l Heavy Metal
Formed in January
2007, Shrouded Oracle was about writing original power-progressive
heavy metal with a European flair—this style has been referred to by some as “beauty and the beast” metal, referring
to the contrast between operatic female vocals and the demonic “cookie monster” growl of death metal vocals.
On 15 September
2007, the band went into Bond Recording Studios in Colorado Springs, CO and recorded five original songs live in
five hours. Those songs are:
A month or so after this recording, while the
rough mixes were still being worked on, Bob split from the rest of the band, due to conflicting expectations.
The rest of the band has continued under a new name, Aniforum. This page provides a snapshot in time;
a means for these original Shrouded Oracle ideas and rough demos to be heard. Many who have heard these demos
have likened Shrouded Oracle to Evanescence.
A couple of on-computer demos that never got
a full treatment with the rest of the band,
are below:
“Dieties of Elsewhen” was created in January of 2007 – Rich provided the arpeggiated chords, and I added the lyrics, narrative, bass and backing vocals. “Unending Battle” was based on a keyboard idea Lauren recorded when
she first joined Shadowed Creation – I added the guitar and bass later. These demos where the direction I would have liked to have seen Shrouded Oracle take, but the rest of the band didn’t share my vision. I also had intentions of posting the band’s finished recording on
iTunes, but have since put a couple of my solo songs up there instead.
- Bob Szekely