave or whatever. That's gotten stronger, so that has helped, but really, we were there before it was built."

In 1979, Martin started a zeroxed fanzine called "Alternative Sounds", to document the Coventry music scene (including such notables as The Specials and Furious Apples). The fanzine ran for 18 issues until 1981, and culminated in a vinyl compilation, "Sent from Coventry" (on Cherry Red records) and a brief appearance on the BBC's Something Else programme. During this time, Martin met Julia at a local gig and Attrition was formed; the initial line-up included Martin's brother Chris on guitar, who left in 1981 to join the army, and Julia's brother Ashley Niblock (who would become another mainstay) on synthesizer.

Two early home recordings, "Fear" and "Devoid", were issued in 1982 as a flex-disc given away with the "Adventures in Reality" fanzine run by Alan Rider (later of Stress and Dance Naked), who would provide the band's visuals for live shows. Two experimental electronic soundtracks ("Crawling" and "Dead of Night") were released as the "Death House" cassette (later reissued on vinyl by Hamster Records as "This Death House"). Also in 1982, Gary Levermore included an Attrition track ("The Visitor") on the first volume of his "Rising from the Red Sands" series of compilation tapes, beginning a long running association with Gary and his Third Mind label (formerly Tone Death).

In 1983, Attrition received their first exposure in the national music press through a review by Dave Henderson in his "Wild Planet" column in Sounds, which led to their "Dreamsleep" track appearing on Henderson's compilation "The Elephant Table Album", the band's first vinyl appearance. A postal collaboration with Seattle-based improvisational collective Audio Leter led to the "Action and Reaction" cassette release for Adventures in Reality. Attrition's first London concert followed, with a support slot for Coil. Martin currenty teaches music at Tile Hill college in coventry

Albums

(1982) Death House
(1983) Action and Reaction
(1984) The Attrition of Reason
(1985) Smiling, at The Hypogonder Club
(1986) In the Realm of the Hungry Ghosts (a compilation of remixed early material)
(1988) At the Fiftieth Gate
(1991) A Tricky Business
(1993) The Hidden Agenda
(1995) Ephemera
(1996) 3 Arms and a Dead Cert
(1997) Etude (early works performed by a chamber orchestra)
(1999) The Jeopardy Maze
(2000) Heretic Angels Live
(2000) The Hand that Feeds
(2004) Dante's Kitchen
(2006) Tearing Arms from Deities (25 year anniversary collection of rare, remastered and remixed

All About Eve
Former members
Julianne Regan
Andy Cousin
All About Eve is a British rock/pop band. The creative core consists of Coventry-born Julianne Regan (vocals) and Andy Cousin (bass guitar), with other members changing over the years.
Julianne Regan, a former journalist, played bass in an early line-up of Gothic rock group Gene Loves Jezebel before leaving to join All About Eve, previously known as the Swarm. The initial core of All About Eve was Regan, guitarist Tim Bricheno, and bassist Andy Cousin from Aemotti Crii. As a three-piece (plus a drum machine), they released a series of independent singles in the mid 1980s including "D For Desire", "In The Clouds" and "Flowers In Our Hair". After Julianne sang backing vocals for The Mission's God's Own Medicine album, the band received greater attention and were signed to Phonogram. Drummer Mark Price was added around this time.
Debut and Other Stories; chart success
Their self-titled debut album was produced by Paul Samwell-Smith and released in 1988, it produced the UK hit single "Martha's Harbour".

The album itself reached #7 on the United Kingdom album charts, with much of its lyrical material drawing from hippie ideals, white magic and dreamlike fairy tales, the album's gentle folk rock-inspired pop sound won the band many fans (nicknamed "angels"). Their music is sometimes considered gothic rock by the media, some fans claim the band did not play gothic rock after 1986, though are connected mostly due to the engagements of the band members in the musical scene of the time who had left All About Eve.

In a well known incident, the band later performed a dubbed version of "Martha's Harbour" on the BBC1 television show Top Of The Pops, but, owing to a studio technical error, the taped vocals were broadcast without the band being able to hear them, resulting in the TV audience hearing the recorded version of the song, while the band members sat motionless on screen waiting for their cue to begin. By way of compensation the band were invited back on to the show the following week, and this time their performance passed off smoothly.

