a gilded eternity

Loop burned brightly with the propulsive acid drone of this hypnotic diamond bullet.    Robert Hampson started the group in 1986 with his girlfriend Becky Stewart on drums and Glen Ray on bass. The rhythm section was replaced by John Wills and Neil Mackay with James Endeacott augmenting guitar for their debut album 'Heaven's End' on the Head label, which went to number four on the UK independent album chart in 1987.   The follow-up 'Fade Out'  was released on Chapter 22 Records  the next year and went to number fifty-one on the UK pop album chart and number one on the UK independent chart.  Endeacott left the band and was replaced by Scott Dowson for their third and final album 'A Gilded Eternity', for which they signed with Situation Two, a subsidiary of Beggar's Banquet.   Produced by the band and Paul Kendall, who also did engineering with Steve Harris;  the sessions at The Slaughterhouse featured   Robert Hampson on vocals and guitars;   John Wills on drums;   and   Neil Mackay on bass.  Hampson would reveal:   "We did most of the recording - all the backing tracks and almost all the vocals - during a three week period at Slaughterhouse up in Humberside which had a really big live area, so nearly all the backing tracks were done live with Neil, John and myself. Just occassionally we had to do it drums first, which was usually a result of not being able to get a headphone mix which could cope with the volume. We tend to leave a trail of broken cans behind us wherever we go

 'A Gilded Eternity' reached number thirty-nine on the UK pop album chart and number one on the UK independent chart.   Hampson says:     "To me, nothing's more important than anything else.  You should be able to take it all in simultaneously without distractions.  It's something you can get totally lost in - get in  and come out of the other side.  That's why I'd ideally like for the doors to be locked at our gigs.  No bar.  Like a rollercoaster ride, so you can't escape till the end...We're into embracing older technology rather than new technology.  Things like samplers don't interest me very much.  The Sixties psychedelia stuff has a great deal more warmth to it, it's not so seamless.  But when we use wah-wah's it's not just to be cute, or whatever, it's more for the function of noise...There's nothing really physical about synthesizers.  You can get extreme noises from a synth but you're not exerting yourselves.  You can't torture the instruments ... I admit there's a beauty to violence but I think it's possible to take it out on the guitar rather than mashing someone's face in."






http://soundheads.org/

http://www.heavensend.org/

http://www.roberthampson.com/





"Arc-lite"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqL8EVnrPyE



"From Centre To Wave" 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ccs8OmJN2PA



"Be Here Now"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Zc5iVQrfCw



"The Nail Will Burn"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp3IHNDofgk






 'A Gilded Eternity'
full album:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0P5C03KW2qDZk0NJAF3qNY8PXR8jFdBn



1. "Vapour"   6:08
2. "Afterglow"   5:09
3. "The Nail Will Burn"   4:51
4. "Blood"   5:30
5. "Breathe Into Me"   4:37
6. "From Centre To Wave"   6:01
7. "Be Here Now"   9:29

bonus tracks
8.    Shot With A Diamond 5:16
9.    The Nail Will Burn (Burn Out) 4:49
10.  Arc-Lite (Sonar) 4:28