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KAIAPHAS
Brazil
Unsigned
Industrial / Gothic / Electro
http://www.kaiaphas.de
http://www.myspace.com/kaiaphas
By: Sybil Wilen
April 2, 2008
What do you get when you cross heavy metal with progressive psytrance? You get Kaiaphas, a currently (but if intuition serves this Sybil right, not for long) unsigned project from Brazil. Innovative creator, DJ Zhyin has been veritably all over the place in his music career spanning back over a decade. While that may seem young musically, this vampiric icon has left his fingerprints all over projects from America to Europe. DJ Zhyin had his beginnings in metal and rock and in 1995 was drummer and front man of the Norwegian black metal band, Ancient. He worked his way through side projects and DJ stints in Brazil until forming Kaiaphas in 2003, a sweet blend of trance, hypno, and dark electronic. Theirs is an eclectic mix of the harsh vocal sound of DJ Zhyin combined with the honey-dipped sound of Lady Omega as evident on Wolfsheim cover, “Kuenstliche Welten”.
I was mostly impressed by the piece, “Your Bloody Requiem” for its creep factor and danceability, something I always look forward to when I go clubbing. Why else would I spend so much time getting ready if not for a wild beat and a dark wave to set me free once I hit the dance floor?
Although Kaiaphas might be his baby, it isn’t just about DJ Zhyin. Also singing is the alluring Lady Omega. Not only vocally talented, her linguistic gifts (she holds an M.A. in Cognitive Studies of the Language) must add to her ability to grasp the emotions imparted in other languages. Lady Omega has been a part of many projects as well, even working on the same Ancient album as DJ Zhyin in 2004. Rounding out Kaiaphas is the elusive Lienhard on guitar. Try as hard as you can, but there’s next to no information on this guy. Maybe that goes alongside his contribution because although I strained, I couldn’t decipher much if any guitar playing in the pieces I heard.
It seems Kaiaphas are their way. November of 2007 saw them featured in Orkus magazine, which came with a compilation CD that included Kaiaphas single “Always Invisible”. There is an appeal to their transcendental mix of lightness and darkness that weaves its way through each song that plays right into their insistence that they are influenced by Eastern philosophy and culture.
Kaiaphas stated in a 2006 interview with www.Europaweb.tk that it virtually impossible for a Brazilian Gothic band to achieve success, but I believe they might have disproved their own theory.
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