Behold… The Arctopus

Behold… The Arctopus
Behold… The Arctopus at Death By Audio
Background information
Origin	Brooklyn, New York, United States
Genres	Avant-garde metal, progressive metal, technical death metal
Years active	2001–present
Labels	Black Market Activities
Associated acts	Dysrhythmia, Gorguts, Indricothere, Byla, Infidel?/Castro!, Krallice, Blotted Science, Direwolf, The Flying Luttenbachers, Burmese, XBXRX
Members	Mike Lerner Colin Marston Jason Bauers
Past members	Charlie Zeleny, Weasel Walter

Behold… The Arctopus is an American avant-garde metal band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2001.

Behold The Arctopus was formed by Colin Marston and Mike Lerner, who had been playing guitar together for over a year-and-a-half by the time they found a drummer. Their demo We Need a Drummer (on which a drum machine was used) was picked up by drummer Charlie Zeleny. Zeleny met Lerner and Marston and impressed the duo. He was immediately asked to join the band.

After releasing two EPs and a split, Behold The Arctopus released their first full-length, entitled Skullgrid, on October 16, 2007. The band went on tour with Genghis Tron and The Dillinger Escape Plan to support the album, but it was cut short by an injury of one of the members of The Dillinger Escape Plan. To help them recoup financial losses from that tour, Between the Buried and Me took the band on tour, supported by August Burns Red.

On December 30, 2008 drummer Charlie Zeleny posted a statement on his MySpace page stating that after five years with Behold The Arctopus, he would be leaving the group to focus on his career as a session musician. On November 25, 2009, Weasel Walter announced that he was moving to New York City to join the band on drums and will be writing "new, more extreme material from scratch." The band made a brief announcement confirming it on December 16, 2009.

Behold The Arctopus play instrumental music inspired by both metal and 20th century classical music. This technical and progressive style is executed on a regular electric guitar and drum kit but involves a 12-string Warr guitar, an instrument that covers the range of a bass and guitar and is generally played by tapping with either one or two hands. Their music often includes dissonance, polyrhythms and jazz-like elements.