Biography
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Years Active
1990 – present (34 years)
The Brotherhood of Pagans is a French Goth group formed in March 1990 hailing from Pierrefonds France. Risen from the ashes of two other groups of the Cold Wave genre – Itchy Souls and Nuits Heretiques, it initially comprised Alien (rhythm guitar and vocals), Coccs (synthesiser), Sailor (drums), Elrik (Bass) and Vox Populi (guitar).
The group began playing it’s first live gigs in 1991, but it was during the course of 1993 that the ‘BOP’ started to make themselves known, thanks principally to the beginning of a their relationship with the French label ‘Darkland of Tears’. Among other things, this enabled the BOP to provide support for Corpus Delicti at a concert in Nice, and to appear at a Festival in Dorsten (Germany) in front of 800 people. This marked the start of their journey.
This collaboration with Darkland of Tears further allowed BOP access to numerous compilation albums, firstly those on the Darkland label such as ‘Cold Tears’ and ‘Gothicland’, then on compilations produced by International labels of renown like ‘Goth Box’ by Cleopatra, and ‘Death by Dawn’ by Appolyon. The Brotherhood featured on around a dozen compilations on 5 continents, evidence of their ability to attract public attention even though they had yet to produce their first album.
The afore-mentioned first album finally appeared in March 1995. ‘Tales of Vampires’ was an immediate success. Released in 17 countries, their debut album threw up 2 classics of the genre, the unrelenting ‘Resurrection’ and the never to be forgotten ‘Guilty’.
Unfortunately at the peak of it’s glory, the band split following the departure of it’s bassist Elrik. More than just a group member, Elrik was a brother, and following his departure the group decided to put the BOP into hibernation.
A sleep that, as in all good Fairy Tales, lasted 10 years
Yet, they still met regularly, it just seemed too difficult to start the machine after such a long time. And also, how could they revive the Brotherhood without two of its original members? Indeed, Alien was working on a solo project under the name Alien Marteens, and Elrick had joined the band Disorder.
In 2006, Vox, Coccs and Sailor (now the singer of the band) decided to head for the studio in order to start writing a new album: “Only Once”.
The first task, (and not the least), was to blend the various musical influences they had gathered, nurtured and matured from 10 years of curiosity and encounters. Amongst these influences were: And Also the Trees, Killing Joke, Siouxsie, Chameleons, F242, Siglo XX, Norma-Loy, Tanit, Marc Seberg, Clair Obscur, Young Gods, Midnight Oil, Joy Division, Cure, Wall Of Voodoo, Virgin Prunes, Christian Death, Bauhaus, Birthday Party, Mission, Danse Society, Dead Can Dance, Cocteau Twins and… Brotherhood of Pagans ’95.
This combination of influences would feed their creative juices for 3 years and lead to the birth of the album “Only Once”
You will obviously find in “Only Once” the unique style and colours of the first album, but this new work is more daring, exploring a wide range of Goth horizons, sometimes veering towards the edge of pop and rock music.
“Only Once” is also the musical output of a brand new approach to song-writing. With no help from additional musicians, they had to learn new instruments, new methods, whilst confronting their respective musical universes and influences, with the result being a dishevelling sound, born from a musical storm.
“Only Once” is original, surprising, and a more mature piece than their previous album, but it is also meant for early BOP fans, with, for example, a very personal cover version of the mythical track “Resurrection”.
The first track of the album, also called “Only Once” was previously featured on the Str8line compilation “Movement One” in 2007, long before the ‘Alone Prod’ label offered to support this … ‘Resurrection’ with the release of the Brotherhood’s new album in February 09
The site of the group is available on:
http://brotherhoodofpagans.free.fr/ .
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