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 Band Members:
Nils K. Rue - vocals
Steinar Krokmo - bass
Jorn Viggo Lofstad - guitar
Stian L. Kristoffersen - drums
Ronny Tegner - keyboards
Official Bio:
Long before there was a Black Metal wave, Norwegian bands as TNT and Conception had been sparkling like stars on the Metal sky. 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-rythm guitarist) in the summer of 2000. Shortly after that, Steinar Krokmo (bass), Jorn 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 Jorn Viggo Lofstads 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 Nordstrom (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 Diamonds "At The Graves" with guest musicians Gus G (Mystic Prophecy, Firewind, Ex-Dream Evil) and Glen Drover (Eidolon, Megadeth, Ex-King Diamond) made this rerelease an indispensable highlight for everybody who loves high-quality, melodic Prog Metal. The songwriting for the latest effort "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 Nordstrom (Studio Fredman, Gothenborg-Sweden) 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. "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? This and other mindblowing questions creates the lyrical framework for Pagan's Mind and is an important and essential brickstone in the musical universe that is Pagan's Mind. The band has in spring 2006 just finished off their first headlinetour, touring all over UK with great success. The band performed during this tour at the first UK edition of the already renowned Prog Power Festival. Pagan's Mind has also done Prog Power USA in 2003 and Prog Power in the Netherlands twice, in 2003 and 2005. The feedback all over UK were tremendous and the fanbase was larger that anyone expected. Also, performing live on english TV for 5,000,000 englishmen as well as one hour of airtime on UK's biggest radio-rockshow, Total Rock, did good work for the band. Things are in other words really starting to shape up for Pagan's Mind with touring requests from all over the world in addition to the summer festivals. Pagan's Mind has already done a number of festivals reaching their peak performance so far in 2005 at the Sweden Rock Festival making a record in the number of people attending a show at the Spendrups Stage. In october 2006, Pagan's Mind head out on their first US tour, which will be the first big chance for US fans to experience the power of Pagan's Mind live! |