The following year, their second album Scarlet and Other Stories was released, and the band toured around the UK, it was another top 10 hit for the band. Widely prevalent on this album were Regan's somber, highly melancholic moods. Painful chance encounters with love also appeared on the lyrical front, and it is this motif (and period of time) which was to greatly paint the picture for the future of the band as well.

Adorable were a British rock band of the 1990s. They formed in Coventry in 1991, and consisted of band members Piotr Fijalkowski (vocals, guitar), Robert Dillam (guitar), Wil (bass), and Kevin Gritton (drums).

After recording a 12" of "Sunshine Smile" ("I'll Be Your Saint" & "Breathless" on the b-side) that was pressed up to be released on record producer Pat Collier's 'Money To Burn' label the band received a gushing review in the NME. The single was never released. They signed to Creation Records in 1992, and after a UK tour supporting Curve they released their first single a re-recording of "Sunshine Smile" in May of that year. Distancing themselves from the Shoegaze movement, by attempting to be more outspoken than traditional shoegazers, Adorable were briefly seen along with other bands Suede and The Verve as being a part of a new movement tagged 'New Glam', a label attributed to Fijalkowski's assertion that "we want to put the glamour back into pop". "Sunshine Smile" was NME's Single of the Week, and topped the Indie Singles chart as well as entering the mainstream UK single top 100 charts for three weeks. A backlash in the press against the band's outspoken image immediately followed, and the band were never to be interviewed in the mainstream UK press after their debut single. The band released "I'll be your saint", "Homeboy" and Sistine Chapel Ceiling" (NME single of the Week), which all went into the Top 5 in the Indie charts, but failed to enter the mainstream Top 75. The Album "Against Perfection" released in 1993 went #70 in the album charts, and the band toured the USA, Europe, Australia & Japan.

The second album "Fake", was seen as a far more introspective album, which Fijalkowski himself suggests was the result of the band feeling vulnerable. Although the two singles "Kangaroo Court" & "Vendetta" again entered high in the Indie Singles chart, the album failed to dent the mainstream Top75, and strained relations both within the band and with Creation resulted in the band announcing their split onstage in Brussels in late 1994.

In subsequent years, the band has been re-classified as being part of the shoegazing movement. Bands such as Ash & Oasis have in the past acknowledged their admiration of the band.

Subsequent to the band's demise Robert Dillam moved to Scotland where he joined The Zephyrs, whilst Fijalkowski went on to form the band Polak, who signed to One Little Indian Records, though now crediting himself with the anglicised version of his name Pete Fijalkowski.
Singles
Sunshine Smile (1992)
I'll Be Your Saint (1992)
Homeboy (1992)
Sistine Chapel Ceiling (1993)
Favourite Fallen Idol (1993)
Kangaroo Court (1994)
Vendetta (1994)

Broken Dolls

Broken Dolls are a British band from Coventry. They gained a reputation after coming second in BBC Radio 1's new band competition. This competition led them to play at the Glastonbury Festival, and they have received a five-album deal

The band was also featured on the E! True Hollywood Story of Kate Moss, and feautred their song, "Here We Go Again," in reference of Kate's drug problem.

Their forthcoming album has been produced by Jim Abbiss (Arctic Monkeys, Kasabian, Editors) and Jagz Kooner (Primal Scream, Infadels).

Broken Dolls are: Neil Lole, Jay Langdell, Vas Stylianos, Ashley Hancock and Chris Pemberton.

"Here We Go Again" was also featured on the Test Drive Unlimited soundtrack.

Bolt Thrower are a death metal band from Coventry, England. They formed in 1986 and released their first album with Vinyl Solution in 1988. They then shifted to a new record label, Earache Records, soon becoming one of the best selling bands on that label. Their current label is Metal Blade Records. The band has had a succession of members and have toured Europe, the United States and Australia.

The band takes its name from a weapon in the popular tabletop strategy game Warhammer Fantasy Battle. The lyrics and artwork of their second and third album were based on Warhammer as well as its futuristic companion Warhammer 40,000, with much of the art actually being provided by the game's publisher, Games Workshop. The general theme of their lyrics is war and its consequences.

Bolt Thrower were formed in September 1986 as a hardcore and thrash metal band, influenced largely by thrash bands such as Slayer and hardcore punk bands like Crass and Discharge[1]. The band was founded by bassist Gavin Ward and guitarist Barry Thompson in a Coventry pub toilet during a hardcore punk gig. Shortly thereafter Andrew Whale and Alan West joined on drums and vocals respectively. In April 1987 the In Battle There Is No Law demo was recorded with this line-up.

