HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Arcane Roots were a three-piece
alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...
band from Kingston upon Thames, England, formed in 2006. In its final incarnation, the band consisted of Andrew Groves (vocals, guitar), Adam Burton (bass), and Jack Wrench (drums). After self-releasing several EPs, Arcane Roots released their debut album, '' Blood & Chemistry'', in 2013. This was followed by the ''Heaven & Earth'' EP in 2015, and their second studio album, '' Melancholia Hymns'', in 2017. In 2018, they announced their intention to disband after touring for their final EP, ''Landslide'', which was released in September of that year.


History


Early years (2005–2010)

Andrew Groves and Daryl Atkins met at Reigate College in Surrey, while studying music technology. The pair were in numerous function/studio bands together until realising their similar opinions and approaches to music, which led to them forming the band in 2006 with bassist Frank Tiramani. Groves, though satisfied with being guitarist and songwriter, took up the dual role of guitarist and singer as they struggled to find a vocalist. The band recorded a home studio demo of five songs and began to gig around southeast London, giving the CDs away for free. This culminated in a support slot with the French Canadian band Malajube at the 100 Club in London in September 2007. In late 2007, Arcane Roots demoed three new songs—"Casualties", "An Easy Smile", and "Humanism Is a Condition"—plus reworkings of "What Becomes You" and "Becoming of Age" from their original home demo, to be included on a new EP entitled ''Brave the Sea''. The album was produced and recorded by Chris Coulter, who was then working at Stakeout Studios in Richmond. Work on the band's next, self-titled EP started sooner than expected, when the final ''Brave the Sea'' recording sessions finished early. In the coming months, three new songs were recorded: "Long & Low", "Nylon", and "Rouen". Financial problems caused the sessions to be cut short, and only the latter two songs were completed and mixed. "An Easy Smile" was also taken from ''Brave the Sea'' and added to the EP. The record was given away at shows and was available to download from the band's Myspace page. It received positive reviews from small press and secured the band management. Following the release, Adam Burton replaced Tiramani as bassist.


''Blood & Chemistry'' and ''Heaven & Earth'' (2011–2014)

In the spring of 2009, Arcane Roots began working on a mini-album with ''Brave the Sea'' producer Chris Coulter. This was self-released digitally in April 2010 as ''Left Fire''. The EP was subsequently re-released numerous times, first through
Bandcamp Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epic ...
in February 2011, then in remastered physical form via
PIAS Recordings PIAS Recordings (formerly Play It Again Sam) is a Belgian record label founded in 1982 by Kenny Gates and Michel Lambot, In September 2024, the company was acquired by Universal Music Group. Play It Again Sam expanded along with other European i ...
in 2012. The remastered version included two additional acoustic tracks (reworkings of "You Are" and "Rouen", both featuring Emily Denton), as well as an extended version of "Habibty". The album received mainly positive reviews from both press and online review sites. ''Left Fire'''s singles included "In This Town of Such Weather" and "You Are", the latter including the new, extended "Habibty" as its B-side. In September 2011, Arcane Roots provided a cover of Nirvana's " Smells Like Teen Spirit" for ''
Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...
'' magazine's '' Nevermind Forever'' CD. They were the only unsigned band to be included. Arcane Roots released their debut full-length album, '' Blood & Chemistry'', on 6 May 2013, with Clash Music streaming the record prior to its release. This was supported by a United Kingdom headline tour with The JCQ, which started on 30 April 2013, as well as a number of appearances on the festival circuit. During June 2013, the band supported English rock group
Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...
on the European leg of The 2nd Law World Tour, playing dates in Italy and Switzerland—this included a gig at Stadio Olimpico. The band also gained support slots on various dates of Biffy Clyro's European tour in December 2013. The two tours with Muse and Biffy Clyro had been a big aspiration of the band; however, after playing them, they realised that the large venues didn't fit their ambitions and that they felt more comfortable on smaller, more intimate tours. A music video for the single "Resolve" was released on 31 October 2013. It was filmed in Ayr and directed by the band's drummer, Daryl Atkins. 2014 saw the band head out on tour again in Europe and the UK, before playing a few more one-off support slots and festival appearances in the summer. They made their debut at Download Festival and supported The Used at an intimate London show. On 29 June 2015, Arcane Roots announced that Atkins would no longer be touring with them. For the rest of their live shows in 2015, he was replaced by Jack Wrench from Brighton-based band In Dynamics. That year, the band signed to Easy Life Records, a subsidiary label of
Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...
. In July 2015, they returned to Stakeout Studios, where they had recorded ''Left Fire'', to record music for a new extended play entitled ''Heaven & Earth''. They had created 250 songs for the recording stage, selecting only five for inclusion on the record. ''Heaven & Earth'' was released on 16 October 2015 through Easy Life Records. In October 2015, Arcane Roots was the main support for Fightstar in the UK. They later supported Don Broco across the UK alongside Coasts and Symmetry in December.


