Asylum XIII was formed in late 2008 by former Heaven Falls Hard and Mpiredwn member Daemon. Originally a "vanity project" never intended to see the light of day, he set to writing music. Intermingling the influences of punk and goth, he created art reminiscent of the "deathrock" genre, drawing multiple comparisons other bands, including Bauhaus, TSOL, and most strongly Rozz Williams' incarnation of Christian Death. Receiving positive response online and in listening, he decided to take the next step and begin recruiting members who would help take the Asylum to the next level, live performance. He found this in the original line-up, consisting of SIK, originally on bass, and now Nocturnal Madness members Arcane and Prophet, with the latter on keyboards and the former on guitar. At this point, there was no live drummer, opting instead for the Boss DR-5 that had carried Mpiredwn through years of reasonable success. This line up played many shows with Daemon and began to help spread the word, all the while the online fanbase continued to grow. At this point, one Asylum song, "Excommunication", appeared in a live version on Shinto Records' goth compilation, "Lunar Sea". In support, Asylum XIII began playing many more live sets. Then personal lives interceded and Prophet had to part with with Asylum. After playing one show with sequenced drums and bass tracks and SIK moving to keyboards, the band played one final show with Gabe (Hindu Pez) on bass and then introduced the Lovely Lady Lycan on keyboards. After a few shows, Arcane left the band and with Prophet began working on an independant project, Nocturnal Madness. Asylum went on a brief hiatus to regroup. Daemon determined that to maintain the band properly, it needed to go fully live. With Lycan on keyboards and SIK now on guitar, they enlisted William to fill in on bass and former Daemon collaborater Brian on drums, and began rehearsing live sets again. At this point, they also signed to indie deathrock label Surfin Dead Records. After a few shows, personal differences lead to William's departure from the band. Read more: http://www.myspace.com/asylumxiii
