Archontes

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Archontes
Country	Russia
Years active	1993 – present
Genres	power/progressive metal
Labels	Valiant music
Members	Andrey "Archont" Fedorenko Vasily Marchenko Leonid Fomin Evgeny Laikov
Website(s)	www.archontes.ru

Archontes is a power metal/progressive metal band founded by Andrey "Archont" Fedorenko in 1993.

1 Albums
2 Former members
3 History
4 Music files
- 4.1 Book One: A Child Of Two Worlds
- 4.2 The World Where Shadows Come To Life
5 External links

[edit] Albums

Saga Of Eternity 1997, Metalagen records
The World Where Shadows Come To Life 1999, Metalagen/Valiant
Book One: A Child Of Two Worlds 2004, Valiant

[edit] Former members

Eugene "Gene Hans" Savostianov (guitar, 1993 - 2000)
Alexander Rekonvald (guitar, 1993 - 1995)
Grigory Kozlov (bass, 1993 - 1994)
Vladimir Latintsev (drums, 1993)
Sergey Rassohin (drums, 1994)
Sergey Zakharov (bass, 1994-1996, 2002)
Alexey Bykov (drums, 1995 - 2000)
Sergey Shvora (bass, 1997 - 2000)
Zakhar Karpikov (guitar, 2000 - 2001)
Sergey Belyavsky (drums, 2000)
Dmitry Krivenkov (drums, 2000 - 2004)
Vyacheslav Molchanov (guitar, 2001-2004)

[edit] History

[edit] Early stages

The story of Moscow-based band Archontes started in 1993. The starting point was when vocalist and keyboardist Andrey Fedorenko, later well known as Andrey "Archont", having tried various musical styles and directions, chose melodic metal. The name Archontes came up at the same time, since it was fitting well to the pompous sound of the band. Again, in 1993 Eugene "Gene Hans" Savostyanov joined the band as a guitarist and brought a couple of new songs with him. As soon as the first band lineup was complete, they started recording the first demo tape "Concerto For A Little Darkness And Orchestra". The demo contained 4 tracks, some of which are still remembered by the older fans. Most of the lyrics were influenced by books of Roger Zelazny, and the album itself was dedicated to the memory of this great writer.

"Concerto For A Little Darkness And Orchestra" is a rarity now.

The recording was made in the following line-up:

   * Andrey "Archont" - vocals, keyboards
   * Eugene "Gene Hans" Savostianov = guitar
   * Alexander Rekonvald - guitar
   * Grigory Kozlov - bass
   * Vladimir Latintsev - drums

After making their first demo recording, the band started a series of concerts in Moscow clubs with the "Concerto For A Little Darkness And Orchestra" set. These concerts bring the band a cult status: no band in Russia played such music in 1993, and the rumours of the Russian melodic metal pioneers were spread among the circles of Helloween, Rage and Blind Guardian fans. Archontes obtain their own circle of listeners, and a fan club. According to the press of those days, "... Archontes concerts are like a holiday for the fans, they sing along all the hits". Such atmosphere is typical for Archontes concerts still.

The band played at the best-known Moscow rock clubs, participated in several festivals. Some songs were played at Dream Keeper - a heavy metal programme at "Moscow Echo" radio. Vsevolod Baronin has recognized the band as one of the most promising Russian independent bands and one of the best live acts of 1995.

Throughout band history, its lineup was constantly changing. These changes were caused by multiple reasons, but did not handicap its sound or material. According to the leader, Andrey "Archont", these changes were a sign of the band evolution, its creative and professional growth.

[edit] Saga Of Eternity

After a split-up in 1996, when all accompanying musicians left the band, Andrey "Archont" works with Adolf Castle for some time, then decides to reform Archontes and starts composing songs for the new album. By the end of 1996 Gene Hans returns, and the vacancy of a bassist is filled by Sergey Shvora. The drummer, Alexey Bykov, also comes back, playing live with "Korrozia Metalla" at the same time. By Summer 1997 Archontes record their first CD Saga Of Eternity, released by Russian Metalagen Records in 1998. Unfortunately, the poor technical features of the studio did not allow the musicians to implement their creative concepts to full extent, but at that time a better recording facility in Russia was not affordable for the majority of musicians.

Lineup: 1997-2000

   * A.Fedorenko, S.Shvora, E.Savostianov Andrey "Archont" - vocals, keyboards
   * Eugene "Gene Hans" Savostianov - guitars
   * Sergey Shvora - bass
   * Alexey Bykov - drums

The album also features some guest musicians. A Scottish bagpipes solo was performed by Vladimir "McLaser" Laserson, well known for his work with folk bands such as Puck And Piper and Tintal. A march on "The Crown Of Spring" was drummed by Dmitry Shamaev.

The new album becomes the basis for the new concert programme, played in Moscow and other places of Russia. The album was on sale in Russia and abroad. Currently it is very rare and not available for sale.

[edit] The World Where Shadows Come To Life

Meanwhile Andrey is composing songs for the next album, The World Where Shadows Come To Life, which is released in 1999 by Valiant Music in Russia. In 2000 it appears in some European countries. According to Andrey "Archont", this album is about the desire of a human to transcend into another world: a world of dreams, a world of good books and the world of music.

Now the band plays solo concerts as a headliner with a new set. Russian and foreign press and the multitude of web sites and zines feature reviews on the new album and interviews with band members. A third album is in the phase of conception. But once again the band splits up due to musical and personal conflicts. Gene Hans and Sergey Shvora form a band which is currently known as "The Hunters", and leave Archontes. Alexey Bykov leaves Archontes at the same time. By May 2000 Andrey forms another lineup which starts rehearsals and concerts immediately.

Lineup: 2000

   * Andrey "Archont" - vocals, keyboards
   * Zakhar Karpikov - guitars
   * Sergey Belyavsky - drums
   * Vasily Marchenko - bass

This lineup plays throughout the 2000-01 concert season, meanwhile working on the new material to be recorded as the third album.

In Spring 2001 Sergey Belyavsky leaves the band due to personal reasons. Since September 2001 Archontes have a new drummer - Dmitry Krivenkov (ex-Legion). Shortly afterwards Zakhar Karpikov is replaced by another ex-Legioneer, Vyacheslav Molchanov, and Vasily Marchenko - by Sergey Zakharov, well known to the old fans.

In 2002 the Russian musical community was shocked by sensational news: a festival was planned for the Spring 2002, featuring worldwide famous stars such as Uriah Heep, Gamma Ray, Grave Digger, Sodom etc. There was no such fest in 10 years in Russia (since the "Tushino" fest in 1992, featuring Metallica, Accept, etc. Archontes were included in the list of Russian bands participaring in the new fest. But the fest was cancelled due to various reasons. As a compensation for fest cancellation, Archontes were offered to support Blind Guardian at Luzhniki small arena in October 2002. But bad luck was there again - the show was nearly cancelled by the time Archontes were on stage ready to play. Some idiot has called the police and reported a bomb at the venue. Fortunately, there was no bomb, but it took too much time for the police and their dogs to search through the whole area, and Blind Guardian had to shorten their set in order to fit in the schedule.

All those misfortunes could not leave the atmosphere within the band intact. A week after the cancelled support of Blind Guardian Sergey Zakharov was fired from the band. Archontes continued the studio work, but live performances came to a halt due to lack of free time of band members, continuously occupied with other projects. Finally, in 2003 Vyacheslav Molchanov had to resign as a live guitarist, although he has completed his work on the album. He was replaced by Leodin Fomin (ex-Master, Val'Kyria, Sabotage. Vasily Marchenko has returned to play bass guitar.