In 1988, Andrea Garavaglia (drums), Piero Paravidino (guitar), Folco Orlandini (vocals) and Paolo Chiodini (guitar) create Mesmerize, united by their passion for the great metal bands from that period, such as Iron Maiden, Manowar and Helloween; the line-up will be ultimately settled in 1994 with the enrolment of Andrea Tito (bass).
In 1995 the vocalist Folco collaborates with the Italian prog band Time Machine, singing on their album Act II: Galileo and later on a tour in Greece as support band for Angra.
In spring 1997 the band signs a contract for two albums with Underground Symphony. The debut-album Tales Of Wonder, clearly inspired by classic heavy metal, is finally released in July 1998 and gets excellent reviews on magazines and fanzines worldwide. An extensive series of live gigs in North Italy follows the release of the album.
Between 1998 and 2000 Folco gets involved in other important collaborations: he collaborates with Eddy Antonini (from the Italian metal band Skylark) on his solo album, with Skylark on their albums Divine Gates Part II and Part II and with the prog metal project band Khali on their self-titled album.
In the same period, Mesmerize participate to a series of tribute-CDs produced by European and American labels: Iron Maiden, Savatage, Queensrÿche, Black Sabbath, Manowar and Trust.
The second Mesmerize CD is a double-mini-CD called Vultures Paradise, including four new original tracks plus four cover songs, which will be released in January 2002, ending the collaboration with Underground Symphony.
In February 2001 a new record deal for three CDs is signed with Dragonheart Records, which releases the new full-lenght Off The Beaten Path in February 2002.
In this work the band begins introducing some new features in their sound, in addition to the classic metal canon, that they will develop to a greater extent in the future.
Both the new works get excellent reviews on a number of Italian and international magazines and webzines, and again the band is on stage to promote them.
In 2003 guitarist Paolo Chiodini leaves the band because of personal reasons and is replaced by Luca Belbruno.
The recording sessions for the fourth CD Stainless begin in summer 2004 at drummer Andrea Garavaglia’s new Octopussy Studios under the direction of sound-engineer Giovanni Spinotti, already known and appreciated for his work on the recent self-titled Labÿrinth album.
Working in a dedicated studio gives Mesmerize more time for experimenting: the result is a modern and powerful sound and new features such as violin parts, played by the young musician Vito Gatto, and keyboard lines never used before by the band. The album is furthermore enriched by the contribution in two different tracks of Vanni Ceni, singer in the cult epic band Wotan, and Paola Bianchi, female voice in the dark band Ludmila, who embroiders the long final suite with her fanciful vocal lines.
The album is mastered in January 2005 at the House Of Audio studios in Germany; Stainless is released in June.
