The Illuminati Hang Up Their Axes

Toronto metal band The Illuminati have decided to disband after five years.

"The time has come for The Illuminati to return to the shadows, unseen yet all-seeing," the group wrote in a statement on their website.

While the group offered no explanation for the split, they took time to thank "the people who took the time to 'come down front' and freak out with us."

They also threw in a spooky Hannibal Lecter quote for good measure.

The Toronto trio's monstrous, fearless riffing (and identical long sheets of hair) made them a live favourite of metalheads across the great white north (including Danko Jones, who once called them "the best band in Canada"). Their compositions were also deft and catchy enough to ensnare the hearts of punks, bookish indie-rockers, pub-dwellers and many who simply wanted to revel in a proper face melting.

The Illuminati's technical skill translated into long, jazz-rock codas, leading one reviewer to tag them as "stoner lounge." Throughout their career, they opened for such pop-metal luminaries as Alice Cooper, The Darkness, Andrew W.K. and Tricky Woo.

The Illuminati emerged from the '90s psych-metal band Tchort, where bassist Nick Sewell and guitarist Les Godfrey spent nearly a decade. They left Tchort in 2002 to start The Illuminati with an old friend, drummer Jim Gering. Almost immediately, they cranked out a six-song, 16-minute self-titled independent EP, which was re-released in 2004 by MapleMusic. The debut full-length, The Illuminati: On Borrowed Time, followed that same year and garnered rave reviews from the Canadian rock press. Both releases were produced by C'mon's Ian Blurton (Tricky Woo, The Weakerthans).

A formerly tour-only EP called The Illuminati And Their Cheap Powers made it to retail last year via Rectangle Records.

If the band's near astronomical scores on their 2004 and 2005 Canadian Music Week ChartAttack report cards are any indication, their scuzzy, sludgy music will be sorely missed.