The Company of Snakes | |
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Also known as | The Snakes, M3 |
Origin | England |
Genres | Blues rock, hard rock |
Years active | 1998–2004 |
Labels | SPV |
Associated acts | Whitesnake, The Snakes, M3, Rainbow |
Past members |
Bernie Marsden Micky Moody Jørn Lande Sid Ringsby Willy Bendiksen Don Airey Neil Murray John Lingwood Robert Hart Gary Barden Stefan Berggren Jimmy Copley Mark Stanway Doogie White |
The Company of Snakes were an English rock band formed in 1998, by former members of the English rock band Whitesnake who were also members of The Snakes. They released two albums before morphing into M3 during 2004.
The Company of Snakes was formed by former Whitesnake guitarists Bernie Marsden and Micky Moody after the demise of its predecessor The Snakes. The band was completed by Black Sabbath and Whitesnake bassist Neil Murray, drummer John Lingwood and vocalist Robert Hart from Bad Company and later British singer Gary Barden. After adding keyboardist Don Airey from Rainbow, the band went on tour, playing concerts almost completely consisting of old Whitesnake songs. Singer Barden left the band soon afterwards and was replaced by the Swedish Stefan Berggren. They toured throughout their history and released the live album Here They Go Again: the show was still sung by Barden, but his lead vocals were deleted and replaced in the studio by Berggren (2001). They were joined in Germany, during their promotional tour for this album by Humble Pie, re-formed by Jerry Shirley and promoting tracks from their album Back on Track. The band recorded one studio albumBurst The Bubble(2002) which was recorded after Don Airey had left the band. Berggren left soon after Airey's departure and the remaining band members morphed into M3.