The Prophecy (band)

Infobox musical artist
Name = The Prophecy

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Background = group_or_band
Origin = Halifax, England
Genre = Doom metal
Gothic metal
Progressive metal
Years_active = 2001 - Present
Label = No Face Records
Associated_acts = Tefra
My Dying Bride
URL = http://www.the-prophecy.net
Current_members = Matt Lawson
Greg O'Shea
John Bennett
Gavin Parkinson
Katie Colbrook
Past_members = Will Castledine
Christian Moore-wainwright
Carl Fairhurst
Berin Casey
Lewis Casey

The Prophecy is a Progressive doom metal band from Yorkshire in England.

Biography

They were formed in the Autumn of 2001 when Greg O'Shea and John Bennett from "The Local Family Butcherers" as the band was known at the time, met up with vocalist to be Matt Lawson, in the now demolished Empress pub in Bradford. The band immediately went on to record their first demo CD, "Her Embrace, My Ruin" which although never released spurred the band on to get serious.

The band then spent six months ensconced in their rehearsal room writing and developing ideas before returning to the studio to record the 'To End All Hope' demo. This demo soon began to grab people's attention and it wasn't long before The Prophecy were approched by the organisers of the Doomination of Europe tour with Morgion and Mourning Beloveth.

Now with a full European tour booked for them, The Prophecy needed an album and so they went back into the studio in the autumn of 2002 to record their debut CD "Ashes".

The Doomination of Europe tour took place in February 2003 starting in Ireland and passing through England, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland and Belgium. At the time it breathed new life into a stale doom metal scene. Along with Morgion, Mourning Beloveth and The Prophecy, a pantheon of bands such as Autumnal, Pantheist, Desire, Process of Guilt, Karseron, Despond and Ataraxie played support slots on the The Doomination phenomenon. The tour created a real buzz in the scene and it wasn't long after its completion that The Prophecy's debut CD "Ashes" was picked up by Blackdoom Records (founded by members of My Dying Bride, Hamish Glencross and Andrew Craighan) Thus "Ashes" was released as CDBD001 and things really began to happen for the band. In August 2003, The Prophecy went on to tour the USA for a full month with Mourning Beloveth and Orodruin. Unfortunately, the headliners Morgion had to pull out of the tour. With 18 shows across 13 states the band clocked up 13000 miles on their tour bus and crossed the continent twice. The tour ended with an appearance at the renowned SHoD fest in Portland.

The band were then featured in Terrorizer Magazine with a track from their cd called "The Killing Fields" being included on the covermount of the mag. The band made an appearance in Metal Hammer Italy before embarking on a further European tour this time supporting My Dying Bride.

The Unholy Trinity tour took place on the Halloween weekend of 2003 with shows at London Astoria, Utrecht Tivoli and Antwerp Hof Ter Loo. With sold out to capacity audiences for each of the three shows and playing to over 2000 at the Astoria the band had their best and worst gigs on this tour. London was the best for sheer size and the wealth of support the band received from the fans while on stage, Antwerp was the worst due to poor stage setup and technical problems which were out of the bands control.

The band kept touring throughout 2004 with an appearance at the Bloodstock Festival and a further two tours of Europe the latter being a three week headlining tour with Australia's The Eternal in support. In September the band entered the studio to start recording "Revelations" the followup to their debut CD. But in early 2005 growing tensions within the band came to the fore, causing line changes that left The Prophecy without a bass player or second guitar. This was perhaps the worst time in the bands history and they seriously thought about calling it quits and starting again. However the band struggled on honouring the gigs they had booked although never quite being able to realise the sound that they wanted to achieve.

Relief came in the summer of 2005 when Gavin Parkinson of Tefra was recruited to fill bass duties. Gavin was quickly integrated into the band and for the first time in almost a year the band began to write new songs in earnest. Making the decision to stick to having only one guitar the new songs sparked a new direction for The Prophecy integrating much more Progressive influences into the music.

With just two new songs fully written the band then embarked upon "The Mist Of Death Halloween 2005" tour with fellow doomster's Insanity Reigns Supreme (B),and bands such as Thurisaz (B), Ten 13 (NL), Darmazat (PL)and The Legion of Hethera (MEX). The year was rounded off with a support slot with My Dying Bride at Bradford Rios for which John Bennett had to play not only The Prophecy's set but also for My Dying Bride's as well having been helping out My Dying Bride on drum duties since Shaun Steels' long term injury.

Work on the Revelations CD began in earnest in the Winter of 2005 but then suffered a six month delay while the studio relocated to alternative premises. In the meantime the band renewed their commitment to playing live by playing a whole host of gigs anywhere and everywhere. These included a support slot with Pagans mind and Powerquest, a trip to Northern Ireland with Honey For Christ, a UK and European tour with Seasons End, an appearance at the Dutch Doom Day Festival and a support slot with Novembers Doom.

Revelations was released on the 05 Feb 2007. Shortly after the band began to announce tour dates and making a number of high profile appearances. The first of these was playing to over a thousand people at the last ever date in Bradford Rios. In June the band made an appearance at the Day Of Darkness Festival in Ireland and then went on tour playing the Pontape Na Canela Festival in Portugal. However, while on the way to the Portuguese festival disaster stroke when the band's tour bus broke down leaving them and fellow metal band Honey For Christ stranded in Portugal. Eventually both bands managed to secure flights home but unfortunately had to cancel the rest of their tour. Not discouraged by this, however, The Prophecy then made an appearance at the Doom Over Vienna II Festival as part of a week long tour across Germany, Holland and Belgium.

As 2008 approached the band went into a hiatus from live shows to focus on completion of their third studio album making only a brief tour in April in which they played the biannual Opblaaspop Festival in Sas Van Gent as well as making their first appearance in the Czech republic. In July they entered Priory Studios in Sutton Coldfields to record 'Into The Light'

Discography

Demos

*Her Embrace My Ruin (demo) (2001)
*To End All Hope (demo) (2002)

Albums

*Ashes (2003)
*Revelations (2006)

External links

* [http://www.the-prophecy.net The Prophecy Official Site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/theprophecyeng The Prophecy @ MySpace.com]
* [http://www.nofacerecords.co.uk/ No Face Records Website]

Endorsements

Greg O'Shea is endorsed by Engl