News : Knightmare partially disband

Melbourne-based power metal band Knightmare have disbanded, to an extent. Every member of the band, apart from vocalist MICKoWAR have left the band due largely to stylistic differences. MICKoWAR plans to continue with the Knightmare name while the ex-members will continue on together under a new name. Read on for press releases from both MICKoWAR and guitarist/main songwriter Luke Besley.

MICKoWAR has posted the following bulletin on the Knightmare myspace

“Hey all!
Knightmare will be on an extended long break, due to pretty much all the members being forced to leave, and Luke leaving on his own accord.
And after the last show we played with Tim @ Welkin [Entertainment], it’s probably a good thing!
There were lots of personal differences which remained on the low down for too long. And out of the blue erupted through laziness to rehearse and a big turning point for the band.
I wish the best of luck to Luke and his future musical endeavours.
Anyone wishing to buy a copy of the Knightmare EP just has to let us know and we’ll send you out a copy!

Thanks for reading,
All the best
MICKoWAR”

I recently asked guitarist and main songwriter Luke Besley about the future of the now ex-members, and his views on what happened. His response is below

“It was unfortunate that it had to come to this. I had to choose between a complete band and a singer. There were notably many disagreements and increasing tension. It had been tense for a while and it became clear that the current lineup wouldn’t last. Aside from personal issues that will remain personal, the other guys had concerns about playing in a “Manowar”-esque metal band, which is more the direction Mick was wanting. They also had issues about Mick’s general style as a vocalist and performer, and that felt that stylistically they did not want to be part of or represented by the image that Mick was going after.

They also raised issues about what they thought of Mick’s performances in general. They all agreed that while they would like to stay together as a band, they wanted mick to Leave, and Mick had made the decision to keep the name of Knightmare which he did initially create.

I was in a tough situation, where I had to make a decision of which side I had to take. Being the main songwriter for Knightmare and writing the vast majority of the music, I decided to stay with the rest of the band to write and rehearse future material with them, and to also take my share of the ownership of the songs. While this is an unfortunate event that Knightmare has practically disbanded, I think one can look at it optimistically as a chance to begin anew and continue writing and performing music.

As for the future, what the other members and I plan to do is continue to write, rehearse and record. While this is an early estimate, I think at this stage I can say musically we will continue in a similar style that Knightmare was, but a bit darker, heavier, mroe serious and abit less Manowar styled. We plan to get back on track as a band, find a new singer and release music as best and as quickly as we can for the fans of Knightmare.

This entire situation means we will no longer be able to keep what fans, promotion and establishment that Knightmare had, such as having an EP under our belt, but we hope that in time we can be back on track with a new singer, and a new image, ready to play again.

I would like to wish Mick all the best with what he decides to do with any future bands/acts.

In the meantime, keep your heads up for what is to come!”