Ram-Zet is a

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 ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

formed in

Hamar Hamar is a List of cities in Norway, town in Hamar Municipality in Innlandet Counties of Norway, county, Norway. Hamar is the administrative centre of Hamar Municipality. It is located in the Districts of Norway, traditional region of Hedmarken. ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

in 1998.

Genre classification

Ram-Zet's music is very diverse ranging from

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 ...

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...

. It has industrial sounds, progressive structures, and traditional instruments forming a style which some people, including band mastermind Zet, have called "schizo-metal". Their music contains many rare

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, unconventional

harmonies In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...

, and unusual

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

parts. They can be regarded as an

avant-garde metal Avant-garde metal (also known as avant-metal, experimental metal, art metal and experimetal) is a subgenre of heavy metal music loosely defined by use of experimentation and innovative, avant-garde music, avant-garde elements, including non-stan ...

band, because of the wide range of

genres Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other form ...

influencing them. Ram-Zet's

lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, ...

are strongly linked to a

schizophrenia Schizophrenia () is a mental disorder characterized variously by hallucinations (typically, Auditory hallucination#Schizophrenia, hearing voices), delusions, thought disorder, disorganized thinking and behavior, and Reduced affect display, f ...

theme. The lyrics of '' Pure Therapy'', '' Escape'', and '' Intra'' all revolve around this

mental disorder A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...

. Forming a story which runs through all three albums, they feature two main characters: a schizophrenic

patient A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by Health professional, healthcare professionals. The patient is most often Disease, ill or Major trauma, injured and in need of therapy, treatment by a physician, nurse, op ...

in a dubious

mental institution A psychiatric hospital, also known as a mental health hospital, a behavioral health hospital, or an asylum is a specialized medical facility that focuses on the treatment of severe mental disorders. These institutions cater to patients with ...

(sung by Zet), and a

nurse Nursing is a health care profession that "integrates the art and science of caring and focuses on the protection, promotion, and optimization of health and human functioning; prevention of illness and injury; facilitation of healing; and alle ...

trying to help him evade (sung by Sfinx).

History

Foundation and debut record: 1998–2000

Ram-Zet began in 1998 as a one-man project by singer and guitarist Zet (Henning Ramseth), which later evolved into a full-grown band with the arrival of Küth (drums) and Solem (bass), leading to the release of Ram-Zet's debut album '' Pure Therapy'' in September 2000.Interview with Ram-Zet
''Enslaved By Metal''. Retrieved 2 January 2008.

Four more studio albums and continued touring: 2000–2013

On 17 March 2007, in the official Ram-Zet forum, Sfinx stated that Ram-Zet is working on new material and would be performing live soon. 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 many more. It was rumored that the album would be coming out sometime in late 2007 but was put on hold when Zet went on tour with Ride the Sky as guest keyboardist/guitarist. According to the band's official MySpace, recording of the new album began on 1 March 2008. It was also stated that the new album would be heavier and slower than previous albums but still would retain some faster moments in their music. In October 2008 the band took 10 of their songs and re-arranged them for an acoustic concert in their hometown of

. Approximately 200 people got to see this one-time event. The concert was filmed and is expected to be released on

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

in February/March 2010.

Hiatus: 2013–2015

In 2013, after releasing five studio albums and 14 years of existence, Ram-Zet took a break indefinitely, before the departure of some of its leading members; in particular, the guitarist Zet became part of the

melodic death metal Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavines ...

band Vardøger. That same year, Sfinx joined Viper Solfa, as the female vocalist.

Recent years: 2015–present

The band ended it's hiatus in late 2015 after the band started to record new material and plan future touring. They are planning on releasing their first studio album since ''Freaks in Wonderland'' (2012) since reforming in 2015.

Personnel

Current members

* Zet -

vocals 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 sing ...

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 ...

(previously of Ride the Sky) * SfinX -

(previously of For My Pain and Eternal Tears of Sorrow) * Küth -

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 ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

(previously of The Kovenant) * Lanius -

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 ...

didgeridoo The didgeridoo (;()), also spelt didjeridu, among other variants, is a wind instrument, played with vibrating lips to produce a continuous Drone (music), drone while using a special breathing technique called circular breathing. The didgerido ...

(joined during the post ''Intra'' period) * Aazuu/Fjernkontrollet - keyboards (previously of Trollfest) 2023-present

Former members

* Solem -

(on ''Pure Therapy'' and ''Escape'') 2000-2003 * Daniel -

(on ''Intra'') 2003-2006 *

Magnus Magnus, meaning "Great" in Latin, was used as cognomen of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus in the first century BC. The best-known use of the name during the Roman Empire is for the fourth-century Western Roman Emperor Magnus Maximus. The name gained wid ...

- keyboards (

Return Return may refer to: In business, economics, and finance * Return on investment (ROI), the financial gain after an expense. * Rate of return, the financial term for the profit or loss derived from an investment * Tax return, a blank document or t ...

) (left after ''Intra'') 2001-2008 * Sareeta -

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

(

Ásmegin Ásmegin is a Norway, Norwegian Folk metal, folk/viking metal band formed in 1998. The name comes from Old Norse language, Old Norse and means "Might of the Æsir" or "Might of the Aesir, Gods". Ásmegin's lyrics are written in Norwegian languag ...

, Solefald) 2001-2009 * KA - keyboards (joined during ''Neutralized)'' 2008/9-2023

Related bands

* Zet went on tour with Ride the Sky replacing Kaspar Dahlqvist on keyboard and rhythm guitar in 2007. * Küth is the current session drummer for black metal/industrial metal band The Kovenant, where he replaced

Jan Axel Blomberg Jan Axel Blomberg (born 2 August 1969), better known by his stage name Hellhammer, is a Norwegian drummer known for his role as the drummer of the black metal band Mayhem, which he joined in 1988. He is the only member to have appeared on all of ...

(Hellhammer/Von Blomberg) just after the release of the 4th album ''SETI'' in 2003. * Sareeta was also the violinist for folk metal band

. * Sareeta played violin for black progressive metal band

In Lingua Mortua In Lingua Mortua is a Norwegian band formed by Lars Fredrik Frøislie in 1999 at Hønefoss, Norway. The music can be described as a mixture of 1970s progressive rock and black metal, and vintage instruments like the Mellotron, Chamberlin, Minimoo ...

and for avant-garde metal band Solefald on their albums '' Red for Fire'' and '' Black for Death''. * Sfinx made some guest vocals for Fallen the album of the Finnish superband For My Pain and for the

band Eternal Tears of Sorrow on their albums '' Before the Bleeding Sun'', '' Children of the Dark Waters'', and '' Saivon Lapsi''. * SfinX is working on an album with her own compositions and arrangements. This band is called EndLing and will be released sometime during 2013.

Discography

;Studio albums * '' Pure Therapy'' (2000) * '' Escape'' (2002) * '' Intra'' (2005) * '' Neutralized'' (2009) * '' Freaks in Wonderland'' (2012)

References

External links

Official site

Official MySpace
{{Authority control Norwegian avant-garde metal musical groups Norwegian heavy metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1998 1998 establishments in Norway Musical groups from Norway with local place of origin missing