Esoteric

Formed in Birmingham in 1992, Esoteric belongs to the first generation of British funeral doom and developed a very slow, dense and sombre sound at the crossroads of death-doom, dark ambient and industrial or psychedelic textures. Initially centred on Greg Chandler, Simon Phillips, Gordon Bicknell and Bryan Beck, the band released the demo Esoteric Emotions – The Death of Ignorance in 1993, then followed with Epistemological Despondency (1994) and The Pernicious Enigma (1997), two albums that established the foundations for lengthy compositions, thick guitars and oppressive atmospheres. Despite numerous lineup changes, Esoteric continued with Metamorphogenesis (1999), then Subconscious Dissolution into the Continuum (2004) after signing to Season of Mist. The subsequent releases, from The Maniacal Vale (2008) to Paragon of Dissonance (2011) and A Pyrrhic Existence (2019), extend a songwriting approach based on stretched-out tracks, very restrained tempos and a continuous tension between low vocals, dark layers and more abstract passages. Esoteric has also toured doom and extreme metal stages in the UK and Europe, occasionally expanding the lineup to reproduce the density of their recordings live.