Hailing from the town of Vaasa, in Finland, Enochian Crescent was formed in 1995 by vocalist Wrath (real name Janne Kuru) and guitarist Victor (Karri Suoraniemi) -- both of them quite unusual artists, as mysterious in their motives as they are musically inspired. However, neither 1996's Anno Bastardi mini-album, nor its next-year full-length follow-up, Telocvovim, received the necessary exposure from the band's tiny label, Woodcut, to spread their burgeoning reputation beyond local citizens. Instead, Enochian Crescent's seemingly predestined date with far-flung notoriety only arrived when singer Wrath was hospitalized after cutting his own wrists on-stage (famously making a mess of it for scheduled headliners Emperor)! As a result, Nuclear Blast's Radiation Records imprint quickly licensed Telocvovim for release throughout Europe, where it was duly acclaimed by most critics and fans, and led to a new deal with Avantgarde Music for 1998's Babalon Patralx de Telocvovim EP, and 2000's Omega Telocvovim album. These, too, were hailed as unusually imaginative and innovative works, generally breaking with tired black metal conventions with stunning results. But a series of musician defections and escalating disagreements between band and label wound up resulting in an extended state of limbo from which Enochian Crescent would only emerge -- seemingly unscathed and still effortlessly breaking new ground -- five years later, with the conceptual Black Church album. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia