History Of Guns are an English metamodern

cross-genre A hybrid genre is a literary or film genre that blends themes and elements from two or more different genres. Hybrid genre works are also referred to as cross-genre, multi-genre, mixed genre, or fusion genre. Some hybrid genres have acquired thei ...

group combining elements of Industrial,

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

, electronica, ebm, edm,

goth Goth or Goths may refer to: * Goths, a Germanic people Arts and entertainment * Gothic rock or goth, a style of rock music * Goth subculture, developed by fans of gothic rock * ''Goth'' (2003 film), an American horror film * ''Goth'' (2008 f ...

, rock, metal and avant-garde from

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, England. They were a part of the early 00s underground UK industrial/gothic scene before going on hiatus in 2011 and returning in 2022. Their name comes from the title of one of their earliest songs, written from an imagined future where guns no longer exist, about the

Dunblane massacre The Dunblane massacre took place at Dunblane Primary School in Dunblane, near Stirling, Scotland, on 13 March 1996, when 43-year-old Thomas Hamilton killed 16 pupils and one teacher and injured 15 others before killing himself. It remains the d ...

. Primarily a studio project, History of Guns played live sporadically throughout their career including the

Whitby Goth Weekend Whitby Goth Weekend, abbreviated to WGW or nicknamed Whitby, is a twice-yearly music festival for the goth subculture, in Whitby, North Yorkshire, England, organised by Jo Hampshire. The event is an alternative music festival, consisting of two ...

in 2006 and both London UK Industrial events: Futurepunk23 and Back to the Futurepunk.History Of Guns
Lineoutrecords.com They contributed the track Jezebel and the Philistines to the debut album The Excommunication of Christ by

The Meads of Asphodel The Meads of Asphodel are an English black metal band with pronounced medieval, Arab, punk, and progressive metal influences from Hertfordshire, England. History The band was formed in mid-1998 by Metatron and Jaldaboath. The stated aim being ...

in 2001, and further contributed to their subsequent releases Jihad / Freezing Moon (2002), Exhuming the Grave of Yeshua (2003) and

Damascus Steel Damascus steel (Arabic: فولاذ دمشقي) refers to the high-carbon crucible steel of the blades of historical swords forged using the wootz process in the Near East, characterized by distinctive patterns of banding and mottling reminiscent ...

(2005). (credited as either History Of Guns or Max Rael). In 2007, their song Your Obedient Servants came in at no.19 in journalist Mick Mercer's list of Top 30 Goth Singles of All Time. In August 2015 they were featured in the Beautiful Noise exhibition at

Hertford Museum Hertford Museum is a local museum in Hertford, the county town of Hertfordshire, England.Hertford Museum
...

of notable bands from the area. After going on hiatus in 2011 they returned in 2022 with an industrial rock/metal album Forever Dying in Your Eyes, and long-planned album Half Light in 2024. They are currently working on a new album to be titled, Rage and Reflect.

History

Phase One: Beginning (1996–2000)

History of Guns was formed in February 1996 as 'Pre-Hate Machine' by Stagger Lee with Max Rael and Del Alien. Del Alien renamed the band 'History of Guns' after a song he had written about the

Dunblane Massacre The Dunblane massacre took place at Dunblane Primary School in Dunblane, near Stirling, Scotland, on 13 March 1996, when 43-year-old Thomas Hamilton killed 16 pupils and one teacher and injured 15 others before killing himself. It remains the d ...

in mid 1996. Their first demo

Reformation Day Reformation Day is a Protestant Christian religious holiday celebrated on 31 October in remembrance of the onset of the Reformation. According to Philip Melanchthon, 31 October 1517 was the day Martin Luther nailed his '' Ninety-five Theses'' ...

was recorded in a day at Discipline Studios in Tottenham in July 1996. The band signed up with Top Knotch Management in 1997 and recorded a second demo ''Sold on Secrets'' in

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of London ...

. In 1999, the band acquired a PC, and began recording with

Cubase Cubase is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by Steinberg for music and MIDI recording, arranging and editing. The first version, which was originally only a MIDI sequencer and ran on the Atari ST computer, was released in 1989. Cut-do ...

. The first track "Random Death Bag" which appeared on the third instalment of the ''No Holy Additive'' compilation CD from Godreah Zine. The band created an unreleased demo album for potential record labels called ''Enough Is Too Much'' described as "

Fatboy Slim Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known as Fatboy Slim, is an English musician and DJ who helped popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. His music makes extensive use of Sampling (music), samples from eclectic ...

meets

Joy Division Joy Division were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris (musici ...

