Behold... The Arctopus
Encyclopedia
Behold... The Arctopus is an experimental metal band from Brooklyn, New York, United States
.
. Zeleny met Lerner and Marston and impressed the duo. He was immediately asked to join the band.
After releasing two EPs and a split, Behold... The Arctopus released their first full-length, entitled Skullgrid
, on October 16, 2007. The band went on tour with Genghis Tron
and The Dillinger Escape Plan
to support the album, but it was cut short by an injury of one of the members of The Dillinger Escape Plan. To help them recoup financial losses from that tour, Between the Buried and Me
took the band on tour, supported by August Burns Red
.
On December 30, 2008 drummer
Charlie Zeleny
posted a statement on his MySpace
page stating that after five years with Behold... The Arctopus, he would be leaving the group to focus on his career as a session musician
. On November 25, 2009, Weasel Walter
announced that he was moving to New York City to join the band on drums and will be writing "new, more extreme material from scratch." The band made a brief announcement confirming it on December 16, 2009.
, an instrument that covers the range of a bass and guitar and is generally played by tapping
with either one or two hands. Another famous user of the Warr guitar is Trey Gunn
, formerly of King Crimson
. Their music often includes dissonance
, polyrhythms and jazz-like elements.
Influences on their music range from heavy metal
, fusion
to classical music
, amongst other genres. Influential heavy metal bands include Cynic
, Ulver
, Death, Neurosis
, Darkthrone
and Meshuggah
, Atheist
, Voivod
and Gorguts
. Composers Béla Bartók
, Luciano Berio
, Arnold Schoenberg
, and Krzysztof Penderecki
have all influenced the band.
Marston has explained the Behold... The Arctopus' recording process in an interview: "The songs written by one member were all scored out on paper and learned by the band. The first couple songs only had a few notated parts, the majority being written on the instrument and never written down. The trend has definitely been going more towards writing everything out."
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Biography
Behold... The Arctopus was formed by Colin Marston and Mike Lerner, who had been playing guitar together for over a year-and-a-half by the time they found a drummer. Their demo We Need a Drummer (on which a drum machine was used) was picked up by drummer Charlie ZelenyCharlie Zeleny
Charlie Zeleny is a New York City session drummer, music director, producer, and band leader most popular for his work playing duo with Jordan Rudess from Dream Theater and his drum duet work with Terry Bozzio for The Drum Channel and playing a nonstop 8 minute Drum Solo called "Drumageddon" up an...
. Zeleny met Lerner and Marston and impressed the duo. He was immediately asked to join the band.
After releasing two EPs and a split, Behold... The Arctopus released their first full-length, entitled Skullgrid
Skullgrid
Skullgrid is the first full-length studio album by Behold... The Arctopus, released in 2007 on Black Market Activities. It contains seven studio recordings of previously unreleased original compositions....
, on October 16, 2007. The band went on tour with Genghis Tron
Genghis Tron
Genghis Tron is a three-piece experimental metal band formed in Poughkeepsie, New York, USA, and currently based in Brooklyn, New York and San Francisco, California. Genghis Tron signed to Relapse Records after releasing two recordings on Crucial Blast. The band is noted for its creative...
and The Dillinger Escape Plan
The Dillinger Escape Plan
The Dillinger Escape Plan is an American mathcore band from Morris Plains, New Jersey. The group originated in 1997 after the disbanding of Arcane, a hardcore punk trio consisting of Ben Weinman, Dimitri Minakakis, and Chris Pennie. The band's current line-up consists of guitarist Ben Weinman,...
to support the album, but it was cut short by an injury of one of the members of The Dillinger Escape Plan. To help them recoup financial losses from that tour, Between the Buried and Me
Between the Buried and Me
Between the Buried and Me is an American heavy metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina. They have released a total of five studio albums, as well as a cover album, an EP and a live DVD/CD...
took the band on tour, supported by August Burns Red
August Burns Red
August Burns Red is an American metal band, from Manheim, Pennsylvania. Formed in 2003, the group began their first performances while a majority of the members were attending their senior year of high school, and soon began playing shows around Lancaster, before being signed to CI Records, and...
