Benedictum | |
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| Also known as | Bound |
| Origin | San Diego, California, U.S. |
| Genres | Heavy metal, power metal |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Labels | Frontiers, Locomotive |
| Members | Veronica Freeman Pete Wells Rikard Stjernquist Aric Avina |
| Past members | Blackie Sanchez Jesse Wright Chris Morgan Paul Courtois Chris Shrum Tony Diaz Mikey Pannone |
| Website | benedictum |
Benedictum is an American heavy metal band formed in 2005 in San Diego, California that now resides in Phoenix, Arizona. Their current lineup consists of vocalist Veronica Freeman, guitarist Pete Wells, bassist Aric Avina, and drummer Rikard Stjernquist. Since their formation the band released four studio albums, debuting with Uncreation in 2006, followed by Seasons of Tragedy in 2008, both through Spain-based label Locomotive Music, before signing with Italian label Frontiers Records for their third album, Dominion , issued in 2011. Their fourth and most recent album, Obey, was released on Frontiers Records in 2013.
Benedictum was formed originally as Bound by vocalist Veronica Freeman and guitarist Pete Wells in San Diego, California in 2005. [1] The two founding members had been in the band known as Malady for over ten years. [2] Freeman and Wells recruited drummer Blackie Sanchez and keyboardist Chris Morgan, [3] whom Freeman had played with in the Dio tribute band Evilution. [4] Freeman's acquaintance with Dio's guitarist Craig Goldy, brought the band to meet the former Dio and Dokken bass player Jeff Pilson, who produced their first three-track demo and contributed playing bass guitar. [3] In late 2005, they signed a record deal with the Spanish label Locomotive Records. [5]
After signing with Locomotive Records, Benedictum entered in the studio to record their debut album with production by Jeff Pilson and mixing by Pilson and former Warlock member Tommy Henriksen. [6] The band recorded eleven songs including the covers of Black Sabbath′s songs "Heaven and Hell" and "The Mob Rules", songs the group members had played for years in tribute bands. [3] Both the former Rainbow and Dio member Jimmy Bain and Craig Goldy played as guests on the album. Uncreation was initially due to be released on October 17, 2005, but was delayed to January 20, 2006, according with statement of vocalist Veronica Freeman:
While we were all really looking forward to having Uncreation in stores this year rather than next this move is actually better are all parties involved. This is our inaugural release, which makes it all the more important that things are set up properly. Pushing the album back to January gave us a chance to tweak a few things and is giving the staff at Locomotive more time to put everything in motion. As they say, everything happens for a reason, so it's all good. [7]
Garnering strong reviews for Uncreation , including a "bands to watch in 2006" pick by the British magazine Classic Rock , the band toured Europe for the first time in the summer of that same year, kicking things off at Italy's massive Gods of Metal festival near Milan. [4] Benedictum also landed a slot on the Winter 2006 Doro European tour.
Their 2008 sophomore release, Seasons of Tragedy , saw the group continue their close working relationship with mentor/producer Jeff Pilson who brought in former Dokken bandmate George Lynch to contribute guest guitar solos on "Bare Bones" and a cover of the Accept track "Balls to the Wall". Long-time friend, guitarist Craig Goldy, also made an appearance on the album. The band supported the album in Europe with several festival shows and completed a fall tour with NWOBHM veterans Girlschool.
With regard to Seasons of Tragedy, Allmusic reviewer Stewart Mason stated that "Singer Veronica Freeman has a powerful, hectoring voice, similar at times to Grace Slick's potent bellow from the Jefferson Starship days, and keyboardist Chris Morgan prefers to add subtle coloration and powerful drone parts rather than lame Keith Emerson-style twiddling." [8]
Prior to commencing work on their third album, Dominion , the band underwent significant lineup changes with only core members Veronica Freeman and Pete Wells remaining. Benedictum would also leave their original record company, Locomotive Music, and sign a new deal with Frontiers Records. [9] Due to Jeff Pilson's commitments with Foreigner, main producing duties for the new album were handled by Grammy Award winning engineer/producer, Ryan Greene, whose credits include Megadeth and NOFX. Pilson and Craig Goldy would make guest appearances on the album as did legendary bassist Rudy Sarzo on the song "Bang". Continuing the tradition of covering at least one cover track on each album, the band cut "Overture" / "The Temples of Syrinx" / "Grand Finale" off of 2112 by Rush, which is featured as a bonus track.
New members Rikard Stjernquist (ex-Jag Panzer) on drums and Aric Avina on bass were recruited in 2012 to record their latest album Obey, released in November 2013. [10]
Dio was an American heavy metal band formed in 1982 and led by vocalist Ronnie James Dio. Dio left Black Sabbath with intentions to form a new band with fellow former Black Sabbath drummer Vinny Appice. The name Dio was chosen because it made sense from a commercial standpoint, as the name was already well known at that time.
