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Heimdall Hard as Iron |
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| A brief introduction to the band: The story of Heimdall starts in 1994 when Fabio Calluori (guitars) and Nicolas Calluori (drums) decide to form a heavy metal band. After some changes of line-up, the bass player Giovanni Canu, the guitarist Carmelo Claps and the singer Claudio Gallo join Heimdall which start an intense live activity. With this line-up, the band records the homonymous demo in 1997 that receives great reviews by the specialized press and gives it the opportunity to sign a record-deal with Elevate Records. In May 1998 "Lord of the Sky", the first cd of the band, is released. It is a concept-album based on the story of the Nordic God Heimdall, Lord of the sky and Guardian of the mighty bridge Bifrost which links the world of the mortals with the one of the gods. | After three years from "The Temple of Theil", Heimdall is out with the 3rd album, titled 'The Almighty', with a new record deal (Scarlet Records) and a new, vital & inspired song-writing. 'The Almighty' shows once more the great potential of this band that is able to catch the true power of metal-guitar riffs and mix it with refined keyboards arrangements, epic choirs and intense vocal lines. Recorded at the beginning of 2002, "The Almighty" sees the return of Nicolas on drums and is published in July in Japan and in September in the rest of the world. After a tour and some concerts with bands like Shaman, Vicious Rumors and Destruction, Heimdall start the composition of the new tracks. | |||||||
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"Lord of the Sky" has immediately a great success from the
public and from the press - it is Top-album on many magazines. Besides, it
is licensed and published by Dreamchaser in Japan.
In
the meanwhile, Sergio Duccilli (keyboards) joins the band, giving a more
symphonic and majestic aspect to Heimdall sound. The great success of
"Lord of the Sky" takes Heimdall to start an intense live activity,
playing many gigs and taking part in many festivals with bands like
Sentenced, Labyrinth, 69 Eyes and so on. At the beginning of '99, Nicolas
leaves the band for personal problems and Ottavio Amato becomes the new
drummer. With him, Heimdall go on tour together with Labyrinth, having a
great success. After the acclaimed debut album "Lord of the Sky", Heimdall
record the follow-up "The Temple of Theil", published by Elevate Records
in September 1999. The Japanese edition, released by Dreamchaser on August
25, 1999, contains two bonus tracks: "Breaking the Law", cover of the
Judas Priest classic-song and the unplugged version of "The Challenge"
from the debut cd.
The album shows a great improvement in the song writing and, although still based on flashy guitars, epic tunes, glorious vocals and choruses, presents a really more personal and 'rich' touch than on the debut album. The cover is painted by Eric Philippe already known for his artworks for Riot, Stratovarious and Rhapsody. "The Temple of Theil" receives very good responses but after four months from its publication Claudio Gallo leaves the band. So Heimdall begin searching for a new singer and, in 2001, they meet Giacomo Mercaldo. With him, the band completes the composition of the songs for the new album. |
Before entering the studio to give life to the fourth album, Nicolas leaves and Enrico, Giovanni's brother, joins the band. Between December and February, Heimdall record the new album. The title chosen for it is "Hard As Iron"Heimdalls style with this new album turns to be even more compact and new songs are more aggressive if compared with previous ones, with lots of heavy riffs added to the classic epic surrounding. "Hard as Iron" is out on 10 May 04 for Scarlet Records and in April 04 in Japan for Soundholic Records.The album in review: Heimdall is still going strong despite being a part of the metal scene since 1994 and several changes in the line-up. Heimdall play epic power metal in the line of Gamma Ray and Stratovarius. The way Giacomo Mercaldo handles his voice, makes him an important part of the Heimdall sphere. Giacomo sings with a level of variety, which is higher than similar bands. He’s equally good at clean vocal as well as more rough and edgy singing. The Guitars sounds like guitars should – equally good at fast pace and midtempo. There are some very neat guitarsoli here and there – I won’t reveal where though. You ought to get hold on the record, and find out for yourself. If you’re into epic power and symphonic atmosphere, then Heimdall is indeed a must-have for you. During the years I’ve heard a lot of epic power metal bands, and thumbs-up goes to Heimdall, for being in the top third on the scale of quality. |
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Additional information on Heimdall and their previous releases can be found at www.heimdall.it or www.scarletrecords.it |
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| Hard As Iron
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Hard As Iron 5. Cold 6. The Emperor 7. Dark Home 8. Black Heaven 9. Holy Night 10. Hollow Planet
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