High Tension (band)

High Tension
Company type	Band
Industry	Music
Founded	2012
Defunct	2021
Headquarters	Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Products	Music albums, EPs

Adapted from the English Wikipedia article High Tension (band), available under CC BY-SA 4.0Updated 30 November 20252 sources

High Tension was an extreme metal group originating from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, active between 2012 and 2021.

History

Established in 2012, the founding members comprised Karina Utomo and Ash Pegram from Young and Restless, Matt Weston from The Nation Blue, and Damian Coward from Love Like...Electrocution. Throughout the band's existence, only Utomo and Weston remained constant; the concluding lineup included guitarist Mike Deslandes (also associated with YLVA) and drummer Lauren Hammel.

Their first full-length release, Death Beat, arrived in October 2013 and earned a nomination for Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Album at the 2014 ARIA Awards. This was followed by Bully, released on 10 July 2015. The song "Guillotine" was later featured in Warwick Thornton's vampire-themed television series, Firebite, which aired in 2021/22.

The band officially ceased activity in 2021.

Band members

Final line-up

Karina Utomo – lead vocals (2012–2021)
Matt Weston – bass guitar (2012–2021)
Mike Deslandes – guitar, backing vocals (2015–2021)
Lauren Hammel – drums (2015–2021)

Previous members

Ash Pegram – guitar (2012–2015)
Damian Coward – drums (2012–2013, 2014–2015)
Dan McKay – drums (2013–2014)

Touring musicians (former)

Allan Stacey – bass (2018)

Studio albums

Studio album releases
Album	Release details
Death Beat	Released: October 2013 Label: High Tension, Cooking Vinyl Australia (CVLP005) Formats: CD, LP, digital download
Bully	Released: 10 June 2015 Label: High Tension, Cooking Vinyl Australia (CVLP030) Formats: CD, LP, digital download
Purge	Released: 15 June 2018 Label: Cooking Vinyl Australia (CVLP075) Formats: CD, LP, digital download, streaming

Extended plays

EP releases
Title	Release information
High Tension	Released: October 2012 Label: OSCL Records (OSCL007) Formats: CD, digital download

AIR Awards

The Australian Independent Record Awards (AIR Awards) celebrate achievements within Australia's independent music industry each year.

|- | 2019 | Purge | Best Independent Hard Rock, Heavy or Punk Album | |-

ARIA Music Awards

Since its inception in 1987 by the Australian Recording Industry Association, the ARIA Music Awards have recognized outstanding accomplishments in the Australian music scene.

|- | 2014 | Death Beat | Best Hard Rock or Heavy Metal Album | |-

Music Victoria Awards

The Music Victoria Awards have annually honored Victorian musicians since 2006.

! Ref. |- | 2018 | Purge | Best Heavy Album | | ^[1]^[2] |-

National Live Music Awards

Since their inception in 2016, the National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) have celebrated outstanding achievements within Australia's live music sector.

|- | 2016 | Themselves | Hard Rock Live Act of the Year | |- | 2017 | Themselves | Hard Rock Live Act of the Year | |- | rowspan="2" | 2018 | Themselves | Live Performance Act of the Year | |- | Karina Utomo (High Tension) | Live Vocalist of the Year | |- | 2019 | Lauren Hammel (High Tension) | Live Drummer of the Year | |-

References

↑ https://musicvictoria.com.au/musicvictoriaawards/previous-nominees. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
↑ https://musicvictoria.com.au/musicvictoriaawards/previous-winners. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

[1] ttps://musicvictoria.com.au/musicvictoriaawards/previous-nominees. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

[2] ttps://musicvictoria.com.au/musicvictoriaawards/previous-winners. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)

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