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The early roots of Callenish Circle go back to the autumn of 1992, when vocalist Patrick Savelkoul and (former) guitar player Jos Evers decided to form a death metal band, with which they started playing covers from their favourite bands like Death, Pestilence, Bolt Thrower and (old) Paradise Lost. Some line-up changes followed and it wasn't until early 1994 when the first serious line-up was gathered. From that 1994 line-up Ronny Tyssen (guitars), Gavin Harte (drums) and Patrick Savelkoul (vocals) still form today's core of the band.
The band immediately started writing their own material and in 1995 they entered the Beaufort Recording Studio, where they recorded their one and only “Lovelorn” demo. The demo was celebrated by the underground metal scene all over the world and it quickly sold out with 1,000 copies.
With the success of the “Lovelorn” demo also several record companies started showing their interest in the young Dutch formation and early 1996 the band signed up with the also young and upcoming Dutch metal label Hammerheart Records. The band entered the Beaufort-studio again, where they recorded their debut-album “Drift of Empathy” with producer Han Swagerman sr. (known for his work with The Gathering on their cult “Always” album). The album received reasonable ‘till good reviews worldwide but due to the inexperience of both the label and band they couldn't achieve the (little) breakthrough they all hoped for. So band and label decided to end their cooperation in a friendly way.
After the split with Hammerheart Records it took some time to get things together again and to close the gap to the 2nd full-length album the band entered the Beaufort-studio once again where they recorded the “Escape” mCD, released in 1998 as an appetizer to the 2nd full-length album, on the now defunct Polar Bear Records. The response towards the mCD was positive as well and although the little label lacked a decent distribution network over 3,000 copies were sold. As Polar Bear Records didn't have the financial backup to support the band with a decent studio budget, so the band decided to finance their 2nd album completely on their own expenses and to look out for a new record deal afterwards.
Furthermore the band decided to switch studios as their sound developed into a more aggressive, more intense and more powerful direction. So they decided to record their 2nd album “Graceful... yet Forbidding” at Franky's Recording Kitchen with God Dethroned mastermind Henri Sattler. The album was mixed by studio owner Berthus Westerhuis (known for his work with bands like God Dethroned, Severe Torture and Dead Head). The band immediately gained interest from no less than 8 record companies and in 1999 the band eventually signed a very promising deal for 2 albums with Dutch label DSFA Records (back then home of bands like Within Temptation, Trail of Tears & Orphanage). Finally a bright future was waiting for the band as DSFA Records was known for the massive promotion and support of their bands. But how different things turned out in the end. DSFA Records got into serious financial problems and the album could only be released officially in the Benelux. Therefore the band claimed back the legal rights of the album and started searching for new license partners to release “Graceful... yet Forbidding” in the rest of the world as well. For the rest of Europe the band closed a license deal with the small Norwegian label Edgerunner Records. In 2001 Edgerunner Records released “Graceful... yet Forbidding” in the rest of Europe with the “Escape” mCD as a bonus. Besides, the album was licensed for several other territories on CD and tape format. Even though the band faced a lot of misfortune with the troubles on DSFA Records they decided to continue their path of seemingly endless struggle and after all these years there was finally light at the end of the tunnel.
Almost 10 years of hard labour finally started paying off when major U.S. label Metal Blade Records offered the band a worldwide record deal for 4 albums in the year 2001. The first album on Metal Blade Records (released in February 2002) titled “Flesh_Power_Dominion” was recorded at Germany-based Stage One Studio with producer Andy Classen (former guitarist of German cult band Holy Moses). The CD booklet was created by art wizard Niklas Sundin at Cabin Fever Media and last but not least the album was mastered in the world famous Wisseloord Studios in Holland (Iron Maiden, Whitesnake, Metallica, Judas Priest). The “Flesh_Power_Dominion” album received massive feedback from the press; over 200 interviews were done with magazines and radio stations all over the world. After doing a tour of Benelux to promote the new album, Callenish Circle finally hit the European road in May 2002 with their Swedish label mates Amon Amarth and Vomitory. Two other Swedish bands (Diabolical and Sins of Omission) were added to the bill as support acts. 4 weeks long the band cruised all throughout Europe and left a crushing impression on the fans. In the summer the band played the world famous Ozzfest in Holland and several other festivals (a.o. Party San Open Air in Germany). After the summer months the band started focusing on new material again.
