User:Tazchaoticjames

Project Polyphony is the brainchild of award-winning musician and producer Taz James. According to James, the idea behind Project Polyphony is to bring together various artists from different parts of the world, and tell a story together as a collective through music. In James's own words, "Project Polyphony is a handful of artists coming together to form a sustain, for music’s very own sake."

Background
Project Polyphony was an idea that ignited in 2013 while James was working for his homegrown symphonic metal band, Chaotic Years. It wasn’t until Shawn Jacob, then drummer of Chaotic Years, brought in a half-finished demo for a new collaborative instrumental, that propelled James to pitch the idea for Project Polyphony, and finish Jacob’s demo that was later titled "The Final Testament". The instrumental demo featured Jacob on acoustic guitars, bass, and drums, Dhananjay Pepalla (Gihon) on rhythm guitars, Prince Sam Philips on lead guitars, and James on keyboards. It was released on social media under the banner, "Polyphony".

Chaotic Years disbanded in 2015 whilst recording their full-length debut, but nevertheless, James continued writing and recording. Some of the unreleased material was recycled into demos for Project Polyphony the following year. It was in early 2016 when Polyphony was renamed to "Project Polyphony" and, staying true to the collaborative initiation of the band, released two demos. The first was "The Miracle of Jade" featuring vocalist Merlynn James, guitarist Sanjay Kumar (FOI), and Jacob on drums. The second demo "When Mercury Met Pluto" saw guitarist Pepalla return along with Jacob, and was released a month later. Even though there were numerous demos recorded, these two were the only songs released to the public, until the end of 2016 when James decided to release more demos. These featured vocalist Ronny Hansen (Antestor), vocalist Sajoy Cherian (ex-Chaotic Years), and violinist Shravan Sridhar (The Non-Violinist Project).

Music
March 2021 saw Project Polyphony begin pre-production for their debut full-length conceptual album titled ‘On-ṯu’. The album will see Pepalla, Hansen, and Jacob return. It will further feature several other artists like soprano vocalist Century Khoury (Dominus Dominantium), vocalist Sam Moris, vocalist Joseph Samuel (Final Surrender), and drummer Chris Lionel Joseph (Abstract Tide), to name but a few. Regardless of the hardships a pandemic causes studio recordings, James says that the album will feature a “Work From Home Orchestra”, and “work towards proving the non-existence of hindrance in the midst of undying passion.”

Musical Style
Project Polyphony’s demos showcase a mix of melodic and harsh vocal leads in almost equal measure. They contain Melodic Death Metal and Modern Metal influences. Their upcoming title 'On-ṯu', on the other hand, will focus more on melodic vocal leads, and explore incorporating a symphony orchestra involving folk/ethnic instruments.

Lyrical Themes
Taz James, writer of all the band’s songs, mainly writes about meta-science, fantasy, and nature themes. Mythology, history, and religion are also big influences to the lyrics. Songs from the upcoming title 'On-ṯu' are poems that James later composed in to music, which will depict his personal life experiences and stories.

Current Core Members

 * Taz James – writer, composer, arranger, producer, keyboards, guitars (2013-Present), backing vocals (2016)
 * Shawn Jacob – drums, bass guitar (2013-Present), composer, backing vocals (2013-2016)
 * Dhananjay Pepalla – guitars (2013-Present), composer (2013-2016)
 * Century Khoury – melodic vocals (2021-Present)

Current Collaborative Members

 * Ronny Hansen – harsh vocals (2016-Present)
 * Sam Moris – melodic vocals (2021-Present)
 * Chris Lionel Joseph – drums (2021-Present)
 * Joseph Samuel – harsh vocals (2021-Present)
 * Jerin Gomson – keyboards, arranger (2021-Present)

Previous Collaborative Members

 * Prince Sam Philips – guitars (2013)
 * Merlynn James – melodic vocals (2016)
 * Sajoy Cherian – harsh vocals (2016)
 * Shravan Sridhar – violins (2016)

Singles

 * The Final Testament (13 January 2013)
 * The Miracle Of Jade (6 February 2016)
 * When Mercury Met Pluto (27 February 2016)

EPs

 * Project Demo EP (14 July 2016)

Studio Albums

 * On-ṯu (Expected early 2022)