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Penance

 
Artist: Penance
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Similar Artists:

Cathedral, Sleep, Count Raven, Saint Vitus, Pentagram, The Obsessed, Witchfinder General

Formal Connection With:

Argus
  • Genres: Rock
  • Representative Albums: "Alpha and Omega", "Spiritualnatural

Biography

Doom metal rockers Penance got their start in 1990, when the freshly formed group released their first underground demo. It floated around tape-trading circles until the members of Cathedral finally heard it. They were so impressed that they asked Mike Smail, the only permanent member of the group, to play the drums on their first album. Penance stayed together and put together their debut, The Road Less Traveled, on Cathedral frontman Lee Dorrian's Rise Above Records in 1992. They created a buzz in the metal underworld, leading to a contract with Century Media in 1994. Parallel Corners was released the same year, but the band was plagued by lineup changes and were eventually dropped from the label. Frontman Briant Balich joined in 1997, and the group continued to play live and release demos until signing with Martyr Music Group in 2001. The resulting album, Alpha and Omega, was released in the spring of the following year. ~ Bradley Torreano, All Music Guide
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Wikipedia: Penance (band)
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Penance
Origin Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Genres Doom metal
Years active 1990 – 2004
Labels Rise Above Records
Century Media
Associated acts Dream Death
Novembers Doom
Cathedral
Internal Void
Pentagram
Em Sinfonia
Members
Brian Balich
Terry Weston
Matt Tuite
Mary Bielich
Mike Smail
Former members
Brian Lawrence
Lee Smith
Richard Freund
Frank Miller
Ron Leard

Penance was an American doom metal band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Contents

Biography

Penance was born from the ashes of Dream Death, when several members decided to pursue a more traditional doom direction.[1] Dream Death existed during mid eighties and played a mixture of doom, hardcore and thrash metal.

Founders of Penance were drummer Mike Smail and guitarist Terry Weston (both previously members of Dream Death) and they were the core of the band from its early days to the disbanding. The band changed various line-ups, and one of their most notable members were Mary Bielich (Novembers Doom).

Penance's debut The Road Less Travelled, featuring Brian Lawrence (who was also previously a member of Dreath Death) on vocals and guitar, was released 1992, under Lee Dorrian's label Rise Above Records. Alongside with Revelation's debut, it was a first doom metal album released on this label. They would embark on a European tour in support of doom legends Cathedral and Sleep.[2]

Their second album, Parallel Corners, was released 1994, by the European metal label Century Media. Many fans consider this the band's best album, and it's also considered one of the classics of 90s (traditional) doom metal. On the next releases Penance adopted a slight range of psychedelic influences, but still remained fairly closed to their traditional doom roots.

Spiritualnatural (2003) would be the band's final album. They embarked on a European tour in 2004 partnered with Well of Souls and Orodruin.[2] They split that same year. The Road Revisited was released posthumously in 2005, which is the unreleased original recorded version of the first album.

Mike Smail went on to join Internal Void and doom legends Pentagram.

Discography

Albums

  • The Road Less Travelled (CD) - Rise Above Records, 1992
  • Parallel Corners (CD) - Century Media, 1994
  • Proving Ground (CD) - self-released album, 1999
  • Alpha and Omega (CD) - Martyr Music Group, 2001
  • Spiritualnatural (CD) - Martyr Music Group, 2003
  • The Road Revisited (CD) - PsycheDOOMelic Records, 2005

Demos/EPs

  • Living Truth (demo) - demo release, 1990
  • Bridges to Burn (demo) - demo release, 1998

References

  1. ^ Penance at BNR Metal
  2. ^ a b Penance at MusicMight

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

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