Five Star Prison Cell was an Australian four-piece band from

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia, whose music was generally labelled as tech metal or

math rock Math rock is a style of Alternative rock, alternative and indie rock with roots in bands such as King Crimson and Rush (band), Rush. It is characterized by complex, atypical rhythmic structures (including irregular stopping and starting), cou ...

. They were known for their use of unusual

time signature A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates th ...

s, dissonant

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

riffs, and a vocal approach that explored many different avenues and styles.

History

Five Star Prison Cell was formed in 2004 from members of various other bands.

Vocalist Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

Adam Glynn came from Melbourne band Frankenbok, Marc Whitworth had played

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

for Gold Coast band Tension and Cameron Macdonald and Mark Holain played

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

and

in Extra Virgin. The group was initially conceived as a one-off studio project but after Extra Virgin disbanded it was decided to continue with Five Star Prison Cell. In 2005, the band released its debut album ''The Complete First Season'' through

Faultline Records Faultline Entertainment Group also known as Faultline Records is an Australian independent record label based in Melbourne. It was founded in 1998 by metal music producer, dw Norton, and began as a development label. As of 2007 it has taken on ...

. During the year the band toured throughout Australia and supported

Arch Enemy Arch Enemy is a Swedish melodic death metal band, originally a Supergroup (music), supergroup from Halmstad, formed in 1995. Its members were in bands such as Carcass (band), Carcass, Armageddon (Swedish band), Armageddon, Carnage (band), Carna ...

and

Spiderbait Spiderbait is an Australian alternative rock band from Finley, New South Wales, formed in 1989 by bass guitarist and singer Janet English, drummer and singer Kram, and guitarist Damian Whitty. In 2004, the group's cover version of the 1930s Lea ...

. Much of the following year was spent writing and recording another album. On 14 November 2006, Five Star Prison Cell won the annual Musicoz award for best metal/hardcore act of 2006. A new album, ''Slaves of Virgo'', was issued in March 2007. Five Star Prison Cell have rigorously toured

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

throughout their career, and have shared the stage with many international acts including:

The Dillinger Escape Plan The Dillinger Escape Plan is an American metalcore band. The band was formed in 1997 in Morris Plains, New Jersey by guitarist Ben Weinman, bassist Adam Doll, vocalist Dimitri Minakakis, and drummer Chris Pennie. The band's use of Consonance and ...

, Danzig,

Cephalic Carnage Cephalic Carnage is an American death metal band formed in Denver, Colorado in 1992. The band comprises vocalist Leonard Leal, guitarists Steve Goldberg and Brian Hopp, drummer John Merryman and bassist Nick Schendzielos. Cephalic Carnage has re ...

, The Black Dahlia Murder,

and

Clutch A clutch is a mechanical device that allows an output shaft to be disconnected from a rotating input shaft. The clutch's input shaft is typically attached to a motor, while the clutch's output shaft is connected to the mechanism that does th ...

. In early 2010, Five Star Prison Cell completed recording their third album, titled ''Matriarch'' with Australian producer Forrester Savell (

Karnivool Karnivool is an Australian progressive rock/progressive metal, metal band formed in Perth in 1998. The group consists of Ian Kenny on vocals, Drew Goddard and Mark Hosking on guitar, Jon Stockman on bass, and Steve Judd on drums. Karnivool emerg ...

The Butterfly Effect ''The Butterfly Effect'' is a 2004 American science fiction thriller film written and directed by Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber. It stars Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, Eric Stoltz, William Lee Scott, Elden Henson, Logan Lerman, Ethan Su ...

Helmet A helmet is a form of protective gear worn to protect the head. More specifically, a helmet complements the skull in protecting the human brain. Ceremonial or symbolic helmets (e.g., a policeman's helmet in the United Kingdom) without protecti ...

). The album was released in May and supported by a nationwide tour. April 2011 Five Star Prison Cell decided to disband and go their separate ways. No particular reason was provided other than wanting to focus on other areas in their lives. They remain best of friends and have left the door open to the possibility of doing another album in the future. In October 2013, Five Star Prison Cell announced their re-activation.

Band members

* Adam Glynn - vocals * Mark Holain - guitar * Cameron Macdonald – bass * Marc Whitworth - drums

Discography

*'' The Complete First Season - 2005'' *'' Slaves of Virgo - 2007'' *''Matriarch - 2010''

Notes and references

''LOUD!'' Magazine, issue 38, May/June 2005

External links

*
Five Star on MySpace

Interview from Australian Music Online
2/21/2005
Five Star Prison Cell Feature Interview
at ''

Blistering A blister is a small pocket of fluid in the upper layer of the skin caused by heat, electricity, chemicals, light, radiation, or friction Blister(s) or Blistering may also refer to: * Blood blister * Bleb (medicine) * Anti-torpedo bulge, also know ...

'' magazine
Metalforge interview (and take on math metal)
{{Authority control Australian experimental musical groups Math rock groups Victoria (state) musical groups Australian heavy metal musical groups Musical groups established in 2004 Musical groups disestablished in 2011