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Heavy/speed/power metal act HOLY DRAGONS is ready to return with a new release! “Jörmungandr - The Serpent of the World”- this is the album name – will be released on July 1st! This will be the 16th by the Kazakh band, the 5th released under the wings of Pitch Black Records!
The album’s 12 songs - far from a “radio edit” approach - gradually capture the listener with an arsenal made up of speed, melodies and solos. This is the second album with guitarist Thora Thorheim also handling vocal duties where she uses her voice as an addition to the instrumental background in such a way that it is quite unique and different from today’s usual female metal vocals (opera or growling style). Thorheim sings in a rather unrefined and harsh manner, making songs more raw and explosive and certainly more old-school. “Jörmungandr - The Serpent of the World” has been recorded, mixed and mastered at HDR Studios in Kazakhstan by Jürgen Thunderson. The album will be available on CD, streaming, and digital download. Grab your copy on https://www.pitchblackrecords.com
Line-up:
Chris "Thora Thorheim" Caine – Lead Vocals, Guitars
Jürgen “Stratomaniac” Thunderson – Guitar, Backing Vocals
Ivan Manchenko – Bass
Zabir Shamsutdinov – Drums
HOLY DRAGONS Online:
About HOLY DRAGONS
HOLY DRAGONS were formed in 1992 in the then capital city of Almaty (since 1997 Astana has replaced Almaty as a capital of Kazakhstan) by Jürgen Thunderson and the singer Oleg "Holger" Komaroff. The band became one of (if not the first) metal band Kazakhstan had produced. Since that time, the line-up has undergone considerable changes with Thunderson remaining the sole constant member.
The first demo album, "Halloween Night" was recorded in 1996, which was later developed into their debut album, "Dragon Steel" in 1997. The talented line-up showed solid heavy metal, on a record which, was the first metal record in the country ever. "Dragon Steel" became the first and last release for the vocalist Anders Kaban, bassist Gil Sheffield and drummer Simon, who were replaced by Daniel Tron, Steven Drejko and Seva Sabbath respectively. The next album, "Rock Ballads/Dragon Ballads" spawned a music video for the song "Christmas Time" and was released independently, as was their third album, "House of the Winds" in 1999. By this point, Sabbath left the band and Thunderson handled the drums himself.
A year later, Holy Dragons released their fourth album "Thunder in the Night" via Dragonight Records. The record contained some solid production work which represented a much clearer sound than some of their previous work. That same year, the demo EP "Warlock" was released, followed by "Judgment Day" in 2003. The album marked the beginning of the Russian language period in the history of the band and saw the debut of the new old singer Holger Komarov, as well as their first full-length as a trio. The band's decision to use Russian for albums was displayed again on their sixth album, "Twilight of the Gods," released in 2004. It received some of the best feedback of their career to date, with some fans pointing to it as their best work.
After "Judgment Day" Holy Dragons released two albums in the same year. In fact, both "Obitel Vetrov" and "Polunochniy Grom" (Russian language versions of "House of the Winds" and "Thunder in the Night") were released on the same day, October 31st, appropriately enough. Only four months later, Holy Dragons released a very well recieved album, "Wolves of Odin". It was praised for displaying a grittier style of power metal, which was carried over to the next album, "Black Moon Rising", which garnered some excellent feedback, rivaling the praise the band earned for "Twilight of the Gods". These two records appeared to be a part of a trilogy of fan favourites, which was concluded in 2007 with the release of "Labyrinth of Illusions".
After the next album "Iron Mind" Holger Komarov made a decision to step down as the band's vocalist. He was later replaced by a frontman known only as The Zerstorer, who performed on the albums "Runaway 12" and "Zerstorer - The Chapters of World War III". This was to be his final release with Holy Dragons, as he was replaced by Ian Breeg, an associate of Rhapsody of Fire members, Oliver and Alex Holzwarth, soon after. In October 2014, Cyprus label Pitch Black Records releases a new album called "Dragon Inferno". In this album, the band made a bet on experimentation with vocals – in addition to the main singer Alexandr Kuligin, this album also featured two session vocalists, Sergey Zubkov and Artemiy Ryabovol. The album has 11 tracks, four of which were published on singles "Majestic 12" and "Three Ways of Genocide" in 2012 with vocals of Ian Breeg. Holy Dragon's 2014 release has been awarded "Kazakhstan release of the year" by Global Metal Apocalypse blog and was included to Global Metal Apocalypse compilation GMA HQ 2014 with "Black Moon Rising" track.
In 2015 (as a free-distribution online format) there was published a five-song EP "Dragon Inferno Outtakes", which included the rejected versions of the songs of the album "Dragon Inferno". On 15 April 2016, the band released a new album under the name "Civilizator" via Pitch Black Records. Guitarist of the band Thora Thornheim aka Chris Caine has debuted as a live concerts vocalist in April 2015. Alexandr Kuligin, who has never performed as the frontman of the band live, had softly departed after the release of "Civilizator". In Autumn 2018 the band has finished the recording of a new album "Unholy and Saints” released by Pitch Black Records in 2019, with the person in charge of the vocals on it.