Solar fragment

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Solar fragment
General information
Genre (s) Power metal
founding 2003
Website http://www.solar-fragment.com/
Founding members
Dominic Serwe
Manuel Wiegmann
Current occupation
Dominic Serwe
Manuel Wiegmann
Marc Peters (since April 2004)
Sebastian Grütling (since December 2013)
Robert Leger (since August 2004)
former members
Gunnar Stein (until October 2005)
Sascha Schiller (October 2005 - May 2012)

Solar Fragment is a German power metal band that was founded in Dortmund in 2003 . The band is "classic", with two guitars, electric bass, drums and vocals, firmly anchored in the metal and festival scene in North Rhine-Westphalia and can refer to experience on international terrain.

Band history

Foundation (2003/2004)

In the summer of 2003, the former Dortmund school band Halb So Wild , which had specialized in German rock, was in the process of disbanding. The bandmates there Manuel Wiegmann (guitar) and Dominic Serwe (electric bass) laid the foundation for further musical collaboration in the metal sector and were looking for colleagues for a power metal project. In October 2003, Gunnar Stein first joined the duo as drummer, and the songs To Thy Crown , The Assassin and Wanderlust were created. In the search for a suitable, powerful name for the new formation, the two favored suggestions “The Lost Fragment” and “Solar Damage” finally became Solar Fragment. With the band name, the first ideas for a new song about a piece of the sun that emits light and energy into a desolate world developed.

Also in the summer of 2003, Manuel Wiegmann made contact with the band called Salome's Dance . The local guitarist Marc Peters (formerly Orden Ogan ) was enthusiastic about Solar Fragment from April 2004.

The search for singers for the band that was being founded turned out to be difficult because the four musicians had already developed very specific ideas. The crew found Robert Leger via the Internet, who seemed to offer the ideal background as an Irish folk and gospel singer (“Green Branches” and “Confidence”), but hesitated due to the relatively long journey from Solingen to Dortmund. When he appeared at least once for a rehearsal in June 2004, he already had two drafts of the lyrics in his pocket that matched the songs To Thy Crown and The Assassin . After all, he didn't need to be persuaded to stay with the troops. With this line-up, Solar Fragment put together the first set for live gigs, and in November 2004 they recorded the first promotional CD, which was released in 2005.

Due to time problems, Gunnar Stein left the band in September 2005. Solar Fragment found a more than equal replacement in Sascha Schiller, who already had metal experience from various other projects (including Mindfield and Freaks On The Roof ). Solar Fragment initially took on a few concert engagements with the new drummer and went on tour in 2006. The Lesson in Metal tour with Beyond Fear and Vicious Rumors (both USA) carried the Dortmunders to southern Europe.

Debut CD: A Spark of Deity (2007)

Since 2007, Solar Fragment was signed to the Greek label Sleaszy Rider Records and recorded the debut album A Spark of Deity . The illustrator Oliver Popp drew the cover artwork especially for Solar Fragment. It shows the solar fragment, a fragment of the sun as a shining object that illuminates a medieval landscape. The CD, released in November 2007, received numerous positive reviews from the specialist press.

Eight of the nine songs are designed in the high tempo typical of European Power Metal and with catchy melodies. So-called breaks often introduce the individual verses. The texts are about fabulous beings, or they deal with fateful characters from literature and the film world.

The most played track since its release is Man Of Faith , who acts as the CD's opener. It is a homage to the US mystery series Lost and its main character "John Locke". Song 02, Take Me Higher , with its catchy, two-part guitar riffs, the so-called dual leads, developed into the band's secret anthem. The text is borrowed from Greek mythology. It is about the escape of Daedalus and Icarus from the Cretan captivity. At To Thy Crown (03.) parallels to the King Arthur legend are drawn. The knight who breaks in the conflict of interests between love for the queen and loyalty to the king could be Lancelot. However, this is deliberately left open.

