Biography
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Years Active
1993 – present (31 years)
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Founded In
Bergen, Hordaland, Norway
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Members
- Eileen Küpper (1999 – 2003)
- Geir Bratland (2003 – 2009)
- Jamie Stinson
- Jan Axel Blomberg (1997 – 2003)
- Lex Icon (1999 – present)
The Kovenant is a Norwegian band formed in 1992 which has evolved from symphonic black metal to electronic / industrial metal on more recent albums, shaping the style that Lex Icon (aka Nagash, ex-Dimmu Borgir) and Psy Coma (in those days known as Blackheart) coined after the release of "Nexus Polaris": Progressive Space Metal. Originally the band was called Covenant, but due to a dispute with a Swedish futurepop band with the same name, it was later changed to The Kovenant.
The Kovenant (at the time known as Covenant) was formed in Hamar, Norway in 1992, by two black metal artists known as Nagash and Blackheart. After releasing a demo titled "From the Storm of Shadows", and gaining some underground recognition, Not long after the band got several offers for record contracts. The original "In Times Before the Light" was released in 1996 on Mordgrimm (underground British label dedicated to black metal), this album was created when they were both at a young age and they established a fan base in Norway.
In 1998 the band released their second album through Nuclear Blast, titled "Nexus Polaris". It marked a significant point in their sound's formation, the album featured less of the grim guitars, and had much more keyboards work than before. The album featured Nagash, Blackheart, Astennu (on the Guitars, who later joined Dimmu Borgir), Sverd (of Arcturus on the keyboards) and Hellhammer (of Mayhem, Arcturus and Dimmu Borgir) and Sarah Jezebel Deva on backing vocals (Cradle of Filth). The album has met good success in Norway and the band was nominated for the Norwegian Grammy Award, winning the Best Hard Rock Band category as the first band in history to win a Grammy Award for Black Metal.
In 1999 the band changed name to The Kovenant, recorded and released "Animatronic", it showed them going from symphonic black metal to industrial metal. With the change of the band name, the members decided to change their names as well to suit their new direction: Nagash became "Lex Icon", Blackheart became "Psy Coma", and Hellhammer became "Von Blomberg". They won another Norwegian Grammy Award and gained a new member while they toured the USA named Angel.
The band found themselves back in the studio in 2002 recording "S.E.T.I.", their fourth album. Deciding to do more touring Von Blomberg 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.
Now we continue waiting for their latest creation, Aria Galactica, announced in the early 2000's, to take shape. In 2007, Psy Coma described Aria Galactica to an Italian web site as "technical", with more guitar solos, "much stronger" and different from SETI. The estimated release date would be Christmas. The wait continues in 2021.
Official sites:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-kovenant/101527333219534
http://www.myspace.com/thekovenant
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