Bloody Panda is an American

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'' ...

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary * Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania * Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, ...

based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

History

Formation (2003-2004)

The band was formed in 2003 by Yoshiko Ohara, an established

visual artist The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...

based in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, Japan, who "decided to spend her savings on a trip to New York City, brand new recording equipment in tow, with the idea that she’d move to America to make music, this despite the unfortunate fact that she didn’t know how to play an instrument of any kind." Ohara then posted advertisements for band members that read, "Seeking guitarist, bassist and drummer to form the biggest band in the world, as soon as possible. Must have dark personalities." One such ad posted in a local record store, caught the attention of trio Josh Rothenberger (guitar), Bryan Camphire (bass), Michael Harriff (drums), and Blake McDowell (organ), who responded and subsequently joined Ohara's project, ultimately rounded out by "respected

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

and

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

drummer/

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

-ist/

tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

-ist" Dan Weiss.

Touring (2005-2006)

Bloody_Panda_at_the_Club_Midway%2C_New_York_City_%282007%29%2C_No

Between 2005 and 2006, the quintet played around New York City opening for such diverse acts as

Akron/Family Akron/Family were an American folk-influenced experimental rock band active from 2002 to 2013. Former members have lived in Portland, Oregon; Los Angeles, California; and Joshua Tree, California. Music and history Though each member of the ba ...

Genghis Tron Genghis Tron is an American cybergrind band formed in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States, and latterly based in Brooklyn, New York and San Francisco, California. The band signed to Relapse Records after releasing two recordings on Crucial B ...

, and Mouth of the Architect. ''

College Music Journal CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events, online media company and a distributor of up and coming music CDs, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music ...

'' commented on Bloody Panda's live performances stating, "Known for their daring stage shows, the band performs in executioner's hoods and robes to amplify their

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...

-meets-

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...

(or

Sunn O))) Sunn O))) (pronounced "sun") is an American drone metal band formed in 1998 in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington. The band is known for its distinctive visual style and slow, heavy sound, which blends diverse genres including doom metal, ...

-like)

riff A riff is a short, repeated motif or figure in the melody or accompaniment of a musical composition. Riffs are most often found in rock music, punk, heavy metal music, Latin, funk, and jazz, although classical music is also sometimes based ...

work." The band released—through Holy Roar—a

split album A split album (or split) is a music album that includes tracks by two or more separate artists. There are also singles and EPs of the same variety, which are often called "split singles" and "split EPs" respectively. Split albums differ from "v ...

with

avant-garde metal Avant-garde metal (also known as avant-metal, experimental metal, art metal and experimetal) is a subgenre of heavy metal music loosely defined by use of experimentation and innovative, avant-garde music, avant-garde elements, including non-stan ...

group

Kayo Dot Kayo Dot is an American avant-garde metal band. Formed in 2003 by Toby Driver after the break-up of Maudlin of the Well, they released their debut album ''Choirs of the Eye'' on John Zorn's Tzadik Records that same year. Since then, Kayo Dot' ...

in early 2007, and also recorded a cover of

Eyehategod Eyehategod (also abbreviated and referred to as EHG) is an American sludge metal band from New Orleans, Louisiana, who formed in 1988. They have become one of the better known bands to emerge from the NOLA metal scene. Their core lineup has r ...

's "Anxiety Hangover" for the tribute album ''

For the Sick ''For the Sick'' is the title of the various artist tribute album to one of the most influential sludge metal bands, Eyehategod. It was released through Emetic Records on March 20, 2007. Track listing CD 1 # Dot(.) – "Man is Too Ignorant to E ...

''. At this time, the debut album by the "enigmatic metal band with the

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

name" had become one of the most anticipated full-lengths in 2007.

''Pheromone'' (2007)

Produced by Jason Marcucci, who has previously worked with

The Flaming Lips The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, bass, keyboards, drums, vocals), Derek Brown ...

and

The White Stripes The White Stripes were an American Rock music, rock duo formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White (guitar, keyboards, piano, vocals) and Meg White (drums, percussion, vocals). They were a leading group of 2000s indi ...

, Bloody Panda's first full-length, ''

Pheromone A pheromone () is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Pheromones are chemicals capable of acting like hormones outside the body of the secreting individual, to affect the behavio ...

'', was released in April 2007 by

Level Plane Records Level Plane was an American independent record label based in New York City that was founded in early 1997 by Greg Drudy for the release of Saetia's first 7". Drudy ran the label until it ceased to exist in 2009. It released records in a vari ...

, which had signed a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

with the band earlier in that year. ''

Decibel The decibel (symbol: dB) is a relative unit of measurement equal to one tenth of a bel (B). It expresses the ratio of two values of a Power, root-power, and field quantities, power or root-power quantity on a logarithmic scale. Two signals whos ...

'' magazine defined the album as "moody," definition complemented by

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

writer Adrien Begrand, who stated, "Singing in both

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

and

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

, Ohara could be singing in

Esperanto Esperanto (, ) is the world's most widely spoken Constructed language, constructed international auxiliary language. Created by L. L. Zamenhof in 1887 to be 'the International Language' (), it is intended to be a universal second language for ...

for all we care, as her melodic chants are often difficult to discern, but despite the fact that her lyrics to possess a poetic quality, ''Pheromone'' is more about mood than message, her vocals every bit as entrancing as the arrangement behind her."

''Summon'' (2009-present)

Their second album, '' Summon'', was released in 2009 on

Profound Lore Profound Lore Records is a Canadian independent record label founded in May 2004. The label primarily focuses on releasing extreme metal and experimental albums. It "began as the 'hobby-like venture' of a few friends but, over the past six year ...

. Jonathan Horsley of ''

Terrorizer Terrorizer is an American grindcore band from Los Angeles, California. It was originally formed in 1985 as Unknown Death by vocalist Oscar Garcia and guitarist Jesse Pintado. They would rename themselves Terrorizer after recruiting drummer Pete ...

'' commented that "Bloody Panda may be too experimental to win your heart, but they demand your complete, undivided attention."Jonathan Horsley, "Choice Cuts," ''Terrorizer'' No. 188, September 2009, p. 20.

Members

*Bryan Camphire - bass, samples & backing vocals *Lev Weinstein - drums *Josh Rothenberger - guitar & synthesizer *Yoshiko Ohara - lead vocals *Blake McDowell - organ & backing vocals *Gerry Mak - throat singing & vocals

Former members

*Michael Harriff - drums (before Bloody Panda, Josh, Bryan and Michael were in a prog metal band calle
Oryx
that disbanded after eventually failing to find a vocalist) *Dan Weiss - drums *Richard Swartz - drums

Discography

*''

Promo PROMO (Promoting Missouri) is a Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territ ...

'' EP (2004) *

/Bloody Panda Split (2006) *''

'' LP (2007) *'' Summon'' LP (2009) *'' Summon: Invocation'' LP (2011)

References

External links

Bloody Panda's official website
{{Authority control American doom metal musical groups American musical sextets Heavy metal musical groups from New York (state) Musical groups established in 2003 Musical groups from New York City Level Plane Records artists Profound Lore Records artists