''Melancholia Hymns'', ''Landslide'' and breakup (2016–2018)

On 27 February 2016, Arcane Roots supported
Enter Shikari Enter Shikari are a British Rock music, rock band formed in St Albans in 1999 by bassist Chris Batten, lead vocalist and keyboardist Rou Reynolds, and drummer Rob Rolfe. In 2003, guitarist Rory Clewlow joined the band to complete its current li ...
on one date of their 2016 Mindsweeper tour at the
Alexandra Palace Alexandra Palace is an entertainment and sports venue in North London, situated between Wood Green and Muswell Hill in the London Borough of Haringey. A listed building, Grade II listed building, it is built on the site of Tottenham Wood and th ...
in London. The band had decreased their tour schedule significantly in 2016 for the writing of their second album. Groves stated during the writing that the new album would be "even more left field" than their previous work. During the recording, Wrench was confirmed as Arcane Roots' official new drummer, replacing Atkins. The band released three music videos prior to the album's release: "Curtains" on 1 February 2017, "Matter" on 22 May, and "Off the Floor" on 18 July. They played their first headline show since October 2015 on 6 February 2017 in the Bush Hall, London, to 400 people, where they debuted three new songs. They also performed at a few European festivals, including Reading and Leeds Festivals, Moscow's Dobrofest, and Switzerland's Bern Gurten festival, and supported
Evanescence Evanescence is an American Rock music, rock band founded in 1994 by singer and keyboardist Amy Lee and guitarist Ben Moody in Little Rock, Arkansas. After releasing independent extended play, EPs and a Origin (Evanescence demo album), demo ...
in London during two shows. On 15 September 2017, Arcane Roots' second studio album, '' Melancholia Hymns'', was released through Easy Life Recordings. It was a significant stylistic departure, relying heavily on electronic sounds. While the band remained confident in the songs they had written, they were uncertain of the potential response to the new music, with Groves describing his fear that it would be perceived as "Arcane Roots Find a Synthesiser" or "Rock Band Finds Drum Machine". Nevertheless, the album was well received critically, being included on
The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
's rock and metal year-end list. In support of the album, the band toured across the UK and Europe, the first dates taking place in September with Good Tiger and Gold Key. Complications arose when members of the band fell ill, leading to the London and Wolverhampton dates being rescheduled to the end of the tour. Additionally, Good Tiger could no longer perform and after eight dates were replaced by Fizzy Blood. On 31 October 2017, Arcane Roots played alongside
Architects An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
,
Enter Shikari Enter Shikari are a British Rock music, rock band formed in St Albans in 1999 by bassist Chris Batten, lead vocalist and keyboardist Rou Reynolds, and drummer Rob Rolfe. In 2003, guitarist Rory Clewlow joined the band to complete its current li ...
, Marmozets, Neck Deep, and PVRIS at Radio 1 Rocks, a one-off gig recorded by
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...
at Maida Vale Studios in London. They played a cover of the
Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...
song " New Born" as part of their setlist. In early 2018, they went on a series of short tours, with support from The Hyena Kill and Grumble Bee in the UK, and Jamie Lenman on the dates in Germany and the Netherlands. This was followed in June by the release of a single entitled "Landslide", alongside the announcement of an EP of the same name. In August 2018, it was announced on the band's Facebook page that they would be splitting up after the conclusion of the Landslide tour dates "to look inwards and take on new long-term projects".


