Exoterik

Exoterik are a UK alternative metal group made up of Anneka Latta on vocals and keyboards, Tom Fay on guitar, David Parry on bass and programming, and Steve Riley on drums. The band forms around an Anglo-Irish lineup and aims for hard-edged music that avoids the conventions often associated with female-fronted rock.

Style and sound

The group’s music combines haunting vocals with heavy, mosh-oriented melodies, along with stomping riffing and more ethereal passages. Their approach sits outside the more theatrical tendencies of symphonic metal and the polished sound of pop-rock, instead focusing on energetic, cathartic songs about human nature.

Live activity

Exoterik build a reputation through live performances in the mid-2000s. They support Epica at Bradford Rio’s in 2006 and appear at the Rock Sound Cave stage at Guilfest in 2006 and 2007, alongside acts including Therapy? and Reuben.

Recording and releases

Interest from local press, radio and record labels leads the band to travel to Finland in late 2006 to record three tracks, before going to Latvia in 2007 to record their debut album. That album, Don’t Swallow, is produced by John Fryer, whose credits include work on HIM’s Razorblade Romance and production or mixing for artists such as Cradle of Filth, Cocteau Twins, Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode. The album is then mastered at RedRoom Studios in Norway.