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All Music Guide:
Begun as a one-man band in the same vein as modern progressive rock/metal outfits such as Anathema and Steve Wilson's Porcupine Tree, Demians is the brainchild of French musician and composer Nicolas Chapel. Specializing in a lush, textural combination of 21st century prog and dark and gloomy metal, Demians/Chapel won plaudits for his debut album -- 2008's Building an Empire -- not only from the sizable and varied metal and prog press, but from the guru of the modern dark prog movement, the aforementioned Steve Wilson as well. In order to satiate appetites eager to hear the Demians work in a live setting, 2008 would see Chapel recruit a band skilled enough to meet the rigors of his highly developed work, and set out to tour with Marillion and Anathema, as well as land opening slots for Ministry and Jonathan Davis, to name a few.
Wikipedia:
Demians is a French alternative rock band started by Nicolas Chapel in 2007.
Background
Chapel's inspiration for the name Demians came from the novel Demian by author Hermann Hesse, and his musical inspiration came from a variety of artists and sources, ranging from Radiohead to Tori Amos to ambient music.
Chapel plays all instruments and performs all vocals on the first two Demians studio albums, though he performs live with a full band. All Demians releases have been self-produced and recorded in Chapel's home studios, the locations of which have changed from album to album.
Building an Empire
Demians' first studio album Building an Empire was released on May 19, 2008, on the InsideOut label, to positive reviews. The success of Building an Empire led Chapel to assemble a live band with Gaël Hallier (drums) and Antoine Pohu (bass), and they subsequently were granted opening slots for several well-known rock and metal bands, including Porcupine Tree, Anathema, Marillion, Steven Wilson & Aviv Geffen, and Jonathan Davis of Korn. They toured throughout Europe, playing more than 40 shows in more than 12 countries.
Mute
The follow-up entitled "Mute" came out on June 28, 2010 in Europe and August 10, 2010 in the US on the InsideOut label recently associated with Century Media and EMI Music. Chapel once again performed all instruments and vocals on the album, with two guests, Gaël Hallier playing drums on "Swing Of The Airwaves" and "Hesitation Waltz", and Lepolair playing electronics on the song "Porcelain". Very different from its predecessor, the album once again gathered excellent reviews worldwide, and brought the band's music to a wider audience. Fred Mariolle officially joined Demians as a guitar player after the release of "Mute". In June 2011, the band announced that they have started working on their third album.
