| LABYRINTH |
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| INFO |
YEAR FORMED: 1991
HOMETOWN: Italy
MEMBERS:
Roberto Tiranti (vocals),
Andrea Cantarelli (guitars),
Cristiano Bertocchi (bass),
Andrea De Paoli (keyboards/programming),
Mattia Stancioiu (drums)
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| BIOGRAPHY |
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LABYRINTH’s illustrious career holds true to their definition, as they had to endure an insurmountable number of twists and turns in order to keep moving forward. In 2003, the term “power metal” is unfortunately automatically attached to bands representing an old-school, traditional metal sound coupled with a vocalist embracing a high range. While LABYRINTH possesses some of those attributes, their shredding dual guitars and innovative drumming give them more of a thrash feel that will also appeal to many progressive rock fans, thereby distinguishing them from the pack. This group have stood the test of time, and they will soon make their triumphant return to U.S. territory.
LABYRINTH’s journey began in 1991, with the intent of playing heavy metal and having fun. A few years later, in 1994, with more songwriting experience under their belt the band released their first demo, Midnight Resistance, now a cult item among the fans. This demo garnered enthusiastic reviews from major metal magazines in Italy and Germany immediately catching the attention of the independent European label Underground Symphony, who quickly offered the band a deal. That same year LABRYINTH unleashed the Piece of Time EP that displayed pure melodic speed metal coupled with keyboards to create greater depth and atmosphere, which fascinated the Italian and German underground metal scene. Their first full-length album, No Limits, would quickly follow in early 1995, and the band started to rapidly develop an extremely loyal underground fanbase. Everything seemed to be going well, but tension inside the band started to rise, ultimately causing Joe Terry (vocalist) to exit and eventually become the frontman of Rhapsody.
In 1997 new vocalist Rob Tyrant (Roberto Tiranti) joined the group bringing in a new lash of energy. Meanwhile, some of the most prominent metal labels started to show interest in LABRYINTH’s new demo. After considering many lucrative offers the group ultimately decided to sign with Metal Blade Records that same year. They immediately entered the studio to record Return To Heaven Denied, that would soon prove to be the pinnacle album of their career. Before its release the band was invited to take part in the esteemed "Gods of Metal" festival, alongside such acclaimed acts as Black Sabbath, Pantera, Helloween, Blind Guardian and Stratovarius. This was their biggest show to date and was a perfect setup for Return To Heaven Denied, their first worldwide release. Shortly after its release LABYRINTH suffered another tragedy as Tyrant abruptly left the band. He was quickly replaced by Morby, the lead singer of Domine, who proceeded to lead the group through their first European tour supporting Hammerfall and Primal Fear, which ultimately proved to be a rousing success. To keep the momentum going the group quickly unleashed the Timeless Crime EP containing new tracks and revised classics from the Midnight Resistance demo, No Limits and Return to Heaven Denied that same year.
Tyrant soon rejoined LABYRINTH in 2000 and things were now back on track, as they quickly began the songwriting process for what would be the Sons Of Thunder album. They took a short break during the recording process to take part in the prestigious European festivals Wacken Open Air 2000 and Rock Machina 2000, having overwhelming success. Sons Of Thunder was released that August and was extremely well-received, being their first album to debut in the Italian and Japanese charts. Such amazing debuts resulted in a South American tour with Vision Divine that led into a long tour supporting Helloween in Europe
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In April 2002 they began writing material for their new album and the search for a new label. This search came to an end in 2003, as the group signed a worldwide deal with Century Media Records. Now a new path is being forged for LABYRINTH’s glorious return. Their phenomenal new album features artwork from the renowned Travis Smith (Nevermore, Opeth, Jag Panzer, etc.) and was recorded at Noise Factory Studio in Milan, Italy. Their fourth full-length release, simply titled Labyrinth, offers 10 flawlessly executed tracks of aggressively melodic metal in its purest form. With power and melody similar to No Limits and Return To Heaven Denied, this album will have all metal fans foaming at the mouth.
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