Kilkus
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Kilkus |
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| AKA | Dury*Falls (2002-) |
| Active Years | May 1998 - 2004, 2025 - present |
| Origin | Essex, London, England, UK |
| Related Bands | Florence + The Machine, The Gourami, Through Silence, Forever Never, The Kuru Smile, Decaydes, King Charles, Junk DNA, This Illusion, D:FI |
Biography
"Stomping out of the heart of Essex in late 1998, Kilkus have built up a great reputation for themselves amongst gig goers for their angst ridden, crushing live sets. Influences range from old skool metal and thrash through to acts such as Ultraspank and Soulfly. A band with no pretense, just straight for the jugular nu breed metal."
"OCCASSIONALLY a band will emerge who manage to combine potential for tomorrow with excellence today. Kilkus are that band. Although still only in their late teens, theirs is a sound which manages to be both energetic and accomplished, both rich and diverse. Evidence of this can be found on Kilkus' sparkling and ambitious debut album, 'The Pattern Of Self Design', released earlier this year through the Visible Noise label.
Formed in the outskirts of East London, Kilkus came together in May 1998, united by a love of bands like Machine Head, Pearl Jam, Pantera and other diverse and powerful outfits. The band immediately began writing their own original material. And for once this means original in both senses of the word; Kilkus' songs may be their own, but, perhaps more importantly, the band's sound is their own also. Although schooled in the traditions of modern rock music, Kilkus still manage to avoid tipping their hat too noticeably in any other band's direction.
"I'd like people to really get something from our music," explains vocalist Chris Macaree. "I don't want us to be doing something that's just viewed as being party music, something that people can just jump around to and nothing else. I'd like us to reach out to as many people as possible and in as real a way as possible as well. I'd like the people who listen to our music or who come and see us live to feel a real connection with the band and what we do."
In order to achieve this, Kilkus immediately began honing and shaping their live show into the powerful, purposeful beast it is today. They did this the only real way any band worth their salt can: they humped gear, travelled miles and played any show they could find. Kilkus played the toilets of Essex and London, local battle of the bands competitions...basically, any place that would take them, any time, anywhere.
So Kilkus built it and people came. And whilst these maybe early days but the band have already cultivated a small but attentive fan base, a fan base built around their intense and compelling live shows. Kilkus have also shared bills and tours with other notable British acts such as One Minute Silence, Lost Prophets and Stampin Ground.
"If you want to describe our sound, and what you can get from hearing us, then I would describe us as being 'post-thrash-emo'," believes decks-man Ed Trowsse. "If you wanted to put a label on us then that's the one I would use. If you listen to what we do then you'll find that we're emotional, we're heavy and we're also quite dark. We're a lot darker than a lot of the music that's coming out today, we're a lot more introspective. It's a very sensory experience. Kilkus is the name we give to what we do."
Suitably sharpened, Kilkus began attracting the attention of record labels, and at the beginning of last year signed a deal with the independent Visible Noise label. Earlier this year the band's debut album, 'The Pattern Of Self Design', saw the light of day. Produced by the band themselves and recorded and mixed together with Grant Mathews (at Studio Adelaide) the album is a dozen songs that display all the potential you could possibly hope to hear from a band making their first cuts in the studio environment.
"Although the album is very heavy, it's done in a certain, definite way," explains Trowsse. "We're not heavy just for its own sake, we do it for a reason and with a purpose. We tend to take our songs through sounds and moods, to build things up and drop things out. We're not just relentlessly heavy, because I think we'd all find that quite boring and I think the people that listen to our music would find that quite boring as well. There's a lot going on in what we do. And there's a lot of thought been put into what we do."
Evidence of this thoughtful and purposeful approach can be found all over ' The Pattern Of Self Design'. Whether in the opening track 'A.O.C.', the title track itself, or the album closer 'No Time For Myself', Kilkus, throughout their debut album, display a maturity and a potential which seems astonishing and advanced considering each member's tender years.
Subsequent to the release of 'The Pattern Of Self Design', Kilkus underwent a significant change in personnel with the departure of vocalist Paul. Rather than stall the momentum, the split - which the band describe as "an amicable and mutual parting; it was just time for both camps to move on" - seems if anything to have spurred Kilkus on. In a decisive shift of musical chairs the band decided that guitarist Chris Macaree would drop his six strings and pick up Paul's microphone, with the band carrying on with just the one guitarist in the meantime.
"I won't try and rap, because I can't rap," explains the new front man, "and it's important to me to be very natural in what I do. If I do something that I'm not comfortable with then people will see straight through me. So I'll find my own style, which I think will involve plenty of singing and plenty of screaming too!"
And now all that's left to discuss for Kilkus is the future, which appears so bright the band will probably still be wearing shades long past the summer. The group would like it to be known that while they're all proud of 'The Pattern Of Self Design', they see it as only a first marker - their first steps, if you will - and thus something they will soon improve upon.
"When we listen to the album, it sounds to us as if it's just our first demos," explains Ed Trowsse. "We're very pleased that people like it, obviously, but what I'd say to them is just wait till you hear what he have planned for the future. The stuff we're doing now is so way beyond what we've done before that it's difficult to put into words. I just can't wait till people hear it."
Kilkus are playing shows throughout the UK this summer and plan to re-enter the studio to record a second album at the end of the year.
And in case you were wondering, Kilkus is a made up word. Everything else about the band, though, is very, very real. [1]"
"Kilkus was a 'Nu-Metal' band formed by 6 teenagers in Essex, UK in May 1998.
'Kilkus' being a made up word was derived from a song off of Incubus' album Fungus Amongus 'Hilikus'. Technically this is not a word, although some claim it to mean "high like us". It is actually a slang term for insane or crazy.
The line-up initially consisted of vocalist Paul Collins, guitarists Chris Macaree and Christopher Frank Ransom, bassist David Holland, drummer Christopher Lloyd Hayden and DJ Edo Trowse.
Kilkus wrote their first songs and played concerts in Essex and London and gained a significant fanbase organically without promotion. In early 2000, the group signed a record deal with Julie Weir at Visible Noise.
Twelve songs were recorded and mixed under the direction of Grant Mathews and the self-produced album was released in 2001 under the name The Pattern of Self Design.
Upon release, Kilkus toured extensively playing with the like of One Minute Silence, Lostprophets, Kill II This, Funeral For a Friend, Skindred, Earthtone9, Sikth, Stampin' Ground, Raging Speedhorn, Number One Son, Vacant Stare, Pulkas, SugarComa, Breed77, InMe, A, Hell is for Heroes, Vex Red, Reuben, Hundred Reasons... among others.
Vocalist Paul Collins left the line-up in 2001, with guitarist Chris Macaree taking over, continuing with just one Chris Ransom on guitar. After that, the group planned to record a second album, demoing new songs at Outhouse Studios with John Mitchell. Tom Wyldes joined as a new bassist, the first recordings with the new line-up followed in early 2002 along with the announcement of its name change to Dury*Falls.
Dury*Falls eventually disbanded in 2004."[2]
Members
Last known line-up:
- Chris Macaree - guitar & backing vocals (2001), vocals (2001-)
- Chris Ransom - guitar
- Tom Wyldes - bass (2002-)
- Christopher Lloyd Hayden - drums
- Edoardo Trowse - turntables
Former members:
- Paul Collins - vocals (-2001)
- David "Hollando"/"Skitzo" Holland - bass (-2001)
Discography
As Kilkus:
- Kilkus (EP)
- Subliminal (EP)
- The Pattern Of Self Design (album)
- Demo 2002 (EP)
As Dury*Falls: