Avrigus
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| Avrigus | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Sydney, Australia |
| Genre(s) | Gothic metal Doom metal |
| Years active | 1995 — present |
| Label(s) | (AUS) Warhead, (Neth) Well of Urd |
| Associated acts | Cruciform |
| Website | http://www.avrigus.com/ |
| Members | |
| Simon Gruer | |
| Former members | |
| Judy Chiara | |
Avrigus is a Gothic Metal band from Sydney, Australia. The group has released an EP and one full-length album to date. A second album has been a work in progress for many years; in May 2007 the group's remaining member posted a message on the Avrigus forum speculating that this album will be released in 2008 [1].
Avrigus had its origins in 1990 when Sydney musician Simon Gruer recorded some thrash metal songs. The following year he formed a band with guitarist Leif Gregory, drummer Kane Jarvis and bass player Steve Caruana. The line-up was only together a short time however. Gregory later featured in various other Sydney bands including Destrier, Aftermath and Dark Order and Jarvis and Caruana formed a grindcore band called Vomit that later became Volatile.
In 1993 Gruer began to work as a sound engineer for the Sydney doom/death metal band Cruciform and in late 1993 joined the group when their bass player left. Gruer played keyboards and took over the lead vocal role. The band recorded a two track demo, one track of which was later included on the Warhead Records compilation Warhead Records Vol. 1 in 1995. A full-length album was started which generated some interest from Earache Records but the band split up before it was completed. In the meantime, Cruciform's guitarist Tony Mulhearn had introduced Gruer to artist and musician Judy Chiara and the pair began to develop musical ideas for Avrigus.
With the dissolution of Cruciform, Gruer and Chiara now had more time to devote to Avrigus and recorded two tracks, "As Ivy Groweth Green" and "The Final Wish" that appearead as a demo in 1997. The following year, Warhead released the band's EP "The Final Wish". Chiara also made a guest appearance on an album called Dreamscapes by the Sydney doom band Elysium.
The album The Secret Kingdom was completed by January 2000. Chiara wrote most of the music, sang and played piano. Gruer contributed most of the music including guitars, bass, drums and keyboards. The band's label Warhead had folded in the meantime but Chiara took copies of the album with her on a visit to Europe during the year and the group was offered release by Dutch label Hammerheart Records through its offshoot Well of Urd. The Secret Kingdom was released in 2001. Since that time, the members of Avrigus have expressed dissatisfaction with the label (now known as Karmageddon Media) due to its failure to provide royalty payments. Gruer and Chiara have not written music together for some years in any case, and in May 2007 Gruer announced that Chiara was no longer a member of Avrigus.
[edit] Discography
The Final Wish
The Secret Kingdom
- Released: 2001
- Format: CD
- Label: Well of Urd
- Tracks: "Overture", "Solitude * Salvation", "Dark Angels' Ascension", "Veritas", "Qliphoth", "Desolate", "Flesh", "'Til Death Do Us Unite", "Shade of My Heart", "The Grail"
