MAJESTY
Bio:
It all began in the year 1998 when Tarek “MS” Maghary had the idea of creating a band which would show the whole world what his passion is: Playing Heavy Metal louder, stronger and more powerful than all other bands do. Inspired by bands like Manowar, Judas Priest and Accept, he and his good friend Udo Keppner formed MAJESTY and from the first local gigs it was crystal clear that this band was chosen to create Heavy Metal history.
After two demo tapes, MAJESTY recorded their first album "Keep It True" at the House of Audio Studio in Karlsdorf in the early summer of 2000. After the release of “Keep It True”, MAJESTY immediately became the most well-known "unsigned band" in Germany. Leading German rock magazines gave the album invariably excellent reviews. Rock Hard voted the band as the newcomer to watch and after they performed at the “Battle Of The Bands” in the Rockfabrik Ludwigsburg, MAJESTY was allowed to open up the famous BANG YOUR HEAD open air 2001 in Balingen (Ger).
In June 2002 the first official album "Sword & Sorcery" was released and MAJESTY delivered a True Metal blockbuster of international grade which ranked among the most respected albums of the year. Again recorded at the House of Audio in Karlsdorf, singer and producer Tarek “MS” Maghary did not leave anything to be desired: pompous, epic Metal tracks, a clear, thundering sound and the superb artwork of the legendary Ken Kelly (Kiss, Manowar) resulted in a "must have" album for every real Metal head!
On this album, legendary ex-Manowar guitar player Ross the Boss played the lead guitar on the anthem "Heavy Metal". Fantastic reviews followed and MAJESTY was crowned as the best Metal newcomer act in years by all large Metal magazines.
MAJESTY played a tour throughout Germany in the autumn of 2002 and everywhere they played the audience went crazy and was completely blown away by the energy and power of the band.
At the beginning of 2003 Tarek decided to concentrate on strictly singing, therefore Rolf Munkes became the lead guitarist of MAJESTY. In the summer of 2003 the band went into the studio to produce their next masterpiece "Reign In Glory". The album was mixed by no other than Stefan Kaufmann (U.D.O./ACCEPT), who gave the album a powerful Heavy Metal sound. The album was released on October 27th, 2003.
MAJESTY played a lot of shows in support of the album and the first live performance was filmed for a DVD. However, MAJESTY did not simply want to release a regular DVD like other bands, they wanted to give the fans something special and that leads to the next chapter:
In the summer of 2004, MAJESTY released their first DVD + double-live CD. The release was named "Metal Law" and contained a complete two-hour MAJESTY concert, which showed that MAJESTY is one of the best live bands in the world. This was not just a regular DVD - it also contained the whole show on two audio CDs plus many special features on the DVD!
Everyone who had experienced the band live was cast under its spell. At the BANG YOUR HEAD festival 2004, MAJESTY played an outstanding concert in front of thousands of Metalheads. Also in 2004 the band went on their first European Tour as a special guest of U.D.O. and was able to strengthen its international status.
In the spring of 2005, MAJESTY once again entered the ROXX studio to record their new masterpiece entitled "Hellforces" together with producer Stefan Kaufmann. The album offered everything one can expect from the band in total perfection. Fantastic, catchy metal-hymns were presented with such power and precision that the metal community went nuts about it. "Hellforces" was the glorious and immortal highlight of 2006. On the song “Metal Law 2006” you can also hear the incredible voice of the german Metal legend Udo Dirkschneider (U.D.O. / Accept) who sings a duet with Tarek. Before the album came out in February, the EP "Sons Of A New Millennium" was released at the end of January. After the release of the album, MAJESTY performed at several European festivals and put on several glorious shows. At the end of the year, MAJESTY signed a management contract with the True Heavy Metal label MAGIC CIRCLE MUSIC (Manowar, Rhapsody of Fire etc.) and played a huge show on the 2007 edition of the Magic Circle Festival.At the end of 2007 Tarek´s good friend Jan Raddatz became the drummer of the band.
2008 one of the most risky decisions in the band history has been made. The band changed their name to METALFORCE. The renaming had been made public on the 2008 MAGIC CIRCLE Festival.
On the one hand it was decided, to 100% continue the MAJESTY tradition and on the other hand METALFORCE was established to work out as a unique band on its own.
Tarek and Jan started searching for a new lead guitar player in January 2009. Among many applicants finally the exceptionally talented dutch guitar player Tristan Visser was chosen to complete the ultimate lineup of the band-
Among glorious gigs on diverse festivals (e.g. Magic Circle Festival 2009 and 2010; Masters Of Rock Festival 2010) METALFORCE was the special guest on the 2010 Death To Infidels tour of MANOWAR where they had enormous success in front of massive crowds.
In the year 2011 the band members realized, that the name of METALFORCE never got the level of attention in the metal world they hoped for at the beginning. Therefor the decision was made to do a comeback as MAJESTY (s. band statement).
In the summer the band released the double album “Own The Crown” which among the greatest hits of the band featured two brand new songs, the rerecording of the demo song “Snow is on the mountains” and the complete first demo tape of the band.
After a nearly unbearable latency for the fans the album „Thunder Rider“ was released on January 4th 2013. Every single track on the album is a heavy metal hymn par excellence and designed to go down in metal history. The production of the album is mighty and powerful like an army on the way to the battle, quaking the earth.
The album entered the German Top 100 album charts at #55 and therefor is the most succesful album in the band´s history so far.
"Thunder Rider" was released in several editions. Besides the normal CD there is a special edition available including a bonus track and a DVD. The DVD features a documentary called "Metal Union" containing interviews with a lot of bands and journalists who´re trying to unveil the secret of heavy metal music. The song "Metal Union" which concludes the album "Thunder Rider" is a musical conversion of this topic. Besides Tarek you can hear Sven D´Anna (WIZARD), Hannes Braun (KISSIN´ DYNAMITE), Mat Sinner (PRIMAL FEAR / SINNER), Patrick Fuchs (ROSS THE BOSS), Andreas Babushkin (PARAGON) and Marta Gabriel (CRYSTAL VIPER) singing on this song. Furthermore the album was available as a strictly limited vinyl edition!
To celebrate the album release MAJESTY went on a extensive tour. On the German Metal Attack tour with GUN BARELL, WIZARD and GRAVE DIGGER the band had huge success every night they played.
At the moment the band is preparing for the summer festivals. Lots of shows will be announced soon. Furthermore MAJESTY is already working on the „Thunder Rider“ follow-up album.
To be continued.....
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