The Cult

The Cult biography

The Cult are a British rock band that was formed in 1983. They gained a dedicated following in Britain in the mid 1980s as a post-punk band with singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary", before breaking mainstream in the United States in the late 1980s as a hard rock band with singles such as "Love Removal Machine" and "Fire Woman". The band fuses a "heavy metal revivalist" sound with the "pseudo-mysticism ... of The Doors and the guitar-orchestrations of Led Zeppelin ... while adding touches of post-punk goth rock". Since their earliest form in Bradford during 1981, the band has had various line-ups, and the longest-serving members are vocalist Ian Astbury and guitarist Billy Duffy, the band's two songwriters.

After moving to London, the band released the album Love in 1985, which charted at #4 in the United Kingdom, and which included singles such as "She Sells Sanctuary" and "Rain". In the late 1980s, the band dropped their post-punk sound in favour of hard rock with their third album, Electric; the polish on this new sound was facilitated by Rick Rubin, who produced the record. Their fourth album, Sonic Temple, proceeded in a similar vein, and these two LPs enabled them to break into the North American market. By the early 1990s, the band was fraying behind the scenes, due to alcohol abuse and off-stage tensions, leading to a split-up in 1995. though he eventually changed his mind and declared that there would be another album in the near future. Their upcoming ninth studio album, entitled Choice of Weapon, will be released on 22 May 2012.

The origins of the band can be traced back to 1981, in Bradford, Yorkshire, where vocalist and songwriter Ian Astbury formed a band called Southern Death Cult. The name was chosen with a double meaning, and was derived from the 14th century Native American religion, the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex or Southern Death Cult as it sometimes known, from the Mississippi delta area, but it was also a stab at what the band viewed was the centralisation of power in Southern England (including that of the music industry); there has long been a perceived notion of a North-South divide based on social, historic and economic reasons. Astbury was joined by Buzz Burrows (guitar), Barry Jepson (bass) and Aki Nawaz Qureshi (drums); they performed their first show at the Queen's Hall in their hometown of Bradford on 29 October 1981. The band were at the forefront of a new emerging style of music, in the form of post-punk and gothic rock (then known as positive-punk), they achieved critical acclaim from the press and music fans very early on.

thumb The band signed to independent record label Situation Two, an offshoot of Beggars Banquet Records, and released a three-track, triple A-side single, Moya, during this period. They toured through England headlining some shows on their own and also touring with Bauhaus and Theatre of Hate.

In April 1983, Astbury teamed up with guitarist Billy Duffy and formed the band "Death Cult". Duffy had previously been in The Nosebleeds (along with Morrissey), Lonesome No More and then Theatre of Hate. In addition to Astbury and Duffy, the band also included Jamie Stewart (bass) and Raymond Taylor Smith (later known as Ray Mondo) (drums), both from the Harrow, London based post-punk band, Ritual. Death Cult made their live debut in Oslo, Norway in late June 1983 and released the Death Cult EP in July 1983, then toured throughout Europe. In September 1983, Mondo was deported to his home country of Sierra Leone and replaced by Nigel Preston, formerly of Theatre of Hate. The single "God's Zoo" was released in October 1983. Another European tour, with UK dates, followed later that autumn. To tone down the gothic connotations of their name, and to gain broader appeal, the band changed its name to "The Cult" in January 1984 before appearing on the (UK) Channel 4 television show, The Tube.

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