The Kovenant
The Kovenant is a Norwegian metal band, originally formed under the name Covenant, but this had to take, as it is protected by trademark law of the Swedish pop band Future Covenant.
Biography
The band was founded by Nagash and Blackheart 1993. After a demo recording in 1994 (From the Storm of Shadows ) in 1997, the first album In Times Before the Light appeared over murder Grimm as the first publication of the record company. The style of this album is based on the atmospheric and melodic Black Metal.
For the second album Nexus Polaris in 1998 the drummer Hellhammer of Mayhem, the keyboardist Sverd of Arcturus and the guitarist Astennu Carpe Tenebrum and Dimmu Borgir the band joined. Sarah Jezebel Deva of Therion and Cradle of Filth appeared as a guest singer. Furthermore, a contract was awarded to the German label Nuclear Blast closed to release the album; According to the band over 15,000 copies of the album were sold in the first week after its publication. Sverd left the band for personal reasons and due to musical differences. Nagash left Dimmu Borgir to devote himself exclusively to The Kovenant, and the band began work on their next album. She was nominated for the Norwegian music award Spellemannprisen for the hard rock album of the year; the band did not attend the award ceremony, but won the prize as the first extreme metal band Dimmu Borgir, beating with Godless Savage Garden and Mundanus empire with The Spectral Spheres Coronation by.
While working on their album Covenant had to be renamed for legal reasons, The Kovenant. After renaming and with the change in their musical style, the band separated from Astennu who wanted to concentrate on Dimmu Borgir, and Sarah Jezebel Deva, also changed the musicians their pseudonyms: Nagash called himself now Lex Icon, Blackheart named in Psy Coma to and Hellhammer in Blomberg. The resulting under the working title Prophecies of Fire 's third album Animatronic appeared in October 1999. Band mixed on this album, the atmospheric Black Metal elements of Nexus Polaris with electronic and keyboard -heavy sounds. In 2002, the band mixed their debut album In Times Before the Light and newly released this version on the label Hammerheart Records.
The band released a fourth album in 2003, entitled SETI (named for Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, the search for extraterrestrial civilizations ), which is clearly influenced by contemporary electronica. Then Blomberg left The Kovenant, whereas Küth joined by Ram - Zet and Geir Bratland Apoptygma Berzerk the band. 2003 The next album The Dreaming Spires was announced that appear in late 2004 and should fail " guitar -oriented and darker" than SETI. In December 2003, it was reported, the band will upload a demo recording in the studio with some songs for The Dreaming Spires. In September 2004 it was announced the band would begin in winter 2004 with the recordings, the album should be released in mid 2005. In 2007, it was announced under the title Aria Galactica, but is not yet published.
The Kovenant have not dissolved, but are only sporadically active. In April 2010, she appeared in the almost complete occupation of Nexus Polaris ( Nagash, Psy Coma, Hellhammer, Sverd and Sarah Jezebel Deva ) on the Norwegian Inferno Metal Festival Norway and played live album. End of October 2011 played Nagash with Troll covenants debut album live on the Dutch Aurora Infernalis Festival.
Style
The style of the demo recording From the Storm of Shadows was described in the Rites of Eleusis as a technical Black Metal in the vein of Satyricon with influences from Darkthrone and Emperor; Covenant seemed to be a very good and talented band. The band itself describes the music of her early days as atmospheric Black Metal with lots of melodies. The second album Nexus Polaris, described by the band as "progressive dark pulsing atmospheric metal" and referred to by Blackheart as " Progressive Space Metal" is fast and raw held with neoclassical inspired lead passages and keyboard fills. Under the pseudonym Tornado Metalion 2000 wrote in Slayer, were retrospectively the two Covenant albums " pretty crappy "; the change of the band was " frightening ", Nuclear Blast divide the cards and it was still room for another Marilyn Manson clone. One can not listen to the band seriously, she was a Nuclear Blast following money machine and Hellhammer was wasting his talent in this band.
With Animatronic, the first album after renaming, The Kovenant developed towards the 1990s - mainstream, in the style of Cradle of Filth and with a similar theatrics Marilyn Manson of; according to Steve Huey of Allmusic, the band, however, had problems with it developing it into a closed own style. The few remaining metal elements on animatronics were diluted to the successor SETI, also fell Marilyn Manson comparisons.
Discography
When Covenant
As The Kovenant
- 2003: SETI (Club Single)
- 2000: New World Order - Clubmix to extreme terror and Beauty in Darkness Vol 4
- 2002: The Memory Remains to A Tribute to the Four Horsemen (only on the German version )
- 2004: Star by Star ( Apoptygma Berzerk Remix) on Erinys Music from & Inspired by the Erinys Graphic Novel and Advanced Electronics Vol.3
- 2007: In Times Before the Light 1995 ( re-release of their debut album, including From the Storm of Shadows )