Ilium formed first as ILIAD in 1998 hailing from OZ the gates of Newcastle (Australia) the band draws heavily from tradition heavy metal bands, like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Ozzy Osbourne, Dio, Scorpions and Saxon, plus power metal bands such as Helloween, Rage, Running Wild, Iced Earth, Metal Church, Jag Panzer and Gamma Ray, with the bombastic styles of Blind Guardian, Savatage, Axel Rudi Pell, Rainbow and Nightwish, the technicality of Megadeth, Coroner, Toxik, Fates Warning, Symphony X, Angra, King Diamond, Riot and Realm, and the otherworldly qualities of Rush, Uriah Heep and Magnum. Forged into one magnum alloy!
Comprised mostly of members of Oracle including guitarist Jason Hodges, bassist Michael Noonan and vocalist Mark Snedden; and the addition of former Oracle member, multi-instrumentalist guitarist Adam Smith. In 2002 the band changed their name to Ilium commencing recording their self-titled EP with Dungeon leader Lord Tim producing. Thier first EP was released in 2002 and received positive press, which encouraged the band to produce their debut album, Sirens Of The Styx in 2003.
Comprised largely of old Oracle songs, the band began moving in a more melodic but equally powerful direction. Just prior to the commencement of recording the second album Permian Dusk (2005), Mark left the band and Lord Tim stepped in to sing on short notice. The result was very positive, with Rock Hard! Magazine in Germany scoring the album 9.5 out 10.
Lord Tim returned to sing on the third album Vespertilion (2007) with Tim Yatras of Lord (Lord Tim’s post-Dungeon band) performing drums. Due to time restraints however, the band were forced to look elsewhere for a vocalist, securing the services of Mike DiMeo (Riot, Masterplan). The band, by the time they had released two albums with Mike DiMeo on vocals (Ageless Decay (2009) and Genetic Memory (2011) had become very much accomplished songwriters, with Adam Smith’s excellent arrangements and Jason Hodges’ epic lyrics and concept-songs.
Mike’s departure opened the doors for legendary vocalist Lance King (Balance Of Power, Pyramaze, Avian) to take over. Lance's style was very much what the band were looking for on the final product, My Misanthropia (2015) will prove to be their most accomplished works yet.