Ephel Duath

Ephel Duath is an Italian progressive metal band, formed in 1998 in Padova, Italy. They have had a constantly changing line-up, with guitarist and songwriter Davide Tiso being the only original member. To date, they have released one demo, four studio albums and two remix albums. Their fourth studio album, Through My Dog's Eyes, was released on January 26, 2009.

History
Ephel Duath was formed in 1998 as a two-man group and taking their name after the fictional mountain range in J.R.R. Tolkien's book The Lord of the Rings. Their debut release was Phormula, on the Code666 record label. Following Phormula's release, they signed to Elitist Records (a sub-division of Earache),  and repackaged the debut with demo tracks, releasing it in 2001 as Rephormula. Forming a new lineup, founder Davide Tiso recruited a diverse set of musicians for the band, hailing from backgrounds in hardcore punk, progressive rock, jazz, blues, funk and pop.

The first album with this lineup was 2003's The Painter's Palette. The album showcases an unorthodox combination of hardcore punk and jazz fusion. In an interview in May 2003, Kerrang! magazine bizarrely described the band as "supermodels playing Dillinger Escape Plan".

A new album, Pain Necessary to Know, was released in late 2005. After the recording of this album, drummer Davide Piovesan quit the band, and was replaced in 2006 by Sergio Ponti and in 2007 by Andrea Rabuini. Ephel Duath later dismissed bassist Fabio Fecchio, the band explained "Ephel Duath have become a trio. In order to explore more experimental music dimensions".

On November 27, 2008, Ephel Duath announced that Luciano George Lorusso had quit the band, and professional poker player Guillermo Gonzales was the replacement. They also released a new song 'Guardian' on their MySpace webpage. In January 2009, the band released a new album titled Through My Dog's Eyes, featuring the drummer Marco Minnemann and Dillinger Escape Plan's Ben Weinman, who composes 'electronics' on the song "Bark Loud". On 4 June 2009, Davide Tiso announced that Ephel Duath have parted ways with Earache Records, and that he was "thrilled" to be off the label.

Until late 2011, Davide Tiso had solitary operation of Ephel Duath, this was explained due to the cost of hiring musicians out of his own pocket. He claimed to have only received $400 from a record label. Regarding former members he said - "They were often complaining, without even realizing how many problems I was hiding in front of their eyes. Now it's just me, and I'm pretty comfortable like this."

In November 2011, Davide Tiso announced (via Facebook) that Ephel Duath signed with Agonia Records (Poland) for the release of an EP and two full-length albums. The EP, called 'On Death And Cosmos' was recorded in January 2012 at Sharkbyte Studios in Oakland, California, and released in the summer of 2012. Erik Rutan performed mixing duties at his Mana Recording Studio, and mastering carried out by Alan Douches at West West Side Music in New York. In December 2011, a new line-up was announced consisting of Karyn Crisis (Tiso's wife), Steve DiGiorgio and Marco Minnemann (who has previously worked with the band).

The band are currently working on a new album (working with producer Eric Rutan at Mana Recording Studios) for a possible 2013 release.

Current members

 * Davide Tiso – guitar, bass, keyboard, vocals (1998 – present)
 * Karyn Crisis - vocals (2011 - present)
 * Steve DiGiorgio - bass (2011 - present)
 * Marco Minnemann - drums (2008 - 2009, 2011 - present)
 * Demetrio Scopelliti - live guitar (2012 - present)

Former members

 * Giuliano Mogicato – bass, guitar, vocals (1998–2001)
 * Davide Tolomei – vocals (2003–2004)
 * Davide Piovesan – drums (2003–2005)
 * Fabio Fecchio – bass (2003–2006)
 * Riccardo Pasini – keyboard (2003–2005)
 * Sergio Ponti – drums (2006–2007)
 * Luciano George Lorusso – vocals (2003–2008)
 * Guillermo Gonzales - vocals (2008–2009)
 * Andrea Rabuini – live drums (2007–2009)

Discography

 * Demo albums
 * Opera (1998)


 * Studio albums
 * Phormula (2000)
 * Rephormula (2002)
 * The Painter's Palette (2003)
 * Pain Necessary to Know (2005)
 * Through My Dog's Eyes (2009)


 * Extended Plays
 * On Death and Cosmos (2012)


 * Remix albums
 * Pain Remixes the Known (2007)