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Church Of Misery - Biography


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Biography

Church Of Misery were formed by Tatsu Mikami (ba) in the spring of 1995 to play very individual DOOM rock influenced by early Black Sabbath and 70s heavy rock, with lyrics dedicated to famous serial killers like Manson, Dahmer, Ramirez, etc. The first album was recorded immediately after formation, to be released independently by the band, but was then released as a bootleg by a US label. This earned the band a lot of recognition in the international underground for their carefully crafted and memorable songs, and their authentic 70s sound. After the bootleg cd release, their original singer was replaced byNobukazu Chow. This line-up released a lot of material on various labels like the now legendary psychedelic/doom label "Bad Acid"(Electric Wizard, Farflung etc), and Frank Kozik's Man's Ruin. Despite the fact that they didn't play outside Japan until Fall 2005, the band was held in extremely high regard around the world. After the replacement of singer Nobukazu with Yoshiahi Negishi, they signed with Southern Lord (known for their releases of Goatsnake, Sunno))), Saint Vitus, Place of Skulls, Dave Grohl's Probot, etc), and released their first full-length album "Master Of Brutality" in march of 2001. The album received enthusiastic reviews world-wide, especially in Terrorizer magazine (UK) where it reached No.17 in their albums of the year chart of 2001. It was also included in their "Top 10 Stoner/Sludge albums of all time" in issue 144, May 2006. Local gigs followed from 2001 to 2003, the band often not playing actual songs, but just jamming in freaky doomy Sabbath rock style. By the spring of 2004, COM had signed with Japanese label Diwphalanx. The second full- length album, "The Second Coming", was released in July 2004, and featured 2 new members, Hideki Fukazawa, and Takenori Hoshi. In fall 2005, COM executed their first European tour in support of the European version of "The Second Coming" from Salvation Records. The tour started in Berlin Germany, continued through France, and ended in London, England. The show in London received a great review from Terrorizer magazine, and they received a lot of attention from magazines in France & England. Some recordings of the shows will be included in a future release. Church Of Misery have a distinctive doom rock sound which is enhanced by the influence of early 70s music, like Black Sabbath, Leaf Hound, and November.They describe their sound as "Sabbath Rock". Now, the band's line-up consists of 3 Japanese guys, Hideki Fukazawa - vocals, Tatsu Mikami - bass, and Junji Narita - drums, and one Australian,Tom Sutton - guitars

(source: http://www.myspace.com/churchofserialkiller)