Sunk Loto are an Australian alternative metal band formed in Gold Coast, Queensland in 1997. The band's founding members are Dane Brown on drums, his brother Jason Brown on vocals, Luke McDonald on guitar and Sean Van Gennip on bass guitar. Sunk Loto signed a recording contract with Sony Music Australia when the members' average age was 16 years. They released two studio albums, Big Picture Lies (13 October 2000) and Between Birth and Death (17 November 2003); both reached the ARIA Albums Chart top 50. The group disbanded in December 2007, and after a 15-year hiatus the original members have re-formed the band in 2022.
Sunk Loto formed as a heavy metal band, Messiah, in the Gold Coast, Queensland in March 1997 by Dane Brown on drums, his brother Jason Brown on lead vocals, Luke McDonald on guitar and Miles Matheson on bass guitar. Originally named Messiah, Jason Brown had met Luke McDonald at a local music store, Jason brought his younger brother Dane to practice sessions and McDonald's school mate, Sean Van Gennip joined the band when Miles decided to part ways. Sean Van Gennip completed the new line-up.[1] A year later they changed their name due to a London band of that name:[1] Jason explained "we looked up Messiah in the dictionary and one of the meanings was 'liberators of the oppressed' so we took the first letter of each word to form LOTO and SUNK from the sinking of the first name."
In April 1999 the group signed with Epic Records when Dane was 13 and the band's oldest member, Van Gennip, was 17. In November that year, they released a five-track extended play, Society Anxiety, which was produced by Paul McKercher (the Cruel Sea, Spiderbait).[3][4] It peaked in the ARIA Singles Chart top 40 at number 40. Justin Donnelly of Blistering described their early sound "it was predictable. There wasn't much in the way of pushing the envelope song wise, and while the nu-metal angle is now a bit contrived, it was a sound that typified the time." The administrator of Beatdust felt it "pays homage to its inspirations – elements of both Evil Empire era RATM and Deftones Around the Fur are heavily evident both musically and sonically throughout." The lead track, "Vinegar Stroke", became a radio favourite.The band performed at a range of festivals including Homebake promoting the EP and then commenced writing their debut studio album.