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Ulcerate - Biography


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2007-

Biography

Originally a concept of Jamie Saint Merat and Michael Hoggard, together with the addition of vocalist Mark Seeney in late 2000, the foundation of Ulcerate was formed. Then under the moniker "Bloodwreath", this line-up remained intact for all of 2001 whilst the band struggled to find a "sound" both stylistically and compositionally.

Early 2002 brought a line-up change with the enlisting of guitarist Jared Commerer, and James Wallace to fill the now vacant vocal position - Mark having left to pursue his drumming. This new line-up brought a new level of focus to the band and work quickly began in constructing material that would later become the four tracks of the band's first recording effort. It was with this release that the decision was made for a clean slate beginning and so came the demise of Bloodwreath, and the subsequent rise of Ulcerate.

While it was fairly removed from Ulcerate's current sound and direction, this self-titled 2003 demo proved to be a solid platform from which the band could evolve. It also helped garner a wider local appreciation with people beginning to recognise the style and songs. As it stands the tracks "Subversive Supremacy" and "Smash the Deceitful" are still popular regular inclusions in the current live set.

Throughout 2003 the band continued to build from the success of the S/T demo, and by late November tracking was already underway for 'The Coming of Genocide' EP. During this recording process Jared Commerer decided he wished to focus on his jazz bass playing and so chose to leave Ulcerate. Michael Rothwell joined soon after filling the void on second guitar left by the departure of Jared. Also at this time Ulcerate's first permanent bassist was enlisted in the form of Phil Kusabs.

For the second time in as many years, local support for the band built rapidly off the back of a release - this time with 'The Coming of Genocide'.

While 2004 proved to be a highly successful year with a solid line-up, by mid 2005 the decision was made to further refine the Ulcerate "sound", and the band opted to move to a cleaner finger style bass approach, adding an extra dimension to the sound. Thus Paul Kelland was recruited with the departure of Phil Kusabs.

Early 2006 vocalist James Wallace departed, with Ben Read (ex-Kill Me Quickly, Misadventures in Self Surgery) filling his vacancy bringing an entirely different sound and a formidable set of lungs to the band on the eve of completing their debut full-length for Italy's The Spew Records. The 2004 demo 'The Coming of Genocide' was also rereleased on The Flood Records, with 2003's self-titled demo included as bonus tracks and an interactive CD-ROM component.

In April 2006 Ulcerate signed with Dutch extreme metal label Neurotic Records, whose roster includes such notable acts as Spawn Of Possession, Psycroptic, Visceral Bleeding and Panzerchrist among others. The band prepared the eventual release of the debut album "Of Fracture And Failure"...

The departure of long-time vocalist James 'Slippy' Wallace in early 2006 presented the band with a dilemma - an album to track with no vocalist. A long-time friend of the band, Ben Read was found as the replacement and brought with him a far different, more higher-register vocal approach and an extremely unique lyric style that would allow the band to evolve the sound even further.

"Of Fracture And Failure" garnered some incredible critical response for the band and solidified in the minds of the extreme metal listeners that here was a band to keep an eye on. In support of the album, Ulcerate landed several high profile supports for the likes of Suffocation, Behemoth, Decapitated, and Nile amongst others.

In 2008 the band's line-up changed considerably - after much consideration the decision was made to opt for a return to the lower-pitched vocals utilised during the band's demo period, and so bassist Paul Kelland stepped up to take over the vocal duty from Ben Read. A new second guitarist Oliver Goater was found to replace Michael Rothwell after a more-than-amicable split. With a new, streamlined line-up, the band prepares for the creation of their second full-length album.

Throughout the months of 2010 the band developed what was to become The Destroyers of All, which saw the light of day in January 2011. Ambitious, oppressive and expansive, with a strict adherence to the tradition of total bleakness the band is known for, The Destroyers of All presented the most atmospheric and challenging listen from the band to date. Again, critical response was exceptional. In support of the album, headlining runs of New Zealand and Australia were again undertaken and in 2012 Ulcerate toured with French horde Svart Crown for 4 weeks in February and made their debut on US soil at Maryland Death Fest X, as well as a handful of side-shows. The band commenced work on their Relapse debut, album number 4, in early 2012.

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Source: http://www.ulcerate-official.com/html/band.php