.
On December 30, 2008 drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Charlie Zeleny
Charlie Zeleny
Charlie Zeleny is a New York City session drummer, music director, producer, and band leader most popular for his work playing duo with Jordan Rudess from Dream Theater and his drum duet work with Terry Bozzio for The Drum Channel and playing a nonstop 8 minute Drum Solo called "Drumageddon" up an...
posted a statement on his MySpace
MySpace
Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
page stating that after five years with Behold... The Arctopus, he would be leaving the group to focus on his career as a session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
. On November 25, 2009, Weasel Walter
Weasel Walter
Weasel Walter is a composer and instrumentalist who founded the band The Flying Luttenbachers in Chicago in 1991 with late jazz cult figure Hal Russell and is a current member of Cellular Chaos and Behold...The Arctopus...
announced that he was moving to New York City to join the band on drums and will be writing "new, more extreme material from scratch." The band made a brief announcement confirming it on December 16, 2009.
Style
Behold... The Arctopus play instrumental music inspired by both metal and 20th century classical music. This technical and progressive style is executed on a regular electric guitar and drum kit but involves a 12-string Warr guitarWarr guitar
Warr Guitars is a company that manufactures the Warr Guitar, a guitar like musical instrument developed by the company's founder, Mark Warr.-Description:The Warr Guitar resembles a standard electric guitar, albeit with a very low action and more strings...
, an instrument that covers the range of a bass and guitar and is generally played by tapping
Tapping
Tapping is a guitar playing technique, where a string is fretted and set into vibration as part of a single motion of being pushed onto the fretboard, as opposed to the standard technique being fretted with one hand and picked with the other...
with either one or two hands. Another famous user of the Warr guitar is Trey Gunn
Trey Gunn
Trey Gunn is an American musician, known for his membership in progressive rock band King Crimson from 1994 to 2003, playing Warr Guitar and Chapman Stick.-Biography:...
, formerly of King Crimson
King Crimson
King Crimson are a rock band founded in London, England in 1969. Often categorised as a foundational progressive rock group, the band have incorporated diverse influences and instrumentation during their history...
. Their music often includes dissonance
Dissonance
Dissonance has several meanings, all related to conflict or incongruity:*Consonance and dissonance in music are properties of an interval or chord*Cognitive dissonance is a state of mental conflict...
, polyrhythms and jazz-like elements.
Influences on their music range from heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
, fusion
Jazz fusion
Jazz fusion is a musical fusion genre that developed from mixing funk and R&B rhythms and the amplification and electronic effects of rock, complex time signatures derived from non-Western music and extended, typically instrumental compositions with a jazz approach to lengthy group improvisations,...
to classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
, amongst other genres. Influential heavy metal bands include Cynic
Cynic (band)
Cynic is an American progressive rock band, incorporating experimental music, alternative, metal and jazz fusion elements, founded in Miami, Florida and currently based in Los Angeles, California. Their first album, Focus, released on September 14, 1993, is widely regarded as a landmark release of...
, Ulver
Ulver
Ulver is a musical group from Norway. Since their first, folklore-influenced black metal release entitled Bergtatt – Et eeventyr i 5 capitler , Ulver’s musical style has been fluid and increasingly eclectic, blending genres such as rock, electronica, symphonic and chamber traditions, noise and...
, Death, Neurosis
Neurosis (band)
Neurosis is a post-metal band, based in Oakland, California. They formed in 1985 as a hardcore punk band, and their sound progressed towards a doom metal style that also included influences from dark ambient and industrial music as well as incorporating elements of folk music...
, Darkthrone
Darkthrone
Darkthrone is a Norwegian black metal band. They formed in 1987 as a death metal band, but after embracing the black metal style in 1991, they became a driving force in the Norwegian black metal scene. For most of this period Darkthrone has consisted of just two musicians, Nocturno Culto and...
and Meshuggah
Meshuggah
Meshuggah is an extreme metal band from Umeå, Sweden, formed in 1987. Meshuggah's line-up has primarily consisted of founding members vocalist Jens Kidman and lead guitarist Fredrik Thordendal, drummer Tomas Haake, who joined in 1990, and rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagström, who joined in 1992...
