Aephanemer

Aephanemer (/ɛfænəmɛə/ ) is a French melodic death metal band founded in 2014 in Toulouse. Their current lineup is Martin Hamiche on lead guitar, Marion Bascoul on vocals and rhythm guitar, Mickaël Bonnevialle on drums, and Florian Ménard on bass. Aephanemer have released one EP and four studio albums. Martin Hamiche began Aephanemer as a solo project. Hamiche independently released an instrumental EP, Know Thyself, in January 2014. In the spring of that year, Hamiche’s friend Anthony Delmas joined as the band’s bassist. Hamiche also advertised online for other members, without specifying roles. Marion Bascoul, a singer and rhythm guitarist, approached Hamiche and was added to the band. The three of them then sought out a drummer, which resulted in the recruitment of Mickaël Bonnevialle. In 2015, the band formed their own record label, Primeval Records. In September 2016, the band used this label to release their first full-length album, Memento Mori. Mixing and mastering was done by Maciej Dawidek, while the album artwork was provided by Niklas Sundin. Reception was generally positive; Nicholas Senior wrote in a review for New Noise Magazine that “Aside from some weaker closing tracks, the band’s debut is a real achievement. They have carved out their own sound and have written an album that is almost entirely engaging.” In 2017, Delmas left the group. He was replaced as bassist by Lucie Woaye-Hune. The release of Memento Mori allowed the band to go on their first tour in festivals in France and Europe, and to be nominated to represent France in the Wacken Metal Battle in 2018, a competition in the Wacken Open Air festival. In March 2019, the band released their second album, Prokopton, again on Primeval Records. It was mixed by Dan Swanö and mastered by Mika Jussila. The cover art was again drawn by Sundin. Reviews were positive: Dan McHugh of Distorted Sound described Prokopton as exhibiting "an enjoyable slab of easily accessible tracks", while João Osório wrote for The Black Planet that it was "must have for fans of epic melodic death metal with more aggressive vocals". Shortly after release, the band signed with the label Napalm Records; Napalm arranged to re-release Prokopton in October 2019. In November 2019, the band joined Scottish metal band Alestorm's Canadian tour as the supporting act. In November 2021, the band released their third album, A Dream of Wilderness. Once again, mixing was provided by Swanö and album artwork by Sundin. In September 2023, Woaye-Hune left the band “in order to devote herself to her personal life”. In January 2024, the band took on a new bassist, Laure Begue. Begue played on their 2024 European tour. However, in April 2024, shortly after the end of the tour, Begue and the band parted ways due to “fundamental disagreements”. The band remained without a dedicated bassist while recording their fourth album, Utopie, so the bass part was instead played by Hamiche. In June 2025, Florian Ménard was hired to perform the role of bassist for the band’s live shows; in July 2025, he was formally announced as a permanent member of the band. In October 2025, Utopie was released. The lyrics to the album are written entirely in French, marking a change to previous albums which were entirely or predominantly in English. November and December 2025 saw the band conduct a European tour to promote the album. The band describe their music as symphonic melodic death metal. A review of Memento Mori observed that "Aephanemer's sound takes influence from Dark Tranquillity, Wintersun, and Children of Bodom. Hamiche said in a 2023 interview that the main influences for Memento Mori and Prokopton were "Scandinavian metal and a lot of Finnish metal bands like Children of Bodom, Nightwish but also other bands like Amon Amarth, Arch Enemy [and] Windir." Multiple reviewers have also noted folk, classical, and black metal influences of varying degrees across the four albums. As is typical