Narnia (Swedish band)
| Narnia | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Jönköping, Sweden |
| Genres | Heavy metal, power metal, neoclassical metal, progressive metal, Christian metal |
| Years active | 1996–2010, 2014–present |
| Labels | Massacre, Attic Arcade, Nuclear Blast, Pony Canyon |
| Associated acts | Divinefire, Saviour Machine, Rob Rock, Harmony, Audiovision |
| Website | Official Website |
| Members |
Christian Liljegren Carl Johan Grimmark Andreas Olsson Andreas Johansson Martin Härenstam |
| Past members | Germán Pascual Jakob Persson Linus Kåse Fredrik Junhammar |
Narnia is a Christian neoclassical progressive power metal band founded by guitarist Carl Johan Grimmark and singer Christian Liljegren. The band formed in Sweden in 1996, disbanded in 2010, and reformed in 2014. Their album themes heavily reference The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis.
Liljegren and Grimmark met for the first time in 1993 in Jönköping, a town in the south of Sweden. At this time Liljegren and his band Modest Attraction were just about to release their first album, The Truth in Your Face. Grimmark was a member of a band named Sentinel. They remained in contact over several years, during which both had trouble with their bands. Modest Attraction produced its second album Divine Luxury in 1996, at the same time as Grimmark decided to leave Sentinel. Liljegren phoned Grimmark and asked him whether he was interested in working together on a project. Liljegren had a passion for melodic hard rock, which he was not able to explore in the band Modest Attraction. Grimmark was instantly interested in a project along those lines.
A few months later Liljegren called Grimmark again and told him that Modest Attraction would go on tour to Germany and the guitar player Stephan Mohlin could not accompany them. Thus Grimmark replaced Stephan. Stephan soon left the band all together, and Grimmark was asked whether he would like to become a full-time band member. Grimmark accepted, thus giving Liljegren and Grimmark time to plan their project. They took a few old songs from other bands and altered them to their own preferences. In September 1996 they went into the Top Recording Studio. Grimmark played all of the instruments and Liljegren sang. The recordings took several months. They had several guests on the album, including Jakob Persson, who later played bass in Narnia. Janne Stark (Overdrive, Locomotive Breath, Baltimoore) was responsible for a guitar solos and Mart Hallek played the violin.
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