Hailing from the backwoods of West Virginia, BYZANTINE was formed in the spring of 2000 by singer and guitarist Chris "OJ" Ojeda, bassist Cid Adams and guitarist Tony Rorhbough. Following the demise of their former bands, Byzantine was just a tool to knock the dust off of their prospective instruments, write some songs and have a little fun away from their day jobs. During this time they employed a simple drum machine to practice with and write their tunes.
During the winter of 2002, BYZANTINE headed into Broadmoor Studios in Huntington, WV to record their first full-length demo with Wolfe on drums. With a very limited budget, this demo was rough around the edges but had a certain aggressiveness and attraction to it that BYZANTINE would soon harness and use to take on the metal world soon after. Their break came when the band's webmaster gave an mp3 of the group's music to Lamb of God's drummer Chris Adler. He soon invited them to open a show in Virginia, which led to a small east coast tour and eventually to landing a record deal with Prosthetic Records. Soon after, BYZANTINE, released their Prosthetic debut entitled The Fundamental Component in February of 2004. Coming across like a hybrid of Meshuggah, Pantera and Testament with a smidgen of southern groove, The Fundamental Component combined angular guitar riffing and unconventional tempos with roaring thrash rhythms and bellowing vocals. During this time Byzantine landed some high profile gigs with Lamb of God and Shadows Fall as well as playing the main stage of 2004's New England Hardcore and Metal Festival in Worcester, MA with Machine Head and Arch Enemy.
Though BYZANTINE had established themselves firmly at the center of an ongoing thrash metal renaissance, The Fundamental Component being named 19th best metal album of 2004 by Uranium, they felt they had much more to build upon and went back to the jam room to work on their sophomore album. After two months of writing and rehearsing and with the amicable departure of bassist Cid Adams, BYZANTINE was ready to record their second album entitled ...And They Shall Take Up Serpents. Having a knack for achieving a perfect balance of chaos and melody 2005's ...And They Shall Take Up Serpents delivered a gloriously metallic racket with boot to the groin, guitar driven metal. Juxtaposing serene soundscapes with hellacious walls of noise, BYZANTINE deliver sledgehammer rhythms and tandem leads that helped pin back some ears and made the musical world of the metal underground take notice.
Product Description
Featuring special live performance film band interviews instrumental tutorials and behind the scenes footage this DVD allows viewers into the creation of their 2005 release ...And They Shall Take Up Serpents and lets fans into the lives of 4 musicians with a common goal of being true to themselves and their metal roots while still pushing the boundaries of conventional heavy metal. Extras include music video guitar & bass tutorials band interviews behind the scenes footage live concert bootleg deleted scenes and outtakes and photo gallery.Song Titles:Taking Up Serpents Cradle Song Stick Figure Kill Chain Salem Ark. Redneck War.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: MUSIC DVD/CONCERTS Rating: NR UPC: 656192000290 Manufacturer No: 20002-9
