The Kovenant rose from its suspended state of animation in Norway the year 1992, put together by Lex Icon (Vocals + bass, formerly known as Nagash ) & Psy Coma (Guitars, formely known as Blackheart), with the idea to express their common sense of "rebellish" mentality towards the ignorance & illusions of the accepted "modern" world. They started moulding their musical mass in the shape of low budget studio demos , which resulted in the still criticly renowned debut album "In Times Before The Light", in the year 1995. Taking the form of a harsh , but still seducingly melodic Black Metal album, they quickly established a solid fanbase in the underground , elevating to one of the most prominent names in the new norwegian metal scene. But sadly , due to the incompetance and lack of determination by the then responsible record company , the album was not officially realeased untill the spring of 1997 , on a small english company called mordgrimm. The band now saw that in order to fullfill their musical vision, they needed the stability and competance of a bigger and more determined record company , wich they found in the clutches of German based Nuclear Blast. Ready to bring their message the masses of Gaia, they further recruted 3 new zealots to The Kovenant, By the Names of Hellhammer (Drums, now Von Blomberg), Astennu ( 2nd Guitar ) and Sverd (Synthesis) . Now a thriving musical force they recorded their classic "Nexus Polaris" album in Woodhouse studios, Germany , 1997. A grand masterpiece of universal visions melted together in a Synthesis of progressive Dark Metal, the album became a instant hit when it was realeased in Febuary 1998 .Piledriving its way to official German Chart position 65, and position 26 in Finnland, the atomic fingers of Nuclear Blast utilised their potential , and sold over 15.000 copies of the album the first week!!!
Following up with a 2 week promotional tour, the band had suddenly established themselves as one biggest xtreme metal acts around, even appearing with their own 6-episode tour diary on Norwegian national television, The Kovenant now stood ready to take on the world. Unfortunatly the band had to part with keyboard grandmaster Sverd, due to some personal problems at the time. But never the less they followed their path to glory with a session keyboard player on a series of successful appearences at various summer festivals , including the famous Dynamo Festival , and ending with a hypnotizing headlining concert for 20,000 people at the Iilosaari rock festival in Finland. Now more focused than ever, the band started writing material for their third album when the incredible news struck them!! ...
The Kovenant was nominated for a Grammy in their home country Norway, for best hardrock album in 1998! And in February 1999...not only did they attend the Grammy TV show (called "Spellemansprisen" in Norwegian) , but they won the first grammy ever by an extreme metal band in history!!
They now took all their buildt up confidence into Woodhouse studios April 1999..and after a three month recording marathon, in which they had to terminate their musical bonds with guitarist Astennu, they emerged with the strongest, most unique album they ever recorded. Entitled "Animatronic", the album is a mature, honest and groundbreaking dive into the void of creativity. Exposing their ideas on a whole new level ,the album is as individual as it is enjoyabel .The musical and lyrical insanety is deeply reflected in every aspect of the band, metamorphosing from the early days of Black Metal , to a three-headed industrial beast, a insane cabaret of mind mutating Metal for the new millenium. The visual portreyal of the band is something to behold. A synthetic freakshow of disturbing images, personefying the very essence of apocalyptic madness, a anti-thesis to the moral & religious ignorance that sucks the world dry. All the facets of The Kovenants creative aura, represent the dark side of mentality, the unwanted side of humanety. Set to go where no one else has gone before, The Kovenant stands as a monolith for the future.
Source: http://www.nuclearblast.de/band_show.php3?action=bio&artist=8