Demoncy is an American

black metal Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with tr ...

band formed in 1989 in Sylva, North Carolina by musician Ixithra. They are known to be one of the first American black metal bands.

History

The band originally formed in 1989 as a solo project by Ixithra as an outlet to express darkness through skilled and creative art. With several side projects and pseudonyms, he has been known as Wicked Warlock Of Demonic Blasphemy and Lord Of The Sylvan Shadows. The music is regarded as both otherworldly and demonic. In 1992, Ixithra joined the USBM band Profanatica in the role of guitar player. Displeased with the sound of their new album on which he performed, Ixithra set an industrial magnet to the master tapes in a rage, destroying the entire creation. He terminated the relationship immediately and reformed Demoncy. It was with the 1999 release of ''Joined In Darkness'', that Demoncy was cemented in black metal history. Regarded by many as the finest example of USBM ever produced The band toured the US and Europe and were featured in several metal music festivals. Throughout the several versions of Demoncy, Ixithra has fired his entire band instantly for not displaying professional musicianship and the darkness required to perform within the Black Metal genre.

Significance

Demoncy is credited as early practitioners of black metal in the United States, who did not imitate the popularized

Early Norwegian black metal scene The early Norwegian black metal scene of the 1990s is credited with shaping the modern black metal genre and producing some of the most acclaimed and influential artists in extreme metal. The scene had a distinct ethos, and its core members ref ...

Style and ideology

Demoncy is known for keeping away from the commercial masses, putting a focus on the mysteries of the occult and the theme of keeping the purity of darkness in the music's design. Song lyrics are centered on

occult The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mysti ...

and magical themes. Not limiting themselves only to

Satanism Satanism refers to a group of religious, ideological, or philosophical beliefs based on Satan—particularly his worship or veneration. Because of the ties to the historical Abrahamic religious figure, Satanism—as well as other religious ...

or similarly popular paganist thinking, the band are fiercely anti-

collectivist In sociology, a social organization is a pattern of relationships between and among individuals and groups. Characteristics of social organization can include qualities such as sexual composition, spatiotemporal cohesion, leadership, struct ...

. There is a focus on elements of atmospheric and ethereal horror, nihilism and individualism.

Members

Current

*Ixithra *VJS *Scorpios Androctonus

Former

Bass

*Necreon *Neptersu *Xelac

Drums

*Vorthrus

Guitar

*Aeldeost *Drathrul *Elsifer *Grymoreth *Maldis *Zyuhlniv

Lyricist

*Vetharanyn

Vocals

*Diabolicus *Horidus *Synvorlath

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Faustian Dawn'' (1993, self-released cassette; 1995 CD, So It Is Done Productions)) * ''Within The Sylvan Realms Of Frost'' (1999, So It Is Done Productions) * ''Joined in Darkness'' (1999, Baphomet Records) * ''Empire Of The Fallen Angel'' (2003, Blood, Fire, Death Records) * ''Enthroned is the Night'' (2012, Forever Plagued Records) * ''Black Star Gnosis'' (2023, Dark Descent Records)

Demos

* "Impure Blessings (Dark Angel of the Four Wings)" (1991, cassette, self-released) * "Hypocrisy Of The Accursed Heavens" (1994, cassette, self-released) * "Ascension Of A Star Long Since Fallen" (1995, cassette, self-released) * "The Dawn Of Eternal Damnation" (1996, self-released) * "Commencement Of The Dark Crusades" (1996, self-released)

DVDs

* ''Demoncy Live'' (2003) * ''Gathering Of Shadows'' (2006)

References

{{Authority control American black metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1989