." In February 2000 History Of Guns released their debut single ''Little Miss Suicide'', a pop critique on how mental health was trivialised in the late 90s. The title, a reference to the popular “Mr. Men and Little Miss” children's book series by British author

Roger Hargreaves Roger Hargreaves (9 May 1935 – 11 September 1988) was a British cartoonist, illustrator and writer of children's books. He created the ''Mr. Men'' series, ''Mr. Men#"Little Miss" series, Little Miss'' series and ''Timbuctoo'' series, intended ...

sarcastically underscoring how seriously the band felt young adults with mental health issues were taken at the time.

Phase Two: Liquid Len Records (2001–2006)

History of Guns released two EPs ''Disconnect'' and ''The Mirror Pond'' prior to their debut album ''Flashes of Light LP'' in 2004. A dense slab of atmospheric dark electronica devoid of any guitars, noted for its unusual structure of having two long opening songs, four short middle songs, then two long closing songs. Recruiting a live band in 2004 History of Guns performed gigs around the south east of England as an edgy punk band, not performing any of the songs from their debut album. The last date was filmed and released on DVD as "Twenty Seven Paces". Their second album ''Apophenia'' was released in November 2005. It was named after the medical condition of seeing patterns in seemingly random data,

apophenia Apophenia () is the tendency to perceive meaningful connections between unrelated things. The term ( from the ) was coined by psychiatrist Klaus Conrad in his 1958 publication on the beginning stages of schizophrenia. He defined it as "unmot ...

. This time the album was structured in two distinct halves, and every track on the album written and performed in a different genre. In April 2006, they performed at

. Line Out Records announced they had signed History Of Guns on 10 November 2006.

Phase Three: Line Out Records (2007–2011)

History of Guns' third album ''ACEDIA'' was released on 7 July 2008 on Line Out Records and was awarded 9/10 by

Rock Sound ''Rock Sound'' is a British magazine that covers rock music. The magazine aims at being more " underground" and less commercial, while also giving coverage to better-known acts. It generally focuses on pop punk, post-hardcore, metalcore, punk, ...

on 3 July 2008. The album title came from the lyrics to Of Walking Abortion by

Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Wales, Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, in 1986. The band consists of Nicky Wire (bass guitar, lyrics) and cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, le ...

from their

The Holy Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writte ...

album The inside sleeve artwork features a copy of

No Longer Human , also translated as ''A Shameful Life'', is a 1948 novel by Japanese author Osamu Dazai. It tells the story of a troubled man incapable of revealing his true self to others, and who, instead, maintains a façade of hollow jocularity, later turn ...

Osamu Dazai , known by his pen name , was a Japanese novelist and author. A number of his most popular works, such as ''The Setting Sun'' (斜陽, ''Shayō'') and '' No Longer Human'' (人間失格, ''Ningen Shikkaku''), are considered modern classics. Hi ...

. Downwithfreedom.com provided an animated music video for the track 'Exhaust Fumes' which appeared on YouTube in October 2008. In April 2008, Line Out Records sponsored the

Whitby Gothic Weekend Whitby Goth Weekend, abbreviated to WGW or nicknamed Whitby, is a twice-yearly music festival for the goth subculture, in Whitby, North Yorkshire, England, organised by Jo Hampshire. The event is an alternative music festival, consisting of two ...

bi-annual football tournament so teams were competing for, 'The History of Guns – Acedia Challenge Cup'.Whitby Gazette In July 2009, History of Guns released a three track EP focussing on

The Spice Girls The Spice Girls are an English girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Mel B ("Scary Spice"), Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"), Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"), Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"), and Victoria Beckham ("Posh Spice"). They have sold over 10 ...

, featuring Slice Up Your Wife which incorporated elements of the original Spice Girls song

Spice Up Your Life "Spice Up Your Life" is a song by British girl group the Spice Girls from their second studio album, ''Spiceworld (album), Spiceworld'' (1997). The song was co-written by the group with Matt Rowe and Biffco, Richard Stannard, at the same time ...

described by The Dreaded Press as "a sub-three-minute slice of staggering satire and vengeful rage" On 21 October 2011, the band released their fourth album, ''Whatever You Do, Don't Turn Up at Twelve'' and then went on hiatus.

