Point Of Extinction

Point Of Extinction

About Point Of Extinction

Point Of Extinction is a Milton Keynes based metal band that was formed in November 2004. The original line up was comprised of David Jones (Vocals), Alan Clement (Guitar), Mike 'Billy' Jarvis (Guitar), James Goldsworthy (Bass/Vocals) and Daiv Carpenter (Drums). Back in 1992, Alan Clement formed Conspiracy, a thrashy outfit who started out playing covers by the likes of Megadeth, Metallica and Slayer. Conspiracy enjoyed positive responses at most gigs, and recorded a few well received demos. Like most bands though, Conspiracy wasn't without its problems. Inter personal relationships were never strong in the band so there were many line up changes along the way. Members through time included Jono Bacon of Wolverhampton based metallers Seraphidian, Liam Durrant of Gutworm and Jimmy Somerville of Erasure. 11 years after their incarnation, Al met bass player James Goldsworthy after he successfully auditioned for the position in the band, at the same time recruiting future Six Round Clip/Cold Fusion/Thracia man Calvin Brown on vocals, with a young man by the name of David Jones who figures into the story later on narrowly missing out on the spot. It was at this time that Mike 'Billy' Jarvis also joined the band. They went on to record the House Of Pain CD and performed many shows, including the Kage Kharn festival alongside the likes of Raging Speedhorn, Kill II This, and Skindred. It wasn't long though before cracks started to appear, and all came to a head mid 2004 when Alan injured his hand rendering him unable to play, and ultimately disbanding the group with no immediate intention to perform soon. With a desire to play, but no band to do it with, James set about forming a new band, and the first person asked for involvement was Alan, who reluctantly agreed due to both history and injury, although it was unclear as to when he was actually going to be able to play. Mike was recruited as a second guitarist, as during his time in Conspiracy he seemed to have serious potential as both a writer and player. The first person considered for the drum position was 'hired gun' Daiv Carpenter (ex 50 Amp Fuse/Insurrection/Ethnikos), whom James had met back in 2002 at various Jam Nights in Milton Keynes, where Daiv could be found on a regular basis. After discovering they had a mutual taste in music, they actually went on stage the night they met to play Metallica's 'Nothing Else Matters' and 'Jump In The Fire'. Further meets ensued but when the Jam nights stopped they lost contact for a while. They met up again a while later after James joined Conspiracy and passed a copy of the new CD to Daiv, after which they stayed in touch. Then of course, Conspiracy disbanded and James approached Daiv about the new band. Daiv himself at this time was in hard rock covers and originals band Insurrection, and had plenty of live experience, as well as being a songwriter for over 10 years. David seemed a natural choice for the vocalist slot, having nearly gotten the same position in Conspiracy. Although he had no live experience, the band felt that he, like Billy, had serious potential. It was during rehearsals in the spring of 2005 that a name had to be decided upon. James and Al had suggested Aftermath, something of a reference to the nature of the break up of their last band. Unfortunately for them, no one else really liked the name, so it was back to the drawing boards for all involved. A strong contender for the new name was 'The Final Solution', brought in by Daiv. The problem was though, that this was the phrase that Adolf Hitler had used to term what he had ordered happen to the Jews during World War II, in particular the gas chamber deaths. This sat very uneasily with the band, and with the very high risk of being deemed Nazi sympathisers, decided against it. In the end, the term Point Of Extinction was discovered in the back of an old book. Roughly described, it is a marker in the form of an 'X' representing the end of one line and the beginning of another. This seemed perfect, and so the name was adopted. The band then entered Mr Gig studios in March 2005 to cut a rough live demo. The band made its live debut on June 30th 2005 at Northampton's King Billy venue, opening for Bloodstone, Six Round Clip and headliners Isaiah, and received a very positive response from the crowd. A month or so later and there were issues between Billy and the band, and due to personal circumstances, he left the band. It was at this time that the band were offered the opportunity to play in Leicester, as well as a series of gigs in London alongside some of the best unsigned acts at the time down there such as Fear Of Fridays, 9 Blind, The Defiled and King Lizard. With no second guitarist this would be a challenge but the band soldiered on as a four piece, with their London debut supporting Italian goths Susan Acid, who were on the UK leg of their European tour at The Purple Turtle in Camden. 3 months and several gigs on from that and cracks were appearing with David. It seemed he felt that being in a band wasn't what he thought it would be. His interest in the band had desperately faded, and he had started missing rehearsals. 4 days before the last booked London show, he again became 'unavailable'. With little option but to cancel, the band took a chance and asked long time friend, then Six Round Clip axeman (and current Thracia drummer) Calvin Brown to step in at the last minute, which he did and performed an excellent set. It was after this that it was decided that it was time to let David go from the band, but as soon as the band had decided what to do about the situation, David notified the band that for personal reasons he wanted to leave, making it somewhat a mutual decision. Then on into the new year of 2006. The band kept looking for new members to replace those who had moved on, and until they had, were rehearsing as a 3 piece with all 3 members handling vocal duties, leading to regular hilarities within the rehearsal room. After a few auditions, guitarist Matt Duffy was offered the position, but future commitments ultimately meant that he would only be temporarily available, therefore leading to the decision for him to become an 'alternate' member, filling in as and when needed, and the band would continue its search for a more permanent member. 3 months on and the band started to fragment for various reasons, and disbanded during the new year. James went on to become a full time member of a yet unnamed band featuring former Conspiracy band mates Graham Day and Lee Whitehead on guitar and drums respectively, and mid spring, Daiv decided to try and form a 'new' POE, and locked himself up to record all the POE material, rejoining with Al to help complete the recordings. During this time, Daiv had been in contact with Billy about the possibility of working together again, and an offer was made to be part of the new line up of POE. Billy accepted, and after some persuasal, Al also agreed to try once more. The band then started the hunt for new members to complete the line up, and held a few auditions with no one really making an impact. It was then suggested that Calvin should be asked if he wanted to be involved, which he agreed to. The band also found bass Chaz Tearle, who although is very young, has massive potential and serious playing ability. As of 2009, the band have been quiet and experienced member problems, including the loss of founder members Daiv and Billy, who have resurfaced in melodic rock outfit Flashpoint Serenade alongside female vocalist Sam Upton.

Taken from Last.fm

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