Steph Plays:
Arkane AP2000 Black Shadow
Arkane AP2000 Royal Blue Shadow
Six years ago Mendeed was born. Their short life has seen them spread their wings through the UK and Europe with their own tours and support slots with the likes of Cradle Of Filth, Avenged Sevenfold, Trivium and Napalm Death on the back of the release of a mini album and debut album ‘This War Will last Forever’. In 2007 David Proctor, Chris Lavery, Steven Nixon, Steph Gildea and Kevin Matthews give you ‘The Dead Live By Love’.
Based in Dumbarton, Scotland, they spent the following few years honing their sound and building their live following before signing a UK record deal with Rising Records in December 2003.
Their first release was the mini album From Shadows Came Darkness in September 2004. A good indication of things to come, the album was awarded 4K’s in Kerrang! Magazine, leading to the band being invited to record a live session for Mike Davies at the Radio One Rock show.
2004 ended with the release of a single - 'Ignite The Flames' that secured their first support with Scuzz and MTV2, both play-listing the video. Spring of 2005 saw the band on their first major UK support tour with black metal giants Cradle Of Filth, where they went down a storm every night. Released right after the tour, the single 'Act Of Sorrow' went in to the UK rock chart top 30.
By now, the touring bug had bitten and Mendeed vowed to keep playing and extending their reach. Gigs across the UK and Europe followed with Avenged Sevenfold, including a triumphant performance at the London Astoria, Slipknot and Bleeding Through.
Completing the writing of their debut full-length album, the band hit the road in August for a headline tour taking in 25 dates and coinciding with the release of the first single taken from their debut album 'Beneath A Burning Sky'. This single was named single and video of the week by Kerrang! Magazine and was once again play-listed by Scuzz TV and MTV2.
The album recording was interrupted to take the special guest slot on Dragonforce's UK tour in September 2005. Finally the album was completed in November 2005 and the band rounded off the year supporting God Forbid in the UK.
Mendeed took 2006 by the horns with a headline UK tour prior to the release of the album This War Will Last Forever. The album received rave reviews from every major rock magazine in the UK and the momentum started to gather. Invited to open for Trivium on the first ten shows of their British tour, Mendeed played to 23,000 people and continued to expand their already substantial fan-base.
Whilst on a headline tour in April 2006, Mendeed signed to Nuclear Blast Records for the world outside the UK. This War Will Last Forever was released in Europe on 23 June 2006.
A triumphant performance at the Download Festival 2006 sealed Mendeed's reputation as one of the hottest metal bands in the world. The band were nominated for the Best Newcomer Award at this year’s Metal Hammer Golden Gods, and for the same category at the 2006 Kerrang! Awards.
Having recently supported death metallers Napalm Death across Europe and in the UK, Mendeed will release their second full-length album The Dead Live By Love on 5 February 2007.