After a departure from local band 'Devil 2 Pay', Nelly and Jason wanted to try something else. Their previous venture was considered hard rock, or old school Metal akin to Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath. But what they wanted now was something new. Something much more heavy and brutal. Think Sepultura, Superjoint Ritual, Chimera, Lamb of God.
A new band was being forged as they jammed along together, in a rented office space above a car showroom. Nelly on drums, Jason playing guitar. There was a new kind of energy in their playing. There wasn't a name for the band yet, but they floated the idea of being called 'Dogmop' for a while. It almost stuck. They recorded their ideas in the simplest way possible: a cassette tape recorder on the other side of the rehearsal room floor.
Once Damian joined, a long time buddy from the darkest regions of Manchester, the jam sessions inevitably improved. Vocals and lyrics were added, as well as a second guitar. This meant that the band could become more creative with writing riffs. More song ideas came, they were refined and a rudimentary setlist was created. It became clear that Damian would become the front man. If not just for his imposing stature and his natural affinity for arrogance. Perfect qualities in a frontman.
It was around that time that the band started to think about a real name. They tried a few different ones, but one name stuck. 'Meton'. Plainly because it sounded almost like 'Metal' (Nelly's words). The name was more legit than any other idea they could think of. Fun fact: Meton was also the name of a Greek mathematician...meh.
As many tales of legend go, the passage of time blurs the line between truth and fiction. It's vaguely recalled that it didn't take too long for Meton to find their 'Pedro'. A pet name given by Damian to their new - peruvian - bassist. The name stuck, despite the band finding out much later that he actually hated it. His real name was Luis. But that didn't quite have the same ring to it, unfortunately. Therefore Sauron decreed his name should be Pedro, so it stuck.
Pedro/Luis had an unbelievable energy to his playing that completed the band. He was an amalgamation of all the great Metal bassists rolled into one. He had the long hair, the grizzled old look of experience, and endless infectious enthusiasm. He'd look the part on stage, and the band felt like he'd truly be at home there. Meton was gig ready, and they just needed to start making bookings.
The band were gearing up for gigs after a short run of jamming together. They became restless and ravenous for some stage time. Their setlist comprised of entirely original songs, apart from a single 'Superjoint Ritual' cover, The Alcoholik (and later, Refuse/Resist by Sepultura). The band was heavy and thrashy, but their sound had changed with the arrival of a second guitarist. They even had an Intro Theme, lifted directly from 'Escape from L.A'. There was now a hint of groove to some of their songs, clearly influenced by a Pantera loving Damian. Though, that feeling was universal for the whole band. Enough so, that one song was directly influenced by walk, in the form of Sacrifice.
Towards the end of Meton's first gig run, Nelly decided he'd had enough. Partly due to his frustration over his confidence at playing the drums at such a high level, he just couldn't do it anymore. The band of course were disappointed, but they parted ways on good terms. So Meton had to hire a new drummer, or all future gigs were off. Again, due to the passage of time, some details are blurry. The next drummer was James. He was quite a young lad compared to the rest of the band, but could clearly play the drums well. He would join the band on their upcoming UK tour, and so had to learn the set list fast.
During a drummer free downtime, Meton recorded a three track EP, with the intention of handing it out at gigs.
Meton decided to tour the UK. This ended up being the highlight of the band. However, the UK tour venues were restricted to the north and parts of the midlands. The further south they tried to book, the more the venues wanted to charge the band for the gig. Flipping the proverbial bird to the south, Meton stuck to booking venues who were just being reasonable. They were joined on tour with long time friends 'Anti-Chamber'. It was quite the adventure. There was an A-Team van and everything.
Unfortunately, sometime in the midst of touring, Meton had to part ways with their new drummer. There were various reasons, but it mainly just wasn't working out. So they said their goodbyes and pushed forwards.
From there, Emily from Anti-Chamber filled the role of drummer for Meton. And it just worked. It must have been an insane workout, playing drums for both bands for the rest of the tour, but she took it all in her stride.
After the tour fun was over, the band started write some brand new material (including a track called ). Some of it also involved (re)recording existing tracks. With Emily as a valuable band asset, they were able to use a professional recording studio for literally no cost (she was a student of music at her local college at the time).
Somewhere along the way, they also made a video for their track, 'minus one'.
After a few gigs, the band had to lose Pedro. It was a good run, but for personal reasons Meton had to say goodbye to their bassist. It was a sad moment, but was necessary for the survival of the band and for Pedro himself.
If memory serves correctly, the band also re-hired Nelly for a second season of 'Being the Drummer for Meton'. Adam, a friend of Damian's, also filled the role of temporary bassist to allow them to keep the gigs coming.
25/05/07 | The Gravy Train, Newton le Willows |
10/03/07 | Autism Rocks @ The Mill, Preston |
28/01/07 | The Late Room, Manchester with Anti-Chamber plus Support View imagesView imagesView imagesView imagesView imagesView imagesView imagesView imagesView imagesView imagesView imagesView imagesView imagesView imagesView images |
20/01/07 | The Mill, Preston, Support TBC |
11/01/07 | The Bobbin, Lancaster Supporting Mojo Black |
23/12/06 | The General Havelock, Preston |
14/12/06 | Riffs, Blackpool |
17/11/06 | Riffs, Blackpool |
21/10/06 | The Napier, Blackburn with Hara Kiri View imagesView imagesView imagesView imagesView images |
20/10/06 | Hotel California, Birkenhead with Anti-Chamber View imagesView imagesView imagesView imagesView imagesView images |
07/10/06 | Oxjam, Sir Charles Napier, Blackburn All day Metal event |
22/09/06 | Roadhouse, Manchester with Fallout, Anti Chamber, Burden of Reality View imagesView imagesView imagesView imagesView imagesView imagesView imagesView imagesView imagesView imagesView imagesView imagesView imagesView imagesView imagesView imagesView images |
14/09/06 | Harry's Bar, Chorley with Hara Kiri, Who Killed Tom Beckett + Support |
Having still not found a permanent bassist, Meton's cracks began to show a little. Personal matters for Jason outside of the band meant that he decided he had to leave. In a poignant moment, after what would be their last jam session, Damian said that the band couldn't continue without it's founding guitarist. But a thing of such horrifying beauty couldn't just be allowed to die. So it was agreed that Meton could go into statis, until such time that the band members were reunited. Because it was a band that the world deserved, but not one that was needed right then.
And so the Meton Machine, tired and weary from it's rollercoaster of a journey, fell into a long and deep slumber. Like the slaying of an ancient leviathan of the deep, soon to be lost, feared, but never to be forgotten...