Their second recording was the Concession of Pain demo, which they made in September of 1987. Gavin had switched to guitars and they recruited Alex Tweedy to play the bass. However, Alex did not show up for the recording, and so Gavin played both guitar and bass for the demo. Two weeks after the recording session, Gavin's girlfriend Jo Bench replaced Tweedy.

With this line-up they recorded their first Peel session on January 3, 1988, with John Peel, the alternative disk jockey of BBC Radio One[2]. He had received their second demo and became enthusiastic about the band. They recorded four tracks for it, resulting in a deal with Vinyl Solution to release one album. Just before the recording of their first full-length album, they replaced their singer with their driver Karl Willetts. Their debut LP, In Battle there is no Law is only a half hour in length and has a primitive and raw sound
The cover of the 1989 album Realm of Chaos, similar to the cover of Rogue Trader, the first edition of Warhammer 40,000They were not satisfied with the deal with Vinyl Solution as it was a pure hardcore label at that time. The label did little promotion for Bolt Thrower and their blend of death metal and hardcore punk, so after one album Bolt Thrower decided to leave Vinyl Solution and were signed by Earache Records. Earache Records had also signed many other death metal bands including Carcass and Napalm Death. The band worked a little on their style and changed to playing faster, more aggressive and powerful songs, becoming more of a deathgrind band. The production of this album was not great, though it was an improvement on previous attempts. The artwork was done by Games Workshop (they produce games such as Warhammer) as a gaming supplement they produced had a similar name to the album Bolt Thrower was about to release. After Games Workshop heard the recording of the songs for Bolt Thrower's second Peel session, which was recorded on 6 November 1988[2], they offered to do the expensive artwork for Bolt Thrower's album. The band accepted this offer. The record was released in 1989 with the title of Realm of Chaos and with the subtitle Slaves To Darkness. Most of the lyrics to the songs were also influenced by the game, but not merely because of the deal with Games Workshop. Karl, Andy and Gavin were very much into the games Games Workshop produced and they wrote a couple of songs about these games. Some obvious examples are "Plague Bearer" and "World Eater". Most lyrics can however be projected on war, the general theme Bolt Thrower uses. After the recording of Realm of Chaos they went on the Grindcrusher Tour with label mates Napalm Death, Carcass and Morbid Angel. On the Cenotaph EP one song ("Realm of Chaos") appears that is recorded during this tour. This EP also features the two CD-bonus tracks from War Master and Realm of Chaos plus the song "Cenotaph".

Continuing, they recorded their third and final Peel session on 22 July, 1990[2]. On this three songs from the upcoming album were performed in raw versions as well as "Lost Souls Domain" off Realm Of Chaos. Next step in the history of Bolt Thrower was the album titled War Master. This album is very ingenious, they took out the grindcore influences becoming more death metal band. They put in some more skills in playing and making it all sound far more sophisticated. And this time the production was done skilfully. It was recorded, as the previous album in the Slaughterhouse studios, which burned down two weeks after the recordings were completed. Again Games Workshop offered to do their artwork; however as it was considered too expensive, Bolt Thrower declined the offer. The former head-designer of Games Workshop would do the artwork, resulting in quite similar artwork as that of Realm of Chaos. For the U.S. tour they did to promote the War Master album, they used an old US school bus as tour bus, loaded with many computer games. All three Peel Sessions were then released on one CD named The Peel Sessions 1988-90 in 1991.

Their next step was the albumThe IVth Crusade. The title has a double meaning, as it was their fourth studio album (not counting the Peel sessions), but the album title also refers to the Fourth Crusade and the capturing of Constantinople. The cover artwork is a painting from Eugène Delacroix, showing "The Entry of the Crusaders in Constantinople".

They downtuned their guitars even more and wrote slower songs which were heavier and more bombastic. It leans more towards doom metal influenced by bands like Candlemass, in combination with their own massive death metal sound. The album was followed by the tour World Crusade with the Polish death metal act Vader and the Swedish death metal band Grave in Europe. The band toured the US again as well as Australia. During this time a single was released called Spearhead containing a very heavy, extended remix of the CD track "Spearhead" plus two new tracks and "Dying Creed" off the album.

