SHOCTOPUS, having cemented their position as Ireland’s top independant rock band, are currently working on their debut album to follow up their massively successful debut EP “King of the Mountain”. The band are currently building their own recording studio to give them the freedom to explore their ideas on their own time, and have already written eighteen tracks for the album, which will be released in 2012.

Since their triumphant return to the live scene opening the KnockanStockan Music Festival in Blessington in July 2008, the band have gone from strength to strength, launching a hugely successful website and playing sell out gigs across the length and breadth of Ireland.

The band, originally formed as a five piece in November 2006, gigged around Dublin and built up a loyal fan base before stripping down to a leaner and meaner four piece in January 2008. An extended session lasting a few months of continued rehearsals in their studio has resulted in one of the tightest and musically most accomplished bands coming out of the Dublin scene.

In November 2008 the band went into AP Studios to record with the legendary Sean Genockey as producer and Antimo Puca as their engineer. Sean Genockey, courtesy of Solar Management UK, previously worked on albums by Tom McCrae, Kula Shaker, Manic Street Preachers and Suede, among others. The six tracks were mixed and mastered by Sean and Ed Woods, who previously worked with Love Like Fire. The EP was released on November 12th 2010 at a sell out show aptly titled 'The Carnival of Mayhem' in The Grand Social, Dublin. The band have an international distribution deal with the largest American distributor, CDBaby, and their music is currently available in 33 countries.

The band's website, www.shoctopus.com, has had over 100 000 hits since the start of 2009 and a strong presence on Facebook, Myspace and Youtube has helped to consolidate the bands reputation, and a constant schedule of live gigs is building an ever-larger support base for the band among their followers, affectionately called the Shoctoposse.

The band have been favourably compared to classic acts like Thin Lizzy, Deep Purple, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Guns 'n' Roses and Black Sabbath, but bring a fresh modern sound to the hard rock scene. Live, the rock solid and perfect timing of drummer Mao “The Chairman” Gomez is a perfect foil for the electric theatrics of guitarist Stavis and the manic energy of lead singer Charlie Black. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.