From humble beginnings, in March 2002, Rob Adams meets Rob Gallant and decide to put together a new musical project. Gallant was a close friend of another guitarist named Mike Davidson, formerly of “Torn”. He suggested a meeting between them all and see if everyone was on the same page musically. Adams gives Mike a call and they seem to share a similar outlook on being in bands and work-ethic. A couple of days later, on May 11th, 2002 (the night of the Fredericton “Martyr” show), a group of folks got together over at Mike’s place for a few drinks and the trio hit it off, talking about jamming and what musical background everyone came from. The decision is made to get together and see where fate would take them.
As luck would have it, everything “clicked”. Even though Mike and Rob Adams came from very different approaches to guitar playing, they were able to complement each other styles … probably because of these reasons. Gallant could sense it as well and this core of a line-up would last while they started choosing songs of their favourite styles to learn and rehearse.
The summer is spent auditioning various bassists and vocalists; some new members lasting for a few weeks and others, much less time. Finding it somewhat frustrating in finding others with the dedication, time, and/or ability to devote to the band, the trio persevere and continue adding songs to their repertoire.
November 2002 – Rob (Adams a.k.a. Satan) runs into an old acquiantance, Paul Vidal, and learns that Paul is working on bass these days … what a coincidence AND a stroke of luck too. After quickly exchanging phone numbers, it’s decided that Paul should come out to jam with the others sometime and does just that. Despite never having been in a band, or possibly BECAUSE of that, Paul works his ass off learning material from the existing setlist. After a few weeks of consecutively strong work-ethic and steadily improving ability, the guys make the offer, “Do you want the gig mate?” To our relief, he said “Of course”, and ever since, the once-shy and highly nervous newbie has turned into a conceited asshole just like the rest of us … he’s fitting right in.
Steve McDonald is a pric…, uh, a longtime friend of most of the guys in the band and is also a former “Awakened” alumnus. In January/February of 2003, having returned from a stint in Ottawa, Steve tries out with the other four guys for the vacant lead vocalist spot. Bobbeh and Rob had been handling the vocal duties during this time but have always thought that if they could find someone capable of the wide range of vocal styles that they were looking for, they would gladly step back from the microphone. Steve has been working hard and things are now progressing extremely well as a 5-piece. The line-up may FINALLY be ready!!!
February 2003 – The group decides upon the name “Obsidian Reign” (OR). The band is “officially” born.
March 2003 – Work now begins on writing original material and the website you see before you is launched.
April 18th, 2003 (Good Friday) – The band’s first show together is a memorable one indeed. The “War Against Christ” show (as it was promoted and later given tons of free publicity from the conservative folks of the local area) is a huge success. With tons of friends in attendance, the guys draw the majority of the packed house (160 + people) at the Elk’s Club in Fredericton, NB. From their opening chords to the thunderous encore, the band rips through an amazing set and the crowd knows that they’ve just witnessed something special. Obsidian Reign has arrived.
Over the next three months, OR plays 6 shows in total to overwhelming response, sharing the stage with many great bands. The website continues to grow and Obsidian Reign is definitely making a name for themselves. Steve still hasn’t been “officially” hired yet … a source of constant amusement for the others. We think it makes him try harder hehehe.
July 18th, 2003 sees the return of OR to the Elk’s Club and plays alone for 2 and 1/2 hours (over 30 songs) to a great audience. They are now comfortable headlining and pulling the solo billing using a greater use of theatrics, stageshow, and non-stop adrenaline than ever. Unfortunately, there are irreconcilable tensions within the band and less than two weeks later, Gallant is “let go”. Again the search is on for a new member who will share the others’ shared vision and work ethic.
By the time this biography reaches this point, it has been nearly three months and Obsidian Reign are ready to hit the stage once again. As drummer auditions continue, we will perform on November 7th with Dan Rogers filling in as we open up for local favourites, Slyde. This promises to be a huge show and an opportunity that we just couldn’t allow to pass us by. Get ready for the second coming.
The Nov. 7th Chestnut show is simply amazing. Probably the best performance of OR’s musical life thus far and the audience could sense that something magical was happening on this night. As it turned out, almost exactly a month later, Dan Rogers is officially hired as the new drummer for Obsidian Reign. The vibe from the Chestnut show was just too good and the decision was simply obvious. Dan’s a phenomenal talent in his own right and with his shared vision and outlook for this band, we’re poised to unleash ourselves upon the local music scene once again. With plans for future shows and demo recording just around the corner, Obsidian Reign is ready to work our asses off and make a mark. We’ve only just begun … 2003 was a great beginning … 2004 is ours.
