Artension

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Artension
General information
origin Cortland , New York , United States
Genre (s) Progressive Metal , Neoclassical Metal
founding 1992/1993 as Atlantis Rising
resolution 2005
Last occupation
Mike Terrana
Roger Staffelbach
Vitaly Kuprij
John West
Steve DiGiorgio
former members
Electric bass
 Kevin Chown
Electric bass
 John Onder
Drums
 Shane Gaalaas

Artension was an American progressive metal band from Cortland , New York , which was founded in 1992/1993 under the name Atlantis Rising and disbanded in 2005.

history

In 1992/1993 the Hungarian keyboardist Vitalij Kuprij, who was studying classical music in Switzerland at the time , met the guitarist Roger Staffelbach, who was studying at the jazz school in Lucerne . Shortly afterwards they founded the band Atlantis Rising, which held several instrumental appearances in Switzerland. After several demos they got in touch with Mike Varney from Shrapnel Records , who showed interest in the band and also suggested adding a singer to the band. Kuprij already knew drummer Mike Terrana from one of Yngwie Malmsteen's tours. His friend, bassist Kevin Chown, also joined the band. Chown had known Terrana since May 1996, when they began working for Tony MacAlpine's band together . Varney had introduced the two of them to Atlantis Rising through a demo and Terrana organized the relocation of the members to the USA. With the addition of the members, it was decided to rename it to Artension. The name is made up of the English words "Art" and "Tension".

In August 1996, the recording of the debut album began at Prarie Sun Studios in Cotati , California . The band rehearsed for three days without a singer and began recording on the fourth day, when John West joined the band as a singer after Varney introduced the band to various musicians. After a photo session, the group began writing the lyrics, most of which was done within two to three days. After shooting for a day and a half, Terrana and Chown headed back to Los Angeles . Within two weeks the remaining recordings were completed by the remaining members. The album consists of demo songs, but they had been re-recorded. The album was released in 1996 under the name Into the Eye of the Storm . A year later the second album was recorded, with Chown now moving to Detroit while Terrana was still living in Los Angeles. In contrast to its predecessor, the sound carrier is made of completely new material. The rehearsals lasted three to four days and took place again at the Prarie Sun Studios. Chown was present for about five to six days during the recordings. The publication took place in 1997 under the name Phoenix Rising . In 1998 the group toured Japan . Since Kuprij had problems getting a visa , only four of the band went on tour in Japan. The band stayed in Osaka for three days and Tokyo for four days . On the third album, Shane Gaalaas can be heard as the new drummer and bassist Kevin Chown also left the band. The album was released in 1999 under the name Forces of Nature , whereupon John Onder can be heard as the new bassist. As with the two previous albums, James Murphy is featured as a guest guitarist. The next album, Machine, followed in 2000 with an unchanged line-up . For the 2001 album Sacred Pathways , the band switched to the Italian label Frontiers Records . In the meantime Terrana and Chown had returned to the band as drummers and bassists. In 2003 and 2005, two more albums followed with New Discovery and Future World . On the latter album Steve DiGiorgio can be heard as bassist. In 2005 the band split up.

style

According to Martin Popoff in The Collector's Guide of Heavy Metal Volume 3: The Nineties , Into the Eye of the Storm offers the glamor and drama that resonate with Yngwie Malmsteen, Deep Purple and Graham Bonnet . Especially the singing of West reminds of Bonnet. On Phoenix Rising he sounds like a mixture of Joe Lynn Turner , Jørn Lande and Doogie White . The music sounds like a mixture of Rainbow , Hair Metal and Progressive Metal. In addition, the group sounds like Deep Purple in the 1980s with Joe Lynn Turner as the singer. On Forces of Nature the band is slowly developing into a power and speed metal institution. There are also improvisations in the style of Malmsteen's band. David Perri wrote about New Discovery in The Collector's Guide of Heavy Metal Volume 4: The '00s that Artension is a major progressive metal band and can be seen as an extension of Alan Parsons , Dream Theater and Stratovarius . The music sounds influenced by the 1970s and is now a bit old-fashioned. In addition, the music is comparable to Dream Theater in the times of Charlie Dominici.

Both Matthias Breusch from Rock Hard and Renald Mienert from Eclipsed attest to the musicians, and Vitalij Kuprij in the lead, a technical brilliance that, however, has not appeared in the composition since the debut Into the Eye of the Storm .

