(Seemingly)

I guess you could call this a thread for asking questions about that act you really care about that is apparently still active somehow, but hasn't made any formal or at least meaningful updates anywhere for however many years.

If that's not allowed, then I guess I'd just like to ask about Novembre and Rapture.

The former has been completely silent since they remastered and re-issued Classica in 2008. I have not seen any new tour dates or other such reports and even the users on their official forum have more or less resorted to sharing YouTube vids involving other, unrelated bands in perpetuity. Peaceville isn't showing any updates either. Are they dead or alive, which is it?

The latter hasn't released any new material in seven years. Their official website link redirects to their Facebook, which appears to be updated once out of a month, maybe, and it's more or less one-liners like "Happy New Year " or "You should check these guys out..." They seemed to care enough to update their logo, assuming that the one displayed on their page here on EM is official (though this doesn't appear on said Facebook), but other than that, not much else. Once again, no tour dates, and no record label anymore either. Dead or alive?

Anata. Still waiting on that follow-up to The Conductor's Departure, which was out in 2006. Album's been finished for at least 3 years, surely. I wonder where they are.

Thirdmoon put out an album in 2007 then have remained totally silent.

I forgot to mention Nortt

While I guess you could say that his site is still active and gets an update every three to six months, what, exactly, is he up to lately? Galgenfrist was released back in 2007, and since then, there has been nothing of note. Addtionally, the only noteworthy update from Avantgarde music is a re-issue of said album on a picturedisc LP.

Very common with obscure black metal. The bands prefer to remain "mysterious", have relatively few forums on which to make statements concerning their status, and if they dissolve, they might not simply bother telling anyone. Matricide released their last album in 2006, the Holy Virgin EP. It's unfortunate, since they were one of the best Gorgoroth-style newer black metal bands.

Mmm, that is right, now that you mention it.

Oh! There's also Kohllapse, whom I regard as the most interesting Christian band I ever heard. They disbanded in 2001, but the project was revived solely by Ro Edwards in 2005, who indicated that a third album was in development. No word since. Not even an official site or label.

This. I heard they had at least 2 albums worth of material but that was at least a few years ago now as well. I'm pretty sure they had issues with Earache which may have put things on hold but I'm not sure how reliable that is.

Ysigim

I would really like to hear a new Warloghe album. I really like the direction that "Womb of Pestilence" took with both their sound and their style. Those vocals are sick!

Also Vothana. Again...I have really enjoyed everything he has released. It would be sweet to hear some new material from this project. I finally scored his "Demo V" two cassete album...so incredible. Just rips the hell out of most acts.

And of course...when will Paysage D'Hiver ever going to release "Das Tor"???

Does Spiral Architect count? They released one record in 1999 and have claimed for the past 13 years that they're still writing their follow-up.

from anata.se/forum:

Quebec's Melancolia are a band that comes to mind straight away. Their MA status is still at active but I have not found any recent info regarding the band in years, since 2005 to be exact! They only have an offical site which has also not been update. Eric was a gifted musician and I think it took him 7 years to write debut which is the bands one and only release period, but it was a great album and worth the wait lol. I would be keen to hear if anybody had any news on this project at all.

It's sad that The Sins of Thy Beloved are gone....

I haven't heard shit from the band 'Witchcraft' in a few years.

Odious Mortem.

I know that many of the musicians in the band play in other bands, but the band are still listed as active on MA.

Cryptic Implosions is a masterpiece of Technical Death Metal, and to hear what Odious Mortem could have done next would have been amazing. But I have not heard anything since 2008...

I don't know what's going on with Rapture, but two of the members (Aleksi Ahokas and Pete Raatikainen) are currently active in the band Snowgarden. This band released a demo in 2004 and then fell completely silent until recently, when they started posting new photos to their Myspace page and uploaded a new song.

I'd like to know what happened to the dutch band Unshrouded Bitterness. They released some very promising death/doom demos in the 90's and a couple of compilations and then the members apparently became too busy with their personal lives and other projects. The last update was from their Myspace page, which states "Now 2006 Unshrouded Bitterness will return..."

I also came here to mention The Sins of Thy Beloved, but someone beat me to it..

A lot of my favorite Swedish Melodic metal bands have just dropped contact with their fans, Sacramentum (split up) Vinterland (split up) and Dawn... Although it says Dawn are still active on their MA. I've talked to some of the guys involved in the Sacramentum project via facebook, apparently the Guitar/Vocalist guy is the owner of some huge company in Sweden. Haha.

