Zero Cipher Biography

Duncan Williams - Guitar / Vocals
Barnaby Whattingham - Electronics / B. Vocals
Ryan Harris - Bass
Lewis Wheeler - Drums

Surfacing at the turn of the century, Zero Cipher's first demo found its way out of a south London rehearsal room onto the front cover of Metal Hammer magazine, alongside the likes of American Headcharge and Slipknot. A year of toilet based toil later, they had attracted the attention of Copro Records, home of UK legends Earthtone9 - who even donated a song ('Vitriolic HSF') to their debut album, '45 Minutes of Fairy Tale Endings' released June 2003. A sordid mix of samples and downtuned angst, it garned rave reviews in the press (4/5 Kerrang! 8/10 Rocksound), and saw the band set forth on a series of shows with the likes of One Minute Silence, Alec Empire, and Sikth, until the record sold out of its limited double CD pressing, to become an eBay rarity.

No strangers to the occasional cover version, their bastardisation of 'Gay Bar', (by Detroit indiesters Electric Six), was A-listed by Totalrock radio, and even earned the approval of E6, via an email threat to sue for millions!

But it wasn't all rosy, when 2003 saw the band change rhythm section, in a bust up about whether or not to turn emo. "We dont dress fashionably, so what would be the point of sounding fashionable?" reasoned frontman Duncan Williams. It would be safest to describe Zero Cipher as an industrial-death-pop band, anything but fashionable, who namecheck their influences as "Carcass, Wham, and pornography". Sticking to their guns, the boys were joined by Ryan Harris (ex Fony) on Bass. Gigs with Skindred, I-Def-I, and a European tour with Spout followed. This led to rave reviews for their live show, prompting Rocksound to declare:

"Zero Cipher proceed to transform the sweat-box into one big dancefloor. You want to shake yourself until dehydration comes knocking" -- Rocksound Live Review