Few forms of music allow artists the flexibility
to express themselves in a way that fully encompasses the ideas a band
have about their music and where they want to take it. In heavy metal
circles, the bands that do show an uncompromising attitude are usually
brief, bright sparks that quickly die after an album or two. Rarer
still is for a band of four young men to spend over ten years wandering
in a completely self-constructed universe that has continually expanded
as they built upon their style. A universe so diverse and devoid of
complacency one could forgive a casual observer some trepidation upon
their first visit to the galaxy Alchemist built.
Since releasing
their “Jar of Kingdom” album in 1991, Alchemist has continually raised
the bar for one of the Worlds most criminally underexposed music
scenes. The Australian heavy metal scene. Long at the forefront of an
overlooked genre and always maintaining their own identity, Alchemist’s
unrelenting work ethic and the bands involvement in bringing the
Southern Hemisphere’s largest metal showcase day, Metal for the Brain,
to fruition since 1996 has only reinforced the respect this band has
earned amongst its peers and countrymen. Having endlessly toured the
wide brown land of Australia for years and performing countless support
acts with the elite of metal music such as Opeth, Kreator and Fear
Factory to name but a very few. With a live experience delivering the
most album quality sound in Australian metal today, its little wonder
Alchemists’ 2000 tour with Cryogenic and Psi Kore was the most
successful domestic metal tour in Australian history.
Their own
blend of classic metal elements with the psychedelic influences of acid
rock bands such as Pink Floyd and The Porcupine Tree have long featured
and anchored the sound. Evolving from these explorations saw
experimentation with traditional indigenous Australian instruments and
world music influences to compliment their evolution, the Alchemist
sound has become the apex predator in Australian metal. Joining forces
with Chatterbox Records in 2000 also enabled the band to drop an
excellent album in the form of “Organasm” that same year. “Organasm”
showcased a band across so many genres it was impossible to ignore the
noise coming from the south any longer. Relapse Records heard the
quality picked up the band and added it to its already burgeoning
roster of talent, alongside bands like Amorphis, Pig Destroyer, Nile
and Today Is The Day.
The band took the longest hiatus in its
history from the live scene in preparation for a new album to be
released on Chatterbox/Relapse. After nearly two years of work “Austral
Alien” once again displayed a band at the peak of a creative wave.
Recording the album in Rye, Victoria with Superheist axeman and
producer extrodinaire D.W. Norton, allowed the band to go away and
focus on the job at hand for three weeks of the Australian summer in
early 2003. “Austral Alien” has dropped to widespread critical acclaim
from home and aboard, the band finally enjoying the fruits of over ten
years of hard labour. Critical acclaim from all print and electronic
media leaves no doubt that Alchemist are and continue to be a relevant
and dominant force in original heavy music.
Members:
Adam Agius - Guitar / Vocals
Roy Torkington – Gitar
Rodney Holder – Drums
John Bray – Bass
Nick Wall - Live samples / electronics
Discography:
Austral Alien - 2003
Organasm - 2000
Eve of the War - 1998
Spiritech - 1997
Lunasphere - 1995
Jar of Kingdom – 1993
From: www.alchemist.com.au
