"In the beginning there was the DPH......."

In the year 2000, five young London teenagers Louis Dale, Ed Koral, Marvin Javier, Jon Ball and Guiseppe Falcone formed DPH. Steven Marsden took Guiseppe?s place on guitar in late 2002.

The band soon became a mini phenomenon in South London, commanding insane crowds who attracted many bands to the South to perform with DPH (including 'PDHM', 'Imperial Leisure' and 'Mumcuss').

Developing their own sound, which was in keeping with the times (rap/metal with a slightly hardcore edge to it) 3 CDs were recorded - 11 tracks in total. However in 2004, although new, more technical and musical songs began to come out of the DPH machine, lead singer Jon left the band only a little while after recording the last two track CD.

"Enter stage left :- ORAKAI"

Orakai formed in the early months of 2004 when the remaining band members decided to start again from scratch. Finding new vocalist, Dan Angel, the promptly started reworking old tunes and writing many more new ones. After just a few gigs (including shows with the mighty 'Stampin? Ground'), new song writing and the recording of 'Subside', Dan left the band as he felt he could not commit enough to record the new E.P with Orakai.

Recruiting Ush, the singer from the recently deceased cult London band 'Mumcuss' (as seen in Kerrang! - www.mumcuss.com), Orakai wrote and recorded their EP '2005' in a matter of weeks, such was the chemistry between the new band members.

After their first gig (2 weeks after Ush joining the band), Stalefish1 (of Copro Records) were quoted as saying "Great stage presence by all ......... Good riffage and good use of melody and vocal harmonies - Ones to watch!"

DPH and Mumcuss combined have played over 80 gigs and recorded several E.P.s. Both are known across the metal scene for their live shows. The London Music forum stating that it was "Ush who is to blame for grabbing the attention of 150 onlookers for thirty minutes. Body language and style resembles Eminem at times but without the attitude."

Within weeks of the first show, S8UK (London's biggest alternative night promoter www.S8UK.com) said about getting Orakai to play their new night: "And down at Vendetta (Sat night London Club) things are going to get all noisy and hectic as we introduce Orakai on Saturday 16th April. Can it get much better...I doubt it! See ya at the bar folks!"

The musical talent and experience is evident in the new CD ('2005') that was recorded in only 3 days. With this background, Orakai began to experiment with a new sound and style, enveloping Ush?s excellent vocal talent. Merging Ed Koral's song writing ability, Ush's Lyrics and structures and the power of the Orakai machine gave Orakai a sound that differed immensely from their previous rough hardcore image.

The twin C-tuned guitar attack is bolstered by pounding double bass drumming, melodic holding bass lines and a combination of screaming, singing, rapping and harmonised vocals. Varying between thrash metal, hardcore, screamo, rock and some more metal, Orakai manage to not sound like a bad DJ with too many genres in his record bag.

The new '2005' CD, showcases Orakai's unique take on metal, aiming to not alienate any style of rock in their creations. This has begun to be picked up by London DJs, with the songs becoming fixtures at London metal nights.

There seems to be a very bright horizon ahead for the Orakai collective!