Luna Mortis, formerly The Ottoman Empire, was an American heavy metal band based in

Madison Madison may refer to: People * Madison (name), a given name and a surname * James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States Place names * Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. The band was formed in late 2001 in

Monroe, Wisconsin Monroe, known as "the Swiss Cheese Capital of the USA", is a city in and the county seat of Green County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 10,661 at the 2020 census. The city is bordered by the Town of Monroe to the north and the T ...

as The Ottoman Empire. In 2006, the band self-released their debut

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, '' Way of the Blade''. In June 2007, Luna Mortis played the first

Flight of the Valkyries Flight of the Valkyries was an annual metal festival with editions held Saint Paul, Minnesota, and beginning in 2010, Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States. The festival was dedicated to metal bands with female lead vocalists. In 2007 Swor ...

female-fronted metal festival in St. Paul, MN under their original name, The Ottoman Empire. In 2008, the band self-released an EP, '' The Answer: Does Not Exist''. That same year, the band changed their name to Luna Mortis and signed a recording contract with

Century Media A century is a period of 100 years. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A centennial or ...

. On February 10, 2009, the band released their debut for Century Media, '' The Absence'', which was recorded in 2008 at the Audio Hammer Studios and produced by

Jason Suecof Jason Suecof (born April 3, 1980) is an American record producer, audio engineer and guitarist best known for his work with heavy metal bands such as Trivium, Battlecross, Death Angel, All That Remains, Bury Your Dead, The Black Dahlia Murder ...

. In June 2009, the band returned to St. Paul (now as Luna Mortis) for the festival's third installment. Luna Mortis was dropped by Century Media Records in December 2009. On February 15, 2010, Brian Koenig announced on Luna Mortis' MySpace page that the band had been dissolved and the members would be going their separate ways. On February 11, 2013, The band announced through their Facebook profile that the band would be reuniting in 2013, planning festival appearances and new material. However, after only two shows as a reunited band, the members decided once again to part ways. In 2015, vocalist Mary Zimmer joined the band White Empress, a new project created by former Cradle of Filth guitarist

Paul Allender Paul Allender (born 17 November 1970) is a lead guitarist best known for his work with the British extreme metal band Cradle of Filth. He was a longtime member with stints in the band from 1992–1995 and then again from 1999–2014. Cradle of ...

. Around the same time, guitarist Brian Koenig joined the band Lords of the Trident. Mary later became the singer for a band called Santa Marta.

Musical style

Luna Mortis' musical style is often described as a mixture of different genres. Among the genres used to describe Luna Mortis are

melodic death metal Melodic death metal (also referred to as melodeath) is a subgenre of death metal that employs highly melodic guitar riffs, often borrowing from traditional heavy metal (including New Wave of British Heavy Metal). The genre features the heavines ...

power metal Power metal is a subgenre of heavy metal combining characteristics of traditional heavy metal with speed metal, often within symphonic context. Generally, power metal is characterized by a faster, lighter, and more uplifting sound, in contra ...

progressive metal Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad :Fusion music genres, fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven s ...

, and

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

. The band's vocal style is characterized by Mary Zimmer's use of both

clean vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

and growled vocals. Brian Koenig, the band's principal songwriter, states some of his influences were

Dream Theater Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of the ...

Joe Satriani Joseph Satriani (born July 15, 1956)Prato, Greg"Joe Satriani – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". ''AllMusic''. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved May 28, 2014. is an American guitarist, composer, songwriter, and guitar teacher. Early in his ...

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along wit ...

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

Yngwie Malmsteen Yngwie Johan Malmsteen ( ; born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck, 30 June 1963) is a Swedish guitarist. He first became known in the 1980s for his neoclassical playing style in heavy metal, and has released 22 studio albums in a career spanning ov ...

, and

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

. Mary Zimmer states some of her influences were

At the Gates At the Gates is a Swedish death metal band from Gothenburg, formed in 1990. The band was a major progenitor of Gothenburg-style melodic death metal alongside In Flames and Dark Tranquillity. Prior to their first disbandment in 1996, At the Ga ...

and

Carcass Carcass or Carcase (both pronounced ) may refer to: *Dressed carcass, the body of a livestock animal ready for butchery, after removal of skin, visceral organs, head, feet etc. *Carrion, the decaying dead body of an animal or human being *The str ...

Members

Final lineup

* Mary Zimmer –

Vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

* Brian Koenig –

Guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

* Cory Scheider – Guitar * Jacob Bare – Bass * Erik Madsen –

Drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

Previous members

*Todd Olson -

*Brad Lupo -

*Paul Kline -

*Nick Conti - Bass *Zack Zweifel -

*Dusty Weis -

Session members

*Frank Grullon -

(Sessions only) *Brian Loomis – drum kit on '' Way of the Blade''

Live members

*Chad Novell - Bass *Adam Maltby -

Discography

* ''Twice Demo'' (2002) * '' Curse of the Sun EP'' (2004) * '' Way of the Blade'' (2006) * '' The Answer: Does Not Exist EP'' (2008) * '' The Absence'' (2009) Works prior to ''The Absence'' were released under the band's former name, The Ottoman Empire.

References

{{Authority control Musical groups established in 2001 Musical groups disestablished in 2010 Musical groups from Wisconsin Heavy metal musical groups from Wisconsin Century Media Records artists