Cubanate
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Cubanate are an English industrial band from London, England, founded in 1992 by Marc Heal and Graham Rayner with Phil Barry and Steve Etheridge. The group became well known for their combination of electro-industrial with distorted heavy metal guitars and techno percussion (later incorporating breakbeats).
HistoryEdit
Initial careerEdit
Graham Rayner originally used the name Cubanate for various one-off shows in the UK during the early 1990s. By 1992 however, the band's lineup became solidified with Marc Heal, Phil Barry, and Steve Etheridge joining Rayner. They released a demo cassette in the summer of 1992, titled UK 92. It featured six songs which eventually found their way to the band's full-length album.<ref>Template:Cite AV media notes</ref> Cubanate played their first UK tour in November 1992 supporting leftfield UK techno duo Sheep on Drugs. The group signed to Berlin's Dynamica Records shortly afterwards. The band's debut album, Antimatter, saw a UK release in 1993. After the release of the album's lead single, "Body Burn", Rayner and Etheridge departed from the band in order to form K-Nitrate.<ref>Template:Cite AV media notes</ref> The pair were replaced by Julian Beeston (former Nitzer Ebb drummer).
In early 1994, the band released the Metal EP which featured two new songs ("Angeldust" and "Metal") plus a few Antimatter remixes. In May of that year, the Metal EP was Single of the Week in Melody Maker magazine. Later that year, Cubanate received media attention when they were weirdly paired with Carcass for what turned out to be a notoriously violent UK tour ending in death threats to Heal. There was also an on-air confrontation on the Radio One Rock Show with Bruce Dickinson.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 1995, Antimatter was belatedly released in the US with an altered tracklisting.
The second album Cyberia (1995) spawned the hit single "Oxyacetylene". The album peaked at Template:Abbr 3 on the CMJ RPM Chart in the U.S.<ref name="cmj-02-96">Template:Cite journal</ref> For live work around the Cyberia tour the band hired Shep Ashton on guitar and Darren Bennett on keyboards. After 1996, Ashton and Bennett were replaced by Roddy Stone (currently fronting UK metal act Viking Skull) and David Bianchi (who later went on to become manager of rock bands The Enemy and Boy Kill Boy).
The third album, Barbarossa (1996) continued the crossover format, and despite being name-checked as influences by bands such as The Prodigy,<ref name="Tales of the RIFF - Marc Heal">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the group decided a change was clearly needed.
Signed in the United States to Wax Trax! Recordings for the act's fourth and final official full-length album to date, Interference (1998) was a departure from Cubanate's earlier techno experiments with a strong drum and bass influence that alienated some of their traditionalist fans but was heralded as revelatory by others.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The album was co-produced by Rhys Fulber.
Early 2000s hiatusEdit
In 2004, a torrent appeared on the Internet with nine leaked demo tracks recorded by Heal in 2000 titled Search Engine. Featuring such tracks as "Razor Edge", "Superstructure", and "Drowning Hands"<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> the material had been abandoned by Heal in 2000.
In October 2010, the band announced that they were recording again and would be releasing new material in 2011. A new track titled "We Are Crowd" was released on Alfa-Matrix's compilation EBM1.
In a posting on his Facebook page dated 13 September 2011, Cubanate founder Marc Heal stated: "Marc here. I should have posted this a while back, but I wanted to let everyone know that I have decided conclusively not to do another Cubanate album. It was a real blast getting back into studio with Phil – and he came up with some brilliant music. But I'm doing something different with my life now and I've come to the conclusion to leave it. Thanks for all your support, I really appreciate it. I'll keep posting. M".<ref>[1] Template:Dead link</ref>
Both Heal and Barry have released solo work since that announcement.
ReunionEdit
On 24 September 2016, Cubanate reformed to play the Cold Waves Festival (an annual industrial music festival held in Chicago, Illinois, United States)<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> with members Marc Heal, Phil Barry and Vince McAley (variously from Dead on TV, GoFight and Die Warzau). The festival lineup included The Cocks (ex-Revolting Cocks members: Richard 23, Luc van Acker, Chris Connelly & Paul Barker), <PIG>, 16Volt, Dead When I Found Her, Bloody Knives, and Kanga, many of whom had previously collaborated with Heal in projects such as Pigface and C-Tec.<ref name="CW5">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="CW5FB1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Cbignore</ref> The band returned to Cold Waves for its first Los Angeles event in November 2017.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
On 5 May 2017, Cubanate released a compilation album titled Brutalism via Armalyte Industries, featuring 14 remastered songs from Cubanate's first three albums.
In 2019, Cubanate released Kolossus, their first new material since 1998.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Musical style and legacyEdit
Cubanate has been described often as electro-industrial.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> AllMusic wrote that the band "have explored the hybrid style created by mixing industrial music with the high-speed rhythms of techno".<ref name="allmusic">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The band also has included elements of industrial metal in some songs, with vocals similar to the vocals of Lemmy Kilmister of heavy metal band Motörhead.
