Biography
Dutch death metal outfit Callenish Circle formed in the Netherlands around 1992 after the breakup of the prior group Genocide. Vocalist Patrick Savelkoul and guitarist Jos Evers cycled through numerous configurations until stability arrived in 1994 with the addition of guitarist Ronny Tijssen, bassist John Gorissen, and drummer Gavin Harte. Roughly a year later the five-piece laid down the “Lovelorn” demo, which earned demo-of-the-month honors from Holland’s leading metal magazine Aardschok and sold through its entire pressing of 1,000 copies. The sudden attention prompted domestic label Hammerheart Records to extend a one-album contract, yielding the band’s 1996 debut Drift of Empathy. Although the record presented a solidly crafted melodic death metal style modeled on the Swedish wave, it drew scant attention beyond the Netherlands, prompting both parties to end the arrangement.
Lineup shifts followed as Evers and Gorissen departed in favor of guitarist Remy Dieteren and bassist Roland Schuschke; the refreshed roster issued the Escape EP on the small Polar Bear Records imprint in 1998. Seeking greater autonomy, Callenish Circle self-funded their next album, Graceful…Yet Forbidding, which surfaced in 1999 and led to a short-lived deal with DSFA Records that soon collapsed. Despite repeated label setbacks, the group’s audience expanded and their technical and compositional skills sharpened with each release, eventually attracting a four-album offer from Metal Blade. The band signed without hesitation and delivered Flesh Power Dominion in 2002, an impressively assured and fully realized effort that was followed by touring alongside labelmates Amon Amarth. A two-disc anthology of earlier material, Forbidden Empathy, appeared in 2005, succeeded by the January 2006 full-length Pitch Black Effects.
Lineup shifts followed as Evers and Gorissen departed in favor of guitarist Remy Dieteren and bassist Roland Schuschke; the refreshed roster issued the Escape EP on the small Polar Bear Records imprint in 1998. Seeking greater autonomy, Callenish Circle self-funded their next album, Graceful…Yet Forbidding, which surfaced in 1999 and led to a short-lived deal with DSFA Records that soon collapsed. Despite repeated label setbacks, the group’s audience expanded and their technical and compositional skills sharpened with each release, eventually attracting a four-album offer from Metal Blade. The band signed without hesitation and delivered Flesh Power Dominion in 2002, an impressively assured and fully realized effort that was followed by touring alongside labelmates Amon Amarth. A two-disc anthology of earlier material, Forbidden Empathy, appeared in 2005, succeeded by the January 2006 full-length Pitch Black Effects.
Albums
