* Please note that this Diabolique MySpace page is run by Emil of Wave of Darkness 'zine and all personal messages should be forwarded to the official page which you can easily find in the "Top Friends"-list. Thank you.
Now for a rather brief bio:
DIABOLIQUE was formed out of the ashes of Liers in Wait in early '95, when the two guitarists Kristian Wåhlin and Johan Österberg got together writing songs. The band name was derived from the classical french horror movie, "Diabolique/Les Diaboliques" (1955). Needless to say, in the beginning Diabolique primarily drew their influences from horror movie soundtracks, but also from bands such as Black Sabbath, St Vitus, Neurosis, Swans, The Sisters of Mercy and Fields of the Nephilim.
The early material was defined by the dense monotonous mass of eerie melodies that comprised a background to Kristian Wåhlin's deep, haunting voice. After a number of different drummers and bass players, Hans Nilsson (drums) and Bino (bass) joined in May/June '96 - completing the current Diabolique line-up.
In July '96 the band entered Los Angered Recordings, Gothenburg, in order to lay down 5 tracks for promotional purposes. This recording scored them the deal with Black Sun Records, and was also released as a mini-CD on the French Listenable Records under the title The Diabolique. The fall of '96 was spent rehearsing for the recording of the debut album, Wedding the Grotesque. On January 2nd '97 the sessions started at Berno Studios, Malmö. 9 Songs were recorded, including stand out tracks such as "Blood of Summer," "The Unchaste Bittersweet" and "Sorrows Piercing Art." Wedding the Grotesque was released in June '97. The response was not quite as good as expected, but the album sold very well.
During the last months of '97 the band went into an intense songwriting period. Out of approximately 25 songs, 11 were picked out for the recording of the second album. Since Wedding the Grotesque was compiled of mostly very old songs, some of them dating as far as back as the early '90s, the difference between old and new material became more than evident on 1998s The Black Flower. An album exploding with passionate, driving and intense gothic rock, 80s melancholia blended with 60s psychedelia and 70s type arrangements. Not unlike bands such as The Cure, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Sisters of Mercy, Cocteau Twins and Depeche Mode. The Black Flower has the energy, drive and conviction as that of a debut album. It shows a band that needs to prove themselves to the world. The album received excellent response, but unfortunately Black Sun had a distribution problem at the time of release. Consequently, The Black Flower never got any proper distribution whatsoever. In January of '99 the deal with Black Sun expired.
However, the band kept rehearsing and working on new material, and in April of '99, they decided to go with Necropolis Records. Since then, Diabolique have released the mini-CD, Butterflies as well as the third full-length, The Green Goddess.
For more up-to-date information, the official Diabolique MySpace page can be accessed at:
http://www.myspace.com/dbqofficial
