Alchemist is an
Australian progressive metal band from
Canberra whose style combines
death metal,
progressive rock,
psychedelic,
Eastern,
Aboriginal and
electronic influences.
[1][2][3]
The band formed in 1987 and has so far released six studios albums, an
EP and a compilation album. Work began on a new EP in 2010 but the band
is now on an indefinite hiatus. They are the only group to appear at
every
Metal for the Brain festival, an event they ran and organised from 1996. Alchemist has also played at the
Big Day Out and toured
Europe several times.
1987−1992
Alchemist was formed in 1987 by
Adam Agius (
lead vocals/
guitar)
as a death metal act. The band released a demo the same year entitled
"Eternal Wedlock". The band's style was raw and undeveloped, and began
to evolve with the addition of new drummer Rodney Holder in 1989. The
following year, the line-up of Agius, Holder, Andrew Meredith (guitar)
and James Preece (
bass) recorded a second demo. The demo showed the beginning of the band's experimentation with
avant-garde arrangements and psychedelic influences inspired by the likes of
Pink Floyd and
Frank Zappa.
Another demo was produced in 1991, with Preece replaced by John (The
Seal) Bray from another local band called Exceed. Alchemist also
performed at the first
Metal for the Brain
festival in Canberra, eventually becoming the only group to feature at
every occasion. The track "Escapism" from the demo recording was
featured the following year on the
Roadrunner (Australia) compilation album Redrum, which included other rising metal acts of the time such as
Sadistik Exekution, Allegiance, and
Shihad.
1992−1996
In 1992, Roy Torkington joined Alchemist in place of Meredith. By
this time the demos had created enough interest for them to be
approached by
Austrian label Lethal, who released their first
album,
Jar of Kingdom, the next year.
[4] The album was recorded in
Sydney and featured an eclectic mixture of death metal,
grindcore
and psychedelia. Two songs featured vocals from Michelle Klemke, a
friend of Agius' mother. According to the notes accompanying the 2005
compilation album
Embryonics,
Agius lost his voice during the recording. Dissatisfied with the sound
of the album, the band re-mastered and re-released it in 1999. Alchemist
was also dissatisfied with Lethal's handling of
Jar of Kingdom and soon parted ways with them. After releasing
Jar of Kingdom, the band went on their first tour.
[5]
During 1994, Alchemist recorded a promotional tape to shop to record companies
[6] and a version of the
Venom song "Black Metal" for a
Swedish tribute album called
The Promoters of the Third World War: A Tribute to Venom, now a collector's item. The band also began work on its next album, titled
Lunasphere, which was released in 1995 by
Melbourne label
Shock Records through its subsidiary Thrust.
[6] Lunasphere showed a further development of Alchemist's unusual style, adding Eastern motifs and
keyboards[7] to its already diverse style. The track "Garden of Eroticism" was added to the
Triple J compilation album
This Is Twelve (
ABC/
EMI) in 1996 and both this song and "Yoni Kunda" remain live staples. The group supported the release of
Lunasphere with a heavy touring schedule
[8] that included several shows with joint
UK/Australian
ambient act Deathless, a slot on the Sydney leg of the 1996
Big Day Out, supporting
Cathedral and
Paradise Lost on their dual headlining tour, and also opening for Fear Factory a second time.
[9] They performed live-to-air on the Triple J metal program
Three Hours of Power. Two songs from this session would later be included on the
Embryonics compilation album in 2005. During the same year, pioneering Canberra death metal band
Armoured Angel
disbanded. The band's drummer Joel Green handed over the running of the
festival to Holder, who with the rest of Alchemist was responsible for
the event for the next decade.
1996−2000
Alchemist began recording
Spiritech
in late 1996. After enduring a problematic recording process, the band
handed production over to D.W. Norton, the guitarist with Melbourne band
Superheist and the part-owner of Back Beach Studios in
Rye, Victoria.
Spiritech introduced more electronic elements as well as
tribal rhythms and heavy sampling into the band's
oeuvre and opened with the sprawling nine-minute "Chinese Whispers", which remains a particular favorite for group and fans alike.
