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DRAKKAR was born in late 1995. They had a goal in mind: to become a great power-epic metal band.
They started working real hard and, in a short time, gained a good reputation in Milan, due to the many gigs they were doing all around the city. The band also won a contest for newcomer, unsigned bands, and placed second in another one. The first demotape (out in the middle of 1996) was entitled "Sailing Alive", and it was a little live-recorded stuff done for a radio show, that later on the band decided to sell due to the many requests from the fans coming to the shows. The second demo came out in the beginning of 1997; it was entitled "We Sail At Dawn". This was a more "serious" demo, recorded on a 16 tracks-tape, and did even better the first.
It was this demo to bring the band to the attention of Dragonheart Records, a young but promising label in Italy. They offered Drakkar a good deal, giving what they wanted the most: total artistic freedom. So the band decided to sign, and started (in January '98) the recordings of "Quest For Glory" with this line-up: Dario Beretta (guitars and backing vocals), Christian Fiorani (drums), Alex Forgione (bass) and Luca Cappellari (vocals). Being still without a keyboard player, the band asked to their good friend Emanuele Rastelli from Crown Of Autumn to join 'em just to record the album, and so he did.
In the June of that year, shortly after the publishing of the album, they took part as opening band to the "Monsters Of Rock" festival in Turin (Italy), supporting bands like Saxon, Deep Purple, Primal Fear, Hammerfall, Dream Theater, etc., with a very good response from the crowd. In September, a few line-up changes occurred; Alex Ferraris took place of Forgione as bass-player, and Eleonora Ceretti was hired as keyboard player, officially becoming part of the band. The sellings of Quest For Glory were very good, and the band was claimed by many journalists to be a big promise for the future. While they were working on the songs for the second album, they continued to play live in Italy, making lots of good shows. Among the others, stood the great gig as support band for Scorpions on their Italian date of may 1999, where the band received a great vibe from the crowd, and from the Scorpions as well!
In September 1999, they finally entered the studio to record the long-awaited follower to Quest For Glory. The new album, called Gemini, was a great step forward, being much more mature of the debut and much better produced and arranged, and it was released in the middle of March 2000.On the album, there was also a special guest appearance by (now former) Helloweens guitarist Roland Grapow, who placed two great solos on the song The Voice Of The Wind.
Despite the fact that Gemini was selling good and having very good reviews, June 2000 saw the ending of the bands partnership with Luca Cappellari and Alex Ferraris, due to personal problems. As they've always done before, the band immediately started to search for new members, worth to carry the legacy of the former ones. Soon the new bass player was found: Daniele Persoglio of the power-progressive band called Holy Gates. Just a few days after, also the new singer was found. His name: Davide Dell'Orto (aka Dave Shot), from Exile, another good prog-metal band. Unfortunately, the line-up problems were not settled yet, cause Eleonora, too, was forced by heavy personal problems to quit. Corrado Solarino, a friend of Dave since many years, took her place on the keys, with his unique style. His choice of using a lot of Hammond organ, both for riffs and solos, was enthusiastically approved from the rest of the band and, together with Daniele's technical skills and Dave's aggressive vocals, contributed to create a new sound for Drakkar.
A sound which was fully displayed in the new album Razorblade God, released in April 2002. An album that proved, beyond doubt, that the band was stronger than ever. Aggressive riffs, catchy melodies, original keyboards arrangements and the powerful vocals of Dave all flow together in a 100 % METAL album. Included in the album, as a CD-Rom Mpeg file, was the first Drakkar Videoclip, for the song To The Future. A wonderful one, top-class between the heavy metal clips of those years: another step forward.
Unfortunately, after some shows to support Razorblade God, the most difficult period in the life of the band was to begin. Chris decided to change his life and departed for Mexico City, therefore leavin' the band; the quest for a new drummer was goin' to take a very, very long time. In 2004, as a signal of still being there, the band released a cover version of Alice Cooper's classic "Poison" on A Tribute To The Glory Of '80's Metal, a tribute album published from Adrenaline/Steelheart Records; at the same time they began the recordings for the fourth album, but life and regular jobs were taking a heavy toll, slowing down the band which was still strugglin' to find a replacement for Chris. The first of those brand new songs to be released was Killer Elite, which was available for download to those who would buy the italian comic book of the same name, starting from september 2005. In the end of that year, unfortunately, Daniele and Drakkar parted ways - in a very friendly manner - for his lack of time to dedicate to the band. But that was not the end: only a new beginning. Giulio Capone from Bejelit stepped in as the new drummer, after being rehearsing for some months with the band, and in the beginning of 2006 Simone Cappato was chosen as the replacement for Dan. Finally, Drakkar had a full line-up again and was ready to start over! May the 13th brought the first live show after more than 2 years, and the fans answered the call with a loud scream when the band stepped on stage: it was the proof that Drakkar was still alive in their hearts, and a big adrenaline shot for the band.
On the 27th of March, 2007, the webiste www.drakkarweb.com version 2.0 has been launched and a new Drakkar EP, called Classified, has been released for free download. Classified includes songs recorded in the last 3 years from the band (like the aforementioned Killer Elite), and Drakkar has decided to give it for free as a present to all the fans, and a way of showing the renewed vitality of the band. Included with the MP3 songs, is a .PDF file with the printable booklet and inlay cards to create your own copy, and put it next to the first 3 Drakkar's releases.
Meanwhile, the recordings for the fourth full album have finally begun. The dragonship still sails!
Metal is forever!
Heavy Metal Sailors have been sighted here: