The Blood Divine

Blood Divine took shape in 1995 as a Gothic metal outfit based in Colchester, serving as a gathering point for ex-members who had drifted away from England’s leading black metal act, the ever-changing Cradle of Filth. Guitarist Paul Ryan, keyboardist Benjamin Ryan, and drummer Will “Was” Sarginson—previously of December Moon and Extreme Noise Terror—joined forces with bassist Stephen Maloney and singer Darren White, whose extended frontman role in leading doom band Anathema, along with his early drumming stint in Cradle of Filth, informed the dark metal sound captured on the ensemble’s first album, Awaken, issued in 1996. A thematically consistent follow-up, Mystica, arrived the next year and introduced another Cradle of Filth guitarist, Paul Allender, who remained active with his original band at the time, yet this release marked the end of Blood Divine’s output. The group disbanded in 1998, and a 2002 compilation titled Rise Pantheon Dreams gathered selections and unreleased material from the two studio albums.