Dark Heresy

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Dark Heresy
Origin	London, United Kingdom
Genres	Death metal
Years active	1989–1996
Labels	Unisound Records (1995)
Members
Andrew "Wooj" Wood Hans Stiles Kola Krauze Richard "Arnold" Summers
Past members
Loz Archer Matt Goddard Marcus "Mortgage" Greatwood Paul Harvey

Dark Heresy was a Baroque death metal band based in suburban London, England^[1] and mainly active during the years 1993-1995, a period during which the London underground metal scene peaked.^[2] They played over fifty concerts across England during this period, often as headliners (including one night headlining the Marquee) as well as supporting bands like Ancient Rites, At the Gates, Cradle of Filth and Dissection. They split up in 1996 following some line-up difficulties.

Music

Dark Heresy's songs were often long and complex in arrangement due to the ambitions and considerable technical skills of virtuoso guitarist Richard "Arnold" Summers (who wrote all of the band's music), with marked Baroque and jazz influences, tapping, and frequent use of the tritone or the interval of an augmented fourth. Although at the time dismissed by metal magazine Kerrang! as "a widdly Carcass",^[3] Terrorizer was more enthusiastic, writing that "Dark Heresy's music is not about mind-numbing brutality and dazzling speed, but is about complex and reflective musical structures supporting complex ideas", and describing the band's 1993 demo Diabolus In Musica as "one of the most inventive works from an occultist band."^[4] A decade after Dark Heresy had split up, DragonForce's Herman Li said of them, "they're the ones everybody knows the name of. You know, loads of people have got a copy of [Dark Heresy's 1995 album Abstract Principles Taken to Their Logical Extremes]. They must have beaten a lot of people up."^[5]

Lyrics

Written mainly by vocalist Kola Krauze, Dark Heresy's lyrics were as long and complex as its music. Dealing with themes such as religion, antireligion (often with a specifically anti-Christian sentiment), Germanic paganism and the Middle Ages, they were also highly unusual for their time (in the context of death metal) for focusing at least as much on love and eroticism.^[6] In 1995, Terrorizer described the band's lyrics, noting that they are "extremely long and gather together many anti-Christian diatribes which are as clever as they are shocking or sardonic ... After hearing this CD, you too may seriously question many aspects about the spiritual self".^[4]

Members

• Andrew "Wooj" Wood - drums^[1]
• Hans Stiles - bass, Vocals^[1]
• Richard "Arnold" Summers - guitar, keyboards^[1]

Former members

• Loz Archer - vocals, keyboards^[7]
• Kola Krauze - vocals
• Matt Goddard - guitar^[7]
• Marcus Greatwood 'Mortgage' - guitar^[1]
• Paul Harvey - bass^[7]
• Jae - guitar^[7]

Discography

Album

• Abstract Principles Taken to Their Logical Extremes^[8] (Unisound Records, 1995)

Demos

• Diabolus In Musica (1993)^[1]
• Speared and Twisted (1992)^[7]
• Blinded by Lies (1990)^[7]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "VvPo.com". http://pos.vvpo.com/type-zj.asp?Czjid=18606&zjid=20128&ydid=30078&cydid=8403&. Retrieved 2008-01-03. ^{[dead link]}
2. ^ Schwarz, Paul (May 2006). "DragonForce". Terrorizer (144): 61. "London's DM demo circuit, where the Dark Heresy name lingered long and insidiously in the shadows" 
3. ^ "Abstract Principles Taken to Their Logical Extremes". Kerrang!. 1995. "a widdly Carcass" 
4. ^ ^{a b} "Abstract Principles Taken to Their Logical Extremes". Terrorizer. 1995. 
5. ^ Schwarz, Paul (May 2006). "DragonForce". Terrorizer (144): 61. "they're the ones everybody knows the name of. You know, loads of people have got a copy of this. They must have beaten a lot of people up." 
6. ^ Krauze, Kola (1995). In Abstract Principles Taken to Their Logical Extremes [Lyrics]. Athens: Unisound Records.
7. ^ ^{a b c d e f} "metal-archives.com". http://www.metal-archives.com/band.php?id=8403. Retrieved 2008-04-13. 
8. ^ "VvPo.com". http://pos.vvpo.com/type-zj.asp?Czjid=18605&zjid=20127&ydid=30078&cydid=8403&. Retrieved 2008-01-03. ^{[dead link]}