Thy Majestie

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Thy Majestie
Background = group_or_band
Origin = Palermo, Sicily, Italy
Genre = Power metal
Years_active = 2000 - Present
Label = Previously Scarlet Music - Now unknown.
URL = [http://www.thymajestie.com/ www.thymajestie.com]
Current_members = Maurizio Malta Giuseppe Bondì Dario D'Alessandro Claudio Diprima Simone Campione
Past_members = Gabriele Grilli Michele Cristofalo Giulio Di Gregorio Matt Aub Giovanni Santini Dario Grillo

Thy Majestie is an Italian power metal band.

Biography

Started by Giuseppe Bondì and Claudio Diprima with the desire to create their own music after playing in a cover band, they searched for musicians who had faith in Giuseppe and Claudio's project. These were Maurizio Malta, Giovanni Santini, Michele Cristofalo and Dario Grillo. After releasing Sword, Crown and Shields, a 3-track demo Thy Majestie composed new material which was recorded in March 1999 titled "Perpetual Glory" which was highly praised by Italian metal magazines. This earned them a deal with "Scarlet Records". In March 2000 they started on their debut album "The Lasting Power" which was finished in April 2000. It received great praise around the world even though it was a weak production.

On September 2001 "LIMB Music" (who produced Rhapsody) took notice of Thy Majestie but could not sign a deal with them because they already had a deal with "Scarlet Music" to record two albums. On January 2002 Thy Majestie was contacted by "Thomas Youngblood" to support him on his European tour with his "Kamelot" which was a great chance for Thy Majestie but they could not afford travel expenses and they had to record another album 2 months later.

In March 2002 they started recording "Hastings 1066" which was based on the Battle of Hastings which finished recording on May 3rd.

In November 2003, vocalist Dario Grillo left the band to pursue a solo career (as leader of Platens). In December 2003, Gabriele Grilli (who has also played in Doomsword) joined as his replacement. But in October 2004, Gabriele left as well "due to personal reasons" (one of them, the distance between Grilli's hometown, Varese, and Palermo, where all the others members of the band, as well as Dario Grillo, live). Still, one song was released with Gabriele on vocals, namely a demo version of "The Siege of Paris", later to appear on the "Jeanne d'Arc" album. Shortly thereafter, Giulio Di Gregorio (also in Irencros) was announced as the new singer.

2005 saw the release of the third Thy Majestie album, "Jeanne d'Arc", which is a concept album about the French heroine Jeanne d'Arc. The album was released through Scarlet Records.

The 3 of May 2003, Giulio Di Gregorio was expelled from the band due to his poor knowledge of the English language and his numerous health problems which kept him from performing live with the band . After a short period when USA-based singer Matt Aub (from Timelord) had been "on trial" for the band (incidentally, he would have been the first non-Italian member of Thy Majestie), the 30 of September 2006 it was announced that Thy Majestie's first vocalist, Dario Grillo would be returning to the band (thus restoring what the band claimed to be "the true Thy Majestie"). Dario Grillo's return,however, was doomed to fail: the same problems experienced four years earlier produced another separation,this time a definitive one. Dario Grillo was replaced by Fingerbang singer Dario Cascio. At the same time guitarist Giovanni Santini decided to leave the band and was replaced by Simone Campione. During the end of year 2007, the other founding member, Giuseppe Bondi, left Thy Majestie due to personal reasons. A new keyboardist, Valerio Castorino, was taken in and the band has signed a deal with a new record label, Dark Balance Records. Currently the group has finished recording their latest album, Dawn, which will be released on September the 1st. Thy Majestie's performed at the Immortal Metal Fest in Finland on 19/04/08.

Most recently, they performed at Fear Dark in Zwolle, the Netherlands on 24/05/08.

Discography

*"Perpetual Glory" (self-production, 1999)
*"The Lasting Power" (Scarlet Records, 2000)
*"1066" (demo, 2001)
*"Hastings 1066" (Scarlet Records, 2002)
*"Jeanne d'Arc" (Scarlet Records, 2005)
*"Dawn " (Dark Balance Records), due to be relased late 2008

Line-up

* Valerio Castorino - Keyboards (November 2007-)
* Dario D'Alessandro - Bass (1999-)
* Claudio Diprima - Drums (1998-)
* Simone Campione - Guitar (April 2007-)
* Dario Cascio - Vocals(May 2007 - )

Former members

* Gabriele Grilli - Vocals (2003-2004)
* Michele Cristofalo - Bass (1998-1999)
* Giulio Di Gregorio - Vocals (2004- May 2006)
* Matt Aub - Vocals (May-September 2006)
* Giovanni Santini - Guitar (1998- April 2007)
* Dario Grillo - Vocals, acoustic guitars (1998-2003; September 2006- April 2007)
* Giuseppe Bondì - Keyboards (1998-2007)
* Maurizio Malta - Guitar (1998-2008)

External links

*" [http://www.thymajestie.com Official Thy Majestie Site] "
*" [http://www.metal-rules.com/review/viewreview.php?band=Thy%20Majestie&album=Hastings%201066&post_by=&rating=&month=&year=&letter=&pos=0 Hastings 1066 Review] "
*" [http://www.metal-observer.com/articles.php?lid=1&sid=1&id=9170 Jeanne d'Arc review at The Metal Observer] "