They Ate Isengard
They Ate Isengard
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Orgin Gothenburg, SE
Genres Experimental, Cybergrind, Noisecore
Years Active 2009-2016
Country of origin Sweden
Labels Independent
Associated Acts A Beautiful Lotus, Wreck and Reference, Corvid Canine, Deformed Elephant Surgery
Official website http://theyateisengard.bandcamp.com/

Founded in early 2009, They Ate Isengard is an experimental metal act with influences raging from industrial metal to avant-garde, cybegrind, deathcore, black metal and goth rock. The mind behind the project is the one of Harvey Parker, currently residing in Gothenburg. The bands music was first introduced on YouTube in mid-2009 when the single Harvey Parker's Gospel made its way into the cybergrind scene, spawning both positive and negative reactions. The track was later included on the acts first self-titled release, made available at the time only on Mediafire. In the summer of 2010, the second release "Etoiles Mourantes" was released, sparking interest amongst french-speaking metal fans around the word due to the EP's french-only titling. The movement continued in late 2011 when the first part of "The Intense Roundabout Experience" was released, taking a new direction into a more vague and noisy picture of sound. They Ate Isengard stayed on this path with the next two EPs ["Bullshit" (2012), "The Intense Roundabout Experience Part II" (2013)] and according to Parker the act found itself within the reverb and heavy distortion. By early 2014, the sound had developed even further with the bands first full-length release, "Abstract Corn Cloud", which was critically acclaimed and catapulted the act into minor stardom in the experimental underground scene. By this 5th release, the project had shaken off the colorful artwork and arguably short and simple song structures to instead focus on experimentalism and more abstract sounds and visions, both musically and lyrically. This was also the first release available physically and complete with viewable lyrics on the official store. After only six months, the 5th EP "Gothiac Ciller" containing 5 new tracks introduced a fresher, more sophisticated sound more suitable for commercial success, although the release was relatively quickly forgotten and not very well achieved. In early 2015, a 10-track compilation album entitled "Concrete Whore House" was made available, containing various drafts and b-sides off of Abstract Corn Cloud. This release met greater success than its predecessor, introducing a different side of the project with clean vocals and more conventional song structures at its places, without compromising the experimentality.

In the words of Harvey Parker, the project was first a "fun way to learn your ways around your DAW's (Digital Audio Workstation), but achieved greater success than imagined, inspiring Parker to carry on creating.

In March 2016, Parker officially announced They Ate Isengard on hiatus, following the release of the album appropriately titled "Hiatus", containing tracks originally intended for a longer, more developed full-length album. The cause of this was said to be health related, either due to Parker's psychological struggles with anxiety disorder (GAD) and depression, or physical inability to preform his trademark deathcore vocals, or both. In 2020, Saturn Underground Society released a compilation of TAI's best work through their label. A compilation of older demo recordings was also released by Parker himself on TAI's Bandcamp page in March 2015.

Parker has since released music under his own name, most notable the 7-track EP Nothing available on both Bandcamp and Spotify. This EP introduces a more rock-oriented sound with clean singing and TAI-style spoken word, with instrumentation influenced by 70/60's psychedelic music, most notable The Doors. A second EP entitled No Nebulae was also released in 2017, including the (according to Parker) "last ever They Ate Isengard song", "Subvision!". He also formed the noise/anti-music project Black Drug in 2018, which delivers a tormented Black Metal/DSBM atmosphere, without the typical instrumentation and vocals known for the genre.

Members

  • Harvey Parker (vocals, drums, synth, guitar, bass, percussion)

Discography

Albums

  • Abstract Corn Cloud (2014)
  • Concrete Whore House (2015)

EPs

  • Self-titled (2009)
  • Etoiles Mourantes (2010)
  • The Intense Roundabout Experience Pt. I (2011)
  • Bullshit (2012)
  • The Intense Roundabout Experience Pt. II (2013)
  • Gothiac Ciller (2014)

Compilations

  • Demos & Recordings (2007-2013) (2015)
  • Best of the Worst (2009-2016) (2020)

External Links

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