verbal delirium

Verbal Delirium

Verbal Delirium is a Canadian trance, electronic and ambient group from Vancouver, active from 1986 to the present. It features Michael Balch, Bill Leeb, Rhys Fulber and Chris Peterson. The band is also associated with new age, pop, dark ambient and industrial music.

Background

The group begins in the summer of 1999, when keyboard player and vocalist Jargon forms it with bassist Nik Michailidis. It starts with a clear interest in progressive rock and psychedelic music from the 1960s and 1970s, but later incorporates more modern elements. A series of lineup changes delays work on an album.

By 2005, guitarist Giorgos Maniatis and drummer Lazaros Papanastasiou join, and the band records a demo album called The imprisoned words of fear, which appears in 2007. The release combines progressive and psychedelic influences with complex arrangements, as well as metal and jazz elements, while retaining a strong focus on melodic patterns.

Albums and style

After this, Verbal Delirium moves towards a more alternative rock approach while keeping progressive elements in place. Another lineup change brings in guitarist Nikitas Kissonas and drummer Tolis Liapis. The result is the group’s first official album, So close and yet so far away, recorded between January and March 2009 and released through Musea Records in November 2010.

The album also shows an interest in orchestration and in moving beyond a standard rock sound. Once recording ends, Liapis leaves for personal reasons and is replaced by Gregory Pavlakos, who performs as Enthralling Kernel G. In March 2011, Anastasis Hamilakis joins on keyboards and theremin as a full-time member.

The band continues to describe its work as moving beyond fixed genre boundaries, with later material pointing towards a more alternative and art rock direction and including guest musicians.