The band was originally formed back in November 1991 by Chriss Ons (guitar) who decided to leave the band he was in at the time, Chronic Death. His band mates Dirk Vollon (bass) and Jürgen De Wispelare (drums) joined the new project, followed by Domingo Smets (guitar). The idea was to musically break out of restraining thrash/death metal sound and to incorporate more harmonic content & epic song structure into the songwriting, something which seemed impossible if staying in Chronic Death. The band set out to rehearse and by early '92 had some song ideas together, most of which would wind up on the bands debut demo Archway (see inset pic) later that year. In the meantime Chriss had picked up a KORG M1 synthesizer and started to use it during rehearsals to create a more full, string-laden symphonic type sound. Because the band had trouble finding a suitable keyboard player, Dirk's girlfriend at the time, Véronique Aerts, was asked to rehearse with the band since she had been playing keyboard since childhood. By the time the band had worked out arrangements for the material, drummer Jürgen suggested his long time friend Santiago Janssens should be given a shot as a vocalist - and it sounded great. The now complete sextet booked one weekend worth of studio time at 2 different 24-track studios to record their debut demo. The basic tracks were laid down at Studio C in Blanden, Belgium, which was renowned for its excellent, huge live room; the remaining overdubs and vocal tracks were recorded the next day at Studio 20 in Tienen, Belgium - which had as strongest assets a large selection of outboard gear and an automated mixing console. After a mixing session that went on until the early hours, 3 songs had been cut to tape : "Industrial" (C. Ons / D. Vollon), "Windows" (C. Ons / D. Vollon / S. Janssens) and lastly the 13-minute epic track "Tired Blood / Vaudeville" (C. Ons) . The first demo tape was a fact - copies were sent to various magazines and radio shows and gradually, reviews - most of which were excellent - started to pour in. The band started to rehearse a few more newly written songs and was ready to hit the stage, but for several reasons was unable to play live. Firstly, drummer Jürgen had left the band to concentrate more on his studies at the University of Ghent, and the end of the relationship between Dirk and Véronique meant that not only a new drummer but also a keyboardist had to be found in order to perform live. By late '92 The band got offered a split 7" EP (with the band Ancient Rites) on a small Belgian label, After Dark Records, and used the demo track "Windows" for that release. Meanwhile the band had also been brought to the attention of Hans de Wyngaert of the new label Shiver Records. A deal to release the 13 minute epic track "Tired Blood / Vaudeville" (split over 2 sides) on a 7" single was signed in early '93. Both EP's sold really well, yet while keeping on searching to find new band members, it was mainly Chriss who, assisted by Dirk, would continue writing new material using a small 4 track recorder. Domingo, who up until that point had not really been actively collaborating when it came to songwriting, wanted to pursue a more death-metal oriented direction than the aforementioned duo - who were continuously incorporating new ideas and styles into the Renaissance sound, resulting in a more melodic, "not-strictly-metal" kind of musical hybrid. Despite the fact that it looked like the trio Chriss/Dirk/Santiago had become a studio project until other musicians were found, Shiver records offered them a CD deal. During the summer of '93, about a year after the bands first demo; Chriss and Dirk recorded a 40-minute piece called "The Death Of Art". The initial idea was to make a concept album and to focus on just the music, and add vocals later. A friend of the band, Canadian writer and philosophy student John Hymers, was asked to write a poem entitled "The Death Of Art", which would serve as working material for vocalist Santiago. After the final vocal tracks had been recorded, Chriss finished the project by himself due to a lack of input and interest from Dirk. The whole process of recording and mixing, remixing and mastering the album took a few months; and the album finally saw release on Shiver Records in February 1994. The first pressing of the CD sold out in a matter of months, and the album has been repressed and licensed since (including a Polish issue in cassette format). Taking into account there was no band to back it up with live performances, and despite the less accessible yet more challenging character of the record, it did exceedingly well - the majority of the feedback received from the public and critics was very enthusiastic. Chriss took a break from writing and recording for about a year, only to start doing so again by mid '95, with Dirk Vollon sporadically collaborating. For the time being, the project name was also changed to Rinascimento, to avoid confusion with the other Renaissance, a band that released material mainly during the 70's. Tons of stuff was recorded over the following years, but, reluctant to release another record without the ability to perform any of it live, most of this demo material was shelved or not entirely completed - Chriss didn't really feel the "need" to make the music commercially available on a label so in 1998, a double CDR set aptly titled "Rinascimento - demos 1995-1998" was distributed among just a few friends of the band. Due to other interests and activities, the whole project was laid to rest by late 1998 ...

Latest update (2005) :

  >>>    Chriss's current project is Machina Arcana ... check the all-new website here    <<<  



As for the name thing, I'd like to point out we won't be using the name RENAISSANCE on future releases mainly to avoid legal issues. There's a group called Renaissance - a 70s band we didn't know were still around when forming our band in '91, and who apparently have started recording material and perfoming live again over the past few years. We initially figured anyone could easily tell the two bands apart... Either way, we changed the bandname.