in melodic death metal, Bascoul's primary vocal style is growling. She made limited use of clean vocals on Prokopton and A Dream of Wilderness; however, in Utopie, she eschewed clean vocals altogether. Martin Hamiche – lead guitar (2014–present) Marion Bascoul – vocals, rhythm guitar (2014–present) Mickaël Bonnevialle – drums (2014–present) Florian Ménard – bass (2025–present) Anthony Delmas – bass (2014–2017) Lucie Woaye-Hune – bass (2017–2023) Laure Begue – bass (2024) Know Thyself (EP, 2014, independent) Path Of The Wolf (single, 2017, Primeval Records) Memento Mori (2016, Primeval Records) Prokopton (first released March 2019, Primeval Records; reissued October 2019, Napalm Records) A Dream of Wilderness (2021, Napalm Records) Utopie (2025, Napalm Records) 2016: Unstoppable, from Memento Mori, directed by Cédric Gleyal 2017: Memento Mori, from Memento Mori, directed by Cédric Gleyal 2019: Bloodline, from Prokopton, directed by Cédric Gleyal 2019: The Sovereign, from Prokopton, directed by Cédric Gleyal 2021: Panta Rhei, from A Dream Of Wilderness, directed by Cédric Gleyal 2021: Antigone, from A Dream Of Wilderness, directed by Cédric Gleyal 2021: Panta Rhei, from A Dream Of Wilderness, directed by Cédric Gleyal 2025: La Règle du Jeu, from Utopie, directed by Matthieu Gill 2025: Contrepoint, from Utopie "A&P Reacts Interview with Aephanemer". youtube.com. November 12, 2019. "Aephanemer: Interview with vocalist and guitarist Marion Bascoul and guitarist Martin Hamiche". metalcrypt.com. June 1, 2023. "Primeval Records on Bandcamp". bandcamp.com. Retrieved January 23, 2026. "Album Review: Memento Mori". newnoisemagazine.com. November 9, 2016. "News: We have a new bass player". aephanemer.com. September 13, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2026. "7 MORE METAL BATTLE FINALISTS". wacken.com.. "Distorted Sound: Prokopton Review". distortedsoundmag.com. March 24, 2019. "The Black Planet: Prokopton Review". theblackplanet.org. April 3, 2019. "News: Prokopton Napalm Records reissue out now". aephanemer.com. October 28, 2019. "Alestorm: Pirate Metal Icons Announce Canadian Headline Tour Dates". metal-temple.com. August 23, 2019. "New album 'A Dream of Wilderness' released". aephanemer.com. November 19, 2021. "Interview with Martin Hamiche and Marion Bascoul of Aephanemer". metal1.info. December 19, 2021. "Lucie informed us this week..." facebook.com. September 15, 2023. Retrieved June 4, 2026. "We are very happy to announce that our friend Laure..." facebook.com. January 20, 2024. "Aephanemer to kick off European tour this week". kronosmortusnews.com. March 20, 2024. "We did not expect to issue such a statement so soon..." facebook.com. April 16, 2024. "Kevy Metal interview with Aephanemer". kevy-metal.com. November 5, 2025. "Facebook: Please join us in welcoming Florian..." facebook.com. July 16, 2025. Retrieved June 4, 2026. "Album Review: Utopie". distortedsoundmag.com. November 2, 2025. Retrieved June 4, 2026. "Kevy Metal interview with Aephanemer". kevy-metal.com. November 5, 2025. "Aephanemer: About". aephanemer.com. "Album Review: Memento Mori". newnoisemagazine.com. November 9, 2016. "Aephanemer: Interview with vocalist and guitarist Marion Bascoul and guitarist Martin Hamiche". metalcrypt.com. June 1, 2023. "Memento Mori review". newnoisemagazine.com. November 9, 2016. "Prokopton review". mhf-mag.com. January 25, 2019. "Prokopton review". mhf-mag.com. January 25, 2019. "Utopie review". distortedsoundmag.com. November 2, 2025. "Utopie review". distortedsoundmag.com. November 2, 2025. "A Dream of Wilderness review". distortedsoundmag.com. November 18, 2021. "Prokopton review". theblackplanet.org. April 3, 2019. "A Dream of Wilderness review". sonicperspectives.com. November 19, 2021. "Aephanemer: Themes and Emotions (Interview)". deadrhetoric.com. November 23, 2025. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aephanemer. Official website AllMusic Discogs Encyclopaedia Metallum