Enforsaken Bio

ENFORSAKEN was formed in March, 1998 by Steve Stell and Pat O'Keefe. Enforsaken was originally intended as a side project, because both Steve and Pat were in other bands at the time (DEADPORNSTAR AND THE FALLEN). Working as a two piece, both Pat and Steve wrote several songs and entered DNS studios in December 1998. This two song recording served as the bands first demo tape. Both tracks were also featured on Steve's Soulside Records "Orchestrated Chaos 3" compilation c.d. This demo tape recieved excellent reviews throughout the underground, and eventually lead to an offer from Immortal Records (Wisc.)The offer was for a full length recording, and due to lack of songs and members, this offer had to be refused.. Shortly after this happened, Enforsaken was indefinitely put on hold. Both Pat and Steve knew that nothing serious could happen without the right members, since working as a two piece has many limitations. The band was put on the backburner for over 6 months...
In Early 2000, Enforsken was reborn. Steve Sagala and Joe DeGroot from a local metal band, THROUGH ASHES, were asked to join Enforsaken. Both Sagala and DeGroot were already good friends with Steve and Pat from high school (as well as other bands), so it seemed like the obvious choice. Enforsaken was now a four piece. The band began writing new songs together.Things were going great, but the band was still in need of something...a bassist. Ads were put out in local newspapers and music stores and the band waited for a response. It seemed like no one was out there until the phone rang... Eric Kawa soon joined the band and completed the line up. This line up remains intact until this day.
Now it was time to get seroius.The band started playing live shows in the Chicagoland area. One of the first shows the band played was with Dismember, Shadows Fall, Krisiun and Kataklysm. Enforsaken caught the eye of Matt Bachand from Shadows Fall/Lifeless Records. Matt showed lots of interest in the band, and offered to help Enforsaken in any way he could. Shortly after this happened, the band moved into it's own rehearsal space in September 2000. Enforsaken furiously worked out the final touches on six original songs. These six songs are the songs that are featured on their debut cd "Embraced by Misery." These songs were recorded and mixed in December 2000 and January 2001 at Studio One by Chris Djuricic. Chris had already recorded bands like OPPRESSOR, GORGASM, NOVEMBERS DOOM, etc, so the studio seemed like a great choice...and it was! The master copy of "Embraced by Misery" was then taken to Trevor Sadler at Mastermind Productions for mastering. Trevor has worked with NINE INCH NAILS, RUSH, MOBY, VIRGIN RECORDS etc, etc...he did a great job putting the finishing touches on the recording. The recording process was now complete.
At this point, the band still needed cover art for the c.d. Enforsaken hired Carlos Del Olmo Holmberg to come up with a cover. Carlos played keyboards in Sweden's SOILWORK. He also has done artwork for many bands, including the latest SOILWORK c.d., "A PREDATOR'S PORTRAIT." Enforsaken then made a deal with LIFELESS RECORDS (run by Matt Bachand from SHADOWS FALL), and "EMBRACED BY MISERY" was officially released in the United States on June 12th 2001.
In June of 2001, Enforsaken also signed a deal with LifeForce Records Germany to release Embraced by Misery in Europe. Embraced by Misery was released in Europe in September of 2001. The European release features an extended layout, digital re-mastering as well as a cover of the Carcass classic "Incarnated Solvent Abuse" as a bonus track...Work on Enforsaken's next release is currently underway....