The Dead Lay Waiting were an English metalcore band from Swindon, Wiltshire, formed in 2007 by the means of a local rock school.
To achieve a chaotic and cacophonic sound, the band uses complex time signatures, polyrhythmic composition, blast beats, sampling, keyboard effects and intricate layered production.
At age 16, Lucas and Shrimpton attended Swindon's Rock School, teaming up with three other musicians to form the band.
[citation needed] Produced by Stu Mckay of the now-defunct deathcore band Eternal Lord and a past member of the hardcore-punk band Your Demise, the demo created much interest, including a demo review in Powerplay Magazine,[1] as well as securing a slot at their first major festival, the Bloodstock Open Air,[2] held at Catton Hall in Walton-upon-Trent, Derbyshire.
Having returned from a short set of shows, the band entered the studio in April 2009 to record their debut album.
[citation needed] The band released their debut album We Rise during January 2010, receiving encouraging reviews from magazines including Kerrang!, Metal Hammer and Big Cheese, as well as a number of British and other European online websites.
It was during the recording of the title track – a ten-minute epic track already consisting of both a female and male voice choirs, string quartets and church organs – that the idea of having a narrator came to mind and in particular Barry Clayton; Clayton had been the voice behind the introduction to heavy-metal band Iron Maiden's album Number of the Beast (1982).
Clayton agreed to appear on the track and the project was completed when various band members joined forces with John Mitchell of Outhouse Studios to apply the final touches to the album.
Shortly after the recording session, James Mackellar-Still decided to move away from the area and leave the band, to be replaced by Sara on bass whilst Azz Willoughby switched to guitar.
The festival weekend ultimately concluded with the band performing on the Metal Hammer Golden Gods Boat[12] as it made its way along the River Thames en route to the award ceremony at The O2 Arena in London.
[citation needed] June also saw the release of the Almost Heaven album,[13] which subsequently received much praise within the music industry.
[citation needed] This prompted the final change to the current line-up when Franklin replaced Willoughby on guitar.
[14] Despite the timing of Willoughby's departure, the band decided to release two music videos from the album, "The Days I'm Gone" [15] and "Burnt to Ashes".
[citation needed] The band were given their own one-hour Take-Over episode[18] programme to choose and play their favourite music videos.
[citation needed] Over the following months, the band continued to be featured in UK music magazines, including Metal Hammer, Big Cheese, Terrorizer and Kerrang!.
In 2022 Lucy Lucas announced that she would be teaming up with Dutch producer Chris Twiest to form the musical art project 'CONVOKE' featuring collaborations from other creators such as Laura Kate Dale and Sarah Jezebel Deva.