Ephel Duath

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Ephel Duath is an Italian progressive metal band, formed in 1998 in Padova, Italy. They have had a constantly changing line-up with guitarist and songwriter Davide Tiso, being the only original member. To date, they have released one demo, four studio albums, and two remix albums. Their fourth studio album, Through My Dog's Eyes, was released on January 26, 2009.^[1]

History

Ephel Duath was formed in 1998 as a two-man group and taking their name after the fictional location of the same name in J.R.R. Tolkien's book The Lord of the Rings. Their debut release was Phormula, on the Code666 record label. Following Phormula's release, they signed to Elitist Records (a sub-division of Earache), and repackaged the debut with demo tracks, releasing it in 2001 as Rephormula. Forming a new lineup, founder Davide Tiso recruited a diverse set of musicians for the band, hailing from backgrounds in hardcore punk, jazz, blues, funk, and progressive rock.

The first album with this lineup was 2003's The Painter's Palette. The album showcases an unorthodox combination of hardcore punk and jazz fusion.^[2] Kerrang! magazine bizarrely compared the band at this point in a May 2003 interview as supermodels playing Dillinger Escape Plan.

A new album, Pain Necessary to Know, was released in late 2005. After the recording of this album, drummer Davide Piovesan quit the band, and was replaced in 2006 by Sergio Ponti and in 2007 by Andrea Rabuini. Ephel Duath later dismissed bassist Fabio Fecchio, the band explained "Ephel Duath have become a trio. In order to explore more experimental music dimensions".

On November 27, 2008, Ephel Duath announced that Luciano George Lorusso had quit the band, and professional poker player Guillermo Gonzalez was the replacement. They also released a new song 'Guardian' on their MySpace webpage.^[1] In January 2009, the band released a new album titled Through My Dog's Eyes, featuring the drummer Marco Minnemann and Dillinger Escape Plan's Ben Weinman, who composes 'electronics' on the song "Bark Loud". On 4 June 2009, Davide Tiso announced that Ephel Duath have parted ways with Earache Records, and that he was "thrilled" to be off the label.^[3]

Davide Tiso currently has solitary operation of Ephel Duath, this is due to the cost of hiring musicians out of his own pocket. He claimed to have only received $400 from a record label. Regarding former members he said - "They 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.").^[4][5]

Members

Current members

• Davide Tiso – guitar, bass, keyboard, vocals (1998–present)

Former members

• Giuliano Mogicato – bass, guitar, vocals (1998–2001)
• Davide Tolomei – vocals (2003–2004)
• Davide Piovesan – drums (2003–2005)
• Fabio Fecchio – bass (2003–2006)
• Riccardo Pasini – keyboard (2003-2005)
• Sergio Ponti – drums (2006–2007)
• Luciano George Lorusso – vocals (2003–2008)
• Guillermo Gonzalez - vocals (2008-2009)
• Marco Minnemann – drums (2008–2009)
• Andrea Rabuini – live drums (2007–2009)

Discography

Demo albums

• Opera (1998)

Studio albums

• Phormula (2000)
• Rephormula (2002)
• The Painter's Palette (2003)
• Pain Necessary to Know (2005)
• Through My Dog's Eyes (2009)

Remix albums

• Pain Remixes the Known (2007)

References

External links

• Ephel Duath Official Site
• Ephel Duath at Allmusic
• Ephel Duath at MySpace
• Interview on www.avantgarde-metal.com