THE ENIGMA DIVISION

Former Xerath members reach for the Sky(net) with sci-fi-inspired project.

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IRELAND-BASED PROGRESSIVE metallers The Enigma Division formed in 2019 but their story begins much further back in time: 1977 to be precise. That was when Star Wars was firing the world’s imagination and NASA launched the Voyager Program to observe the outer limits of the solar system.

Guitarist Conor McGouran explains: “People began to take an interest in space again and science fiction became embedded in pop culture like it never had before. I was always fascinated with Carl Sagan and the Voyager missions, from watching [Sagan’s 1980 TV series] Cosmos as a kid to my uncle showing me the first photos of Neptune in 1989.”

McGouran and bassist Ronan Burns began playing music together at the age of 11. They shared a passion for metal, prog, fusion, pop and classical but their trajectories diverged over time.