Adagio is a French

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

band formed in 2000 by guitarist Stéphan Forté that disbanded in 2018.

History

Since their third studio album ''

Dominate The Dominate is a periodisation of the Roman Empire during late antiquity Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was p ...

,'' Adagio has evolved from their original power metal sound, but still adhering to their trademark elements of virtuosity and massive orchestral influences. With ''Dominate,'' they implemented a heavier sound with traditional

death grunts The death growl, or simply growl, is an extended vocal technique usually employed in extreme styles of music, particularly in death metal and other extreme subgenres of heavy metal music. Sometimes death growl vocals are criticized for their ...

. ''

Archangels in Black ''Archangels in Black'' is the fourth studio album by French progressive metal band Adagio. According to their website, the mastering of ''Archangels in Black'' was completed on 3 September 2008. After numerous delays, the album was officially r ...

'' was the band's fourth album. The band has stated that the "compositions are the ultimate between melodic and extreme metal, and can be considered as a more brutal version of (their second album) ''

Underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...

''". In April 2016, Stéphan Forté created an

Indiegogo Indiegogo is an American crowdfunding website founded in 2008 by Danae Ringelmann, Slava Rubin, and Eric Schell. Its headquarters are in San Francisco, California. The site is one of the first sites to offer crowd funding. Indiegogo allows peo ...

campaign to help fund Adagio's fifth album, ''Life''. The campaign ended on 5 June 2016, with the campaign reaching 148% of its goal. The album was expected to come out in December 2016 under Stéphan's own label, Zeta Nemesis. The release date was delayed to 26 July 2017 but the band premiered a song called "Darkness Machine" two months beforehand. Forté announced an indefinite hiatus of Adagio in April 2018, in order to pursue his solo career.

Musical style

Adagio's music is known by its technical precision and dark orchestration. Adagio keeps unique complex lead workings which are complemented with a powerful and driving rhythm section. In their album ''Life'', Adagio mixes progressive metal with eastern ethnic and

djent Djent () is a subgenre of progressive metal, termed for an onomatopoeia of the guitar sound that characterizes it. While sources such as ''The Guardian'' and ''Guitar World'' describe djent as a Music genre, genre, some notable musicians includi ...

influences.

Members

2018 * Stéphan Forté – guitar (since 2000) * Franck Hermanny – bass guitar (since 2000) * Kévin Codfert – keyboards (since 2003) * Kelly Sundown Carpenter – lead vocals (since 2011) * Jelly Cardarelli – drums (since 2016) * Mayline Gautié – violin (since 2016) Former *

David Readman David Readman (born 6 July 1970) is an English singer best known as the vocalist of hard rock band Pink Cream 69 and former vocalist of progressive metal band Adagio. He released a solo album in 2007 and was part of German guitarist Alex Beyr ...

– vocals (2000–2004) *

Dirk Bruinenberg Dirk Bruinenberg (born 21 August 1968) is a Dutch musician known as the former drummer of several European progressive metal and power metal bands, including: Elegy, Ian Parry's Consortium Project and Adagio. He is often recognized for his i ...

– drums (2000–2004) * Richard Andersson – keyboards (2000–2003) * Éric Lebailly – drums (2004–2013) *

Gus Monsanto Gustavo Monsanto (born 5 November 1974) is a Brazilian singer who is the former lead vocalist of the French progressive metal band Adagio, and former lead singer of Finnish band Revolution Renaissance formed by Timo Tolkki after he left Strato ...

– vocals (2004–2008) * Christian Palin – vocals (2008–2010) * Guillaume Bergiron – drums (2016) Touring * Kelly Sundown Carpenter – vocals (2008) *

Mats Levén Mats Levén (born 11 September 1964) is a Swedish singer. Some of his most notable collaborations have been with guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen, symphonic metallers Therion and doom metallers Candlemass. In 2011, due to family issues on the part ...

– vocals (2010–2011)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums *''

Sanctus Ignis ''Sanctus Ignis'' is the debut album by French progressive/neoclassical metal band Adagio, released on 8 May 2001 in France by Nothing to Say and in Europe by Limb Music. Track listing Reception ''Sanctus Ignis'' was well received by ...

'' (2001) *''

'' (2003) *''

'' (2005) *''

'' (2009) *''

Life Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...

'' (2017) Live albums *''

A Band in Upperworld ''A Band in Upperworld'' is the first live album and the third release by French progressive metal Progressive metal (often shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, ...

'' (2004)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adagio French power metal musical groups French progressive metal musical groups Musical groups established in 2000 French musical quintets Organizations based in Montpellier Musical groups from Occitania (administrative region) Locomotive Music artists Listenable Records artists