Mar de Grises was a Chilean

death/doom metal Death-doom is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It combines the slow tempos and pessimistic or depressive mood of doom metal with the deep growling vocals and double kick drumming of death metal. The genre emerged in the late-1980s and gained ...

band created in 2000. "Mar de Grises" could be translated into English as "Sea of Grief," or equivalently, as grey is the Spanish color of sorrows as blue is in English, "Sea of Greys".

History

Members of the band met while studying at university and formed a group just with the idea to spend some leisure time. Inspired in bands like My Dying Bride, In the Woods..., Emperor,

Poema Arcanus Poema Arcanus is a Chilean death/doom metal band that was formed in the early 1990s and has six full-length studio albums under their name. The band was originally named Garbage; they later changed their name to Garbage Breed and eventually settle ...

, Anathema, Samael, Death, Tiamat, At the Gates, and non-metal bands. Their compositions, while rooted in the style of doom metal, incorporate other genres such as progressive rock, post-rock, ambient, electronic music, death metal and others. Their first demo was recorded in 2002, and was convincing enough to get them a contract with Finnish label,

Firebox Records Firebox Records was a Finnish record label based in Seinäjoki, Southern Ostrobothnia. They specialized in doom metal. Firedoom Music was a subsidiary label of Firebox Records specializing in more extreme doom metal and other obscure genres. T ...

. This was quite rare at the time for a rock or metal band from South America, as the band was barely even known in Chile itself. With Firebox Records, Mar de Grises released their first LP titled ''The Tatterdemalion Express'' in January 2004, with sound engineers that had previously worked with bands like

Six Magics Six Magics is a Chilean metal group formed initially by Pablo Stagnaro, Erick Ávila, Nicolás Espinoza, Juan Pablo Pizarro and Sergio Villarroel. History At first, Erick Ávila composed the music while Juan Pablo Pizarro and Sergio Villarroel ...

and Poema Arcanus. The album received a positive reception and was acclaimed by critics, earning titles like "Best Doom Album" and "Best New Band" from important magazines. In 2005 Mar de Grises toured Europe for the first time, performing in France, the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium and Italy. The tour included festivals like

Doom Shall Rise Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (born 1934), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitcher * ...

and Belgian

Doom Night Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (born 1934), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitcher * ...

. In 2006, singer Marcelo Rodríguez left the band and was replaced by Juan Escobar. In September 2007 Mar de Grises started to record their second album at the same studio where the first one was completed. In 2008, Mar de Grises finished and released their second album, called ''Draining the Waterheart'', and started their second European Tour from 16 April to 12 May, performing 20 concerts in 10 countries (Portugal, Spain, France, Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, Belgium, Finland). During that tour, they traveled with bands like Saturnus and Thurisaz, including a short tour in Finland ( Helsinki, Turku and Seinajoki) with

Ablaze in Hatred Ablaze may refer to: * ''Ablaze'' (2001 film), a 2001 American disaster film * ''Ablaze'' (2019 film), a 2019 New Zealand television film about a department store fire * ''Ablaze'' (2021 film), a 2021 Australian documentary film about Bill Onus *' ...

. In Finland, Mar de Grises performed at the Firebox Metal Festival, sharing the stage with bands like

Dark Tranquillity Dark Tranquillity is a Swedish melodic death metal band from Gothenburg. They are considered one of the pioneering acts of the Gothenburg metal scene, which also includes bands such as In Flames and At the Gates. Dark Tranquillity is regarded a ...

Impaled Nazarene Impaled Nazarene is a Finnish extreme metal band that started as black metal but have incorporated elements of grindcore, thrash metal and death metal, and have grown more towards hardcore punk. History The band formed in November 1990, with fo ...

and Enslaved. In 2010, Mar de Grises signed a contract with global French label,

Season of Mist Season of Mist is an independent record label and record distributor with subsidiaries in France and the United States. The record label was founded in 1996 by Michael S. Berberian in Marseille, France. From the start releasing black metal, pag ...

, moving away from Finland-based label,

Firebox Firebox may refer to: *Firebox (steam engine), the area where the fuel is burned in a steam engine *Firebox (architecture), the part of a fireplace where fuel is combusted *Firebox Records, a Finnish 8101705801record label * Firebox.com, an electro ...

. In 2011, Streams Inwards was rated the Metal Storm No. 1 doom metal album of 2010 by users. In 2013 they decided to disband.

Musicians

* Rodrigo Morris – guitar * Sergio Alvarez – guitar (''Mourner's Lament'') * Rodrigo Galvez –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

(''Mourner's Lament'') * Alejandro Arce –

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 ...

(''Norphelida'', ''Target'', ''Kintral'') * Germán Toledo – vocals (''Eternal Demise'')

Former musicians

* Juan Escobar – vocals and

keyboards Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

* Marcelo R. – vocals * Herumor V – guitar (''AuraHiemis'')

Records

* ''Demo 2002'' (2002) * ''The Tatterdemalion Express'' (2004) * ''Draining the Waterheart'' (2008) * ''First River Regards'' (2009) * ''Streams Inwards'' (2010)

References

External links

Mar de Grises's Myspace Page

Mar de Grises's Encyclopaedia Metallum Page
* {{Authority control Chilean death metal musical groups Musical groups established in 2000 Doom metal musical groups Season of Mist artists Chilean heavy metal musical groups