And now, in hindsight, 2004 was INDEED ours. The band played 18 shows throughout the region in 2004 and on January 31st, Obsidian Reign met with talented local producer Ethan Young-Lai to begin recording sessions for what would be the first Obsidian Reign demo. After a few months of work and with some great CD layout from our longtime graphics collaborator, Manny Peters, the demo was released on June 16th. “Conviction” had hit the scene. With 500 copies created, we hoped that enough people would be interested in buying our own material to be able to successfully promote such a large run and at this time (early 2005), we are almost entirely sold out of copies in about 9 months! That’s pretty amazing for any band and especially a metal band with no radio airplay. We sold this CD strictly through a few Fredericton music stores, online interest, and primarily … at SHOWS! The fanbase has been steadily building and our following keep propelling this band forward. We have no doubt that by the time we hit the studio again in summer/autumn, that “Conviction” will be in people’s music collections and the next chapter of Obsidian Reign will be ready to be recorded.
We’ve played a number of fantastic shows so far and it’s been great to convert fans from all over the area. The biggest show we’ve played was probably the 2004 Bathurst Bike Rodeo weekend festival. Performing to over 1700 people and one of the biggest and wildest mosh pits we’ve ever seen is definitely a highlight. And we’ve already been asked back and are confirmed to be on the bill with a predicted crowd of over 3000 people this year with motorcycle clubs from all over Canada and the US being represented. We’ve shared the stage with alot of talented other bands and made alot of friends.
That brings us to 2005 and in January, we were honoured to have been chosen by the AUDIENCE as the winners of the “New Hope Battle of the Bands”. It was completely unexpected as we went into the event and we even joked that IF we won, we’d have to finally think about officially hiring Steve as our vocalist after this “audition” period. And since we won, we’ve finally decided that Steve has proved himself enough to go up to “MAYBE” status hahaha.
And with this victory to kick off 2005, things are looking brighter still for Obsidian Reign. We’re planning on playing more and more shows, record the next CD, and keep pushing the boundaries of metal throughout the region. Love us or hate us, you can’t ignore us. See you onstage!
Fast forward to December 2005 and another year has passed. Again as we’d hoped, we continue to grow and become even more successful in this musical path of ours. “Onward and upward” as we like to say.
We’re definitely consistent with our performance numbers as it seems that we’ve played 18 more shows this year, the same as 2004. We’ve been fortunate to share the stage with many bands from all across the country and beyond including some major names in the metal scene including Augury, Quo Vadis, Necronomicon, and Behemoth. We made another appearance at the Bathurst Bike Rodeo in August and even more exciting, October saw us traveling to Montreal to headline our first show out of the province!
We were featured on a national compilation CD in December released by The Fire Union (an organization of Canadian metal musicians and industry members) and we’re very proud to be a part of it. We submitted “Pathogenesis” from our “Conviction” demo for inclusion. The disc contains tracks by various independent metal artists as well as larger, more recognized acts including the mighty Augury, Wetwork, and Beneath The Massacre; that’s some good company to be keeping.
And as 2005 comes to a close, we are in the midst of preproduction to begin recording our next CD; this time it will be a full-length. We’re shooting for 8 songs at the moment and the early scratch tracks are turning out very well with the sound quality already being even better than on “Conviction”. We’ve invested over $1000 into our own recording equipment with new mics, mixer, speakers, etc. and with our own Dan pushing the buttons, we’re just taking our time and getting the best sounds and performances that we can. Aiming for a spring release, we’ll see how that works out in the coming months. We’re very excited for the future. So once again, to all of our supporters, thanks for the dedication to our brand of metal and to all the naysayers, it’s been another year and we’re better than ever … what have YOU done? Exactly.
2006 has now come and gone and it was a busy year for Obsidian Reign in cool, new ways. The proper recording began towards the end of March and continued throughout the summer until the end of August. It was much more work than we ever expected but in the end, it was truly fulfilling. Dan and Rob took on co-producer duties and Dan was the main man behind the recording, engineering, and mixing of the project. In the end, 10 songs were laid down and on October 10th, 2006, “Persevere” was released to the public. A huge CD release party was performed on Nov. 11th at Bugaboo Creek Pub in Fredericton. 2 and 1/2 hours of pure NON-STOP metal with no set break. It had been 9 months since we’d played a show and we were hungry to put on a spectacle like nobody had ever seen from us, or any other local band, before. With a new 8-foot by 8-foot backdrop of the “Persevere” album cover behind us and a major light show, our return was definitely triumphant. With over 200 audience members that night, it was one of the biggest shows ever in this club and we are proud to say that the songs are winning over our fans, old and new. Reviews have been outstanding thus far and the quality of the album has surpassed everyone’s expections, even our own.
So as 2007 begins, it’s time for Obsidian Reign to take our music to the people. We’re planning on playing as many shows as possible and hit parts of the country we’ve never touched yet like Nova Scotia and PEI. And this spring/summer, you’ll see us hitting the road to play even further away than we ever have previously. We’re currently planning a mini-tour heading as far west as Toronto with a stop in Quebec City, Ottawa, and then Montreal once again. And who knows where else we might end up through the course of the year. We’re not ones to rest on our laurels and the goal is to take Obsidian Reign to greater heights of success that we haven’t yet experienced. Stay with us loyal friends and let’s see what happens.
