Ephel Duath
Ephel Duath was an Italian avant-garde metal band, formed in 1998 in Padova, Italy. They have had a constantly changing lineup, with guitarist and songwriter Davide Tiso being the only original member. To date, they have released one demo, five studio albums and two remix albums. Their most recent studio album, Hemmed by Light, Shaped by Darkness, was released in 2013.
Ephel Duath was formed in 1998 as a two-man group and taking their name after the fictional mountain range in J.R.R. Tolkien's book The Lord of the Rings. Their debut release was Phormula, on Code666. Following Phormula's release, they signed to Elitist Records (a sub-division of Earache), and repackaged the debut with three tracks from the 1998 demo, Opera, and two remixes. The album was released in 2001 as Rephormula.
Founder Davide Tiso recruited a diverse set of musicians with backgrounds in hardcore punk, progressive rock, jazz, blues, funk and pop. The first album with this lineup was 2003's The Painter's Palette. The album showcased an unorthodox combination of hardcore punk and jazz fusion. In an interview in May 2003, Kerrang! magazine described the band as "supermodels playing The Dillinger Escape Plan".
A new album, Pain Necessary to Know, was released in late 2005. After recording the album, drummer Davide Piovesan quit the band, and was replaced first by Sergio Ponti in 2006 and then by Andrea Rabuini in 2007. Ephel Duath later dismissed bassist Fabio Fecchio, with the band stating that they would intended to remain a trio to "explore more experimental music dimensions".
On November 27, 2008, Ephel Duath announced that Luciano George Lorusso had quit the band and had been replaced by professional poker player Guillermo Gonzales. They also released a new song, Guardian, on their MySpace webpage. In January 2009, Ephel Duath released Through My Dog's Eyes, featuring drummer Marco Minnemann and The Dillinger Escape Plan's Ben Weinman. Weinman composed electronics on the song Bark Loud. On June 4, 2009, Davide Tiso announced that Ephel Duath had parted ways with Earache Records and that he was "thrilled" to be off the label.
From the band's departure from Earache until late 2011, Tiso was the sole member of Ephel Duath. He explained that this was due to the cost of hiring musicians out of his own pocket. He claimed to have received only $400 from his record label. Regarding how the financial difficulties affected the band, Tiso said that the former members of Ephel Duath "were often complaining, without even realizing how many problems I was hiding in front of their eyes. Now it's just me, and I'm pretty comfortable like this."
In November 2011, Tiso announced (via Facebook) that Ephel Duath signed with Agonia Records (Poland) for the release of an EP and two full-length albums. The EP, called On Death and Cosmos was recorded in January 2012 at Sharkbyte Studios in Oakland, California and released in the summer of 2012. Erik Rutan mixed the album at his Mana Recording Studio and Alan Douches mastered it at West West Side Music in New York. In December 2011, a new lineup was announced consisting of Karyn Crisis (Tiso's wife), Steve DiGiorgio and Marco Minnemann (who has previously worked with the band).
The band completed their fifth full length album, Hemmed by Light, Shaped by Darkness, again with producer Erik Rutan at Mana Recording Studios, and released it in late 2013. The black and white cover artwork was completed by artists Dehn Sora and Aeron Alfrey.
In December of 2014, front man Davide Tiso announced the end of Ephel Duath with this statement. "Today I decided that it’s time to put Ephel Duath to rest. This beautiful beast has been my life companion for a very long time, I cannot see it struggling any longer and I decided to kill it myself. This post is a way to make peace with the idea itself and, I guess, a way to keep you part of this. For many years I felt conflicted with the idea of sharing Ephel Duath’s music with its small public, now it’s time to let go. Ephel Duath changed shape and color many times, crossing different genres and musical styles, toward the end though, it started looking too much like me and I didn’t feel like giving it to you any longer. This is the reason why this has to end, because this band mattered so much to me that I didn’t get any joy in letting it be heard and dissected by you any longer. As I’ve never really found a comfortable place for myself in this society, my music has always experienced the same problem. Ephel Duath never quite reached a large public and it never really exploited its potential. I suffered for that but what I know is that I’ve tried my very best to make this band work and I stand behind every record we released. When I started Ephel Duath I was young, naive and tremendously ambitious. Now I’m 16 years older, and still naive enough to think that songs have their own souls, I just poured too much of my own in them, and it has been brutal to let them go. A part of me was let go. A big chunk. In the end, I’m not sure it was worth it. I’ve a gift that I cherish deeply, I can talk through my guitar. It’s easy for me to distill my feelings through riffs and everything I say that way has more weight and impact than my own words. In order to keep honoring that in the future, Ephel Duath needs to die today and so it will be. Thanks for reading, I could do a long list of thanks but I choose not, now it’s my time to be ungrateful. Davide Tiso"
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