BiografieLYRANTHE - pronounced: Leer-anth-e (last ´e´ being nearly subliminal) n.

1. A mechanical object that produces sound.

2. "An instrument played by the bards of Athera."(Janny Wurts-ships of Merior Vol. 2) strung with 14 strings closely related to the Lute, tuned to seven tones (doubled). Two courses are ´drone strings´ set to octaves. Five are melody strings, the lower three courses being octaves, the upper two, in unison.



Rootmeaning: lyr = song, anthe = box



Will Anderson - Drums

Tim McCarthy - Vocals

Primo Pulanco - Guitars





LYRANTHE began as a project by drummer Will Anderson when he was still playing in a number of bands in Minneapolis, Minnesota back in 1995. At that time Will wasn´t able to make LYRANTHE a full time band so the project was basically put off indefinitely. Then in August of 2001 Will moved from Minnesota to Seattle, Washington to join a local band called Tremorcordis. It was here where Will met vocalist Walter Ballard, Jr. After about a year, Will and Walter found it necessary to part company with that group. Instead of individually going their ways, both Will and Walter decided to start a totally new band together. With little discussion, LYRANTHE was brought back up. Being inspired by such bands as Queensryche, Dream Theater, Nevermore, Kings X, and Fates Warning, LYRANTHE began its search for the remaining musicians: Bass and Guitars.



Primo Pulanco was discovered in an ad up on the internet. Primo had just moved from Southern California and was looking to join a band in Seattle. Will contacted Primo since his influences were perfect for LYRANTHE. Will, Primo, & Walter really hit it off and the three immediately began writing songs for the band. After a couple of months, Michael Lewin (a University of Washington student at the time) contacted LYRANTHE with interests of being the second guitarist in the group. During the initial jamming sessions, Primo & Mike´s playing really complimented each other so well eventhough both players have slight differences in style and influences. After a few more jamming sessions, Michael was hired.



Rain de Leon was discovered from another local Seattle group (Draghead). After watching Rain play in one of the many clubs in downtown Seattle, Primo contacted her to see if she was interested to play bass for the band. LYRANTHE´s style and influences peaked Rain´s musical curiosity and she decided to check the band. Primo, Will, Mike, & Walter really liked how Rain played in her first audition that they asked her if she could come back. Then after her second audition with LYRANTHE, Rain was offered to fill in the vacant bass position in the band. She gladly accepted the offer and is now a part of the family.



With a full roster, LYRANTHE began writing more songs. This eventually led to the recording of the band´s first self-released & self-produced CD, "Oculus Inferno." Lyranthe´s first CD was released on October of 2003 and gathered quite a few support from prog fans around the Seattle area. The band´s Oculus Inferno CD was also brought to the attention of Frans Keylard - a DJ for the internet prog radio station, The Dividing Line. Lyranthe was featured in one of the station´s programs and soon enough the band gathered more support from prog fans around the country, including a few more as far as the Netherlands and the UK.



At the end of March 2004, Lyranthe decided to part ways from vocalist Walter Ballard, Jr. which also coincided with second guitarist, Michael Lewin, leaving the band. Michael though had already announced a month earlier of his intentions to leave the band. With a fresh start, the remaining members of Lyranthe - Will, Primo, and Rain, signed a distribution deal with Lone Wolf Music to distribute the band´s Oculus Inferno CD in both national and international market. The trio finished the remaining shows scheduled for Lyranthe by playing an all instrumental set. The three also collaborated with Shawn Bishop from The Dividing Line to remix and co-produce the re-release of Oculus Inferno through Lone Wolf Music.



By May of 2004, Lyranthe received two mp3 demos via email. These were from Tim McCarthy who was at that time doing vocals for a project called Delirium Fix. The band decided to invite Tim for an audition after listening to the demos. Impressed by Tim´s rendition of Lyranthe´s Darkened Days and Paraphilia, plus with his Celtic music background, the group gave the vocalist position to Tim after his second audition.



After working with the band for over a year, Rain de Leon decided to leave the band at the end of July 2004. She left in good terms with the remaining members of the group.



Lyranthe is currently working on new material for their second CD.
Quelle: http://www.lyranthe.com/band/Discografie2004 - Oculus Inferno www