Ligeia

***"This history of the death metal band that is known today as LIGEIA goes all the way back to the first years of the decade. Formed from friends who had a mutual admiration for Kansas City area local legends Order from Chaos and Swedish death done the right way (Treblinka, Grotesque etc…), the band began rehearsals for their first real demo which took the shape of The Conqueror Worm demo from the year 1993. In 1994 the band signed a contract to do a 7” and mini CD for a European label, unfortunately negotiations of the deal broke down and the band was stuck with what it already recorded for the label, the Ligeia 7’ EP tracks. During the very turbulent year of 1995 the band laid pretty much dormant, recording the one and only official live show it did as a demo in February off 1995 (”Live at Howard’s) and parting with Alex later the same year renaming the whole project LIGEIA, after the, at the time, yet unreleased EP. The “Live at Howard’s” demo is another yet unfound gem, with covers of both Tiamat and Sathanas and live versions of songs still not released, the demo is a true diamond in the rough,with a questionable sound but also with a heaviness yet unheard of on these shores! In the Winter of 1995/1996 the band recorded one final EP’s worth of material. Entitled In Death Overshadow Thee the public has yet to witness the truest of brutality in American death! In the Spring of 1996 the band laid things to rest, as Chris had joined the rising project Vulpecula. The band still had a plethora of unheard material so negotiations began with Eternal Darkness Records in the Spring of 1996 to release the long shelved Nepenthe “Ligeia” 7’ EP. In April of 1996 Eternal Darkness did just that! And to glue the last paragraph to this old biography: And the years rolled on, until Dauthus felt “In Death…” shouldn’t remain as a mere title in the tape trading lists, it deserves black vinyl. Chris Overton agreed, Eternal Darkness dug up the layout originals of the unreleased cassette version (as once prepared by Pat Brown), which were adapted for 7” format. With the help of the mentioned persons, and Chuck Keller who delivered the master, we can hereby enjoy the final Ligeia chapter in its rightful format."—Timo Ketola