The Kovenant
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Background information | ||
| Origin |  Norway |
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| Genre(s) | Industrial Metal (now) Black Metal (early) |
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| Years active | 1992 - present | |
| Label(s) | Nuclear Blast | |
| Associated acts |
Apoptygma Berzerk Arcturus Cradle of Filth Dimmu Borgir Mayhem Ram-Zet Troll |
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| Website | Official website | |
| Members | ||
| Stian Arnesen Amund Svensson |
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The Kovenant is a Norwegian band which has evolved from symphonic black metal to industrial metal on more recent albums. The band was originally known as Covenant, but due to a dispute with a Swedish electro band that shared the same name (see Covenant), it was later changed to The Kovenant.
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[edit] Biography
The Kovenant (who at this point in time were known as Covenant) was formed in 1993 by two black metal artists known as Nagash and Blackheart. They both met when Blackheart decided to help Nagash with his one-man project Troll. No one seemed to pay attention to them after releasing a demo titled From the Storm of Shadows, but finally a record label, Mordgrimm, took notice of them and released their first album In Times Before the Light in 1997. This album was created when they were both young and established them a fan base in Norway.
Covenant signed with Nuclear Blast, a major German label dedicated to the hard rock scene, in 1998 and recruited four other members to form an actual band. These people were Astennu (of Dimmu Borgir, Carpe Tenebrum), Sverd (of Arcturus), Sarah Jezebel Deva (of Cradle of Filth and others), and Hellhammer (of Mayhem and others). With these new recruits, they released their second album, Nexus Polaris, which was hugely successful (mainly thanks to Nuclear Blast's promotions) and is largely considered their best album to date by fans. The album also resulted in the band getting a Norwegian Grammy for Best Hard Rock band and led to Nagash leaving Dimmu Borgir (for which he played bass) in order to concentrate fully on The Kovenant.
After the release of Nexus Polaris, Sverd, Astennu, and Sarah were fired for what Lex has said to be "various reasons" in several interviews. Only Hellhammer remained. The band then found themselves being sued by Swedish band, Covenant (of the same name). The Swedish band argued that they owned the name "Covenant" as they had been known as Covenant before Nagash and Blackheart formed their band. Consequentially, they were forced to change their name to The Covenant. Unfortunately, simply adding "The" in front of the name would not suffice, because a Dutch heavy metal band had been named The Covenant since 1988. So they added "The" and replaced the "C" with a "K" to avoid any future confusions, leading to them simply being known as "The Kovenant".
In 1999, The Kovenant recorded and released Animatronic, which portrayed a stylistic change from industrial/symphonic black metal to cyber thrash metal (although some people prefer to categorize it as cyber metal, space metal or Avant Garde metal -- all of which suggest a progressive influence). Soon the band changed their individual stage names to suit their new direction: Nagash became "Lex Icon", Blackheart became "Psy Coma", and Hellhammer became "Von Blomberg". The new album also afforded them another Norwegian Grammy and they gained a new member, Angel, while touring the USA. Although the new sound was frowned upon by some more traditional black metal listeners, the music also inspired other bands such as Black Nocturnal Darkness on their 2002 Xenobite-album.
After the Animatronic tour, Lex and Psy took a break and decided to re-record In Times Before the Light. But Nuclear Blast wanted nothing to do with the album, so they changed labels and released it through Hammerheart Records. A re-release of Nexus Polaris took place as well during 2002.
In 2002, the band found themselves back in the studio, recording S.E.T.I., their fourth album. Von Blomberg decided to do more touring and left the band to handle other projects. Two new members were recruited: Küth (of Ram-Zet) on drums and Brat (of Apoptygma Berzerk) on keyboards. They then toured Europe and the USA to promote the album.
Currently the band is working on a DVD and a new album titled Aria Galactica, due to be released sometime in 2006. Lex Icon announced recently that they have 14 pieces written so far. The album will come with a second disc comprised entirely of symphonic renditions of the tracks from the primary disc, which suggests a return to the more symphonic style exhibited by the band on their 1998 album Nexus Polaris.
Lex recently announced the following on his blog:
"The Kovenant fans will have to wait a few more months for us to begin recording ARIA GALACTICA. Progress is slow but getting there. Working on the vocals atm, and finding a good studio that has open timeslots ARIA GALACTICA will be our best album... by far"
On July 31, Lex decided to stop his blogging due to fans being "know-it-alls" and telling him what he should do with his music. Therefore there will more than likely be no news from him about any Kovenant topics. Psy still has his blog, but it is unsure if he will keep blogging as well.
[edit] Members
[edit] Current line-up
- Stian Arnesen (Nagash/Lex Icon), Vocals, Bass, all music and lyrics - 1993-
- Amund Svensson (Blackheart/Psy Coma), Guitar, all music and lyrics - 1993-
[edit] Session/Tour members
[edit] Former members
- Jamie Stinson (Astennu), Guitar - 1998-1999
- Steinar Johnsen (Sverd), Keyboard - 1998
- Sarah Jezebel Deva, Female Vocals - 1998
- Jan Axel Blomberg (Hellhammer/Von Blomberg), Drums - 1998-2003
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio releases
- In Times Before the Light - (1997)
- Nexus Polaris - (1998)
- Animatronic - (1999)
- S.E.T.I. - (2003)
- Aria Galactica - (2007)
[edit] EPs
- S.E.T.I. Club - (2003)
[edit] Demos and bootlegs
- From the Storm of Shadows [Demo] - (1994)
- Wâldrock 2000 [Bootleg] - (2000)
- Fragments of Reality [Bootleg] - (2006)
