Artefact

Artefact is a French Black Metal band originally from Nice. Its name comes (according to the band itself) from the medieval fantasy universe and evokes a magical object.

The band’s music, conceived as a collection of fantastic short stories, is largely inspired by the ethereal, forest and medieval atmospheres found in bands like Emperor, Arcturus, Bathory, Opeth, Burzum, Dimmu Borgir, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Satyricon1, as well as in medieval or Celtic music, or even in Progressive Metal music, for the arrangements.

Formation and Beginnings (2000–2001)

The Artefact project was formed in 2000 in the minds of Guillaume V. alias Aldébaran (guitar), Pascal alias Alucard (guitar) and Julien (vocals). Together, they composed and recorded a demo but struggled to find musicians in their Nice region. However, it was at this time that the musical direction of Artefact was launched.

Only in March 2002 did they meet Ranko (drums) and Alexis (bass), ex-members of Oktopod, now disbanded.
The band then comes together around the compositions of Aldébaran and Alucard and covers of cult Black Metal pieces.
These covers are a way to progress, but the band’s main objective remains the composition of an album.
Due to a lack of time to invest in the band, Alucard leaves Artefact after a few weeks.
The band then continued as a trio for some time. Artefact records its first demo on CD, Same. This demo includes most of the songs that would later be recorded on the “Son of Solstice” album.

Son of Solstice (2003–2005)

Shortly after recording the second demo, a new guitarist, Camille, joined the ranks of Artefact. The four-piece line-up quickly proved itself during several concerts. In 2003, Artefact recorded its first real album in the personal studio of Kallaghan, the singer of the Sikh band. Vocals are provided by Sly, who is the guitarist-vocalist in Shimmer of Chaos. The album contains previously unreleased tracks and tracks from the previous demo, which have been rearranged.

After this recording, Artefact also hired the services of a singer, in the person of Sébastien, aka Runenlyd, who serves as guitarist-singer in the band Deviance. This period marks the beginning of a new phase of composition with a view to a second album.

Magic Spellcraft and Ruins (2006–2008)

In August 2004, Artefact represented France and, more particularly, the Nice and Var region as part of the Wacken Battle competition in Germany, which accompanies the world’s largest metal festival, Wacken Open Air.
The band obtains third place. Artefact took advantage of this new recognition and recorded its second album,
“Magic Spellcraft”, a year later. The new albums keep the band’s style while reinforcing the epic, dark, aggressive and fantastic atmospheres. The album was released under the Rupture Music label on April 18, 2006. Two new musicians joined the band: Fred alias Sephiroth (keyboards) in 2006, then Jérémy alias Olwe Telrunya (guitar) in 2007.

The third album, “Ruins”, was released on January 15, 2008. It is an album which marks Artefact, a certain return to Black Metal, of which it has both sophistication and savagery, the painting of atmospheres, fantastic or heavy, magical or forestry, close to nature or complex medieval calculations.
They also have a strong technique, with musicians whose instrumental maturity clearly asserts itself. In this new album,
Artefact once again expresses a personal style: a modular structure, which superimposes very different episodes but is always linked by a common musical thread; a demonstrated desire for a very elaborate counterpoint, which recalls Emperor’s Prometheus; a very narrative character, resembling role-playing games, one of the sources of inspiration for these fantastic stories told in music; a violent and romantic colouring for the whole.

After Aldébaran’s departure (2008–2010)

On December 12, 2008, the band announced the departure of its founder and main composer, Aldébaran, who decided to devote himself to other projects and founded a new Black Metal band, Darkenhöld. The composition of the works of the group Artefact is then distributed among all the existing members, particularly Olwe Telrunya and Sephiroth, for the riffs and arrangements3. During the following months, Artefact composed and recorded four pieces intended to be published. One of these tracks, “Failure”, was distributed on the band’s website. The group broke up in 2010

Members
Sébastien “Runenlyd” Bernard – vocals
Nicolas “Ranko” Müller – drums
Alexis Bietti – bass
Sephiroth – keyboards
Olwe Telrunya – guitar

Studio albums
2003: Son of Solstice (Rupture Music)
2006: Magic Spellcraft (Rupture Music)
2008: Ruins (Rupture Music)
2011: Failure (self-produced)