Crossbones (band)
| Crossbones | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| origin | Tirana , Albania |
| Genre (s) | Heavy metal , thrash metal |
| founding | 1996 |
| Current occupation | |
| Olsi Ballta | |
| Ben Turku | |
| Klejd Guza | |
| Theodhoraq Napoloni (since 2010) | |
| former members | |
| Ergys Turku | |
Electric bass |
Redi Hasa |
Electric bass |
Faton Gjashta |
Electric bass, electric guitar
|
Eduard Dashi |
Electric bass, electric guitar |
Klodi Shehu |
Electric guitar |
Gjergj Lena |
Electric guitar |
Arbi Xhelo |
| Alban Male | |
Crossbones is a heavy metal / thrash metal band from the Albanian capital Tirana, founded in 1996 .
history
Crossbones was founded in 1996 in the Albanian capital Tirana and, after numerous line-up changes, consists of singer Olsi Ballta, guitarist Ben Turku as well as bassist Klejd Guza and drummer Theodhoraq Napoloni.
Just one year after its founding, the band's debut album, Days of Rage , was released, named after the headline of a report on the news channel CNN , which referred to the lottery uprising in Albania. It is also the first ever released album by an Albanian metal band. Until 2001 there was only one demo and two single singles, which was partly due to the inconsistent line-up and led to a long break.
It was not until December 2010 that the band was reactivated and activities started. Crossbones performed their very first concert in December 2010. Ben Turku, who previously only helped out as a session musician, became the band's permanent guitarist in 2014, so that long-time guitarist Klodi Shehu switched to the electric bass. In 2011 the single Muret Bien was released and a live CD with Live at the Black Box . Four years later the musicians produced the EP Alive with three tracks. With Toxic Waste a compilation with previously unpublished song material was released. This was later reissued in an exclusive box together with the EP Alive and the debut album Days of Rage . After the musicians sent several demos to the Italian label Nadir Music , they signed the band and released the second album WWIII worldwide. This was produced by Tommy Talamanca . In November 2018 the musicians announced that they would work with Alpha Omega Management and announced a new album for 2019.
This was followed by concerts in Italy , Macedonia , Montenegro , Kosovo , as well as in Latvia , Estonia and Lithuania . In Tirana the group played as main support for the Greek black metal band Rotting Christ . In April 2019 the musicians announced that they would release their new album The Awakening via Alpha Omega Records in the course of the year .
music
According to Olsi Ballta, Crossbones plays thrash metal of the US school with influences from Eastern European rock music. Influences of metal from the 80s and 1990s can also be heard. Ballta describes the music of Crossbones in another interview as a mixture of Thrash Metal, Hardcore and Groove Metal with Albanian melodies. Most of the texts are in English , with a few also in Albanian . Bands like Metallica , Iron Maiden , Soundgarden , Megadeth , Pantera and Sepultura are named as musical . The band is part of the first wave of Albanian hard rock / heavy metal. Influences from heavy rock and grunge were also attested to the band.
The songs have grooving bulldozer riffing, are mostly in the mid-tempo range and the vocals are mostly kept clear, which are brought across harshly. The music is compared with that of Sepultura. The music is characterized by a melodic heaviness with a powerful overall sound without frills, which is located in alternative metal .
Discography
- 1997: Days of Rage (album, in-house production)
- 1998: Demos (demo, in-house production)
- 2008: Revolucion (single, in-house production)
- 2011: Muret Bien (single, in-house production)
- 2011: Live at the Black Box (live album, in-house production)
- 2015: Alive (EP, in-house production)
- 2015: Toxic Waste (Singles & Outtakes 1998–2013) (compilation, in-house production)
- 2015: Full Metal Pack (box set consisting of the album Days of Rage , the EP Alive and the compilation Toxic Waste , in-house production)
- 2017: WWIII (Album, Nadir Music )
Awards and nominations
-
Global Metal Apocalypse Awards UK
- 2017: Best newcomer band from Europe (nominated)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Guido Segers: Olsi Ballta of Crossbones (Albania). Echoes and Dust, August 3, 2017, accessed December 15, 2018 .
- ↑ a b c Oliver H .: CD Reviews March 2017. metalfactory.ch, accessed on December 15, 2018 .
- ↑ a b Katja Rohloff: Crossbones - WWIII. Hellfire Magazin, January 16, 2018, accessed December 15, 2018 .
- ↑ Crossbones new album "WWIII". Frontview Magazine, February 18, 2018, accessed December 15, 2018 .
- ↑ Alanian crossbones Signs With Nadir Music To Release New Album "WWIII". Metal Shock Finland, December 14, 2016, accessed December 15, 2018 .
- ↑ Albanian CROSSBONES Sign With ALPHA OMEGA Management, To Release New Album In Early 2019. Metal Shock Finland, November 4, 2018, accessed December 15, 2018 .
- ↑ John Erigo: CROSSBONES - To Release New Album “The Awakening” - Cover art and label revealed. Kickassforever.com, April 22, 2019, accessed April 22, 2019 .
- ↑ Klaudia Weber: Crossbones - Fresh Act November 2017. Stalker Magazine, November 1, 2017, accessed December 15, 2018 .
- ↑ Bart Al Foet: Crossbones - WWIII. Markzware Metalen, February 7, 2017, accessed December 15, 2018 (Dutch).
- ↑ Eric Compton: Crossbones "WWIII". Maximum Metal, January 3, 2017, accessed December 15, 2018 .
- ↑ Crossbones nominated for GMA Awards 2017 UK. Powerofmetal.dk, December 28, 2017, accessed December 15, 2018 .