Allegaeon

Allegaeon /ˌʌliːdʒn/^[2] is an American extreme metal band from Larimer County, Colorado, founded in 2008. They have released one EP and four studio albums.

History

Allegaeon was formed in the early summer of 2008. They initially played small shows, at bars and houses in and around Fort Collins. In August 2008 they independently released a self-titled EP. Soon after, they signed with Metal Blade Records. In January 2010, Allegaeon entered the studio to record their debut album Fragments of Form and Function. The album was released in July 20, 2010 through Metal Blade. In January 2012, Allegaeon went to Lambesis Studios in December 2011, in San Diego, California to record their second full-length album Formshifter.^[3] Formshifter was released May 8, 2012 through Metal Blade. In 2013, founding guitarist Ryan Glisan collaborated on a project with Tim Lambesis, and left the band shortly thereafter. He was replaced by Michael Stancel.

Their third full-length album, titled Elements of the Infinite, was released June 24, 2014 through Metal Blade. The album has been heavily praised, with Gregory Heaney of allmusic calling it a "creative breakthrough" and praising "the dazzling guitar work" and "epic orchestral flourishes".^[4] In 2015, original vocalist Ezra Haynes departed Allegaeon, not citing a specific reason, though it is clear it wasn't because of internal band issues.^[5] Riley McShane was immediately selected to take over as vocalist, and has received a positive reaction from the fans.

In September 2016, Allegaeon released Proponent for Sentience, the first album with Riley and what was considered their finest work to date. It has received not only unanimous praise, but has been critically noted as having great importance in modern metal.^[6] It features Bjorn Strid of Soilwork on vocals and Benjamin Ellis of Scar Symmetry.

In October 2016, long time bass player Corey Archuleta announced he would be leaving the band at the end of the year to focus on his law career.^[7] During this time band also stated they had incurred a large amount of debt, and were unsure how much longer the band would continue.^[8] Because of this financial stress, the band launched a fan club through the Patreon platform and have since been focused on continuing to tour and write their next album.

Also during 2016, Allegaeon shot studio play-through videos for the songs Gray Matter Mechanics and their cover of the Rush song Subdivisions, as well as an official video in California for the song "Of Mind and Matrix".^[9]

Musical style and lyrical themes

Allegaeon plays an amalgamation of styles. They are often referred to as technical melodic death metal.^[10] They play death metal and incorporate melody and technicality without losing heaviness. They take influence from classical music, progressive metal and thrash metal as well. Lyrically, they deal with scientific themes, exploring things like the theory of evolution and biology, physics, cryonics, dyson spheres, the probability of alien life in the universe, stem cell research,^[11][12] and artificial intelligence. Allegaeon is also noted for their technicality - In fact, their earlier work was criticized for being almost too technical, but by the time "Elements of the Infinite" was released, critics noted a near-perfect balance of technicality and catchy songs.^[13]

Image

Allegaeon has developed a playful identity, while remaining serious within their musical realm. Live performances often feature the band mascot "Myles" in a crab outfit, mocking the crabcore trend of the late 2000s. They also post funny, sometimes bordering on offensive memes on Facebook, and some of these have gone viral. The band has numerous inside jokes that are posted, and always maintain a lighthearted aesthetic outside of the music.^[14]

Tours

Allegaeon has toured and played shows with other prominent bands, such as Job for a Cowboy, Darkest Hour and in 2014, they had their most intense touring schedule to date. In August, they embarked on a nationwide tour entitled "The Artery Metal Tour" supporting Chimaira and The Plot in You.^[15] Immediately after, in September 2014, Allegaeon played a string of shows directly supporting Arsis on the band's 10th Anniversary Tour. In the spring of 2015 the band toured with The Agonist and Product of Hate, and played SXSW with Norma Jean. Additionally, Allegaeon co-headlined a large tour with Act of Defiance, a metal supergroup featuring members of Megadeth, including guitarist Chris Broderick.^[16] In 2016, Allegaeon also played the Ozzfest meets Knotfest festival in San Bernardino, CA ^[17] and the Winter Warriors tour alongside Battlecross and Necromancing the Stone. ^[18] The band started off 2017 by performing multiple sets on the 70,000 Tons of Metal cruise festival ^[19] and followed up with performing the Metal Blade Records' 35th Anniversary tour with Whitechapel, Cattle Decapitation, and Goatwhore. ^[20]

Other projects

Former guitarist Ryan Glisan formed Pyrithion with Tim Lambesis of As I Lay Dying in 2013, and the band released one EP prior to Lambesis' subsequent incarceration.^[21] Glisan is now working with Wes Hauch, formerly of The Faceless.^[22] In addition, guitarist Greg Burgess concurrently performs in The Combustion Mechanism and Cryogen.

Band members

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Singles

Music videos

References

External links

• Official website