I really wish I could talk to the dudes in Vinterland, they seem like they would be very cool guys, considering they were very young when they wrote Welcome To My Final Chapter, we'd get along just fine

Quo Vadis (CAN). I don't what the fuck happened to these guys. I haven't heard about them touring in about 2 years and there's been no new news about this new album that's been in the works for over 5 years since then. Bart Frydrychowicz "claimed" to have had about 2 albums worth of material he was working with, but other than that, nothing. Don't really know if I'd care to hear it either being that Defiant Imagination's lineup is all but gone. (minus Bart).

Pissing Razors is the only band I can think of that sort of stopped making music and never really said what the status of the band is.

Oh and Dry Kill Logic, even though most people on these boards probably don't think of them as 'pure metal'.

The german progressive metal band Annon Vin did one ep and one excellent album in the mid 90s and then disappeared. Perhaps they felt they already said their piece but who knows?

http://www.metal-archives.com/bands/Annon_Vin/539

Does anyone here know the exact status of Gaahlskagg? All I know is on their MySpace page. It would be great if Av norrønt blod finally got released.

Wow, I just checked out this album. This is really great!

A few years ago, an instrumental demo of a new track was uploaded to their myspace, but I don't remember when or even if it was really any good. They've always been a band to take their time between discs ('96 - ''99 - '04), but this time things seem much less hopeful. They actually played at a college campus pub near me a few years ago, but I have no idea if the touring lineup is going to go anywhere as far as recordings go.

DEMOLITION HAMMER
what became of them?

I also miss INVOCATOR. "Excursion Demise" is a monster of a record!

PC Deathsquad. I heard they had disbanded and I really need their albums, but can't get them anywhere. Any advice on this is greatly welcomed...

It is indeed, just wish I could get my hands on a physical copy of the cd

They wanted to break up after the second album, but they were forced to release the groove metal album under the Demolition Hammer name. The drummer from the first two albums passed away at some point. They haven't done anything since the mid-90s. I recall reading somewhere that Century Media said the main guy has no interest in reforming the band or anything.

I second Sweden's Dawn - haven't heard a thing since they reformed, and their website is well out of date. There was talk of new material, but it all seems quiet on that front now.

Shame about Anata, I'd been holding out on that album for a long time now too - with Digby at Earache being the 'hard nosed' guy he reportedly is, it isn't likely to see the light of day any time soon - I seem to remember a bad situation between band and label with !T.O.O.H.! when Elitist Records was not longer of interest to Dig too...

EDIT - yeah, here is the original story, as told by Lee Barrett (formally of Candlelight, and the guy who ran Elitist)
http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/lotf ... album.html

Timeless Miracle. They go and release one of the greatest Euro-power metal albums of all time, and POOF! They're gone.

Many retro thrash bands have released one, maybe two albums, and then dropped off the face off the planet.

And Ullgren is now the guitarist for Impaled Nazarene which surely takes most of his time. I think the last Rapture gig was in 2007 when they opened for Forgotten Tomb.

As I brought up as its own topic, Thorns have seemingly vanished. They had an announcement for a follow-up to their s/t due in 2009, but then nothing ever came of it.

Here's the original topic; http://www.metal-archives.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=89857

I'd like to know what happened to Epoch of Unlight. They released a great album called "Caught in the Unlight" in 2001, and a follow up album in 2005. Since then, nothing. MA says they're still active though.

I'm still wondering what happened to Miles Beyond. They were one of the best traditional/power metal bands in the Midwest and vanished after releasing a three song EP in 2008. Hopefully they're working on something but their pages haven't been updated in years...

Norway's Odium comes to mind. Last official release in 2001, just 1 track. Says they're on hold. Thing about that is, on their official myspace I'm sure I recall a rehearsal video of the bassist and guitarist around 2008 or 2009. Currently it says they have no videos.

Last thing I saw from Sechtdaemon from Odium was when he did bass/backing vocals live with Emperor on their final tour.

Diabolique haven't released a new album in over 10 years, and they supposedly had something in the works / worked on / prepared to finish some years ago. Now there's nothing, and the project has gone nowhere despite a consistent line-up. Last I remember, the previous album sucked ass. Some poor mix of electronic and some other garbage, but the new songs previewed seemed like a return of some kind. Was expecting something by this year at the latest, now it'll be never.

That and Godkiller. Says he's been working on a new album for what, eight years now?

Dawn have been "in the studio recording" for at least half of the 13 years since Tomas Asklund joined the band. They have one mixed track from a 2006 rehearsal on their website, I believe there are more unmixed tracks floating around if you look for them. They are once again "in the studio recording" this year, so maybe it'll finally happen. I get the impression that it has been tough for them to get together and work everything out due to the commitments of work/family and not all being in the same area.

I've been waiting years for news on Abyssmal Sorrow, and it's possible they are broken up.

Tyranny was another mystery until I noticed that one of the members was in a death metal band called Corpsessed that I contacted on Facebook. Tyranny is still active but it remains to be seen if there is another album on the way.