Musical style and influences

Arcane Roots has been described as a diverse band with a sound that ranges through different genres. The band's sound has been defined as alternative rock, math rock, post-hardcore, progressive rock, indie rock, and progressive metal. Features of their sound include jagged guitar riffs coupled with sombre passages, possessing an "angular heaviness
hat A hat is a Headgear, head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorpor ...
keeps them outside of the mainstream". Their use of complex rhythmic structures and irregular beats has been credited to their math rock influence. Covering the band's sound on their earlier extended plays, their sound was noted as fusing
progressive metal Progressive metal (often shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven sound of the former with t ...
with "big, bombastic pop hooks". '' Rock Sound'' described their sound as fusing "
At the Drive-In At the Drive-In was an American post-hardcore band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 1994. The band's most recent line-up consisted of Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals), Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, vocals), Paul Hinojos (bass), Tony Hajjar (drums ...
's skewed punk assault, a dash of Tubelord's high-pitched pop sensibility, a sprinkling of Glassjaw and some 10-fingered riffing that wouldn't be out of place on a Meet Me In St. Louis album". When their debut album, '' Blood & Chemistry'', was released, critics were quick to compare their sound to that of Biffy Clyro. Reviewers noted the songs' complicated influences, such as
mathcore Mathcore is a subgenre of hardcore punk and metalcore influenced by post-hardcore, extreme metal and math rock that developed during the 1990s. Bands in the genre emphasize complex and fluctuant rhythms through the use of irregular time signatur ...
, saying, "metal guitar ability drives songs that most commonly blend soaring and melodic yearningly-worded
indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with a DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and s ...
verses with furious asymmetrical breakdowns". The musical style of their second album, '' Melancholia Hymns'', is seen as distinct from their previous work, as it shifts away from their post-hardcore influences. Eleanor Goodman, writing for '' Prog Magazine'', described it as an "electronically tinged, melodic rock record that shuns the shouty bombast of their debut, 2013's Blood & Chemistry, as well as their four EPs". While writing songs for this album, the band changed their own writing conventions to create a new sound. Groves learned piano for this record and combined influences from various electronica, jazz, and classical pianists such as James Blake,
Aphex Twin Richard David James (born 18 August 1971), known professionally as Aphex Twin, is a British musician, composer and DJ active in electronic music since 1988. His idiosyncratic work has drawn on many styles, including techno, ambient music, ambi ...
,
Keith Jarrett Keith Jarrett (born May 8, 1945) is an American pianist and composer. Jarrett started his career with Art Blakey and later moved on to play with Charles Lloyd (jazz musician), Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Since the early 1970s, he has also be ...
, Nola Frahm, Bill Lawrence, and Bill Evans.
Electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...
was attractive to Groves because of its use of "unconventional rhythms and accents". The lyrics of the non-album single "Over and Over" were written by Groves about getting married, from a hypothetical perspective. This helped Groves develop a more transparent approach to writing lyrics. ''Melancholia Hymns'' became a shift away from their personal experiences towards relatable themes and topics; "Indigo" comments on the life and death of British neurologist Oliver Sacks, while "Off the Floor" has political themes and talks about the importance of voting. Arcane Roots were known for their energetic live shows. Groves has garnered particular attention from live reviewers for his tight multitasking of singing vocally demanding songs and complicated guitar playing.


Members

Final lineup * Andrew Groves - guitar, vocals (2006–2018), keyboards (2016–2018) * Adam Burton - bass, backing vocals (2008–2018) * Jack Wrench - drums, backing vocals (2016–2018) Former members * Frank Tiramani - bass (2006–2008) * Daryl Atkins - drums, backing vocals (2006–2015)


Timeline


Discography


Studio albums


EPs


Singles


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Arcane Roots Musical groups established in 2009 English math rock groups English alternative rock groups English musical trios