Enochian Theory is an English rock/metal/progressive rock band, formed in 2004 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. The original lineup of the band consisted of drummer Sam Street, bass guitarist Shaun Rayment, guitarist Scott Ware, and singer/guitarist/keyboard player Ben Harris Hayes.
Enochian Theory Formation The band members met through their individual involvements in the south coast of England local music scene Drummer Sam Street, bass guitarist Shaun Rayment and guitarist Scott Ware came together to start jamming after meeting in school.
In September 2004, Ben Harris-Hayes came to audition for the band after being handed an advert/flyer for the band by his sister and impressed them with his vocals and songwriting ability. He became a permanent member shortly after and with the line-up complete, Enochian Theory were formed. The band began to write and demo music, completing their first recording in March 2005.
Our Lengthening Shadows Their first recording was 'Our Lengthening Shadows', a seven track CD, which was sold at shows and via the band's website. It was well received by the local music press who saw great promise in the band and their songs. The innovative rock/metal E.P opened new doors for the band and allowed them to secure shows around the UK. The E.P would eventually sell out. Over the course of supporting its release, the band's sound continued to evolve and led them back into the studio for their next recording.
A Monument to the Death of an Idea
The band entered The Old Blacksmiths studios in Portsmouth, during June 2006 with Emmy nominated producer and engineer Rich Tamblyn in order to record the five new tracks that would make up their second record. It was entitled A Monument to the Death of an Idea and would showcase the progressive, hard rock and atmospheric style they had developed over the course of the past two years.
The EP was ready for release by August that year.
With the 2005 Our Lengthening Shadows E.P. now discontinued and the self-financed A Monument to the Death of an Idea, initially only available only through the band, Enochian Theory managed to secure support shows with several established bands including Twin Zero, Red Sparrowes and Ephel Duath.Interview and feature - June 2007 issue, number 88 - Power Play - Rock & Metal magazine,
In order to promote the release on a wider scale, the band used their musical knowledge and contacts they had made since their formation and formed a partnership called Anomalousz Music Records Ltd. (based on Ben's old tape trading/promo company name)
By setting up their own record label, A Monument to the Death of an Idea would become available worldwide. The band signed with CODE 7/Plastic Head Distribution to handle this, allowing the CD to become available through all major music outlets such as Play.com, Amazon.com, and HMV.
With the CD now available worldwide, press coverage followed with such music publications as Metal Hammer,Feature and cover cd appearance - September 2007 issue, number 170 - Metal Hammer Magazine, published by Future Publishing, Classic Rock Magazine,CD review - May 2007 issue - Classic Rock - Rock & Metal magazine, published by Future Publishing, Zero Tolerance Magazine,CD review - May 2007 issue - Zero Tolerance - Rock & Metal magazine, published by Obdurate Ltd, Power PlayCD review - May 2007 issue, number 87 - Power Play - Rock & Metal magazine, Big Cheese,Feature and cover cd appearance - May 2007 issue, number 87 – Big Cheese Magazine, Black Velvet,CD review - Issue number 54 - Black Velvet Magazine Play Music,Xbox 360 Guitar Hero II Promotional Event. & Competition Giveaway - June 2007 issue, number 8 - Play Music Magazine, the Greek version of Rock Hard and Spanish rock and metal magazine This Is Rock all featuring articles about the band and reviews of the E.P.
The band chose to release "Namyamka" to rock and internet radio stations making it available as a downloadable single and shot a video to accompany it which was made available for request on rock channels Kerrang! TV, Scuzz and Rockworld TV.
To further support the release of the E.P and the "Namyamka" single, the band booked and embarked on their first UK tour, entitled 'Theory in practice'. It was promoted by their Anomalousz Music Records label and booked for them by The S-a-N Agency.
It initially ran through the month of October as a three-band bill with two other up-and-coming bands, SpeedTheory and About A Plane Crash, who had been receiving positive reviews of their own in many magazines and other media outlets. It took them to venues in Liverpool, Cardiff, Brighton, London, Nottingham, Leicester and Cambridge.
With the success of the first leg, and with positive feedback from crowds and venues alike, the band extended the tour, with a short second leg which ran in early December. The itinerary took the band to venues and places they had not seen during their first leg, including Plymouth, Exeter and Cheltenham.
Personnel change On 21 December 2007, it was announced via the band's official website that guitarist Scott Ware had left the band. The remaining members wished him well in his future endeavors. The remaining members continued as Enochian Theory and auditioned for a new guitarist early in 2008. The band played a well-received and successful homecoming gig show at the Wedgewood Rooms in Portsmouth 24 June, with a stand-in second guitarist.
In August 2008, while recording their new CD, the band decided that they would continue recording and touring as a three-piece.
Evolution: Creatio Ex Nihilio
On 28 May 2008, the band officially announced on their website that their next full-length release would be called EVOLUTION: Creatio Ex Nihilio.
After the departure of Scott, Ben took over complete song-writing duties and submitted strong, completed demos for most of the album, with 'The Fire Around The Lotus' being the first full song to be submitted to his bandmates.
