Sponsored in part by Special Patron:
John Cassera and Greg Shoup
Origin:
Norway
Band:
Vocals - Nils K. Rue
Guitars - Jørn Viggo Lofstad
Bass, Backing Vocals- Steinar Krokmo
Drums, Percussion - Stian Lindaas Kristoffersen
Keyboards - Ronny Tegner
Bio:
Long before there was a Black Metal wave, Norwegian bands as TNT and Conception had been sparkling like stars on the Metal sky. The dark clouds of the Black and Death Metal movement cast a shadow over these beacons of high-quality Metal music for a long time. Only at the beginning of this millennium, PAGAN'S MIND stepped out of the shadow and directly into the footsteps of the above mentioned musical ancestors. The band was founded by Nils K. Rue (vocals), Stian Kristoffersen (drums) and Thorstein Aaby (ex-rhythm guitarist) in the summer of 2000. Shortly after that, Steinar Krokmo (bass), Jörn Viggo Lofstad (guitar), and Ronny Tegner (keyboards) completed the line-up. TNT guitar player Ronny Le Tekro produced their debut "Infinity Divine" which was released already in November of the same year and got excellent reviews worldwide.
Inspired by this success, PAGAN'S MIND directly started the songwriting for their second album "Celestial Entrance" which was recorded from January to March 2002 in the Klyve Lydstudio in Skien. Skillfully, the Norwegians intertwine the progressive song structures reminding you of Dream Theater, Rush or Queensryche with modern Power Metal and Thrash Metal-quotations, while Jörn Viggo Lofstad's virtuoso guitar artistry combines Steve Vai and Eddie Van Halen's originality with Michael Schenker´s classical elegance.
No lesser person than successful producer Fredrik Nordström (among others, he has produced Hammerfall, and Dimmu Borgir) who plays guitar in the Swedish band Dream Evil provided the appropriate sound for "Celestial Entrance" and thus, paved the way for the big success of the album after its release in 2003.
Due to the great demand, the record company and the band decided to rerelease the debut "Infinity Divine" (which originally had been released in 2000) after a diligent revision. 2004, the musical pearls of this first work shimmer anew because of the powerful sound, and they are the proof for the immense potential this band has had already at the beginning of its career. Especially the newly recorded version of "Embracing Fear" and the absolutely fantastic cover version of King Diamond's "At The Graves" with guest musicians Gus G (Mystic Prophecy, Firewind, Ex-Dream Evil) and Glen Drover (Eidolon, Megadeth, Ex-King Diamond) made this re-release an indispensable highlight for everybody who loves high-quality, melodic Prog Metal.
The songwriting for the current album "enigmatic: calling", which already had begun during the revision works of "Infinity Divine", took over one year. From the material of that time (which easily would perhaps be enough for three albums), PAGAN'S MIND chose the eleven best and most perfect songs in a laborious process, because they wanted to be able to guarantee a maximum of originality and quality. Mostly, these musical jewels were finally recorded between October 2004 and January 2005 in Mediamaker Studio. Only for the vocal tracks, the band went to Images and Words Studio. Finally, it was once again Fredrik Nordström (Studio Fredman, Göteborg) who put the finishing touches to the mix, using his experienced hands which had already refined "Celestial Entrance" as far as the sound was concerned.
With this album, the Norwegians present their best side: even more melodic, but at the same time harder and more extreme with their exciting and distinctive mixture of Melodic-, Prog- and Power Metal. But there´s even more! "enigmatic: calling" offers a unique concept concerning the following question: the origin of mankind. Was modern mankind created by an alien intelligence thousands of years ago? Are we the result of genetic experiments? PAGAN'S MIND don't answer this, but just deliver the message of the stars which is still coded - stars which sparkle as bright above our heads as this brilliant album in the Metal heavens.
Pagan's Mind website :
www.pagansmind.com
Enigmatic : Calling
2005
Celestial Entrance
2002
Infinity Divine
2000 (RE 2004)