Band logoClassic line-up (from 1988 to 1994):

Karl Willetts : Vocals
Gavin Ward : Guitar
Barry Thompson : Guitar
Jo Bench : Bass guitar
Andy Whale : Drums
Their next album is called ...For Victory and was released in 1994. It was the final album with Karl Willetts and Andrew Whale. Both left the band because of changing life directions[3]. The latest American tour did not go well, they returned home prematurely and by this time the band was quite fed-up with touring. They too made a partial return to their Hardcore/thrash metal roots, whilst not forgetting their doom influences, though the vocals tended to sound a bit different: less growling, but more hardcore punk styled; they were somewhat more like hoarse screaming, especially on "When Glory Beckons" and "Armageddon Bound". A limited edition of the album exists containing a bonus Live CD, called War (sometimes called "Live War"). After the album release Karl Willetts was replaced by Dutchman Martin van Drunen, and Martin Kearns, who took over the drum kit.
In 1995 and 1996 the band did two European tours[4]. Then in 1997, Martin van Drunen decided to leave the band again as he had never felt he really became a part of Bolt Thrower, and also because he got a disease that made his hair fall out due to which he felt insecure on stage[5]. For at least one show in Germany long time friend Dave Ingram stood in. Martin Kearns decided to leave again. The position at the drum kit is now taken by Alex Thomas. Karl Willetts temporarily rejoined the band to do the vocal duties on the next album. The band switched record labels from Earache to Metal Blade Records, because since the US ...For Victory tour they had seen a lack of success with Earache. Earache had also wanted to get rid of them and Bolt Thrower wanted to leave Earache as soon as possible, so they parted company.

The album titled Mercenary was released on 8 September 1998 in Europe and on 10 November 1998 in the USA, and features 9 tracks. It is over all a bit slower than its predecessors. However, it is definitely very heavy and sounds very much Bolt Thrower. And Karl returned to perform his previous style of singing; the hardcore punk influences have disappeared again. After the album recording, Karl left the band again and the band have recruited Dave Ingram permanently after he left Benediction.

In November 1998, Earache Records released Who Dares Wins, an album featuring various older recordings, including the songs from the Spearhead EP and Cenotaph EP. The band themselves do not agree with the release this album, as it is a cheap cash-in from Earache and they warn not to buy it. Originally, it was titled No Guts - No Glory but the title was changed because one song on Mercenary has the same title and Metal Blade objected. Following the release of the album a European tour was done, called Into the Killing Zone with Dave Ingram on vocals[4].

After a short European tour in 2001 (only 5 dates)[4], they started to work on a new album. Honour - Valour - Pride was released in late 2001 on Metal Blade and shows a progression from the direction taken on Mercenary. It contains 9 tracks; the digipak has one bonus track. Martin Kearns is now back with the band after he settled his things in his life. Alex Thomas departed since he lacked interest in the musical direction of Bolt Thrower.

In 2004 the band began working on new material for their latest album. They intended to record it in the May of 2004, with the release set to the end of the year by Metal Blade. Meanwhile a European tour and a US tour were prepared. Unfortunately, right before the recording could begin, Dave Ingram decided to leave, due to health and personal issues[6]. This put off the new record and tours, and priority was set to finding a new singer. On 18 November 2004, the band announced the return of Karl Willetts. Recording of the album, titled Those Once Loyal, started in May 2005; it was released on 11 November in Germany, 14 November in the rest of Europe and 15 November in the USA 2005. It has been met with widespread critical acclaim from magazines such as Rock Sound, Rock Hard and Metal Hammer. A European tour followed in January and February 2006[4] A second leg followed in April, with dates in Scandinavia, UK, Spain and more[4]. A US tour was planned to take place later in the year, however lack of financial support from the label forced the band to cancel these plans[7]. The band are now considering leaving Metal Blade, although they are currently continuing to work on an (as yet untitled) new album. [7].

Meanwhile, Earache has coincided the release of Those Once Loyal with a re-release of the Realm of Chaos featuring new artwork. The band encourage people not to buy it as (like Who Dares Wins) it was released without their consultation let alone consent. Furthermore, it has been alleged that the band has not received royalties from Earache for a number of years[8].