Lands, Titles, Nothing is based on the Scottish struggle for independence at the end of the 13th century and describes the conflict between Robert the Bruce before the decisive battle of Bannockborn. So Long is the only ballad on Solar Fragment's debut CD. Supported by keyboard and female voice, it is about the suicide note from a man sentenced to death to his lover. Fading Light (6th) then leads the listener into a legendary "dungeon", while Wanderlust (7th) describes the wanderlust of the soul, the desire to escape everyday life. The Assassin is lyrically inspired by the gloomy medieval atmosphere of the computer game Thief - Deadly Shadows . And finally, Fragment Of The Sun (9th) describes the mission of the band Solar Fragment to sweep people away with their music - symbolized in the shining fragment of the sun.

In the period that followed, guitar tabs for Man Of Faith and Take Me Higher were published in addition to the obligatory lyrics . And in the online game JamLegend, fans can prove themselves alone or compete with other players in guitar-hero style to Solar Fragment songs. Man Of Faith and Take Me Higher were (as of July 31, 2010) in the all-time top 10 of metal songs - with over 680,000 plays together.

At the end of 2009, Solar Fragment parted ways with the Greek label Sleaszy Rider Records.

CD: In Our Hands (2011)

The five musicians retired to the studio in spring and summer 2010 to record their second work, In Our Hands . At the end of the year they signed with the Italian record label Scarlet Records in order to bring the new album onto the market in April 2011.

Ten tracks are again about your own fantasy story and the processing of literature and films. The title song In Our Hands and Once Again (10th) are the continuation of the story about the Fragment Of The Sun , which began with the debut album. Stephen King, master of horror novels, provided the basis for Empty Eyed (2nd) with his novel Cell (in German: "Pulse") , and Inside The Circle (3rd) is based on the George Lucas hero saga "Star Wars". With Race The Seas (5th) the US mystery series "Lost" is represented again, while Come Hell Or High Water (6th) tells a pirate story and Homecoming (7th) is the counterpart to Wanderlust on the debut CD .

Guillermo del Toro created the basis for Moana's Return (8th) with his Oscar-winning film Pan's Labyrinth (in the original: “El laberinto del fauno” ). And Terry Pratchett's fantasy novel Making Money (in German: “Schöne Scheine”) is the starting point for The March Of The Golems (9th).

Discography

Demo 2005 (2005)

  • Wanderlust (5:03)
  • To Thy Crown (4:19)
  • The Assassin (4:47)

A Spark of Deity (2007)

  • Man Of Faith (4:27)
  • Take Me higher (4:54)
  • To Thy Crown (4:19)
  • Lands, Titles, Nothing (5:37)
  • So Long (4:54)
  • Fading Light (4:58)
  • Wanderlust (5:03)
  • The Assassin (4:47)
  • Fragment of the Sun (4:53)

In Our Hands (2011)

  • In Our Hands (5:15)
  • With Empty Eyes (4:41)
  • Inside the Circle (5:03)
  • At the Harbor (0:51)
  • Race the Seas (06:08)
  • Come Hell or High Water (5:27)
  • Homecoming (5:18)
  • Moana's Return (4:23)
  • The March of the Golems (4:57)
  • Once Again (5:22)

Guest musician

For So Long , Solar Fragment brought musicians friends from the region into the studio: Thomas Klak ( Jitterbug ) and Daniela Pollei ( Lunastrip ). Klak took over the keyboard passages. Pollei underlined the melancholy of the ballad with her soft voice. Tanja Maul ( Dawn of Destiny ) was Robert Leger's duet partner on stage for the first time in September 2009 .

Hansi Kürsch was able to win over the five musicians for a vocal part in Inside The Circle on the CD In Our Hands . The ( Blind Guardian ) front man took over a passage assigned to the Emperor / Senator Palpatine in the song about Anakin Skywalker.

swell

  1. ↑ [1] , Solar Fragment at Sleaszy Rider Records
  2. ↑ [2] , collection of press reviews on the debut CD.
  3. ↑ [3] , Solar Fragment at Last.fm.
  4. ↑ [4] , Solar Fragment on JamLegend
  5. ↑ [5] , Solar Fragment at Scarlet Records.

Web links