, Atheist
Atheist (band)
Atheist is a technical death metal band from Florida, founded in 1984, whose music combines metal riffs with subtle Latin music arrangements and jazz fusion.- History :...
, Voivod
Voivod (band)
Voivod are a Canadian heavy metal band from Jonquière, Quebec, Canada. Their musical style has changed several times since the band's origin in the early 1980s...
and Gorguts
Gorguts
Gorguts is a technical death metal band from Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. The band's only constant member is Luc Lemay.-History:Gorguts were formed in 1989 by Luc Lemay , Sylvain Marcoux , Éric Giguère and Stephane Provencher...
. Composers Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók
Béla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
, Luciano Berio
Luciano Berio
Luciano Berio, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian composer. He is noted for his experimental work and also for his pioneering work in electronic music.-Biography:Berio was born at Oneglia Luciano Berio, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI (October 24, 1925 – May 27, 2003) was an Italian...
, Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...
, and Krzysztof Penderecki
Krzysztof Penderecki
Krzysztof Penderecki , born November 23, 1933 in Dębica) is a Polish composer and conductor. His 1960 avant-garde Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima for string orchestra brought him to international attention, and this success was followed by acclaim for his choral St. Luke Passion. Both these...
have all influenced the band.
Marston has explained the Behold... The Arctopus' recording process in an interview: "The songs written by one member were all scored out on paper and learned by the band. The first couple songs only had a few notated parts, the majority being written on the instrument and never written down. The trend has definitely been going more towards writing everything out."
EPs
- Arctopocalypse Now... Warmageddon Later (2003, 3" CD, Self-Released)
- Re-released by Epicene Sound Systems later in 2003
- Nano-Nucleonic Cyborg SummoningNano-Nucleonic Cyborg SummoningNano-Nucleonic Cyborg Summoning is the second EP album by Behold... the Arctopus, released in 2005 on Epicene Sound Systems and limited to 800 copies. It was later released on 12" screen-printed white vinyl limited to 500 copies....
(2005, CD and vinyl, Troubleman Unlimited, Epicene Sound Systems)- Reissued in 2006 (CD, Black Market ActivitiesBlack Market ActivitiesBlack Market Activities is an independent record label which was founded in 2003 by Guy Kozowyk, the singer of the Boston, Massachusetts, based metal band The Red Chord.-History:...
)
- Reissued in 2006 (CD, Black Market Activities
Split releases
- SplitOrthrelm / Behold... The ArctopusOrthrelm / Behold... The Arctopus is a split EP by Orthrelm and Behold... The Arctopus released in 2006 on Crucial Blast.-Track listing:#"PAINcave" - Behold... The Arctopus – 5:12#"Pithot 1" - Orthrelm – 3:34...
with OrthrelmOrthrelm- Biography :Orthrelm is a duo with Mick Barr on guitar and Josh Blair on drums, experimenting in many forms of unconventional songwriting styles and musical concepts in general....
(2006, CD and vinyl, Crucial Blast Records, EYEOFSOUND)
Members
- Colin MarstonColin MarstonColin Marston is an American musician and record producer residing in NYC. He graduated from New York University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in music technology in 2004, and runs The Thousand Caves Recording Studios, located in Woodhaven, Queens, while not on tour with one of his four active...
– Warr guitar - Mike LernerMike LernerMike Lerner is an American metal guitarist best known for his work with Behold... The Arctopus.-Career:Lerner began playing the piano when he was five years old. He attended New York University where he received a degree in jazz composition and also met fellow musician Colin Marston. The two began...
– guitar - Weasel WalterWeasel WalterWeasel Walter is a composer and instrumentalist who founded the band The Flying Luttenbachers in Chicago in 1991 with late jazz cult figure Hal Russell and is a current member of Cellular Chaos and Behold...The Arctopus...
- drums
External links
- Behold... The Arctopus at Metal Blade Records
- [ Behold... The Arctopus] at Allmusic