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Formed in autumn 1995 in Colchester THE BLOOD DIVINE came together out of a desire for greater musical freedom amid a trend-obsessed music scene determined to compartmentalize bands at their inception.
"We're a band of five individuals playing intense, passionate music. Call it what you will. Our influences span the entire history of popular music, as far as back as the blues which after all is where all the best modern music comes from. Which isn't to say we're just trying to reheat last night's dinner - we simply take ingrediants from the past and mix them together with a nineties flavour. This whole thing of trying to slap a neat little label on bands stems from complacent journalists with the conveyer-belt corporate mentality. And we're not interested in that. Divisions between music are starting to blur and we would like to see more of this. The Blood Divine are about playing powerful music to anyone open-minded enough to want to listen."
Darren White - VOCALS
Paul Ryan - GUITAR
Benjamin Ryan - KEYBOARDS
Steve Maloney - BASS GUITAR
W A Sarginson - DRUMS
Awaken, the band's debut album on Peaceville Records, was released to critical and fan approval in September 1996. They toured Europe at the end of the year supporting label mates My Dying Bride, and were voted Best New Band in Terrorizer magazine's annual Reader's Poll.
Since then the band have undertaken a headline UK tour and have appeared at several European festivals, most notably the Rock in Madrid event where they appeared alongside Peter Green's Splinter Group, Bruce Dickinson and Napalm Death. They recorded their second album in May with producer Pere Coleman , who worked with the band on their first record. Entitled Mystica, it is due for release in October 1997.
"Rock n Roll shouldn't just be like some bullshit feelgood movie that makes you forget how dull your life is for an hour or so - It should fire you up to do something about it. Maybe it's naive to think that art can change anything in this day or age, people seem so content to just wallow in shit, but it's like Jack Nicholson says in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - At least I tried, goddammit...At least I did that much..."
The Blood Divine are the result of joining Darren White (Anathema, vocals), the Ryan brothers (Cradle of Filth, guitars and keys), the other CoF guitarist PJ Allender, drummer Was from Extreme Noise Terror, and bassist Steve Maloney. This band is therefore the fusion of Cradle of Filth, slower and without the black metal influences, and Anathema, since Darren's vocals always were a big part of the superb early Anathema sound. Vincent Cavanagh (current Anathema vocalist) said they "kicked out" Darren because his voice was getting worse all the time. The Blood Divine proves Cavanagh was wrong, since Darren's vocals are amongst the best I've ever heard - emotional, powerful, awesome. The keyboards remind me a lot of Cradle of Filth, of course - it's clear that it's the same guy behind the keyboards, and he performs as brilliantly as one would expect. And then the guitar work, which is just as excellent as the rest of the album, combined with the remarkable, powerful drumming and the good bass work. It's really hard to point out tracks here, since they're all great. I really can't name my favourite track. TBD manage to include lots of doomy melodies and feelings from Anathema, as well as the kind of keyboard effects and atmospheres that can be found in any CoF album. But TBD add an intense power of their own to all this, raising it all to a different level. It's very clear that they have their own sound, at the very least just as good as the bands they come from. In fact, I liked this much, much better than Anathema's latest. Just a final word for Ruth, who seems to have moved with Darren from Anathema: her vocals on two of the softest tracks are truly great, as she has one of the sweetest voices I ever heard. I believe more influence of hers in the future will be a very good thing for TBD. Overall, this is possibly my favourite 1996 album.
Track List :
1. So Serene [9:19]
2. Moonlight Adorns [5:16]
3. Visions (of A Post-Apocalyptic World): Part I [1:00]
4. Wilderness [4:49]
5. These Deepest Feelings [2:37]
6. Aureole [6:45]
7. Oceans Rise [3:19]
8. Artemis [4:20]
9. In Crimson Dreams [5:49]
10. Heart of Ebony [4:18]
11. Warm Summer Rain [4:28] ЗАБИБИСЬ !!!
"We're a band of five individuals playing intense, passionate music. Call it what you will. Our influences span the entire history of popular music, as far as back as the blues which after all is where all the best modern music comes from. Which isn't to say we're just trying to reheat last night's dinner - we simply take ingrediants from the past and mix them together with a nineties flavour. This whole thing of trying to slap a neat little label on bands stems from complacent journalists with the conveyer-belt corporate mentality. And we're not interested in that. Divisions between music are starting to blur and we would like to see more of this. The Blood Divine are about playing powerful music to anyone open-minded enough to want to listen."
Darren White - VOCALS
Paul Ryan - GUITAR
Benjamin Ryan - KEYBOARDS
Steve Maloney - BASS GUITAR
W A Sarginson - DRUMS
Awaken, the band's debut album on Peaceville Records, was released to critical and fan approval in September 1996. They toured Europe at the end of the year supporting label mates My Dying Bride, and were voted Best New Band in Terrorizer magazine's annual Reader's Poll.
Since then the band have undertaken a headline UK tour and have appeared at several European festivals, most notably the Rock in Madrid event where they appeared alongside Peter Green's Splinter Group, Bruce Dickinson and Napalm Death. They recorded their second album in May with producer Pere Coleman , who worked with the band on their first record. Entitled Mystica, it is due for release in October 1997.
"Rock n Roll shouldn't just be like some bullshit feelgood movie that makes you forget how dull your life is for an hour or so - It should fire you up to do something about it. Maybe it's naive to think that art can change anything in this day or age, people seem so content to just wallow in shit, but it's like Jack Nicholson says in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest - At least I tried, goddammit...At least I did that much..."
The Blood Divine are the result of joining Darren White (Anathema, vocals), the Ryan brothers (Cradle of Filth, guitars and keys), the other CoF guitarist PJ Allender, drummer Was from Extreme Noise Terror, and bassist Steve Maloney. This band is therefore the fusion of Cradle of Filth, slower and without the black metal influences, and Anathema, since Darren's vocals always were a big part of the superb early Anathema sound. Vincent Cavanagh (current Anathema vocalist) said they "kicked out" Darren because his voice was getting worse all the time. The Blood Divine proves Cavanagh was wrong, since Darren's vocals are amongst the best I've ever heard - emotional, powerful, awesome. The keyboards remind me a lot of Cradle of Filth, of course - it's clear that it's the same guy behind the keyboards, and he performs as brilliantly as one would expect. And then the guitar work, which is just as excellent as the rest of the album, combined with the remarkable, powerful drumming and the good bass work. It's really hard to point out tracks here, since they're all great. I really can't name my favourite track. TBD manage to include lots of doomy melodies and feelings from Anathema, as well as the kind of keyboard effects and atmospheres that can be found in any CoF album. But TBD add an intense power of their own to all this, raising it all to a different level. It's very clear that they have their own sound, at the very least just as good as the bands they come from. In fact, I liked this much, much better than Anathema's latest. Just a final word for Ruth, who seems to have moved with Darren from Anathema: her vocals on two of the softest tracks are truly great, as she has one of the sweetest voices I ever heard. I believe more influence of hers in the future will be a very good thing for TBD. Overall, this is possibly my favourite 1996 album.
Track List :
1. So Serene [9:19]
2. Moonlight Adorns [5:16]
3. Visions (of A Post-Apocalyptic World): Part I [1:00]
4. Wilderness [4:49]
5. These Deepest Feelings [2:37]
6. Aureole [6:45]
7. Oceans Rise [3:19]
8. Artemis [4:20]
9. In Crimson Dreams [5:49]
10. Heart of Ebony [4:18]
11. Warm Summer Rain [4:28] ЗАБИБИСЬ !!!