George Lynch is an American guitarist, best known for his work with the hard rock band Dokken and his post-Dokken solo band Lynch Mob. He is considered to be one of the most famous and influential 1980s metal guitarists and is known for his unique playing style and sound. He is ranked No. 47 on "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" by Guitar World magazine and No. 10 on "Top 10 Metal Guitarists of All Time" by Gibson.
Vincent Samson Appice is an American rock drummer best known for his work with the bands Dio, Black Sabbath, and Heaven & Hell. Of Italian descent, he is the younger brother of drummer Carmine Appice.
Master of the Moon is the tenth and final studio album by American heavy metal band Dio. It was released on August 30, 2004 in Europe through SPV/Steamhammer and on September 7, 2004 in the US through Sanctuary Records. It was produced by Ronnie James Dio.
Jeffrey Steven Pilson is an American musician best known for being the bass player in the glam metal band Dokken and currently classic rock band Foreigner. He has also had an extended stint with Dio in the 1990s. He is a multi-instrumentalist who also plays guitar, cello, keyboards, piano and mellotron. Pilson played fictional heavy metal bassist Jörgen in the 2001 film Rock Star, and voiced Johnny Cage in the 2011 video game Mortal Kombat.
Jag Panzer is an American power metal band from Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Jørn Marumsrud Lande is a Norwegian hard rock and heavy metal singer. He is known for his work with the bands Ark, Beyond Twilight, Millenium, Vagabond, The Snakes, and most notably with power metal band Masterplan. He is also the most recurrent guest singer of the international supergroup Avantasia, and has worked as lead and guest singer in several projects. Currently, he is focusing his activities on his solo project Jorn. In 2014, Lande was hired by Riot Games to be the voice of the character Karthus, of the fictional heavy metal band Pentakill.
Thomas "Craig" Goldy is an American musician, best known as the guitarist of the rock bands Dio and Giuffria.
Magica is the eighth studio album by American heavy metal band Dio. A concept album, it was produced by frontman Ronnie James Dio and released on March 21, 2000, through Spitfire Records.
Giuffria was an American rock band from Washington, D.C., formed in 1981 by Gregg Giuffria after his departure from the band Angel.
The Very Beast of Dio is the second greatest hits collection CD from the American heavy metal band Dio. The first to be released in the U.S., it has sold over 400,000 copies, according to SoundScan. As of 11/03/2009 it has been certified Gold by the RIAA, having sold more than 500,000 copies in the US.
Seasons of Tragedy is the second studio album by the American heavy metal band Benedictum, released through Locomotive Records in 2008.
Veronica Freeman, also known by her stage name "The V", is an American singer and the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Benedictum. Her most recent album with Benedictum is Obey, released through Frontiers Records in 2013. In 2015, she released her first solo album, Now or Never, which includes two songs written and produced by Stryper frontman, Michael Sweet.
Uncreation is the debut album by the American heavy metal band Benedictum, released through Locomotive Records on March 14, 2006. The album was originally due to be released in late 2005, but was delayed to 2006 to allow for some creative tweaking.
Metal Hits is a compilation album by the heavy metal band Dio and was released in 2005 by Rhino Flashback Records. Multi-instrumentalist and heavy-metal mainstay Ronnie James Dio built up a hefty back catalog over the decades, with a career that spans vocalizing for Rainbow, Black Sabbath, and of course, his own group, Dio. This best-of, which covers the Dio years exclusively, spans the period 1983's Holy Diver and 1990's Lock Up the Wolves, and is packed with the kind of high-octane performances Dio fans have come to treasure. Neo-Gothic masterpieces like "Sunset Superman" and "Dream Evil" share space with the metal mysticism of "Last in Line," while Dio's hell's-gate scream holds sway over all.
Last in Line is a British rock band formed in 2012 by former members of the original lineup of Dio. The band's name comes from the 1984 Dio album The Last in Line. Following the death of frontman Ronnie James Dio in 2010, the original lineup of drummer Vinny Appice, bassist Jimmy Bain, guitarist Vivian Campbell, and keyboardist Claude Schnell reunited along with vocalist Andrew Freeman to perform the Dio songs they originally recorded. The band released a studio album of original material without Schnell titled Heavy Crown in February 2016.
Revolution Saints is an American supergroup conceptualized by Frontiers Records president Serafino Perugino, and formed by Jack Blades of Night Ranger, Damn Yankees and Shaw Blades; Deen Castronovo of Journey and formerly of Wild Dogs, Cacophony, Marty Friedman, Joey Tafolla, The Dead Daisies, Ozzy Osbourne, Bad English and Hardline; and Doug Aldrich of Whitesnake, Dio, Hurricane, Lion, Bad Moon Rising, Burning Rain, House of Lords and The Dead Daisies.
Resurrection Kings is a heavy metal rock group. Its members are former Dio guitar player Craig Goldy and singer Chas West.
The End Machine is an American supergroup consisting of guitar player George Lynch, bass player Jeff Pilson, drummer Mick Brown and singer Robert Mason. According to a 2021 interview with guitarist George Lynch, the band is an intentional return to the classic Dokken sound.
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