Angeli Di Pietra
Angeli Di Pietra is a Belgian heavy metal band from Antwerp, formed on Halloween of 2002. The band was founded by the two guitarplayers Gaël Sortino (Lead Guitars) and Quevin Smeyers (Rhythm Guitars). At first they played Gothic styled metal, but that changed after the recordings of the first demo (“Songs of Solace” 2004), when Louise (Violin) joined the band and added a folky touch to the music, as can be heard on the second MCD (“Believe in Angels” 2005). Although she quit only one year later, the folky touch and heavy leading melodies remained a typical Angeli Di Pietra characteristic. That’s why they call their music Powerfolk, and why their catchphrase is “Powerfolk for the Masses!”
Band History
Formation (2002-2004)
Angeli Di Pietra (or ADP) was formed on Halloween of 2002. The band was founded by the two guitarplayers Gaël Sortino (Lead Guitars) and Quevin Smeyers (Rhythm Guitars). Initially they wanted to make Gothic metal, influenced by Theatre of Tragedy, Sirenia, Tristania and Sins of Thy Beloved, combined with Heavy Metal-sounds. So they quickly gathered musicians around them mostly coming from a gothic background. The original line-up consisted of Gaël, Quevin, Jeroen (Bass), Tinne (Violin) and Angela (Vocals). After a few months Sjoera joined as a second female vocalist. Both Jeroen and Tinne left in the summer of 2003. Kurt took the place on the bass, and Anthony joined as the drummer. Later on Jan took on the grunts. It was with this line-up that the first gig on the 24th of January 2004 was played in Koersel (Belgium). The same people, with addition of Peggy on keys, went to the Tin Pan Alley Studios in Antwerp (Belgium) to record the first 5-track-demo, called ‘Songs Of Solace’, in May 2004.
Songs Of Solace (2004–2005)
The promotion of the self-released 5-track-demo, brought the band throughout the whole of Belgium, on various club-gigs and small festivals. In October and November 2004 the band had a serious setback, when Angela, as well as Jan and Anthony quit the band. The band decided to continue with only one female vocalist, but it took until January 2005 to complete the line-up again, with Luc on drums and Guy behind the microphone. In February the band was ready to storm the stage again, but unfortunately without Peggy, as she quit the month before. The band was looking for an extra instrument to replace the lost keyboards and found a violinist in the person of Louise. This fiery redhead brought folk-influence in Angeli Di Pietra with her up-tempo Irish violin tunes and great song-writing-skills. A new musical direction was chosen, where melody and harmony and heavy riffs underlined with a folky touch would be the main ingredients. It is around this time that the style becomes “Powerfolk” and that the catchphrase “Powerfolk for the Masses” is launched.
Believe In Angels (2005–2008)
With this line-up Angeli Di Pietra takes a trip to the studio again to record the second demo/MCD entitled “Believe in Angels”. They opted for the Grindhouse Studios in Tessenderlo (Belgium), run by Yvan, known as the drummer for Toner at that time. Mastering was done in the world-famous Midas Studios in Lokeren (Belgium). “Believe in Angels” was received a lot better than “Songs of Solace”, due to more experienced playing, a finer quality in recording and a more intense promotion. Both press and fans praised the album, and claimed that the band has taken a huge step forward. Although the release was a success and the album sold rather well, it seemed impossible for ADP to find a label willing to sign them. So the release was completely self-financed and only 200 regular copies were distributed, apart from the limited edition of 30 copies for the Metal At The Attic (MATA) festival on the 5th of November 2005. After this festival, ADP parts ways with Luc and is left without a drummer once more. But luckily this doesn’t take too long and Sven joins the ranks and provides a new rehearsal-room at the same time. In January 2006 Sven has his first gig with the band. It’s one to remember, since it’s also the first gig outside the Belgian borders, namely at The Hague (The Netherlands). As the band is doing more and more gigs and seems to have a stable line-up, they give up on the idea of searching for a label with the MCD and start writing new songs for a full album. The band even starts with some pre-recordings for one of the new tracks, entitled “For Us, Fallen Ones”, initially recorded only for use on Myspace. Unfortunately both Louise and Sven quit the band. Louise in August 2006, because she was pregnant. Sven in April 2007 due to musical differences. Vincent (who also plays the drums in the Belgian band Lemuria) takes place behind the drum-kit, but no new violin-player is added to the ranks. Due to this the recording is postponed, and the emphasis lies on gigs and promotion of the band. Amongst others by being a part of the so-called “New Blood Alliance” (NBA), a band-pact of 4 Belgian metal-bands, consisting of -alphabetically- Angeli Di Pietra, Gorlab, Whillows Whisper and Wretched Vixen.
