Otep is a four-person female fronted Metal band that began in Los Angeles, California in early 2000. Otep is said to be an anagram for Poet. Otep was invited to play Ozzfest before they had even signed to a label after Sharon Osbourne witnessed a brief part of their live performance. Otep has since played Ozzfest several times. Otep has labeled themselves a fusion band; this is most likely due to the fact that they use a mixture of poetry, spoken word, and nu-metal aspects.

Today the band has released four full length albums, and one EP. They have toured to support the release of all their full length releases; they are currently on the Rise, Rebel, Resist tour as of February 2010.

On April 6, 2009, it was announced that Otep is now signed to Victory Records. On April 7, 2009 Shamaya announced that the new album will also mark the band reuniting with former members Mark "Moke" Bistany on drums and Rob Patterson on guitar. Otep stated a song titled "Rise, Rebel, Resist" from the new album Smash the Control Machine is slated for release August 18th, 2009. However, "Smash the Control Machine" will be the first song to be heard off the new album, receiving air play in June 2009. Koichi Fukuda is playing piano on the new album, and Emilie Autumn will play violin.The band appeared with 2Cents, Five Finger Death Punch & Shadows Fall on the 'Shock & Raw Tour' of North America in the fall of 2009. An article in the spring 2009 issue of Broken Records Magazine states that Otep delves beyond music to focus on important issues.

In November 2009, It was announced that their single "Smash the Control Machine" would be used for TNA Wrestling's Final Resolution 2009 PPV on December 20th.

On September 30, 2010, Jay McGuire left the band.

The album cover for ATAVIST was released on April 26, 2011.

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From wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otep)