Biography

Silver Spring, MD's Unorthodox came into being in 1992, when vocalist/guitarist Dale Flood, bassist Jeff Parsons, and drummer Ronnie Kalimon were forced to abandon the moniker they'd gone under for nearly a decade -- Asylum -- after discovering that a another band had laid rights to it. But, since Asylum had never evolved beyond the demo stage anyway, Unorthodox were able to turn over a new leaf when releasing their official debut album, also named Asylum, through the Hellhound label that same year. This proved to be one of the most eclectic and intriguing albums yet to emerge from the legendary D.C. doom metal scene (also home to Pentagram, the Obsessed, Internal Void, etc.), blending modern sensibilities and styles like thrash and alternative rock into traditional doom foundations, and paving the way for 1995's equally inventive Balance of Power LP (featuring bassist Josh Hart). Unfortunately, critical acclaim did not translate into sales and the members of Unorthodox had by now grown weary of their long years of toil, leading to over a decade of on-again, off-again activity. Then, rather unexpectedly, 2008 marked the release of a third Unorthodox album, fittingly named Awaken, featuring Flood backed by Mark Ammen on bass and Gary Isom (Spirit Caravan, Iron Man, etc.) on drums, both of whom would soon be replaced for touring purposes by Mark LaRue and founding member Kalimon, respectively. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia, Rovi