Paramaecium (sometimes typeset as Paramæcium) was an Australian

death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

doom 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 * L ...

metal band formed in 1991. There is use of instrumentation like

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

s and

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

s on some albums. Paramaecium is one of the few doom metal bands that focus on Christian lyrical themes and Christian

concepts Concepts are defined as abstract ideas. They are understood to be the fundamental building blocks of the concept behind principles, thoughts and beliefs. They play an important role in all aspects of cognition. As such, concepts are studied by sev ...

. According to Doom-metal.com, "what sets Paramaecium apart from other bands in the doom metal scene, is the fact that they are the only Christian death/doom band that made it to the top of the genre."

History

In 1993, Paramaecium released their debut album, ''

Exhumed of the Earth ''Exhumed of the Earth'' is the debut album by Paramaecium. It was released in 1993. ''Exhumed of the Earth'' is considered to be one of the landmarks of both doom metal and Christian metal movements. Recording history ''Exhumed of the Earth'' ...

''. The band consisted of

Andrew Tompkins Andrew Tompkins is the lead vocalist and bassist for the Australian doom metal band Paramaecium, which was considered to be the biggest Christian doom metal band. Andrew has a daughter named Enara. Tompkins' cousin is Mark Orr, former drummer o ...

on vocals and bass,

Jason De Ron Jason De Ron (born 1973) is a musician from Melbourne, Australia, most notable for being the former guitarist for the death/doom band Paramaecium and co founder and guitarist of the avant garde/progressive metal band Altera Enigma. Biograp ...

on guitar, and Jayson Sherlock on drums. The music was inspired by

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

, early My Dying Bride and Anathema. The band incorporated flute and violin sounds as well as a soprano alongside the usual musical offerings of death and

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

. Paramaecium added rhythm guitarist Chris Burton in 1995 and released their second album, ''Within the Ancient Forest'', which was accompanied by a fantasy novel of the same name written by Tompkins. The album was more diverse and technical, and involved female vocalists, harpsichord, piano, flute and cello. Sherlock left the band in 1996. The third album, ''

A Time to Mourn ''A Time to Mourn'' is the third album by Paramaecium. It was released in 1999. According to Andrew Tompkins the album art is of a Los Angeles model, the band actually does not know who the woman is. Themes ''A Time to Mourn'' explores theme ...

'', was released in 1999 and marked the departure of all previous band members except Tompkins. The band no longer had a touring lineup, so guest musicians were used, including guitarist

Ian Arkley Ian Arkley is a British heavy metal guitarist and singer. His current band is the UK gothic doom metal outfit My Silent Wake. Biography Arkley first gained attention as a member (and leader) of Christian thrash metal band Seventh Angel. Sign ...

(formerly of

Seventh Angel Seventh Angel are an English Christian metal band that formed in 1987 in Halesowen, West Midlands. The band was known for its combination of doom metal and thrash metal. The band initially released two albums, ''The Torment'' (1990) and '' La ...

Ashen Mortality Ashen Mortality were a British doom metal band formed in 1993 by Ian Arkley (Seventh Angel) and Melanie Bolton. They and Paramaecium are among the best known Christian doom metal bands, though they were always wary of being typecast as such. T ...

and My Silent Wake). After a five-year break, Paramaecium returned in 2004 with ''Echoes from the Ground''. The album again featured Tompkins as the only original member, but held firmly to the band's doom and

death metal Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...

roots while again incorporating soprano and violins. In 2005, Tompkins started working again with guitarist De Ron on songs for a new album. Early in 2006, drummer Sherlock rejoined the band and they played a series of concerts in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia, and NordicFest in Oslo, Norway. The NordicFest appearance in November 2006 marked the official end of Paramaecium, but it was also the official launch of the band under its new name, InExordium. InExordium's name is derived from a Paramaecium song off of ''Within the Ancient Forest''. After InExordium broke up, Sherlock and guitarist Sheldon D'Costa formed

Revulsed Revulsed is a technical/brutal death metal band that originated in Australia in 2010. Revulsed's debut album '' Infernal Atrocity'' was featured on No Clean Singing and Trevor Strnad of the Black Dahlia Murder's best albums of 2015 lists. Hist ...

