ReinXeed
| ReinXeed | |
|---|---|
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ReinXeed Members | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Boden, Sweden |
| Genres | Symphonic metal, power metal |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Labels | Rivel |
| Website |
www |
| Members |
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| Past members |
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ReinXeed is a symphonic/power metal band from Boden, Sweden. They were formed in 2004 by vocalist Tommy Johansson. They are influenced by soundtrack movies such as Lord of the Rings and bands like Helloween with Michael Kiske, and Rhapsody of Fire.
In 2008, ReinXeed released their first studio album The Light on Rivel Records. This helped ReinXeed land an appearance in Japan where they gained fans.[1] Their second album, Higher, has more mature keyboards effects. The band has toured in Sweden and have been working to write material for the new album Majestic.[1]
History
Early 2004
There is an earlier ReinXeed from 2004, but that has nothing to do with the present lineup or the music. The actual ReinXeed is led by Tommy Johansson.
Formation (2004)
The story of ReinXeed started place in a town called Boden in the north of Sweden. ReinXeed is Tommy Johansson's musical creation and vision and finally will see the light with its debut album The Light.
Tommy Johansson started to play guitar at the age of nine after he’d seen Gary Moore’s video “Out in the Fields” and singing at the age of 15 when he was introduced to Skid Row's track "18 and Life". His days of soft rock were over when he first heard Helloween and Stratovarius.
After some years in a music school, Tommy had become more of a "all man musician" who could play almost everything: decent guitar, piano, singing, drums, bass guitar and also flute. His songwriting had of course developed to a more advanced level.
In 2006, he decided that movie soundtracks mixed with melodic power metal would be very cool music to compose and record. He got his own studio together, started to record these songs again with a better quality, and put them up on his MySpace site. By doing that, Daniel Eskilsson drummer and band leader of the Swedish melodic power metal band Majestic Vanguard heard Tommy's songs and set him in touch with Christian Liljegren of Rivel Records / CM Sweden. Jani Stefanovic from Divinefire and Essence of Sorrow co-produced & mixed the album and handled all the drums on the album.[2]
On The Light Johansson took on a “one man project role” in he handled just about all aspect of the recording process (similar to Matt Smith on the first Theocracy album). Higher, however, finds the artist backed by a full piece band in that he has recruited two guitarists (Kerry Lundberg & Mattias Johansson), a keyboardist (Henrik Fellermark), drummer (Erik Forsgren) and bassist (Ace Thunder). Needless to say, the overall performance is impressive.[3]
The Light (2008)
Reinxeed began to record their first studio album entitled The Light, released 12 March in Japan, 20 June in Europe, via Rivel Records. On the debut album, the musical inspiration came from Gary Moore, circa 1983–89; Angra's Rebirth; Stratovarius's Destiny, Episode, Visions, Infinite; Robby Valentine; Symphony X's Odyssey and Helloween, in particular the Keeper of the Seven Keys 1 & 2 albums.
The Light can best be described as melodic power metal with the occasional symphonic tendency. Fans of Royal Hunt, Avantasia and Sonata Arctica will find a lot to like here as will those into Theocracy, Narnia, Essence of Sorrow and Majestic Vanguard. Up-tempo numbers such as "The Light" (as fast a song as you will find), melodic based "Great Hall of ReinXeed" and keyboard driven "Eternity" are as good as it gets. Of equal merit are more progressive based pieces "Northern Sky" and "Kingdom Fall" along with the shredding instrumental "Heavenly Fire".
Higher (2009)
Higher was released via Rivel Records on 15 May 2009, and in Japan via King Records on 25 March 2009, including the bonus track "Dreams". Angelicwarlord.com found the audio mix of Higher to be cleaner in comparison to The Light with a "near perfect" mix of guitar leads, drums and keyboards. One criticism was the lack of "an all out element of aggression", with the rhythm guitar sometimes lost in the mix: "There [are] portions of several songs in which all you hear are keyboards and drums, leaving one almost begging for some guitar driven muscle." [3]
Majestic (2010)
This album has been released worldwide. It is the third album of this power metal band.
1912 (2011)
1912 is their fourth album. It is a concept album about the Titanic and its sinking. The Japanese edition includes three bonus tracks: "ReinXeed Alliance", "Aces High" (an Iron Maiden cover) and "Pray for Japan", a song written and recorded to support Japan in the aftermath of the 11 March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Welcome to the Theater (2012)
ReinXeed's latest album Welcome to the Theater was released in May 2012. The album, both lyrically and musically, was inspired by famous movies.[4]
Band members
- Tommy ReinXeed — vocals, guitars, keyboards, & orchestration
- Alexander Oriz — guitar and backing vocals
- Christian Davidsson — bass guitar
- Alfred Fridhagen — drums
Musical style and influences
ReinXeed's style is symphonic metal with clean vocals and melodic symphonies. The band cite their influences as Robby Valentine, Michael Kiske-era Helloween, Edguy, Gary Moore, Sebastian Bach-era Skid Row, and movie soundtracks from films such as the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Time Machine, Stargate and Hook.
Discography
- The Light (2008)
- Higher (2009)
- Majestic (2010)
- 1912 (2011)
- Welcome to the Theater (2012)
- A New World (2013)
- On compilation albums
- Swedish Hitz Goes Metal (2011)
- Swedish Hitz Goes Metal Vol.2 (2013)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Bands of Fire (Higher Article)". Bandsonfire.com. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
- ↑ "Bands of Fire (The Light Article)". Bandsonfire.com. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "(Higher)". Angelic Warlord. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
- ↑ "Welcome to the theatre's lyrics".
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to ReinXeed. |