In 1997, as a studio project created by David Homer, who was then part of death metal band ‘Asphyxiator’, a demo called ‘The Pain Lives On’ was developed and written with fellow band member Maggi Beddows (keyboards) from influences including ‘The Carpenters’ and ‘Hypocrisy’. It was recorded along with Rebecca Tibbit on vocals, Matt Hales and David Jones on guitars, and Paul Collins on drums. David then began to later develop the idea of a more active female-fronted metal project with Paul Collins.
In 2004, David began working with Jen Lowe (keyboards/vocals) on new material, followed later by the addition of Annabelle Harris as main vocalist in 2005. With the addition of Richard Knight on guitars, this saw the first formation of Apparition as a live band as writing for a studio album commenced, with the release Apparition’s debut album ‘Drowned in Questions’ following in early 2006.
2006 brought Fiona to Apparition as vocalist and introduced Ian Bentley on keyboards. Work soon began on new material and many live shows followed, including the development of a female-fronted metal festival in 2007, taking place in the UK Midlands (The Dames of Darkness Festival). Work a new demo EP and official video developing during 2007.
In 2008, ‘Salvation’ (EP) was unofficially released featuring Fiona on vocals, along with David, Ian, Richard and Paul Collins. An official band video of ‘Salvation’ was released shortly afterwards, followed by an unofficial video of ‘The Dream Where I Cannot Go’, with both songs generating great popularity amongst fans.
2009 then saw the release of ‘Ghosts of The Past’ as a compilation of old and new songs, featuring Fiona and Annabelle and introducing Samantha Smallwood on vocals. Samantha then began working as main live vocalist with David and Ian, who were joined by new guitarist John Yates, as new material for the next album was developed.
In 2011, the next studio album ‘For Vengeance…And For love’ was released. The album was recorded at Priory recording studios in England and produced by Greg Chandler (Esoteric singer/guitarist) and mastered by Mika Jussila at Finnvox studios in Finland. Alongside David on bass, Ian on keyboards and John on guitars, this album featured guest singer Mary-Ella on vocals along with Rob Swinnerton on drums.
In 2013, Nick Whitmore (guitars) began working with David as live guitarist, and former Seduce the Heaven singer Elina Laivera became the band’s guest singer for 5 shows including Kraken Festival in Belgium. American singer Grace Meridan also featured as guest singer for The Dames of Darkness Festival 2014.
2014 introduced guitarist Amy Lewis, alongside Nick on guitars, and Ashley Guest (Benediction and Besieged) on drums. This coincided with the summer announcement of Fiona as returning vocalist after almost 5 years away. Supporting ‘The Agonist’ (Canada) and ‘November 7’ (Switzerland) at UK shows, as well as appearing at Valkryn Festival (UK), these performances spurred the beginning of new material and the idea of a new studio album featuring the new live line-up.
In 2015, Paul ‘Kull’ Culley began working with David and Fiona on new material for the next album – THE AWAKENING. Joining as a studio member, Kull did not join the live line-up until a year later when, after a very highly received performance at The Dames of Darkness Festival (UK), Aonia Fest (UK) and Kraken Festival (Belgium), Kull took over from Nick as live guitarist alongside Amy. With Apparition’s studio and touring line-up now complete, from the combined creativity of Fiona, David, Kull, Amy, and Ash, tracking for the new album began in Autumn 2015 at Hertz Studio, Poland with Slawek and Wojtek Wieslawski.
In January 2016, Fiona returned to Hertz Studio for further tracking, and to begin the first mix of the album. After a well-received performance at Metal Over Malta Festival in March 2016, the focus returned to album tracking and mixing as Fiona and Kull re-visited the studio to shape the overall production. After further energetic shows during Autumn 2016 with Whyzdom (France) in Paris, and Imperial Age (Russia) in the UK, the band took a break from live work for 2017 to focus on finalising and releasing the new album.
2018 brought the release of Apparition’s latest album ‘THE AWAKENING’ worldwide, followed by a fantastic launch show in May 2018 at ‘The Robin 2 – Bilston (UK). The release marked 20 years of Apparition history, in addition to coinciding with the 10-year anniversary of The Dames of Darkness Festival (UK). With David at the Helm, The Dames of Darkness Festival has continued to achieve international acclaim and THE AWAKENING commemorates the festival with a dedicated lead track entitled ‘The Dames of Darkness’ featuring Fiona on vocals, along with chorus support from special guest vocalists that featured at the festival in 2015, including: Marie MacLeod (Whyzdom); Andrea Casonova (Rainover); Karoline Pacan (Skeptical Minds); and Elina Laivera (guest vocalist for Apparition in 2013 and former ‘Seduce the Heaven’ singer).
Into 2020 and beyond, after further shows in 2018 and 2019, right through the pandemic where most things musical were brought to a halt for almost 2 years, THE AWAKENING has continued to be an excellent showcase release for Apparition, and is currently available physically (CD) and digitally via Distrokid on various platforms including Spotify, Apple Music/iTunes, Deezer, Amazon Music, YouTube and many more.