Album concepts

All of Paramaecium's albums have a concept that generally revolves around Christianity and Christian life. ''

'' was based around the narrative of the New Testament, particularly the canonical gospels and the Book of Acts. ''Within the Ancient Forest'' is based on how Andrew Tompkins became a Christian, and ''

'' is about a life in Christ, addressing the sorts of issues one might face as a modern Christian. ''Echoes from the Ground'' is about a young man's journey through the Holy Lands to find a justification for his faith.

Members

Last known lineup *

- bass, vocals, programming (1991–2006) *

- guitar (1992–1996, 2006) * Jayson Sherlock - drums (1993–1996, 2006) Former * Collin "Mosh" Mynard - guitar (1991–1992). Retrieved on 8 October 2016. *

- guitar (1999) * Mark Orr - drums (1999) * Mark Kelson - guitar (1997–1999) * Chris Burton - rhythm guitar (1995–1996) * Steve Palmer - drums (1991–1993) Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:90 bottom:90 top:0 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1991 till:12/31/2006 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1991 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1991 Colors = id:Vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:LGuitar value:teal legend:Lead_guitar id:RGuitar value:green legend:Rhythm_guitar id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Drums value:Orange legend:Drums id:Keys value:purple legend:Keyboards id:studio value:black legend:Studio_album id:EP value:gray(0.55) legend:Other_release id:bars value:gray(0.95) Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4 BackgroundColors=bars:bars LineData = layer:back at:07/01/1991 color:EP at:06/10/1993 color:studio at:06/19/1996 color:studio at:01/01/1997 color:EP at:04/17/1999 color:studio at:08/13/2004 color:studio BarData = bar:Andrew text:"Andrew Tompkins" bar:Mosh text:"Collin Maynard" bar:Jason text:"Jason De Ron" bar:Mark text:"Mark Kelson" bar:Ian text:"Ian Arkley" bar:Chris text:"Chris Burton" bar:Steve text:"Steve Palmer" bar:Jayson text:"Jayson Sherlock" bar:Mark2 text:"Mark Orr" PlotData= width:11 bar:Andrew from:start till:end color:Vocals bar:Mosh from:start till:01/01/1992 color:LGuitar bar:Jason from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1996 color:LGuitar bar:Mark from:01/01/1997 till:01/01/1999 color:LGuitar bar:Ian from:01/01/1999 till:12/31/1999 color:LGuitar bar:Chris from:01/01/1995 till:01/01/1996 color:RGuitar bar:Steve from:start till:01/01/1993 color:Drums bar:Jayson from:01/01/1993 till:01/01/1996 color:Drums bar:Mark2 from:01/01/1999 till:12/31/1999 color:Drums bar:Jason from:01/01/2006 till:12/31/2006 color:LGuitar bar:Jayson from:01/01/2006 till:12/31/2006 color:Drums width:7 bar:Andrew from:start till:end color:Bass width:3 bar:Andrew from:start till:end color:Keys bar:Mosh from:start till:01/01/1992 color:RGuitar bar:Jason from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1995 color:RGuitar bar:Mark from:01/01/1997 till:01/01/1999 color:RGuitar bar:Ian from:01/01/1999 till:12/31/1999 color:RGuitar bar:Jason from:01/01/2006 till:12/31/2006 color:RGuitar

Discography

As Paramaecium

Studio albums * ''

'' (1993) * ''Within the Ancient Forest'' (1996) * ''

'' (1999) * ''Echoes from the Ground'' (2004) Demos * ''Silent Carnage'' (1991) EPs * ''Repentance'' (1996)

As InExordium

Studio albums * ''InExordium'' (2008)

References

External links

Paramaecium's official website (Archived)
{{Authority control Victoria (Australia) musical groups Australian doom metal musical groups Australian Christian metal musical groups Musical groups established in 1991 Musical groups disestablished in 2006 Musical quartets 1991 establishments in Australia