[edit] Members

[edit] Current line-up
Barry (Baz) Thomson - Rhythm/Lead guitar (1986 -)
Gavin Ward - Rhythm guitar (Bass on demos) (1986 -)
Jo Bench - Bass guitar (1987 -)
Martin (Kiddie) Kearns - Drums (1994 - 1997, 2000 - )
Karl Willetts - Vocals (1987 - 1994, 2004 -)

[edit] Former members
Alex Tweedy - Bass guitar (1987)
Alan West - Vocals (1986 - 1988)
Dave Ingram - Vocals (1997, 1998 - 2004)
Martin van Drunen - Vocals (1995 - 1997)
Alex Thomas - Drums (1997 - 1999)
Andrew (Andy) Whale - Drums (1986 - 1994)

[edit] Discography

[edit] Demos
In Battle There Is No Law (self-released cassette, 1987)
Concession Of Pain (self-released cassette, 1987)

[edit] Studio Albums
In Battle there is no Law (Vinyl Solution, 1988)
Realm of Chaos - Slaves to Darkness (Earache MOSH13, 1989)
Cenotaph (EP) (Earache MOSH33, 1990)
War Master (Earache MOSH29, 1991)
The IVth Crusade (Earache MOSH70, 1992)
Spearhead (EP) (Earache MOSH73, 1993)
...For Victory (Earache MOSH120, 1994)
Mercenary (Metal Blade, 1998)
Honour - Valour - Pride (Metal Blade, 2001)
Those Once Loyal (Metal Blade, 2005)

Cathedral

Coventry, England
Members Lee Dorrian
Garry Jennings
Leo Smee
Brian Dixon

The band was founded in 1989 by Lee Dorrian (a former member of Napalm Death), Mark 'Griff' Griffiths (a former Carcass roadie) and Garry 'Gaz' Jennings (formerly of Acid Reign). At first they played very heavy and slow doom metal that was released through Earache. They later incorporated elements of stoner rock and progressive rock into their sound and some of their albums were released through Dorrian's own label, Rise Above Records.

In 1989 Lee Dorrian left his former band Napalm Death mainly because he was getting sick of the punk scene and did not like the death metal direction Napalm Death was heading towards. Cathedral was formed after Lee Dorrian and Mark Griffiths met and discussed their love for doom bands like Candlemass, Dream Death, Pentagram, Trouble, and of course Witchfinder General (who Dorrian would later name a song after). Thus, Cathedral was born as a death/doom band on their first releases, but overtime became what many consider to be "modern doom metal" and today, they are a stoner/groove metal band with some doom influences.

The only original band members in the current line-up are Lee Dorrian and Garry 'Gaz' Jennings on guitars, although Jennings did once leave the band in their early history, only to rejoin shortly afterwards.

Their most recent album, The Garden of Unearthly Delights, is a scratch and sniff CD - rubbing the CD itself (printed with an apple) will produce the smell of apples. The CD getting warm in certain CD players will also produce this effect. However, the smell does wear off after a while and starts to emit an odour more like celery than apples - whether this is intentional or not is unknown.

Lee Dorrian - Vocals
Garry Jennings - Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Backing Vocals and Drums
Leo Smee - Bass
Brian Dixon - Drums
Former members
Mark Griffiths - Bass
Adam Lehan - Guitar
Ben Mochrie - Drums
Mike Smail - Drums
Mark Wharton - Drums, Whistle and Flute
Scott Carlson - Bass
Victor Griffin - Guitar
Joe Hasselvander - Drums
Barry Stern - Drums
Dave Hornyak - Drums

Forest of Equilibrium (1991)
The Ethereal Mirror (1993)
The Carnival Bizarre (1995)
Supernatural Birth Machine (1996)
Caravan Beyond Redemption (1998)
Endtyme (2001)
The VIIth Coming (2002)
The Garden of Unearthly Delights (2005)

Singles and EPs
Soul Sacrifice (1992, EP) (Also featured as 1/4 of the Gods of Grind Earache CD)
Grim Luxuria (1993, Single)
Midnight Mountain (1993, Single)
Ride (1993, Single)
Twylight Songs (1993, Single)
Cosmic Requiem (1994, EP)
In Memorium (1994, EP)
Statik Majik (1994, EP)
Hopkins (The Witchfinder General) (1996, EP)
Gargoylian (2001, Single)

Other releases
In Memoriam Reissue (2000, Reissue, EP)
Statik Majik/Soul Sacrifice (1999, Reissue)
Our God Has Landed (2001, DVD)

Piczo