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RAM-ZET BIOGRAPHY
Ram-Zet is a Norwegian progressive black metal band with some gothic and avant-garde influences which originally began as a one-man project in 1998 by mastermind Zet in order to bring his own musical visions to life after having played in numerous assorted bands (including an outfit called MFM with former Artch singer Eric Hawk).
The band's style has been described by some people (including band mastermind Zet) as "schizo-metal". Ram-Zet's music is strongly linked to the schizophrenia theme, and many elements converge to underline it:
* The lyrics of Pure Therapy, Escape, and Intra all revolve around this mental disorder. Forming a story which runs through all three albums, they feature two main characters: a schizophrenic patient in a dubious mental institution (sung by Zet), and a nurse trying to help him evade (Sfinx's part). Muted in Pure Therapy, Spfinx's lines becomes more and more marked in Escape as the narration becomes a dialogue.
*The specific musical language elements converge to create some kind of insane atmosphere: a constant contrast between usual consonant harmonies (modal harmonies) and very weird and deranged dissonant parts (such as the use of unconventional sounds, dissonant and deranged sonorities); the use of unconventional harmonies such as the whole tone scale, polytonality, polymodality, etc.; the use of some original instrumental timbres and of an unconventional time signature.
*Contrast between narrative classic melodies and obsessive melodic motives (frequent use of obstinatos).
*Contrast between peaceful melodies and furious parts—an usual aspect in Goth, but the contrast is particularily reinforced here by the deranged fury of Zet and the unhealthy sonorities. Sfinx's voice, in turns angelic and commanding, responds to Zet's guttural vocals, and Pure Therapy, Escape, and Intra all have a section called "Peace?" halfway through the album, a peaceful spell soon to be broken by the returning distress.
*The song structure: just like the schizophrenic mind, the songs are shattered and fragmented. As a matter of fact, their structure is often reminiscent of some kind of patchwork made of very different and contrasted parts which all converge to finally drown the feeling of unity in the song.
The first core line-up, with Solem (Bass) and Küth (Drums), banded together prior to the recording session of Ram-Zet's debut album, Pure Therapy (released in September 2000). Combining various elements ranging from the chaotic rage of Black Metal, a great sense for melody to some rather progressive structuring and mechanized rhythms of Industrial music, the band creates a flawless hybrid with an ability to maintain stylistic integrity heightened by genre-bending ingenuity. Also amongst their sonic arsenal, Ram-Zet use and abuse different noises and loops to effectively add an atmosphere to the proceedings. And in an unexpected yet clever twist, the group do not limit themselves by using exclusive, sampled synthesizer material. Instead, they have a graceful violinist in their ranks and utilize a real choir for their recordings!
Ram-Zet's second album, Escape, was once again recorded at their personal Space Valley Studio in Norway and later mixed by Mikko Karmila at Finnvox Studios in Finland (Nightwish, Children of Bodom, Moonspell, etc.) for boosted sound quality. Escape continues Ram-Zet's musically challenging soundscape tradition and turns out to be the band's tightest offering to date (mainly due to the fact that a complete line-up was involved in Escape's writing process).
Their third album Intra was released in 2005. On March 17, 2007, in the official Ram-Zet forum, Sfinx stated that Ram-Zet is working on new material and "will soon be playing the songs live." Later that month it was confirmed further on the official news section of the Ram-Zet website. The news stated that the band has been rehearsing six new songs and working on two more. It has been rumored that the album will be coming out sometime in late 2007.
Current line-up:
Zet (Henning Ramseth) - Vocals, Guitars - (ex-Return)
Sfinx (Miriam Elisabeth Renvåg) - Vocals
Sareeta (Ingvild Johannesen) - Vocals, Violin - (Ásmegin, Solefald (session member))
Lars - Bass
Kuth - Drums - (The Kovenant)
Magnus Østvang - Keyboards - (Return (session memeber))
Former members:
Solem - bass (on Pure Therapy and Escape)
Jon Daniel - bass (on Intra)
Discography:
* Pure Therapy CD (2000, Spikefarm/Century Media Records)
* Escape CD (2002, Spikefarm)
* Intra CD (2005, Tabu Records)
RAM-ZET GENRES Avant-garde Black / Gothic metal
RAM-ZET LYRICAL THEMES Insanity, Loneliness, Depression
RAM-ZET ORIGIN Norway (Hamar), formed in 1998
RAM-ZET CURRENT RECORD LABEL Tabu Records
RAM-ZET STATUS Active
RAM-ZET CURRENT LINE-UP Zet (Flemming Rammseth) - Vocals, Guitar (ex-Vidsyn)
Sfinx (Miriam Elisabeth Renvåg) - Vocals
Sareeta (Ingvild Johannesen) - Vocals, Violin (ex-Ásmegin, In Lingua Mortua)
Lars - Bass
Kuth - Drums (The Kovenant)
RAM-ZET PREVIOUS LINE-UP Solem - Bass
Jon 'Daniel' - Bass
Magnus Østvang - Keyboards
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