Alastis

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Alastis are a dark metal band formed in 1987 in Sion, Switzerland.

History

The initial line-up was War D. on guitar, Zumof on vocals, Acronoise on drums, and Masmiseim (b. Christophe Mermod, Acronoise's brother) on bass.^[2] Masmise left early on to join Samael, with Zumof departing soon after.^[2] Samael’s current vocalist/guitarist Vorph did vocals on the demo Black Wedding (1990), and War D. then took over vocal duties and the band issued their debut album, The Just Law, on Head Not Found Records. After several more line-up changes, they signed to Adipocere Records, who issued their second album, ...And Death Smiled, in 1995.^[2] Much like their fellow countrymen Samael, gothic and industrial musical elements played an important role in their sound during their later career, starting as a raw black metal before signing to Century Media records in 1996, who began distributing the group's output in the United States.^[2] The Other Side was released in 1997 and in 1998, their fourth album, Revenge was issued. the band line-up at this stage was War D. on guitar/synthesizer/vocals, Acronoise on drums, Nick on second guitar, and Raff on bass.^[2]

"The Other Side" is generally considered as their trademark album, clearly showing that aggression does not always come from playing fast songs. The opener "In Darkness", and the title track, are some of their best-known tracks.

In 2000, the band added Sebastian on drums and Graven X on keyboards. Their last album was the 10-track opus Unity, released in 2001 on Century Media Records. After that, they started building their own home studio, which was initially supposed to be used for the recording of their 6th album, for which several songs had actually been written. However, the album was never recorded and the band split up in 2004. The members still do play together though in several other musical projects, and they use their common home studio. But they do not play together anymore as Alastis.

Line-up

Line-up as featured on their last album "Unity":

• War D.—Guitars/vocals
• Nick—Lead guitar
• Raff—Bass
• Sebastian—Drums
• Graven X—Keyboard and sampler

Discography

Demos

• Fatidical Date (1989)
• Black Wedding (1990)

Studio albums

• The Just Law (1992)

01 - The Just Law 02 - Black Wedding 03 - Illusion 04 - Reconversion 05 - Damned For Ever 06 - Nightmare 07 - The Cry 08 - Fatidical Date 09 - Messenger Of The U.W.

• ...And Death Smiled (1995)

01 - From The U.W. 02 - Through Your Torpor 03 - Let Me Die 04 - Evil 05 - By Thy Name 06 - Schizophrenia (mental suicide) 07 - March For Victory 08 - Your God 09 - Last Wishes 10 - The Psychopath 11 - Messenger Of The U.W. (second act)

• The Other Side (1996)

01 - In Darkness 02 - Never Again 03 - The Other Side 04 - Out Of Time 05 - Through The Chaos 06 - Fight And Win 07 - Slaves Of Rot 08 - Remind 09 - Under The Sign... 10 - End Or Beginning?

• Revenge (1998)

01 - Just Hate 02 - Burnt Alive 03 - Eternal Cycle 04 - Sacrifice 05 - Ecstacy 06 - Like A Dream 07 - Nemesis 08 - Bring Down 09 - Agony 10 - Revenge

• Unity (2001)

01 - The Right To Die 02 - The Elect 03 - The Sign 04 - Another God 05 - Who Created The Gods? 06 - Ghastly Fancies 07 - Existence 08 - Antidote 09 - To The Root Of Evil 10 - ...and Death Smiled

References

External links

• Official website
• Alastis at Allmusic
• The Other Side review, Sea of Tranquility