In 1999, the band's next project was an
EP that featured as its title track a version of "
Eve of the War", the opening piece from the 1978 production,
Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds. Josh Nixon from Canberra
doom metal band, Pod People featured as a guest guitarist. The EP also included live versions of "Yoni Kunda" and "Chinese Whispers", an
electronica remix of "Yoni Kunda" retitled as "Koni Yunda" and two
Jar of Kingdom tracks, "Brumal: A View from Pluto" and "Worlds within Worlds." These last two were a precursor to the band's re-release of
Jar of Kingdom
the following year. This re-release included some new overdubs as the
album's original master tapes were damaged, and included the 1991 demo
in its entirety. This release completed their contractual obligation to
Shock Records and Alchemist began to shop for a new local deal as well
as international distribution. The group's albums had attained a heavy
cult following in parts of Europe, particularly in the Netherlands, but
they had not had European representation since their failed association
with Lethal. In the meantime, Alchemist toured with
Entombed and
Pitchshifter.
Late in 1999, a new Alchemist track called "Austral Spectrum" appeared on a compilation of Australian metal called
Under the Southern Cross and issued by Sydney label
Chatterbox Records (with whom the band had just signed for Australian release). A slightly different version of the song then appeared on the
Organasm album, again recorded with D.W. Norton in Rye and released in early 2000. To promote
Organasm, Alchemist undertook a three-month Australian tour during autumn. Billed as "World War Three", the tour also featured Sydney
thrash bands
Cryogenic and Psi.Kore, both of whom had also just released CDs.
Organasm featured a warmer sound and a focus on tighter songwriting with tracks embellished even more by duelling
slide guitars,
keyboards and samples.
2000−2005
Following 2000's Metal for the Brain, Alchemist went off the road for more than a year to work on
Austral Alien,
which was released by Chatterbox in May 2003. This latest album showed a
mellower side of Alchemist, with highly polished production and a
heavily electronic sound. Influenced by the
rock band
Midnight Oil, the lyrics of the semi-conceptual album focused on
environmental
issues affecting their country, specifically the impact of man on the
ecology. Alchemist added a fifth member, Nick Wall, to provide
samples during live shows.
In late 2004, Alchemist embarked on their first tour outside of Australia.
[10]
Because of these commitments, Metal for the Brain was held off until
February 2005. In the same month Alchemist won their first Australian
Heavy Metal Music Awards, with "First Contact" awarded Best Video Clip,
and Agius awarded Best Keyboardist.
[11]
2005−present
A compilation album,
Embryonics,
was released in October 2005. It covered material recorded between 1990
and 1998, including tracks from the first three albums, the 1998 EP
release and demo songs. Bonus tracks included two of the songs recorded
on the radio in 1996. The band also announced a companion
DVD release due for 2006, which, however, is yet to be released.
After ten years of successfully organising Metal for the Brain,
Alchemist laid the festival to rest, playing the final event on 4
November 2006.
[12] Holder, now based in
Brisbane,
moved on to organise the 20-band Abducted Metal Horror Festival held in
July 2007. In May of that year Alchemist completed work on their next
album
Tripsis, which the band declared to be a return to the earlier sound of
Lunasphere and
Spiritech. To coincide with the release of
Tripsis, Alchemist headlined the European ProgPower event and played selected other dates. In July 2008 the band played at the
Graspop Metal Meeting in
Belgium as part of their European tour. In October 2008, Alchemist returned to Australia to tour with
Meshuggah.
Afterwards, the band premiered the video for "Tongues and Knives" on 9
December. In January 2010 Alchemist began recording a new EP as a
follow-up to
Tripsis.
[13] In an article in Sydney's
Drum Media in July, drummer Rodney Holder claimed that Alchemist was currently on "extended hiatus".
[14] The band's website reflects this with a
splash page
declaring that "Alchemist are hibernating indefinitely". Holder
organised the Bastardfest-festival which was held on 28 August in
Brisbane, 4 September in Melbourne, and 16 October in Perth.
Currently Adam Agius has a new project The Levitation Hex, with tentative plans to release an album in May 2012.
Discography
Albums
Demos and EPs
- "Eternal Wedlock" (1987)
- "Demo '90" (1990)
- "Demo '91" (1991)
- "Promo 94" (1994)
- "Eve of the War" (1998)
- "Promo 99" (1999)
Compilations
Band line-up
Current members
Former members
- Andrew Hall − drums (1987−89)
- Andrew Meredith − guitar (1990−92)
- James Preece − bass guitar (1989−91)
- Scott Chivers − bass guitar (1987−89)
- Murray Neill − vocals (1987−88)
- Nick Paddon-Row − drums (1987)
- Nick Wall − live samples (2003−2008)
