Our Last Enemy

Our Last Enemy
Origin	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Genres	Industrial metal, Heavy metal, Alternative metal, Metalcore
Years active	2006 - Present
Labels	Eclipse Records
Associated acts	Fear Factory, Genitorturers, Switchblade, Voltera
Website	www.ourlastenemy.com
Members	Oliver Fogwell Jeff Ritchie Matt Heywood Bryce 'bizz' Bernius Zot Cillia

Our Last Enemy was formed in 2006 by Oliver Fogwell, Jeff Ritchie, and Matt Heywood. The band would go through several guitarists and keyboardist's from 2007 before being joined by Bizz and Zot on Guitars and Drums respectively.

The band has worked and played with bands that include Fear Factory, Static X, Dope, Hanzel Und Gretyl, Soil, Genitorturers, Mnemic, God Forbid and Fozzy.

History

Pariah, 2014 – Present.

The band has been extremely busy, recently signing with Eclipse Records. On 11 March 2014 the new album Pariah will be released throughout North America.

Fallen Empires, 2009 – 2013

During this period it was announced that Our Last Enemy would be relocating from Sydney to Los Angeles for 3 months to record their debut album with producer Christian Olde Wolbers of Fear Factory fame (God Forbid, Threat Signal, Mnemic).

While recording in Los Angeles, the band also lived with producer Christian Olde Wolbers. The band was also given special recognition "As their Australian friends" at God Forbids show at the Whiskey a go-go, which was noted by local press at the time.

Also, during this period, Our Last Enemy became the first Australian band to work with famed publicist Kelli Wright, were signed to Australian Heavy Metal label Riot! Entertainment with distribution through Warner Music and Bizz of U.S industrial band Genitorturers joined as guitarist.

The album took close to 3 months to record, and was recorded at the famed Temple Studios which is Co-owned by B-Real of Cypress Hill and Raymond Herrera of Fear Factory.

The album was distributed by major label Warner Music in Australia.

‘Fallen Empires’ was released in Australia in October 2010 through Riot!/Warner in Australia, and has received a favorable response from critics, noting the sound quality and the musical range of the band. Upon its digital release in April 2011, the album debuted at Number 1 on the Australia iTunes Metal Charts, one of the first local metal bands to do this.

To coincide with the release of ‘Fallen Empires’ Our Last Enemy embarked on a tour of Australia and New Zealand. The band had also planned to tour Japan in 2011 but with the national disaster in Japan, these plans have been put on hold, with the band now looking towards heading back the United States.

The band released a video clip for '10,000 Headless Horses' in early May 2011 shot by The Blackley Brothers and they are currently working on a follow up E.P. to ‘Fallen Empires’ during their extensive touring schedule and then will put their efforts towards a full length album to follow in 2012.

The band self released an EP called 'Wolves Of Perigord' on 26 March 2012 and it debuted at Number 2 on the Australia iTunes Metal Charts, just missing out on a second number 1 to the new Meshuggah album released the same week.

The band followed this up by expanding on its interest in electronic music and previous experiments with remix's by releasing the album 'Engineering The Enemy' which featured remixes of their songs by artists such as Mortiis, Angel (Dope/Team Cybergeist), Travis Neal (Divine Heresy), Dismantled, Angelspit, The Berzerker and Shiv-r (Metropolis_Records). The album debuted at Number 2 on the Australian iTunes Metal Charts making it a third straight top 3 release for the band.

Early years and "…Is Death" 2006–2009

Our Last Enemy was formed in 2006 through the dissolution of the members previous bands. According to an interview with Vocalist Oliver Fogwell, during this period the band wrote and jammed for close to 6 months before playing their first show.

During 2008 Our Last Enemy entered the studio to record the cult E.P "…Is Death". …Is Death is a play on the meaning of the band's name, ‘our last enemy is death’. ‘…Is Death’ was a 6 song E.P containing 3 original songs (10 000 Headless Horses, Decoy and Cold & Alone) and also featured 3 remixes of 10 000 headless horses from leading Dj’s from the Sydney underground industrial dance scene, which led to many crossover sales of ‘…Is Death’ for the band and contributed to its cult status within the Sydney music scene.

It has also been stated by Bassist Matt Heywood that the last copy of "… Is Death" was given to Vas Kallas of Hanzel Und Gretyl.

Our Last Enemy also toured the east coast of Australia extensively during this time, solidifying their name in cities outside of their native home of Sydney.

Tearing Down The Empire Tour AUS 2011

Our Last Enemy are quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with within the Australian heavy music scene thanks to their unique blend of industrial metal and intense live stage show. The band's debut EP sold out of all 3 pressings, and a legion of passionate fans soon followed, with a heavy touring schedule and coveted international supports for Static X, Dope_(band), Hanzel und Gretyl and Soil_(band).

The debut record ‘FALLEN EMPIRES’ via Riot! Entertainment /Warner Music. It was one of 2010’s most anticipated local metal releases with media reviews being unanimous in their praise of the albums world class production and killer tracks, setting the band up on a level playing field with their overseas counterparts.

With new members, guitarist Bizz from cult Florida band Genitortures (featuring David Vincent from Morbid Angel) and The Undead (ex Misfits_(band)) and new keyboardist Craig (Grimthor), the band has just completed their most ambitious tour to date to celebrate the launch of their debut full length ‘Fallen Empires’ throughout Australia, New Zealand, and with Asia/Euro/US dates to be announced soon.

Now they kick off the second leg of the tour titled ‘TEARING DOWN THE EMPIRE’ with fellow industrial metal act VIRAL MILLENNIUM.

Band Members

=== Current Lineup === ^[1]
Oliver Fogwell (vocals)
Bryce ‘Bizz’ Bernius (guitars/backing vocals)
Matt Heywood (bass/backing vocals)
Zotty Gravez (drums/keys/samples)

References

http://www.voltagemedia.com.au/news/2010/10/20/our-last-enemy-dawn-heist-and-recoil, http://www.voltagemedia.com.au/news/2011/02/24/our-last-enemy-checks,

http://musicfeeds.com.au/features/our-last-enemy-tearing-it-down-one-more-time/,

http://www.timeoff.com.au/html/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6885:our-last-enemy&catid=10:sixpack&Itemid=9, http://www.timeoff.com.au/html/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7249:our-last-enemy&catid=10:sixpack&Itemid=9,

http://www.sludgefactory.com.au/our-last-enemy-ripping-it-and-tearing-it-down, http://www.loudmag.com.au/content/our-last-enemy-building-an-empire,

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/our-last-enemy-signs-with-eclipse-records/ http://www.eclipserecords.com/our-last-enemy

External links

• http://www.facebook.com/ourlastenemy,
• http://www.reverbnation.com/ourlastenemy,
• http://www.last.fm/music/Our+Last+Enemy,
• http://www.youtube.com/user/OurLastEnemy?blend=5&ob=5,
• http://www.ausmetalguide.com/Our_Last_Enemy,