In regards to the process of getting the record started, Ben is quoted as saying "It was a relief, you know? We'd not written anything new for almost 2 years and that was becoming a thing that was destroying the band. I won't blame anyone or anything, but simply say the relief I had at writing 'The Fire Around The Lotus' and 'Waves of Ascension' was like a floodgate opening in me...and I never looked back. Someone had to write music...and I just let the voice in my head do it's thing."
The band had been working on the new material since the turn of the year and had thirteen tracks written and ready to take into the studio.
Pre-production for the new recording began at the beginning of July, with the recording of the album completed on 12 October 2008. The finished recording was mixed and mastered in Sweden by David Castillo, who had co-produced the Katatonia record 'The Great Cold Distance' on the Peaceville label as well as mixing the Opeth record 'Watershed' on the Roadrunner Records label.
It was mixed in Castillo's recently completed new state-of-the-art recording facility 'Ghostward' and had the honor of being the first project worked on there.
The artwork for the album was conceived and realized by Swedish artist Robin Portnoff, after the band sent him the lyrical and musical themes behind the album.
The band began their pre-release preparations by headlining a show at the Enska Club in Portsmouth on 2 May, and then providing support for chart-topping Australian rockers - The Butterfly Effect at their show at the Hamptons venue in Southampton on Thursday 14 May 2009.
In the weeks prior to its release, tracks from the new album received rotation on Kerrang radio and Bruce Dickinson's BBC 6 Music rock show.
The album was released through the band's own independent label on 3 August 2009, with CODE 7/Plastic Head Distribution once again handling distribution.
The release was met with exceptional reviews in musical publication across Europe, including the English, German and Polish editions of Metal Hammer,Album review – August 2009 issue - Metal Hammer Magazine (Germany), published by Future Publishing, Classic Rock Magazine,CD review - August 2009 issue - Classic Rock - Prog magazine, published by Future Publishing, Terrorizer,CD review - August 2009 issue, number 187 - Terrorizer Magazine, published by Miranda Yardley, Zero Tolerance Magazine,CD review - September 2009 issue - Zero Tolerance - Rock & Metal magazine, published by Obdurate Ltd Power Play,CD review - September 2009 issue, number 113 - Power Play - Rock & Metal magazine, the German, Greek and Italian editions of Rock Hard,CD review - October 2009 issue, number 269 - Rock Hard Magazine Big Cheese,CD review - August 2009 issue, number 114 - Big Cheese Magazine, Spanish magazine 'This Is Rock', Italian magazine 'Metal Maniac', Norwegian magazine 'Helvete', Finnish magazine 'Inferno' and Romanian rock and metal magazine 'Maximum Rock'. It was also reviewed on nearly 100 websites throughout Europe.
On 29 April 2010, the band released a press release via the musical press and their official website, saying they had signed a deal with Mascot records. As part of this deal the album was re-released worldwide through the label on 27 September of that year.
'Evolution: Creatio Ex Nihilio' Tour 2009 - 2011 In May 2009, Blabbermouth.net reported that the band had been confirmed to appear at the ProgPower Europe 2009 festival. Festival organisers were quoted saying "probably hardly anyone has ever heard of this band, but that will definitely change when they will release their new album in August 2009." and also "ENOCHIAN THEORY definitely will surprise many of you." The festival took place between 2–4 October at JC Sjiwa in Baarlo, The Netherlands.
On 11 November 2009, the official website for The Metalcamp festival confirmed that Enochian Theory were to co-headline the second stage at the 2010 event. Festival organisers at the time were quoted as saying "Enochian Theory are gaining more and more reputation with their music, crossing various genres. The aim of pushing themselves as musicians and expanding their sound further creates an even more epic addition to their already impressive repertoire".Official website for the Metalcamp 2010 festival confirm Enochian Theory's appearance, Metalcamp.com The festival took place between 5–11 July 2010 in Tolmin, Slovenia.
To support the release of the new album, the band began working with booking agents in the UK and around Europe to arrange their own tour.CD review and interview - August 2009 issue- Metal Hammer Magazine (Poland), published by Future Publishing, The tour itself began on 21 September and ran through into 2011 seeing them tour England but also make their first forays into Scotland, Holland, France, Ireland, Slovenia, Germany, Switzerland, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia.Interview - October 2009 issue - Classic Rock - Prog magazine, published by Future Publishing,
During the course of the tour, the band have secured the prestigious support slot for Spocks Beard on a full European tour as well as Katatonia's show in Southampton, UK on 6 November 2009.
In conjunction with Classic Rock Magazine and Factory Music booking agency, Enochian Theory were part of the Progression 2.0. - 'The New Breed' UK tour in March 2011. They were joined by Touchstone and Jurojin.Feature- January 2011 issue - Classic Rock - Prog magazine, published by Future Publishing, The itinerary for the tour covered Sheffield, Glasgow, Manchester, Bristol and London.
Life...And All It Entails
Following the conclusion of the Progression 2.0. tour, Ben began writing songs for the follow-up to 'Evolution: Creatio Ex Nihilio'. By August the writing process was complete and they were ready to record.
The key difference between the debut record and this, is that Ben wrote and arranged it solely on his own, due to various external reasons.