The Almighty MySpace EP (2008–2009)
Because it is never a good idea to have a complete ‘radio-silence’ around a band, Angeli Di Pietra decides to have another pre-recording of a new song, called “Torquemada”. The two songs that are now on the Myspace page, together with an older track “Dawn of Possession” (from the “Believe in Angels” album) are put on a self-made, self-released EP that is distributed for free on ADP-concerts. Because all of the songs have been put on the Myspace as well, the EP is sarcastically called: “The Almighty Myspace EP”. A total of 200 EP’s is distributed in Belgium and The Netherlands in the period between March and June 2008. One of these gigs was the Antwerp-edition of the very first Paganfest-tour.
Storm Over Scaldis (2009)
In the meantime, there were enough songs written to fill a complete album. And because the search for a label wasn’t really succeeding with the previous recordings, the band decided to just go for it. In the summer of 2008, they went to the Excess Studios in Rotterdam (The Netherlands) and camped there for three weeks to record their first full-album, which would carry the title “Storm Over Scaldis”. This debut is a 11-track-album, enough to fill 45 minutes of powerfolk. Mixing and mastering was done by Hans Pieters, together with the band and sound technicians Bram (for guitar-recordings) and Harry (a studio intern). Armed with the master-cd, Angeli Di Pietra again embarked on a labelhunt. This time with more success, as they signed a contract for –at least- three albums with the Austrian label CCP Records. “Storm Over Scaldis” was eventually released on the 8th of May 2009, after an extensive promotional campaign.
The Future (2010-...)
Right now, Angeli Di Pietra is writing new material for the next studio-album, which will be recorded in the spring of 2010 at the Excess Studios again.
Band members
Current members
- Gaël Sortino – Lead & Rhythm Guitars. (Founding member, 2002-Present)
- Quevin Smeyers – Rhythm & Second Lead Guitars. (Founding member, 2002-Present)
- Kurt Hermans – Bass Guitars & Backing Vocals. (2003-Present)
- Sjoera Roggeman – Soprano & Female Vocals. (2003-Present)
- Guy Van Campenhout – Vocals, Grunts & Screams. (2005-Present)
- Vincent Pichal – Drums & Orchestrations. (2007-Present)
Former members
- Jeroen – Bass. (2002–2003)
- Tinne – Violin. (2002–2003)
- Angela – Female Vocals. (2002–2004)
- Jan – Grunts. (2002–2004)
- Anthony – Drums. (2002–2004)
- Peggy – Keyboards. (2004–2005)
- Luc – Drums. (2004–2005)
- Louise – Violin. (2005–2006)
- Sven – Drums. (2005–2007)
Live musicians
There were no complete tours on which one or more members were replaced, but due to different reasons, mostly illnesses, the following people shared the stage with Angeli Di Pietra at one time or another.
- Claudia Michelutti – Vocals. (Claudia replaced Sjoera, because she was sick, during one of the NBA-gigs)
- Bas Verdin – Vocals & Guitar. (ADP played a couple of gigs with Ice King, and Bas sang and played some songs together with the band)
- Jan d’Haes – Vocals. (Former frontman Jan, took over for Guy once, when he couldn’t make it to the gig in Mortsel)
Discography
- 2004: Songs Of Solace – First Demo
- 2005: Believe In Angels – Second Demo
- 2005: Believe In Angels - Limited MATA Edition – Second Demo, Lim. Edition
- 2008: The Almighty Myspace EP – Promotional EP
- 2009: Storm Over Scaldis – Debut Album