Soon it became clear that the new material was going to be again a step further into extremity, without losing the typical melodies and atmosphere, which always have been trademarks in the Callenish Circle sound. More power, more intensity and more variation. Because of the ultra-fat sound of “Flesh_Power_Dominion” the band decided to work again with producer Andy Classen in the Stage One Studio and Niklas Sundin was responsible for all artwork again. All under the slogan “never change a winning team”. Last but not least the album was mastered by Peter Neuber at Mega Wimp Sound in Germany. The band’s 4th album “My Passion // Your Pain” was released worldwide on the 5th of May 2003 through Metal Blade Records and received again a massive response from the worldwide press. Again around 200 interviews were done and the album received top-notch critics almost everywhere. Besides, the album was exclusively licensed to Soundholic Records (Japan), Sum Records (South America), Fono Records (Russia) and Indy Pop Records (South East Asia) to guarantee an even better promotion and distribution in these territories. Right after the release of “My Passion // Your Pain”, Callenish Circle did a Benelux mini-tour with Swedish death metal legends Dismember and in August the band played the 2 major German metal festivals Wacken Open Air and Summer Breeze. In October the band hit the European road again for 3 weeks under the “Bonded by Metal over Europe”-banner with among others Exodus, Nuclear Assault and Agent Steel. Early 2004 Callenish Circle played a bunch of Dutch headline shows and in February the band flew over to Spain to play a very successful show at the Piorno Rock Festival. Due to personal circumstances drummer Gavin wasn’t able to spend much time in the band for the rest of the year but still the band played a couple of summer festivals and in September Callenish Circle did a successful Benelux mini-tour with Dismember again.
To celebrate their 12th birthday Callenish Circle also re-issued their complete pre-Metal Blade Records catalogue on a 2-CD titled “Forbidden Empathy”. The 2-CD was released in September 2004 through Dutch label Karmageddon Media (formerly Hammerheart Records) in Europe and overseas in January 2005 through Candlelight USA. The “Forbidden Empathy” 2-CD contains the “Graceful... yet Forbidding” album (1999), the “Escape” EP (1998), the “Drift of Empathy” album (1996) and the “Lovelorn” demo (1995) with brand new artwork from Niklas Sundin (Cabin Fever Media) and all recordings were digitally remastered by Berthus Westerhuis at Franky's Recording Kitchen in Holland.
After the mini-tour with Dismember the band actively started writing material for their upcoming and meanwhile 5th album titled “[ Pitch.Black.Effects ]”. Just a month before the recordings Callenish Circle decided to continue their path without bass player Rocco. For the studio recordings the band recruited (session) bass player Maurice Brouwers (Engine of Pain) and live the band will perform with Wim Vossen (ex-Mangled, Stormrider). The new album was recorded during the months of May and June at aRe U Recordings in The Netherlands with producer Gail Liebling (mastermind behind Gail of God) behind the knobs. The mix was done in July with the highly acclaimed Tue Madsen (a.o. The Haunted, Illdisposed, Mnemic) at his already legendary Antfarm Studio in Denmark. The album was mastered again by Peter Neuber at Mega Wimp Sound in Germany and, last but not least, the artwork for the new album was created by Danish art talent Mircea Gabriel Eftemie at Cadaverman Media.
The new album, music-wise… well… imagine the best of what Callenish Circle did on both Metal Blade albums, add some really cool groovy parts and combine this already deadly cocktail with high-tech wacky soundscapes, delivered by Mr. Liebling himself. The new album will also be released as a limited edition luxury digipack CD/DVD set. The DVD will feature a completely professional (audio & visual) recorded live-show (recorded at the 013 venue in Tilburg), festival reports on the band’s trips to the Piorno Rock Festival in Spain (2004) and the Brutal Assault Festival in Czech Republic (2005), a full studio-report on the new album and some other interesting stuff. The release for ‘[ Pitch.Black.Effects ]’ is scheduled for the 14th of November through Metal Blade Records. After the release Callenish Circle will hit the road again to promote the album on the live front… you have been warned !
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