During their heyday, Cubanate's fusion of techno and rock stirred both controversy and influence, with their impact continuing to echo in the present. As one of the rare UK bands labeled 'Industrial' to break into the mainstream, they frequently appeared in a wide range of publications, from Kerrangg! to Melody Maker, where they earned multiple "Single of the Week" honors in each. They also featured on MTV's Headbanger's Ball and shared the stage with notable acts like Front 242, Gary Numan, Rammstein, The Sisters of Mercy, and Front Line Assembly.<ref name=":0">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
"Oxyacetylene" was featured on the 1996 compilation album, Mortal Kombat: More Kombat, and was later used on the soundtrack of the best-selling 1998 PlayStation game Gran Turismo in the NTSC and EU versions. Apart from "Oxyacetylene", three other Cubanate songs were used on Gran Turismo and the single "Body Burn" can be heard at length in episode eighty-two of The Sopranos, from the final season of the show.<ref name=":0" />
MembersEdit
Current membersEdit
- Marc Heal – vocals, programming (1992–2003, 2010–2011, 2016–present)
- Phil Barry – guitars (1992–2003, 2010–2011, 2016–present)
Past membersEdit
- Graham Rayner – keyboards, programming (1992–1993)
- Steve Etheridge – drums, keyboards (1992–1993)
- Julian Beeston – drums, keyboards (1993–2003)
- Shep Ashton – guitars (1995–1996)
- Darren Bennett – keyboards, percussion (1995–1996)
- Roddy Stone – guitars (1996–1999)
- David Bianchi – keyboards, percussion (1996–1999)
- Vince McAley – drums, percussion (2016–2018)
- Reza Udhin – drums, percussion (2018–2022)
TimelineEdit
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id:lvocals value:red legend:Vocals id:guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:percussion value:claret legend:Percussion id:drums value:orange legend:Drums id:keyboards value:purple legend:Keyboards id:programming value:lavender legend:Programming id:album value:black legend:Album id:ep value:gray(0.50) legend:EP id:bars value:gray(0.95)
BackgroundColors = bars:bars
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layer:back color:album width:2 at:09/01/1993 at:01/23/1995 at:04/29/1996 at:04/14/1998 at:06/30/2000 color:ep width:2 at:07/01/1992 at:06/02/1994 at:06/17/2019
BarData =
bar:Heal text:"Marc Heal" bar:Barry text:"Phil Barry" bar:Ashton text:"Shep Ashton" bar:Stone text:"Roddy Stone" bar:Rayner text:"Graham Rayner" bar:Bennett text:"Darren Bennett" bar:Bianchi text:"David Bianchi" bar:Etheridge text:"Steve Etheridge" bar:Beeston text:"Julian Beeston" bar:McAley text:"Vince McAley" bar:Udhin text:"Reza Udhin"
PlotData =
width:11 bar:Heal from:start till:01/01/2003 color:lvocals bar:Heal from:10/10/2010 till:09/13/2011 color:lvocals bar:Heal from:09/24/2016 till:end color:lvocals bar:Heal from:start till:01/01/2003 color:programming width:3 bar:Heal from:10/10/2010 till:09/13/2011 color:programming width:3 bar:Heal from:09/24/2016 till:end color:programming width:3 bar:Barry from:start till:01/01/2003 color:guitar bar:Barry from:10/10/2010 till:09/13/2011 color:guitar bar:Barry from:09/24/2016 till:end color:guitar bar:Ashton from:01/04/1995 till:04/29/1996 color:guitar bar:Stone from:04/29/1996 till:12/11/1999 color:guitar bar:Rayner from:start till:11/03/1993 color:keyboards bar:Rayner from:start till:11/03/1993 color:programming width:3 bar:Bennett from:01/04/1995 till:02/23/1996 color:keyboards bar:Bennett from:02/17/1995 till:02/23/1996 color:percussion width:3 bar:Bianchi from:02/23/1996 till:12/11/1999 color:keyboards bar:Bianchi from:02/23/1996 till:12/11/1999 color:percussion width:3 bar:Etheridge from:start till:11/03/1993 color:drums bar:Etheridge from:start till:11/03/1993 color:keyboards width:3 bar:Beeston from:11/03/1993 till:01/01/2003 color:drums bar:Beeston from:11/03/1993 till:01/01/2003 color:keyboards width:3 bar:McAley from:09/24/2016 till:08/25/2018 color:drums bar:McAley from:09/24/2016 till:08/25/2018 color:percussion width:3 bar:Udhin from:08/25/2018 till:11/13/2022 color:drums bar:Udhin from:08/25/2018 till:11/13/2022 color:percussion width:3
</timeline>
DiscographyEdit
Studio albumsEdit
| Title | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Antimatter | 1993 | US release in 1995 but with an altered tracklisting |
| Cyberia | 1995 | |
| Barbarossa | 1996 | |
| Interference | 1998 | US release also in 1998 but with two tracks removed |
| Search Engine<ref name="Tales of the RIFF - Marc Heal"/> | 2000 | Unreleased but leaked to the internet in the early 2000s |
Studio EPsEdit
| Title | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| UK 92 | 1992 | Demo tape which featured tracks that later appeared on the Antimatter album |
| Metal | 1994 | A few tracks were later added to the US reissue of the Antimatter album |
| Kolossus | 2019 | Consisted of five original new songs and two remixes |
Other releasesEdit
| Title | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Brutalism | 2017 | Compilation of songs from the band's first three albums |
| Live Brutalism | 2018 | Live album recorded in 2017 |
SinglesEdit
| Title | Year |
|---|---|
| "Body Burn" | 1993 |
| "Junky" | 1994 |
| "Oxyacetylene" | |
| "Joy" | 1996 |
| "9:59" | 1998 |
| "Voids" | |
| "We Are Crowd" | 2011 |