Recently we have seen new bands with member of young age working hard in the heavy metal scene. Bands like North-Americans Black Tide and Crooked X and the Brazilian newcomers Pleiades have drawn lots of attention. Pleiades was formed in October 2005 and had its first live appearance on April 2006, bringing a heavy sound influenced by Heavy Metal, Metalcore and Classic Rock.
Cynthia Mara (18, vocals), André Mendonça (15, guitars), Andre Bastos (21, drums) and Matthew Olivella (21, bass) are now promoting their self-titled debut album, released in May 2010. The CD was produced by Gus Monsanto (Adagio, Revolution Renaissance, The Lightseekers, Astra, Angel Heart, Overdose and Portrait) and recorded by Ale Macedo, a professional who has worked with renowned German producer Michael Wagener (Accept, Dokken, Raven, Metallica, Mötley Crüe, Ozzy and others).
The songs on this record talk about the human behavior, situations and experiences lived by singer Cynthia Mara. Some lyrics are a form of protest against violence ("Freedom") and today's music industry ("Before the Music Dies"). One of the highlights is the heavy pounder ''Fire Fire'', a song the band pick up to film their first video clip, while the track "Nobody Buys Me Earrings" has a strong and aggressive chorus.
Guitarist Andrew Mendonça had the idea of forming a band when he was only nine years old. Passionate about music, especially Hard Rock, the boy asked his father, Francisco Penteado, about forming a group. Francisco suggested he should have bandmates with his age. Andrew brought the idea to a local music school where the musicians were discussing the possibility of forming a teenage rock band. The school liked Andrew's idea and indicated the best students around his age to join Pleiades.
In the beginning they decided to play covers from bands like Metallica, AC/DC, Kiss, Ramones, Joe Satrianni, Deep Purple, among others. Afterwards, they started adding some originals to their repertoire, getting a great response on the shows.
In these five years the group has learned about the life on the road. They have played more than 150 concerts in Brazil and were part of some important festivals. They also opened for Deep Purple (2006), Steppenwolf (2007), Nightwish (2008) and Paul Di'Anno (2008). Pleiades also shared the stage with some Brazilian renowned acts like Sepultura (2007), Dr. Sin (2007), Andre Matos (2007) and Krisiun (2007). The group also headlines the festival "Female Rock" (Rio Claro, Brazil) in 2008 and 2009.
Among other achievements, Pleaides earned a creditable 9th place among 1,100 bands from 34 countries in the contest "The Next Big Thing", performed by the BBC in London. In addition, the group was one of those selected to represent the music of the state of Minas Gerais in the Music Business Summit, organized by Brazil Music.
The busy schedule proves that Pleiades is not just a group of young musicians. Their goal is to evolve and take their music to the highest level.
Recently we have seen new bands with member of young age working hard in the heavy metal scene. Bands like North-Americans Black Tide and Crooked X and the Brazilian newcomers Pleiades have drawn lots of attention. Pleiades was formed in October 2...
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