Fast, furious and ferocious. Sympathy churns out its own unique style of Extreme Metal with sickening aggression. Huge walls of thick crunching guitars, coupled with the soaring sounds of synths give Sympathy's music a hauntingly surreal quality that mixes the sinister with the saintly, the malignant with the majestic, and the hellish with the heavenly.
The brainchild of Dharok, Sympathy is influenced by such Death Metal acts as early Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse and Suffocation, and such Black Metal acts as The Legion and Dark Funeral. Sympathy is often compared to artists as diverse as Dimmu Borgir and Immolation because Sympathy’s sound combines the aggression of Thrash Metal, the brutality of Death Metal, and the abrasiveness of Black Metal.
In 2001, Sympathy was signed to the Dutch metal label Fear Dark. In the following year, Sympathy's first commercially available disc, titled Invocation, was released. Invocation was well received by the underground metal community—receiving such honors as a mention in Metal Maniacs reader’s albums of the year for 2002.
In the spring of 2004, after the completion of a year's worth of writing and pre-production work, Sympathy released the full-length album titled Arcane Path. This disc featured a much improved production quality, additional lead guitar work by members of the Century Media artist Into Eternity, and a painting commissioned from the Belgian artist Kris Verwimp.
The summer of 2005 saw Sympathy’s third studio album released. The EP titled Abyssal Throne was released on the Norwegian metal label Momentum Scandinavia. This album again featured the work of members of Into Eternity, plus guest vocals from Matt Knowles of the metal band Royal Anguish, and the graphic artistry of Sweden’s Samuel Durling.
During the latter half of 2005, Sympathy expanded its lineup to include Into Eternity drummer Jim Austin as a session player. Jim has toured extensively through Canada, America and Europe. He brings both his technical abilities behind the drum kit and his experience to Sympathy. Along with the addition of Jim Austin, Sympathy now can boast that the Canadian guitarist Jeff Lewis is a member of the band. Jeff first became known in the extreme metal genre when he played with Australia’s Mortification. He also plays in his own Death Metal band Abolishment of Hate.
I HAVE ALREADY EXHAUSTED MY VOCABULARY TO THE POINT OF NOT BEING ABLE TO COME UP WITH WORDS ANYMORE TO DESCRIBE HOW MUCH I LOVE YOUR MUSIC. I FUCKING CANNOT BELIEVE HOW INCREDIBLE THESE FRESH NEW TRACKS ARE.
IMAGINE EVERY RIFF AND VARIATION YOU HAVE EVER PUT YOUR HEART AND SOUL INTO WRITING, ADD THEM ALL UP,
AND THEN TAKE THAT NUMBER TIMES 10. THAT IS HOW MUCH I APPRECIATE YOUR EFFORTS, LYRICS, MUSIC... EVERYTHING.
I GREW UP AS A PASTOR'S SON AND MY DAD RESIGNED WHEN I WAS 13. FOR THE FIRST 13 YEARS OF MY LIFE, I PLAYED THE DRUMS ON THE WORSHIP TEAM, IN THIS TINY 36 MEMBER CONGREGATION PENTECOSTAL CHURCH.
MY FATHER FORBID ME TO LISTEN TO METAL, AND BEING REBELLIOUS IN NATURE, I STILL DID.
LEARNED OF ALLOT OF SATANIC BLASPHEMOUS METAL THE MORE I DELVED IN, WHICH AFFIRMED MY FATHER'S WARNING TO A DEGREE.
BUT BY THE AGE OF 17, I REALLY BEGAN GETTING INTO MORTIFICATION, AND OTHER SUCH "CHRISTIAN METAL BANDS" IN THE CHRISTIAN MUSIC INDUSTRY.
I AM 28 NOW, AND THROUGH THE YEARS, MY RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST HAS DEVELOPED TO THE POINT TO WHERE I CONSIDER MYSELF TO BE A CHRIST FOLLOWER, BUT HAVE A HATRED FOR RELIGION AND CHURCH POLITICS. I DON'T EVEN HARDLY ENTER CHRISTIAN BOOKSTORES ANYMORE.
I STILL LISTEN TO SECULAR DEATH, BLACK, AND MELODEATH, BUT STILL STAY AWAY FROM BANDS WHICH BLASPHEME AGAINST THE NAME OF CHRIST.
YOU GUYS FIT INTO THAT PERFECT BALANCE OF POSITIVITY, WITHOUT BEING CHURCHY.
MY ULTIMATE POINT IS THIS:
I LOVE YOUR MUSIC SO MUCH, THAT EACH AND EVERY TIME I HEAR A NEW SONG ON YOUR MYSPACE, OR A NEW DEMO TRACK, I GET THE EXACT SAME FEELING I GOT WHEN I SAW LORD OF THE RINGS THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE THEATER. <
Wow. The new song (inspired by evil) just gave me an eargasm. Not even kidding. Best stuff I've heard in 6 months!! I can't wait for the new release!!!!