Artist Biography
H.P. Lovecraft has often been a source of inspiration to musicians, but French black metallers the Great Old Ones have used his literary works as inspiration on all of their recorded work, from 2012's Al Azif to 2019's philosophical Cosmicism.
Formed in 2009 in Bordeaux by Benjamin Guerry, the group started as a solo project, with Guerry writing Lovecraft-inspired music and lyrics after falling in love with his writing as a teenager. Two years later, Guerry formed a full band, taking on guitar and vocal duties, backed by Jeff Grimal and Xavier Godart on guitars, Sébastien Lalanne on bass, and Léo Isnard on drums. The group delivered their first album, Al Azif, in 2012, inspired by a handful Lovecraft stories, including The Call of Cthulhu and The Music of Erich Zann. Released on the underground French Les Acteurs de l'Ombre, the label also released their sophomore effort two years later. 2014's Tekeli-Li -- inspired by the book At the Mountains of Madness -- once again saw them pushing their sound deeper into atmospheric black metal. With their Lovecraft-ian metal gaining new audiences, the group inked a deal with large independent French metal label Season of Mist in 2016, and that same year saw them parting ways with Lalanne and Godart. Their third album, EOD: A Tale of Dark Legacy -- which utilized Lovecraft's fictional town of Innsmouth, Massachusetts as its basis -- appeared at the beginning of 2017. The refreshed line-up, which now featured Aurélien Edouard on guitar and Jérôme Charbonnier on bass, headed out on a European tour in support of the release, alongside dates with Gaahls Wyrd and Audn. The following year, Grimal and Charbonnier left the band, with Guerry and co. bringing in Benoit Claus on bass and Alexandre Rouleau on guitar for more live dates. 2019 saw the reinvigorated quintet head back into the studio to record their fourth album. Using Lovecraft's philosophy of Cosmicism -- where humans are insignificant in the grand scheme of the cosmos -- as inspiration, Cosmicism was issued by Season of Mist toward the end of the year, preceded by the monolithic single "The Omniscient." ~ Rich Wilson
Hometown
Bordeaux, France
Genre
Death Metal/Black Metal
