Agathodaimon

Agathodaimon is a melodic black metal band from Germany - formed in 1995. They have ever since been credible for parts of the underground Gothic movement in Germany along with bands such as Ancient Ceremony and Dorn. They have a strong influence from Dark Wave piano and a finesse of superior double bass accenting, utilization of variational power chord mixtures between two guitars, Gothic-influenced female vocals and evil, ghost whispers from Sathonys. In the long run, they are a very known for their over-all band achievements and fade away from the "one-man" approach.

The band began in late 1995, when drummer Matthias and guitarist Sathonys got together to assemble a black metal band. They put adverts at several music magazines in the hopes that they would find suitable musicians to play with them. In answer to the advertisement, they were joined by bassist Marko Thomas and keyboardist and vocalist Vlad Dracul. The last member of their initial formation was the second guitarist, Hyperion, who joined them by the end of that year. With this formation the band recorded the Carpe Noctem demo tape, which received fair reviews from the German specialized press. It also attracted the attention of one of Century Media's executivies, who began keeping track of the band.

Agathodaimon then proceeded to play minor gigs and support some European bands. Eventually, they received an offer from Century Media to fund the recording of their second demo. This demo was recorded in early 1997 and was named Near Dark. It attracted the interest of quite a few recording labels, and in the end the band opted to sign with Nuclear Blast.

After successfully composing the songs for their debut album Blacken the Angel, one of the members of Agathodaimon, Vlad, was forced to quit the band due to problems with immigration. Being a native from Romania, the local authorities from his country didn't allow him to go back to Germany. The situation involved the fact that he had left the country during Ceau?escu's reign. The band therefore was forced to make use of guest musicians to record their debut. Akaias (from Asaru) did the vocals and Marcel "Vampallens" (from Nocte Obducta) took the role of the keyboards. Vlad's participation on the album was restricted to the solo song Contemplation Song, which was sent to the band via air mail.

The CD caused some impact, and Agathodaimon proceeded to tour with bands such as Children of Bodom and Hypocrisy. At the height of the album's success they opened gigs for Dimmu Borgir, Lacrimosa and other bands.

In 1999, Vampallens decided to quit the band in order to dedicate himself fully to his main project Nocte Obducta. He was replaced by female keyboardist Christine S. To record their second album - Higher Art of Rebellion - the band travelled to Romania, in order to be able to play together with Vlad. The vocalist Akaias also participated in the recording of this album, which took place at Magic Sound in Bucharest. A european tour as headliner with Graveworm and Siebenb?rgen followed.

After a short hiatus, the band recorded the album Chapter III in 2001 at the Kohlekeller Studio, Germany.

Some changes to the bands's structure followed, with Vlad definitely quitting the band, soon followed by Marko and Christine. Marko did leave because of health problems and quit making music, while Christine formed her own band Demonic Symphony, where she handles bass guitar and vocals. Marko and Christine were replaced by Darin Smith and Felix ?. Walzer.

In 2004 the band released the album Serpent's Embrace, which again was recorded at Kohlekeller Studio with Kristian Kohlmannslehner as producer.

In early 2006 personal differences led to the split of Eddy and the rest of the band. A new bass player named Till (formerly active in Misanthropic (where Matthias also played drums for a while) joined the ranks, and the songwriting for the next album is currently taking place. Release is scheduled for spring 2007.

Discography:

* Carpe Noctem - Demo I (1996)
* Near Dark - Demo II (1997)
* Blacken the Angel (1998)
* Higher Art of Rebellion (1999)
* Chapter III (2001)
* Serpent's Embrace (2004)
* Phoenix (2009)