Laconia, based in Pretoria, South Africa, was first conceptualised in 2008 by Wilhelm Barnard (ex-Grymn), Dwayne Coetzee (Sacrifist; ex-Serpent Moon, ex-Funeral God), Pieter Taljaard (ex-Elivery, Saints Method), Juan Gaggero (ex-Crimson Gallows, ex-Elivery, The Gunshow Massacre) and Lizette Mills.

Lizette was eventually replaced by Jess Barnard in late 2009.

Laconia writes without limits to creativity and fuses metal in its varied froms to create the "Laconia sound". Laconia is not a band that can be pigeonholed into a specific metal genre, although the closest description would be Gothic Thrash.  Laconia's music is mainly composed by Dwayne Coetzee and Wilhelm Barnard, the only two remaining founding members of the group.

The band released their much anticipated debut sampler album Exordium (Latin, meaning the beginning) in December 2009. However produced in limited quantities, the pressing sold out quickly and still stands as a staple of South African Gothic Metal . This led the band to the decision to make all the tracks from the Exordium sessions available for download, for free.

Current Members:
Jess Barnard - Vocals
Dwayne Coetzee - Guitars and vocals
Wilhelm Barnard - Guitars
Juan Gaggero - Drums