Band:

Ring Of Fire

BiografieRing Of Fire´s story begins in the year 2000. Having completed a successful mini-tour of the U.S., Asia and Oceania with Yngwie Malmsteen in late 1999 on the heels of the ´Alchemy´ album, vocalist Mark Boals set about creating his second solo album, a collection of songs very neo-classical in their nature.



When
deciding on a line-up for the album, Tony MacAlpine came highly
recommended, and Tony in turn recommended his Planet X band mate
Virgil Donati on drums. The impressive line-up was completed by
classically-trained Artension keyboardist Vitalij Kuprij, with Boals
and MacAlpine splitting bass duties between them.




Recorded
in July 2000, the album not only afforded Boals the opportunity to
showcase his writing skills, but the working relationship formed
within the line-up proved a catalyst to the beginning of a band in
its own right. Combining melodic metal songs with fantasy-based
lyrics, topped off with virtuoso performances from the line-up, the
RING OF FIRE album proved to be exactly what many neoclassical-metal
fans had waited for.



While
the majority of the music on the album was created by Boals and
MacAlpine, a highlight of the album was the Kuprij/Boals collaboration
´Atlantis´, a song that gave us a hint of what some of ROF´s future output.



Despite
having recorded another album with Malmsteen (WAR TO END ALL WARS)
just prior to the ROF sessions, as fate would have it, Boals did not
participate in Malmsteen´s initial "War" tour.

Instead, Boals, Donati and Kuprij agreed to make their project more
ongoing, with the aim of taking the band on the road. Tony
MacAlpine was unable to commit at the time but remained on good terms
with the other musicians. With
Shrapnel Records shredder George Bellas filling the guitar spot, and
ex-Rising Force bassist Barry Dunaway coming on board, RING
OF FIRE the band was born, being announced on November 16, 2000.



The
band commenced work on their ´debut´ album during the first few months
of 2001, though Dunaway´s tenure was over before it began. He was
replaced by Steve Vai´s bassist Philip Bynoe. With the line-up
confirmed, the band went about recording the album ´The Oracle´.




Recorded
in March 2000 in Steve Vai´s "The Mothership" studio (among
others), ´The Oracle´ is a melodic metal tour de force, combining
superb musicianship with imaginative songwriting and progressive
neo-classical concepts. With the distinctive vocals of Boals,
the intense guitar/keyboard interplay of Bellas and Kuprij, the superb
drumming of Donati and the solid and melodic bass work of Bynoe,
the fire of ´The Oracle´ burns brightly from start to finish.



The
album was released on July 25, 2001 in Japan, where it made an
impressive chart debut, making Ring Of Fire the
3rd highest-selling western artist in the album´s first week, and with
further releases in Europe and South America, the word about Ring Of
Fire has crossed several continents.



While the
band prepared for their February 2002 tour of Japan, it became clear
that guitarist Bellas would not be able to satisfy the requirements of
being in the band, whose focus is very much on being able to play live
and tour. With the tour looming, a quick call from Mark Boals
was all it took to welcome back Tony MacAlpine, to the delight of both
band and fans alike.




Ring Of Fire, featuring the Grammy-nominated MacAlpine on guitar, have
documented their first tour in the form of simultaneous live album and
DVD releases. The releases, both entitled "Burning Live In
Tokyo" were unleashed on August 21 in Japan, and later in
other territories..



While the live CD and DVD releases were hitting stores across Japan, the
members of Ring Of Fire were absorbed in the whirlwind recording
sessions of their second studio effort, "Dreamtower"
(available from November 21 in Japan). Perhaps signaling the
beginning of the end of his tenure with the band, Vitalij Kuprij did not
fly to LA to be with the band for the recording, choosing to make his
contributions from his home in Philadelphia. He left the group
shortly after. Dreamtower marks Ring Of Fire at it´s creative
peak, building on the band´s sound with fantastic songwriting
contributions from almost the whole band, and stellar performances by
all.




In July 2003, Mark Boals announced Steve
Weingart as the band´s new keyboardist. The band also signed a
new deal with King Records in Japan and will focus on making a new
studio album.Quelle: http://ringoffiremusic.com/DiscografieMark Boals - Ring Of Fire (2000)

The Oracle (2001)

Burning - Live In Tokyo (2002)

Dreamtower (2002)

Lapse Of Reality (2004)
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Reviews

Lapse Of Reality - Cover
RING OF FIRE gelten bei Fans des klassischen, bombastischen Hardrocks der Marke MALMSTEEN oder DEEP PURPLE schon lange als heißer Insidertipp, was nicht nur daher rührt, dass Gitarrenvirtuose Tony Mac