BARBARIAN MUSIC FOR BARBARIAN SPIRITS! THE EARLY YEARS: The legend of a band with a moniker like GOD goes long way back in time. It was formed in 1993 in the city of Iasi, the old capital of the Medieval land of Romania and an actual spiritual and cultural pole of the modern country, being brought to life by the Lapusneanu brothers, Constantin and Eugen. At that time, after changing the band name into GOD, three distinctive self-produced demos were released and spread like a storm into the Underground scene: Iconografic I - Your Eye... (1994), Iconografic II - The Eye Of Superior Knowledge (1995) and Iconografic III - The Antropomorphic Image (1996). Practically, with the latest demo the band made its name well-known on a larger scale; this offered a very good ground for their music which was rapidly appreciated by the Underground metalheads and it also received a magnificent feedback from the mass-media. These were the first auspices of the great rising of GOD that became soon after the very best Extreme Metal band in Romania. THE EVOLUTION: In the next year of 1997 a split EP with the Romanian Black/Deathers from DIES IRAE followed, produced by Eurostar and entitled A Perennial Spleen / Iconografic & Apotropaic. This demo was considered to be the introduction to the first GOD album, edited by the most prestigious Romanian Metal label back then, Bestial Records. After the live appearances in 1996, the boys won some awards for The Best Violin Player at one festival and two more prizes at another two festivals. The first studio album was titled mystically From The Moldavian Ecclesiastic Throne and saw the light of day via Bestial Records in 1997. The record came like a complete ravage for the Romanian Metal scene, but also for the Eastern European one as it still manage to maintain the second position in the top of Underground Metal sales in Romania ever! It was recorded in the Red Moon Mobil Studio in Cologne (Germany) with the producer Alex Perin and the line-up was comprised of: Constantin Lapusneanu (vocals), Eugen Lapusneanu (guitars), Stefan Nicolau (bass), Elena Doroftei (viola), Manuel Giugula (keyboards) & Adrian Olaru (drums). The guys included on this LP a specific cover version for the song Copycat, originally composed by the Swiss Gothic icons of LACRIMOSA. It was also appraised as the Best Album in the national and international mass-media having lots of great reviews in Romanian and European magazines or fanzines alike. It actually fulminated with the review in Rock Hard (Germany) where the opus was rated to a grade of 9 out of 10 points. In the final classifications of 1997 in Heavy Metal Magazine (the most important Romanian magazine dedicated to Romanian and international Metal music in those years) the band with their first full epos From The Moldavian Ecclesiastic Throne was awarded the following qualifications: - first position for the best Newcomer band - fist position for the best vocalist - first position for the best keyboard player - second position for the best Romanian album - third position for the best guitarist - third position for the best drummer In the same year GOD took part in no less than seven contest-festivals all over the country and was awarded first prize in all of them plus the best keyboard player and the best vocalist !!! After all these performances, in the next year the band played as a headliner in more than 15 festivals and also the second album was in working!!! THE GENUINE EXPERIENCE: From this point beyond the band played in all concerts and festivals only as headliners and they also organized in two consecutive years one of the greatest festivals in Romania, the RockFest in Iasi. They had again lots of concerts all over the country. With the same members as on the first LP, the new material was recorded and mixed with the help of Paul Barzu in Voices Studio in Iasi (Romania) between October 16th and November 21st, 1998. The preparation for the new full-length ended with the release on the same Bestial Records under the name of Sublime, a more compact and emotional product that shown another side of these musicians, a matured and spiritual one. The album was followed by some touring and by a larger exposure on national and local Radio and TV stations. In 1999 they were very close in signing a contract with Nascent Frost, an American label, but due to some financial problems the label canceled their offer to GOD. THE EQUINOX: The year 2000 brings the band back together for the recording of a new album entitled Aura. This one will have the bad luck to remain unfinished as their drummer and the violinist departed for the United States of America. A short period characterized by the lack of activity will follow in the history of the band which was already looking for new members. In 2001 they reappear on the Metal scene (having a new formula) to the delight of the public which thought that the band will actually never recover. The year 2002 was meant as a sort of revival of GOD. They played lots of concerts and festivals and towards the end of the year their third album, the self-produced Aura, is finally finished in the same Voices Studio (mastered and mixed in Dream Sound Studio in Arad), being launched with a final concert that took place a week before