Matthias Mineur from Metal Hammer described the music on Into the Eye of the Storm as Progressive Metal, which can be classified between Rising Force and Dream Theater. In a later edition, Detlef Dengler reviewed the album Machine and described the music as technically demanding "with more remarkable melodies". He also described the songs as “melodic, progressive and intelligently structured Power Metal with a seventies flair”. In another edition Vitalij Kuprij stated that he first wrote the songs on the piano and then recorded it before working on the arrangement together . His father encouraged him at an early age by sending him to various schools and academies to improve his piano playing. He also learned a lot from working with James Murphy, Mark Boals , Greg Howe , Tony MacAlpine and Steve DiGiorgio. In the same issue, Dengler reviewed the album Sacred Pathways and described the music as technically demanding metal in which classical music is processed. The songs are melodic and catchy, with the vocals and the dominant and demanding keyboard playing being particularly characteristic. A year later, Andreas Schöwe ​​discussed the album New Discovery and noted that, in contrast to its predecessor, it was less melodic and more oriented towards hard rock . Using the keyboard creates a "mid-eighties / rainbow / purple ambience". The drums are driving, while Staffelbach plays the electric guitar with “Malmsteen virtuosity”. The song material is catchy and quickly accessible and sounds like a mix of Yngwie Malmsteen, Ritchie Blackmore , Pretty Maids , Royal Hunt and Axel Rudi Pell . In 2005 Marc Halupczok reviewed the album Future World in the same magazine . One of the weaknesses is the songwriting. In addition, the music is normal progressive metal. The vocals are overshadowed by the instruments, especially the keyboard.

Discography

  • 1996: Into the Eye of the Storm (Album, Shrapnel Records )
  • 1997: Phoenix Rising (album, Shrapnel Records)
  • 1999: Forces of Nature (Album, Shrapnel Records)
  • 2000: Machine (album, Shrapnel Records)
  • 2001: Sacred Pathways (album, Frontiers Records )
  • 2003: New Discovery (album, Frontiers Records)
  • 2005: Future World (album, Irond / Dark Division (distribution))

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Biography. (No longer available online.) Vitalijkuprij.com, archived from the original on July 27, 2010 ; accessed on December 27, 2015 .
  2. ↑ Artension. shrapnelrecords.com, accessed December 28, 2015 .
  3. ↑ a b c Biography. (No longer available online.) Rockdetector.com, archived from the original on March 4, 2016 ; accessed on December 28, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.rockdetector.com
  4. ↑ Artension - Forces Of Nature. Discogs , accessed December 28, 2015 .
  5. ↑ James Murphy (2). Discogs, accessed December 28, 2015 .
  6. ↑ Artension. "Forces Of Nature". guitar9.com, accessed December 28, 2015 .
  7. ↑ Artension - Future World. Discogs, accessed December 28, 2015 .
  8. ↑ Info. Facebook , accessed December 28, 2015 .
  9. ↑ Martin Popoff : The Collector's Guide of Heavy Metal Volume 3: The Nineties . Collectors Guide Ltd, Burlington, Ontario, Canada 2007, ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9 , pp. 31 f .
  10. ↑ Martin Popoff, David Perri: The Collector's Guide of Heavy Metal Volume 4: The '00s . Collectors Guide Ltd, Burlington, Ontario, Canada 2011, ISBN 978-1-926592-20-6 , pp. 35 .
  11. ↑ Matthias Bruche: Artension . Machine. In: Rock Hard . No. 158 , July 2000, p. 86 .
  12. ↑ Renald Mienert: Artension . "Future World". In: Eclipsed . Rock magazine. No. 71 , April 2005, p. 47 .
  13. ↑ Matthias Mineur: The dreamy progrock package for romantics . In: Metal Hammer . December 1996, p. 46 .
  14. ↑ Detlef Dengler: Artension . Machine. In: Metal Hammer . May 2000, p. 89 .
  15. ↑ Detlef Dengler: Artension . Willing to learn. In: Metal Hammer . February 2002, p. 9 .
  16. ↑ Detlef Dengler: Artension . Sacred Pathways. In: Metal Hammer . February 2002, p. 88 .
  17. ↑ Andreas Schöwe: Artension . New Discovery. In: Metal Hammer . March 2003, p. 88 .
  18. ↑ Marc Halupczok: Artension . Future World. In: Metal Hammer . April 2005, p. 97 .