Artist Detailed Info: Cryosphere

Cryosphere deliver a dynamic, melodic fusion of Black /Death Metal that hints at the avant-garde textures of Arcturus, harnesses the ferocity of Old Man's Child and echoes the "man-as-cosmos" lyrical motifs of early Covenant.

Founded in Vienna, Austria in 1996, Cryosphere originally began as a side project of Seeds Of Sorrow guitarist Markus Schlögl and evolved into a full-fledged band with the recording of 1998's cassette demo, Aeon Tides. The demo did quite well among critics considering its humble production values. The band eventually re-mastered it, transferred it to CD-R format and repackaged it in what became their full-fledged 1999 demo, Frostbitten Eternity. Cryosphere managed a handful of very respectable performances at several local underground festivals including Hell On Earth 2001 (featuring Kreator, The Crown, Soilwork and Die Apokalyptischen Reiter) and the Austrian Black Metal Force Festival 2, in which they were highly praised for their technically proficient live set.

Their full-length demo Frostbitten Eternity displayed a talented group of musicians approaching a pivotal point in their creativity that, for various reasons, failed to materialize. As they reached for the stars of Nexus Polaris, they would prove unable to find their own center of gravity here on Earth. Various line-up struggles led to internal disruptions before Cryosphere finally - and unofficially - disbanded in 2001.

By the time Cryosphere began to thaw, the three remaining members (Markus, Tru and Gregor) had formed Vargsriket, a fiercely old-school Black Metal onslaught with enough anti-Christian vitriol to melt the nails right off the crucifix. The band released their self-produced demo, Satanic Execution Commando Vargsriket, in 2002 to outstanding reviews in the worldwide underground press. Over the next four years, they were invited to open for Dark Funeral, Impaled Nazarene, Dissection, Siebenbürgen, Marduk and others, garnering strong reviews for both material and performance.

Vargsriket was forced to slow to a temporary hiatus in early 2006 as bassist Gore (Draug) announced his decision to fill bass duties in the legendary Pungent Stench. Incidentally, original Cryosphere guitarist Oliver Schlögl (no relation to guitarist Markus) had expressed interest in reworking some of the original demo material from 1999. The trio recruited former Cryosphere bassist Raffaele Gallo in March 2006 and vocalist Harald Mezensky (Defender KFS/ex-Jormundgand) on April Fool's Day 2006 to complete their line-up.

Cryosphere are currently rehearsing and re-mastering tracks from their 1999 full-length demo, Frostbitten Eternity, as well as writing and rehearsing new material. The current schedule projections indicate that the band will have product ready for distribution in early fall 2006, at which time they will begin booking shows and seeking label interest. (Full bio available at www.cryosphere.cc.)

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