the departure to Portugal of the vocalist and leader of the band as a tattoo artist at the well known El Diablo studio. This third CD was also well received by the public probably because for a consistent period of time during which it was rumored that it will be the very last album of the band! The new line-up for this recording was gathering again the main core of the brothers Lapusneanu and the members from the precedent LPs, but also this marked the return of Dan Cozma on bass, replacing Stefan Nicolau, plus the special guest Ioana Doroftei on vocals. After a year from Costel's departure, also the guitarist of the band, Eugen Lapusneanu, leaves Romania for Portugal. This will put the band to rest for quite a while, almost two years of complete silence But the thirst was eager and the two brothers were doing their best for starting all over again from the bottom. A new beginning right from the scratch was imagined and slowly, but surely the sun was beginning to shine once again over their GODs. THE MIGHTY RETURN: Trying to bring back to life the GOD spirit, the band intended to continue their activity far from Romania with new Portuguese members, this mainly because of the consistent help from their friends in Barreiro town. At the beginning of 2005 a new horde of “barbarian warriors” gathered under the same name of GOD has started to fight the first battles on stage in the Lusitanian land from May 13th until June 17th. In July 2005, the boys began a new “invasion”, this time of the Farm Studio for recording Hell & Heaven, their first EP with a fresh new line-up consisting in Portuguese musicians, sessions that lasted until December 2005 (including mixing and mastering). At the end of 2005, the band plays another two locations in Portugal: Tattoo & Rock Festival (November 25th, in Lisbon) and Seixal Metal Fest (December 03rd, in Corroios). With the new year 2006, the “horde” changed a few members with some new “barbarian riders” and is preparing to release the EP Hell & Heaven, already presented live and with great impact to the public. Another “battle” for the group, and perhaps the most important among all of them, was to play the Lusitanian Northland on February 12th in Guimaraes, at the Warm-up Barroselas Fest. At one point, after all these, the band has parted-ways with their keyboard player, Filipe “Lipe” Colombo, that had to leave due to personal reasons. The line-up was renewed shortly after with another guitarist, Nuno M. Silva (ex-OPUS DRACONIS). Therefore, GOD had to cancel two live concerts that were supposed to take place in very short time: the one in Club Lua, Lisbon (on June 21st, 2006) and the headlining plot for Wacken Warm-Up Party in Ritmus Bar, Corroios (on June 30th, 2006). Future live dates were planned in this period with the following line-up including Constantin “Castor” Lapusneanu (vocals), Eugen “Gelu” Lapusneanu (lead & rhythm guitars), Nuno M. Silva (guitars), Paulo Borralho (bass) & Paulo “Paulinho” Silva (drums). The new EP was released on August 15th, 2006 via KHÆOTICA | Productions™ (www.khaeotica.com). It contains five fresh new songs with a restyled sound baptized Barbarian Metal; the compositions are impregnated with an unique Pagan/Viking Metal attitude blended with archaic Folk influences. After the Hell & Heaven release in 2006, with an overall good press feedback, the barbaric horde powerfully started what soon become known as “The Lusitanian Invasion”, a consistent promotional live tour all over Portugal with ten special dates: one after another, the battlefields were propagating the storm brought over the Latin audiences, thus for the name GOD to become bigger and much renowned; the number of those who came to support the band in its battles, to fight and sing along among the warriors on stage was a proof for the band’s success and great following of their dedicated fan base! ...And the invasion is just at the beginning!!! On 29th of June, 2007 the band had its 13th Anniversary celebrated during the concert in Moita, In Live Cafe club (Portugal) with special guests on stage in order to mark this day as a glorious victory upon the vanity of time... This tour marked also the return of Filipe Colombo “Lipe” Silva Costa (keyboards) into the band’s folds, but also the departure of the guitarist Nuno M. Silva. A brand new studio album that will carry the name of Forefathers - A Spiritual Heritage will come out sometime at the crossing horizons between the paths of 2008 E.H.. They shall return for a fulminous epos of Barbarian Metal with an Epic Ire... Violent visions marked by a sacrificial cult and reshaped under the blade of blood! A conceptual album dedicated to the old Barbarian and long forgotten traditions, that speaks about Folklore heritage based on Dacian history & mythology and of those barbarous people. The new effort will be comprised of such songs bearing titles like Adunarea La Oaste (The Call To Arms), Imnul Razboinicilor – O Hino Dos Guerreiros (The Warriors Hymn), Licoarea Zeilor – Hydromel (Nectar Of The Gods - Ayle), Datina Mesagerului (The Messenger’s Rite), Strabunii (The Forefathers), Legea Pamantului - A Lei Da Terra (The Rule Of The Land) and Triburile Infioratorilor Codri (Tribes Of The Frightening Forests)! ...and the odyssey continues...