Otep

Early years, Jihad and Sevas Tra (2000–2003)

Otep began as a band in Los Angeles, California, in late 2000. The name Otep is from Otep Shamaya's stage name and is an anagram for "Poet". They were invited to play Ozzfest before they had signed to a label after Sharon Osbourne witnessed their live performance. They have since played Ozzfest several times. Otep signed with Capitol Records after a few shows and without a demo, purely on the power of their live performance. They started gigging around Los Angeles a lot and released the Jihad EP in 2001.

The band released their album Sevas Tra with Terry Date on June 18, 2002, and then played several gigs at the Ozzfest and was considered one of the prime bands there in 2002. Their first time at Ozzfest was in 2001 with their eighth gig. The first album peaked at 145 on the Billboard 200 and 86 on the UK Albums Chart.

House of Secrets (2004–2006)

On July 27, 2004, Otep released their 2nd album House of Secrets and it was produced by Greg Wells. The album peaked at 93 on the Billboard 200 and 102 on the French Chart.

The Ascension (2007–2008)

After 3 years of touring, on March 20 during 2007 they signed to Koch Records and they released their third album titled The Ascension and supported it with constant touring with Static-X starting in the spring of 2007. Despite the original release date, the album was delayed indefinitely due to the recent Capitol/Virgin Records merger. It peaked at 81 on the Billboard 200 and 6 on the US Independent Charts. The album also had about 10,200 album copies sold in its first week of release.

Smash the Control Machine (2009–2010)

In 2009, Otep signed with Victory Records. Their 2009 album, Smash the Control Machine released August 18 during 2009, included a reunion with former members Mark "Moke" Bistany on drums and Rob Patterson on guitar. The album also featured Koichi Fukuda on piano, and Emilie Autumn on violin, and a cowrite with songwriter Holly Knight, which resulted in "You're a Woman Now". Holly Knight previously cowrote "Perfectly Flawed" with Otep on The Ascension. It peaked at 47 on the Billboard 200 and 6 on the US Independent Charts.

The band appeared with 2Cents, Five Finger Death Punch & Shadows Fall on the 'Shock & Raw Tour' of North America in the fall of 2009.

On September 30, 2010, bassist Jay McGuire left the band.

Atavist and Sounds Like Armageddon (2011–2012)

During April 26, 2011, Otep released their 5th studio album, Atavist. The album peaked at 61 on the Billboard 200, 10 on the Independent Charts and 19 on the US Rock Charts.

On November 6, 2012, Otep released their first live album, Sounds Like Armageddon.

Hydra and further activity (2013-2014)

In an interview, Otep Shamaya has stated that Hydra will be her band's final album. The album was released on January 22, 2013 and peaked at 133 on Billboard 200. However, the band is still touring and have tours in places such as the USA's east coast and Australia for their Sounds of Armageddon tour. In early 2014, Otep confirmed on her personal Facebook account and the band account that another album would be made.

In April 2014, Otep have signed a new management deal with Kam 9.8 Machlation Group—a company founded by Slipknot‘s DJ Sid Wilson and his business partner Synonym Mead. The contract with Kam 9.8 was not renewed and in early September 2015 Otep announced on her Facebook page that the band has signed a new management deal with Napalm Records and that a new album will be released in spring 2016 (pre-order from winter 2015).

Generation Doom (2015-2016)

"Signing with Napalm Records is one of the most exciting alliances I’ve ever made. I haven’t felt this excited to write a new album since ‘Sevas Tra.’ There’s a lot of work to do, a lot of music to write, a lot of things to say, a lot of injustices to confront and a lot of madness to summon and capture. To be able to forge this sacred alchemy with the dark brilliance of producer Howard Benson is a dream come true." On February 4th, Otep announced that the album would be titled 'Generation Doom' and is to be released on April 15th, 2016. They also released the album art on their Facebook page. On April 11, 2016 Billboard was to stream Generation Doom in it's entirity for 24 hours, but due to its success extended the streaming time to a couple of days. The music video for the song 'In Cold Blood' premiered on April 15, 2016 on Music Choice. On Record Store Day (April 16, 2016) record stores released a picture vinyl disk of Generation Doom. On April 20th Napalm Records released the video for 'In Cold Blood'on their YouTube page. Generation Doom was number 3 of the top 8 Napalm Record sellers in the week of April 23. On April 26 Generation Doom reached #7 on the Billboard Rock Chart, #10 on the Independent Chart and #109 on the Top 200 Albums Chart and on May, 7, 2016 OTEP's newest album, GENERATION DOOM, reached #4 on the Billboard Hard Rock Chart

Style and influences

The band's style is primarily nu metal. The band is also considered alternative metal as well. Other than that, the band has also been labelled as gothic metal, rap metal and extreme metal. AllMusic has described the band as "art house nu-metal". The band's influences include Black Sabbath, Tool, Deftones, Korn, The Doors, Slipknot, Linkin Park, Slayer, L7, Babes in Toyland, Hole, Marilyn Manson, and Nirvana. While Otep's style is primarily nu metal, Otep's music incorporates strong elements of death metal.

Awards

In 2004, the music video for their single "Warhead" was on the top ten of MTV Headbanger's Ball.

In 2010, Otep was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for "Outstanding Music Artist" for their album Smash the Control Machine during the 21st GLAAD Media Awards.

Beginning with the Ascension album and continuing through to the latest album, Generation Doom, OTEP has consistently charted high, most often in the TOP 5 on the Billboard Hard Rock Chart.

Current members

Former members

Touring members