Firewind
| Firewind | |
|---|---|
 Firewind live at a concert at Wacken Open Air 2018 |
|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Power metal |
| founding | 1998 |
| Website | www.firewind.gr |
| Founding members | |
| Gus G. alias Kostas Karamitroudis | |
| Current occupation | |
guitar |
Gus G. alias Kostas Karamitroudis |
| Petros Christodoylidis (since 2004) | |
| Johan Nunez | |
| Herbie Langhans (since 2020) | |
| former members | |
singing |
Chitral "Chity" Somapala (2003-2005) |
singing |
Apollo Papathanasio (2005–2012) |
Drums |
Stian Lindaas Kristoffersen (2003-2005) |
Drums |
Mark Cross (2005-2009) |
Drums |
Michael honor |
| Henning Basse (2016-2020) | |
| Babis "Bob" Katsionis (2004–2020) | |
Firewind is a Greek power metal band led by guitarist Gus G.
history
From 1999 Gus G. started composing and recording demo songs and was able to arouse the interest of producer David Chastain. Gus G. wrote songs for another three years, and eventually he and Chastain picked 13 of them for an album. Since there was no band for the project yet, Chastain hired various musicians from different countries to contribute the individual instruments. Guitars, bass and keyboards were recorded in Greece, vocals ( Stephen Fredrick ) and drums (Brian Harris) in the USA , and it was mixed in Sweden . In fact, Gus G. and singer Fredrick only met for the first time years later. The debut album was released in 2002 under the title Between Heaven and Hell .
For the second album Burning Earth a new drummer and a new bass player were hired, with whom Gus G. also went on tour in Japan after the release and which can thus be described as the first real band line-up. Singer Fredrick contributed his voice again, but was not available for a tour and was replaced by Chity Somapala . Bob Katsionis was also new on the keyboards.
With the newly formed band Gus G. recorded the third album Forged by Fire , which was released in 2005. In the same year Firewind played as the opening act alongside Lordi and Thunderstone at the Icebreaker Festival. The headliner was Hammerfall . At the same time, the cast carousel continued to turn: Somapala left the band at her own request, and before a replacement could be found in Apollo Papathanasio, drummer Kristoffersen also left.
Nevertheless, Gus G. decided to make Firewind his main project and gradually got out of his other bands Dream Evil , Mystic Prophecy and Nightrage between 2004 and 2006 .
In 2006/2007 the band toured Asia, the USA, Africa and Europe and played almost 100 concerts. Between headlining shows and special guest acts, Firewind played in supporting acts for Dragonforce , Kamelot , Sonata Arctica , Edguy and Joe Satriani, among others .
On March 28, 2008 her new album The Premonition was released . In April and May she went on a European tour with Kamelot and Forever Slave . Their first live DVD was released in autumn of the same year. The 100-minute show was recorded in Thessaloniki . In 2010, the album was released Days of Defiance , 2012 Few Against Many .
Firewind announced Kelly Sundown Carpenter (Adagio, Beyond Twilight etc.) as the new singer for their upcoming "North American Tour" on January 15th, 2013 after longtime singer Apollo Papathanasio left the band.
At the end of 2015 Firewind announced a new singer, Henning Basse (ex-Metalium), with whom the album "Immortals", which is the band's eighth studio album, was released on January 20th.
In March 2020, the band announced that singer Basse and guitarist Katsionis had left the band. Herbie Langhans was announced as a replacement for Basse .
Discography
|
Chart positions Explanation of the data |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Albums | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albums
- 1998: Nocturnal Symphony (Demo)
- 2002: Between Heaven and Hell
- 2003: Burning Earth
- 2005: Forged by Fire
- 2006: Allegiance
- 2008: The Premonition
- 2010: Days of Defiance
- 2012: Few Against Many
- 2013: Apotheosis - Live 2012
- 2017: Immortals
- 2020: Firewind
Singles
- 2006: Falling to Pieces
- 2007: Breaking the Silence
- 2008: Mercenary Man
- 2010: World on Fire
- 2011: Embrace the Sun
Video albums
- 2008: Live Premonition
swell
- ↑ Firewind announce new singer. In: blabbermouth.net. Retrieved March 10, 2020 .
- ↑ Chart sources: Germany / Switzerland
Web links
- Official website
- Firewind at Century Media
- Firewind at laut.de
- Firewind at Discogs (English)
- Official website of drummer Michael Ehré (English, German)