Phase Four: Forever Dying, Half Light, Drug Castle (2022 – current)

History Of Guns returned with new guitarist Jamu with the industrial rock/metal flavoured album Forever Dying in Your Eyes (Eight Songs for Turning a Corner) in August 2022. Originally begun in 2008, the album Half Light was released on the summer solstice 2024. A metamodernist exploration of

existentialism Existentialism is a family of philosophical views and inquiry that explore the human individual's struggle to lead an authentic life despite the apparent absurdity or incomprehensibility of existence. In examining meaning, purpose, and valu ...

triggered by the

Robert Anton Wilson Robert Anton Wilson (born Robert Edward Wilson; January 18, 1932 – January 11, 2007) was an American writer, futurist, psychologist, and self-described agnostic mystic. Recognized within Discordianism as an Episkopos, pope and saint, Wilson ...

quote "The future is up for grabs; it belongs to any and all who will take the risk and accept the responsibility of consciously creating the future they want" which saw the band reconnecting with the dark electronic sound established in the ''Flashes of Light'' debut two decades ago. On 2 September 2024 History Of Guns released the short film Drug Castle directed by Howard Gardner in which the band recreate one of an alleged series of psychological experiments undertaken at an unnamed British beach from the mid twentieth century followed by a reinterpretation of both the song and the video, Last Train to Drug Castle, further exploring the Drug Castle narrative.

Former/past member(s)

*Fester: Guitar (2004–2007) *Stagger Lee:

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

(1996–1999) *Kevin Gerrish:

(2002) *Goose:

(on and off 2003–2006)

Discography

Studio albums

* Flashes of Light LP (2004) * Apophenia (2006) * Acedia (2008) * Album Four: Whatever You Do, Don't Turn Up at Twelve (2011) * Forever Dying in Your Eyes (2022) * Half Light (2024)

EPs

* Little Miss Suicide EP (1999) * Disconnect EP (2002) * The Mirror Pond EP (2003)

Free release series

*Apospemia - A Collection of B-sides LENCD10, 2005 *Issue One - Udders Free CD EP, March 2006 *Issue Two - Electricity Is the Answer Free CD EP, May 2006 *Issue Three - Poke Face Free CD EP, July 2006 *Issue Four - Whitby October 2006 Promo Free CD EP, October 2006 *Issue Five - All The Natural Beauty of a Golf Course Free CD EP, April 2007 *Issue Six - Make It Look Like An Accident : ARCHIVE ONE Free CD EP, October 2007 *Empty Eyes (single mix)/Killing Myself Until I Die (excerpt) Free CD single, April 2008 *Empty Eyes / ...But I'll Be Waiting Free CD/download single, August 2008 *It's Easy (To Go Blind) *alternate version* / Exhaust Fumes *remix* Free CD/download single, October 2008 *The Spice Girls EP Free CD/download EP, April 2009 * Vol2Iss1: Never More Alive Than on the Eve of Death Free download, ZSM012, July 2012 * Vol2Iss2: Guns at Dawn Free download, ZSM018, April 2013

DVDs

*Twenty Seven Paces LENDVD1 2005

Demos

Demo, 1996 *Sold on Secrets Demo, 1997 *Enough Is Too Much Demo Album, 1999

Compilations

*Contains no Holy Additives Vol.2,

Neat Records Neat Records was a British independent record label based near Newcastle, England. The label was established in 1979 by David Wood, who was the owner of Impulse Studios in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear. A key figure in the establishment of the label ...

, 1999 *Contains no Holy Additives Vol.3, Neat Records, 2000 *Contains no Holy Additives Vol.4, FAFF03, Godreah Records, 2001 *Tribal Sin, 2001 *Daze of the Underground, 2003 *DarkCell 01, 2003 *This Is Industrial Punk, 2005 *Line Out & Chums Vol. 1, 2006 *Lined Up vol. 1, 2007 *This Is Industrial Punk Vol.2, 2010

Remixes

(as Remixing artists) *

Fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

(ex-

Marillion Marillion are a British neo-prog band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becoming the mo ...

) – 3 History of Guns remixes included on the Fellini Days Companion CD, 2001 *Jo McCafferty – Vanessa – Raelism Remix 2002 (unreleased) *Xykogen – Mutate And Survive – History of Guns Remix 2006 *Psychophile – All in the Mind – History of Guns Remix 2006 *Reincarnation Fish – Homeless Samurai – History of Guns, The Farmers Have Won Mix 2007 *Xykogen – Terminology – History of Guns Remix 2007 (as artists being Remixed) * LMS – Track Little Miss Suicide Remixed by Gary Hughes 2001 * Spoonburn – Track Moonburn remixed by Daniel Vincent 2004 * Blown Out – Track Blown remixed by

The Resonance Association The Resonance Association is an English dark ambient band formed in 2006, brought together the pairing of Daniel Vincent (lead guitars, keyboards, sequencing) and Dominic Hemy (guitars, theremin, electronics) to create music that combines emot ...

vs History of Guns 2007

References

External links

Official Homepage

Liquid Len Records

Max Rael's blog

Max Rael's solo work

{{Authority control British electronic music groups English rock music groups British experimental musical groups British industrial music groups Rock music groups from London