Iroha is an English post-metal band from

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, England, formed by former

Final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

member Andy Swan featuring

Jesu Jesu may refer to: *Jesus (c. 4 BC – c. AD 30/33), Jewish religious leader and central figure of Christianity **Jesu (name), vocative and poetic form of Jesus' name Music * Jesu (band), a British experimental band formed by Justin Broadrick ** ...

bassist Diarmuid Dalton and former Rumblefish and Low Art Thrill member, Dominic Crane.

History

Guitarist and vocalist Andy Swan was an original member of

, an experimental electronics outfit from Birmingham, England. Formed as a duo in 1983, Final also featured

Justin Broadrick Justin Karl Michael Broadrick (born 15 August 1969) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer and a founding member of the band Godflesh, one of the first bands to combine elements of extreme metal and i ...

who went on to be a member of

Napalm Death Napalm Death are an English grindcore band formed in 1981 in Meriden, West Midlands. None of the band's original members has been in the group since 1986. But since ''Utopia Banished'' (1992), the lineup of bassist Shane Embury, guitarist Mitch ...

and

Head of David Head of David was a British heavy metal band that features vocalist Stephen R. Burroughs and ex-Napalm Death member Justin Broadrick (later of Godflesh and Jesu). The band's sound paved way to various music genres, including industrial metal ...

before forming the highly influential

Godflesh Godflesh are an English industrial metal band from Birmingham. The group formed in 1982 under the title Fall of Because but did not release any complete music until 1988 when Justin Broadrick (guitar, vocals and programming) and G. C. Gree ...

were joined on some recordings by

founding member

Nicholas Bullen Nicholas Bullen (sometimes called Nik Napalm; born 1968) is an English musician and a founding member of the grindcore band Napalm Death. Biography Bullen is one of the founding members – with Miles Ratledge (Rat) – of Napalm Death, the ...

, who also went on to form Scorn. After leaving Final in 1985, Swan switched his attention to the dance scene for the next decade before forming Iroha in 2008. Bassist Diarmuid Dalton was an original member of Cable Regime and also plays bass in

. Guitarist and vocalist Dominic Crane was an original member of RumblefishStrong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 489 who released a self-titled album on

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

imprint

East West Records East West Records (stylized as east''west'') is a record label formed in 1955, distributed and owned by Warner Music Group, headquartered in London, England. History Upon its creation in 1955 by Atlantic Records, the label had one hit with th ...

in 1992 and reached No. 34 in the Indie Charts with "Tug Boat Line". Signed to

Denovali Records Denovali Records is an independent record label founded in 2005. The program of Denovali covers ambient, electronica, experimental, drone, jazz, modern composition & sound art. Since 2007 Denovali curates and organizes international music festi ...

in 2010, Iroha's first release was a split EP with French artist Fragment. entitled "Bittersweet" and was described by The Sleeping Shaman as "a perfectly balanced, heartbreaking, yet life-affirming, piece of modern music". Iroha's debut self-titled album was released by Denovali Records in February 2011 followed in September 2011 by a four track EP entitled "End of an Era". Iroha's second album, ''Shepherds & Angels'', was released on 7 December 2012 via Denovali Records.

Discography

Studio albums

*''Iroha'' (18 February 2011) Denovali Records *''Shepherds & Angels'' (7 December 2012) Denovali Records

Singles

*"Bittersweet" (2010) Denovali Records *"End of an Era" (2011) Denovali Records

References

{{Authority control English experimental musical groups Post-metal musical groups Musical groups established in 2008 Shoegazing musical groups English heavy metal musical groups Drone metal musical groups British musical trios Musical groups from Birmingham, West Midlands Sadcore and slowcore groups