Avian (band)

Avian
Origin	Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Genres	Heavy metal, power metal, progressive metal
Years active	2002-present
Labels	(US) Nightmare, (Japan) Hot Rockin', (Canada & UK) Massacre
Associated acts	Megadeth, Pyramaze, Balance of Power, Shining Star, Temple of Brutality, F5
Members	Brian Hollenbeck Yan Leviathan Steve Stine Dan Cunningham
Past members	Lance King David Ellefson David Small Roger Moore Jonah Weingarten Bill Hudson Noah Martin Jerry B Jaden Adair

Avian is a melodic power metal band founded in 2002 by guitarist Yan Leviathan. The band features singer Lance King. In 2005 they released their debut album From the Depths of Time, a concept album dealing with the end of days and a warning to mankind. Musically, Avian is influenced by bands such as Iron Maiden, HammerFall, Savatage, and Megadeth. In December 2006, Avian was an opening act for Twisted Sister. Their second album, titled Ashes And Madness, was released in September 2008. In early 2010 Lance decided to leave the band so that he could focus on family and professional obligations and was replaced with Brian Hollenbeck, who appeared on their first EP, entitled The Path, which was released in September 2010.

Guitarist Yan Leviathan, who had been in several local bands over the years, formed Avian (pronounced A-VEE-YEN) in November 2002 after being inspired by a metal festival that featured performances by Gamma Ray, Blind Guardian, Edguy, and a number of other bands. On the flight back home, Yan decided to concentrate all of his attention and efforts to creating a band that combined all of the best elements of classic European and U.S. metal bands. As soon as he arrived home, Yan locked himself in his studio and began writing songs. Before long, he had a couple of songs completed and began looking around for the right studio in which to record them in.

Yan eventually ended up in a studio named The Saltmine, which is located in Phoenix, Arizona. While speaking with the owner, Don Salter, Yan had mentioned to him that he was looking for a bass player and a drummer to help him with the recording. Don mentioned to Yan that he was a good friend of David Ellefsons (Megadeth, F5) and that he would ask him if he would be interested in the project. A couple of days later, a meeting was arranged between Yan and David. The meeting ended with David receiving a very rough demo of one of the songs and it was agreed that he would listen to it and decide if he would like to commit to the project. A few days later David called Yan and told him that he really liked the song (Final Frontier) and that they should record it ASAP. It was also agreed that David would produce the sessions in addition to playing bass on the songs.

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