Iron Fire

Iron Fire
Also known as	Misery (1995-1996) Decades of Darkness (1996-1997)
Origin	Denmark
Genres	Power metal, speed metal
Years active	1995–present
Labels	Napalm Records, Noise Records
Members	Martin Steene Kirk Backarach Gunnar Olsen

Iron Fire is a Danish power and speed metal band which was formed in 1995 under the name Misery. The name was soon changed to Decades of Darkness and finally to Iron Fire. They have released seven albums with their debut Thunderstorm coming out in 2000.

After releasing a demo in the late 1990s Iron Fire experienced a small breakthrough in 2000 when their debut album Thunderstorm was released on Noise Records. At the time the so-called true metal or power metal was in vogue in Europe with bands like Hammerfall, Freedom Call, Nocturnal Rites, and Sonata Arctica all coming through. Iron Fire was a typical example of the style with their fast, melodic metal tunes paired with an imagery dominated by fire, swords, warriors, and dragons. Thunderstorm was produced by the Danish producer Tommy Hansen, who was known for the sound on the legendary Helloween albums Keeper of the 7 Keys pt. I and II.

After the release of Thunderstorm, the band experienced some line-up changes with drummer Gunnar Olsen being replaced by Morten Plenge and guitarist Kristian Iversen by Martin Slott. They fell out with the label as their second album, On The Edge, did not prove as successful as their debut. The band, led by Steene, experienced with different sound, which was slightly more progressive with more emphasis on ballads. They did not want to repeat themselves, but ended up getting no support from the label. After this the band more or less fell apart and Steene had to rebuild a new line-up. This led to a break in album activities and a search for a new label. During that period the band produced two demos, while Steene was also working with Force of Evil formed by the two Mercyful Fate guitarists Michael Denner and Hank Shermann.

...
Wikipedia