Covenant - Biography
By Eric Brightwell
Though many of their fans refer to Covenant’s style of music as future pop, most of their roots are in the past; specifically the EBM, trance, 80’s synthpop and late ‘70s electro-pop. The band are led by lead lyricist Joakim Montelius lead singer Eskil Simonsson whose often distorted voice falls somewhere between Peter Murphy and Dave Gahan.
Eskil Simonsson, Joakim Montelius, and Clas Nachmanson were three friends in Helsingborg, Sweden who shared an interest in existentialism, science, technology and bands like Front 242, Kraftwerk, The Human League and Nitzer Ebb. That year, in Simonsson’s parents cellar, the trio began making their first musical experiments with various collaborators. Their first public performance was as a sextet where they played at a friend’s party. Over the next three years, various line-ups continued to play under a variety of names, including Covenant. In 1989, all three were due for compulsory military service and their music was put on hold.
In 1991, all three friends went to University in Lund. Nachmanson and Montelius were roommates and Simonsson lived in an apartment across the hall. They resumed their musical pursuits and constructed a studio in Nachmanson’s room. They also settled as Covenant on a name. In 1992, they were contacted by an employee of Memento Materia who’d heard a tape of one of their cellar performances in the military. Covenant’s first release was 1992’s “The Replicant” which appeared on the label’s Autumn Leaves compilation that year. For their first paying gig, they played a festival in Kariskrona but Montelius was temporarily replaced by their stage designer, Ragnar, as Montelius had exams. Now known for their natty suits, at the time the band performed dressed as “space samurais.”
Memento Materia asked prodded them to make a full-length. The band set aside their studies and they returned to Helsingborg to build Studio Covenant. Their debut came in December 1994, Dreams of a Cryotank (Memento Materia). The throbbing, pulsing quasi-gothic EBM musically recalled Canadian acts Skinny Puppy and Front Line Assembly whilst the lyrics were largely inspired by Lars Gustafsson’s The Strange Beast of the North. After a request from Off-Beat Records, they played in Germany and were signed to that label the following day. After embarking on their first tour of Swened, they began work on their sophomore release.
In May, Sequencer (1996-Memento Materia) surfaced. Though still very dark and moody, the album, as suggested by the title, was much more dancefloor-oriented. On its strength, they were signed to the San Francisco-based 21st Circuitry label in the US. For the American market, a collection of remixes and alternate versions, The Theremin EP (1997-21st Circuitry) followed in 1997 which preceded a North American tour.
Europa (1998-21st Circuitry) signaled a new, poppier direction for the band that incorporated more traditional song structures along the lines of their German peers Wolfsheim and De/Vision or the Norwegian Apoptygma Berzerk. The year also saw the Swedes sue a Norwegian band with the same name, which resulted in the latter changing their name to The Kovenant. 21st Circuitry folded and Philadelphia’s Metropolis acquired the rights to the Covenant catalogue. In July of 1999, Metropolis re-released their first three albums and the Theremin EP. The band spent most of the 1999 touring, preparing their next record and being shuffled by labels. Off Beat went out of business and some of their former employees started Dependent, which the band signed with in Germany. Back home, they ended their relationship with Memento Materia and signed with SubSpace Communitcations.
United States of Mind (2000-Metropolis) continued with the band’s trend toward increasing accessibility and the less-distorted vocals often sing lyrics that express more personal sentiments. The album kicks off with the galloping, schaffel “Like Tears in Rain,” the melody of which was then reused for a non-album single, “Der Leiermann,” which replaces the band’s lyrics with nineteenth century German poet Wilhelm Müller’s (taken from the Franz Schubert song cycle, Die Winterreise). Northern Light (2002-Metropolis) followed two years later and was appropriately chilly and somber, as suggested by the title. The highlight, “Bullet” was accompanied by a stunning video that perfectly captured Covenant’s campily somber retro-futuristic romanticism.
Although Covenant continued to make music, the covenant between the three musicians from which they derived their name apparently grew more fallible as the musicians began to move in different directions. Joakim Montelius moved to Barcelona. Eskil Simonsson moved to Berlin, recorded guest vocals with Frontline Assembly and began a side project, CEMENT. In 2006, the band toured Europe prior to the March release of Skyshaper (Metrolpolis). The album is in keeping with their late period although the uncharacteristically cute “Happy Man” almost sounds like Magnetic Fields. In March 2007, it was announced that Nachmanson was being replaced with Haujobb’s Daniel Myer. Although it may seem like Covenant are splintering, they’ve announced a provisionary 2009 release for the tentatively-titled Modern Ruin.
